Read Online Room With a Clue (Pennyfoot Hotel Mystery) by Kate Kingsbury - Free Book Online

Ethel looked around at the door, as if expecting Mrs. Chubb to come barreling in there any minute. “All right.” She leaned closer and whispered into Gertie’s ear.
    Blinking in surprise, Gertie listened to the whispered words, then drew her head back. “You’re bloody daft. How can it be him?”
    “I tell you it
is
him,” Ethel hissed, plunging her hands into the soapy water. “I ought to know what he looks like. Seen his picture often enough, haven’t I?”
    Gertie lifted a stack of dirty plates and dumped them into the sink. “Go on. He wouldn’t show his face down here. Be bloody stupid to do that, wouldn’t he? Everyone gawking and staring at him? Blimey, the newspapers would have a right blast with that one, wouldn’t they?”
    “Well, all I can say is how I seen him, plain as a spot on your face.”
    “Yeah? What was he doing then? Stuffing his kite full of lobster, I suppose.” She looked at Ethel’s indignant face and exploded with laughter. “Gawd, Ethel, you don’t half fall for ’em, don’t you? Course it weren’t him. Bet yer tuppence it weren’t.”
    Ethel’s face brightened. “All right. You’re on. Bet you tuppence it is him.”
    Gertie stared at her, the plate she held dripping water over her shoes. It wasn’t like Ethel to risk her hard-earned money unless she was on a sure thing. Maybe Ethel knew something she didn’t.
    Ethel gave her a triumphant smile. “See? Not so cocky now, are you?”
    Stung, Gertie tossed back her head. “All right, Miss Clever Sticks, how’re you going to prove it?”
    “All you got to do is look at him and you’ll know.” She held out a hand, slathered with soap suds. “So, you going to shake on it?”
    For a moment Gertie was almost convinced. Then common sense kicked in. “Christ, Ethel, I’m blinking certain he ain’t going to stay at the Pennyfoot. He goes to the bloody Riviera for his holiday, don’t he? What would he be doing down here in this hole?”
    Ethel shrugged. “How do I know? P’raps he’s brought one of his lady friends down here, ’coz no one would suspect him of being here.”
    “They get an eyeful of him, they’ll suspect all right.”
    “And if he don’t come out of his room, how’re they going to see him?”
    Still wavering, Gertie thought it over. No, it weren’t possible. Not him. “All right,” she said, grasping the slippery hand and giving it a firm shake, “I’ll bet yer tuppence. What room’s he in?”
    Ethel told her. “If you get caught snooping, though, you’d better not tell on me. You know as how we’re not supposed to gossip. I could get the sack for telling you, I could.”
    “I won’t tell. God’s honor.”
    “All right, now it’s your turn. What’s your secret?”
    Gertie smiled. “Well, you know that old fart Mrs. Carter-Holmes? Well, you’ll never guess in a million years what she did tonight …”
    Cecily’s heart went out to Robert Danbury as he gazed down at his dead wife. Dressed in the military uniform he’d obviously planned to wear to the ball, he stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his face pale and set.
    She knew only too well how it felt to lose a loved one. The pain still haunted her unbearably during the long, empty hours of the night. “I’ll leave you alone with her, if you like,” she said softly.
    “That won’t be necessary.” Danbury visibly squared hisshoulders, then looked at Cecily. “Can you tell me what happened?”
    “I’m afraid we don’t know for sure. John Thimble, our groundskeeper, found her lying on the rockery in the courtyard. It appears she must have fallen through the wall of the roof garden, since several of the bricks lay shattered on the ground around her. I am so very sorry.”
    “I see.” He lifted his chin a fraction. “I take it you’ve sent for the constable?”
    “Yes. Police Constable Northcott and Dr. Evans will be here in the next hour or two. They have to come from Wellercombe—”
    “Yes, I know.” He