Read Online The Dark and Deadly Pool by Joan Lowery Nixon - Free Book Online

Detective Jarvis was writing as fast as he could.
    “Perfect.”
    Lamar scowled at me. “We are asking for specifics.”
    “Specifically, I couldn’t tell you. I didn’t weigh him. I just fell under him.”
    Detective Jarvis looked as puzzled as Mr. Parmegan, so I hurried to explain what had happened.
    “Just what did you hear the men say?” the detective asked, so I told him what I remembered.
    “Did you see Mr. Boudry sign the order form?”
    The manager was glaring at Lamar as though the whole thing were Lamar’s fault. I felt sorry for him. I said, “No, I didn’t.”
    “Thank you, Miss Rafferty. You may go now,” the manager said.
    But I wasn’t ready to go. “Don’t blame Mr. Boudry,” I said. “The men couldn’t have stolen the sofas if Mr. Parmegan didn’t leave for lunch at the exact same time every day.”
    “What?” Mr. Parmegan’s mouth popped open and stayed open.
    “Sure,” I said. “Their plan wouldn’t work if Mr. Parmegan had been available. They had to know hewouldn’t be on hand. I’d guess that somebody in the hotel, who knew Mr. Parmegan’s schedule, worked it all out.”
    Detective Jarvis licked his pencil point again and smiled at me. “Good thinking,” he said.
    But Mr. Parmegan scowled at Mr. Boudry so hard that his forehead almost met the end of his nose, and his words peppered the room like BB shot. “Mr. Boudry is one of those who know my daily schedule.”
    “So does nearly everyone who works at the Ridley,” Lamar answered.
    “Especially Mr. Parmegan,” I added.
    “Thanks for your help, Mary Elizabeth,” Detective Jarvis said. “We may want you to look at some mug shots later, but for now you can get back to work.”
    Again I thought about that gap in the walls outside the pool area. There didn’t seem much point in telling Detective Jarvis, since the gap had nothing to do with the theft of the sofas, so I kept my mouth shut.
    Lamar and Mr. Parmegan didn’t notice when I left the office. They were too busy studying each other with deep suspicion.
    I hurried back to the health club. Since we didn’t have a lifeguard, it wasn’t mandatory that someone be on duty every single minute, but the guests liked it better if one of us was there to smile at them and hand them a towel as they checked in, and Lamar liked it better if we checked names and faces with the photo-ID cards and made sure that no one sneaked in.
    But I hadn’t needed to worry. Art Mart was slouched down in the desk chair, admiring his long, muscular legs, which were stretched out in front of him. He barely glanced up as I came into the office.
    “Look, I’m sorry I had to be gone, but it wasn’t my fault,” I began.
    Art just slammed his chair upright and snapped, “I know where you were.”
    “Do you know what happened?”
    “Of course I know. Everybody in the hotel knows by this time.”
    “Oh,” I said.
    Art gave a wicked chuckle. “And they even got the security chief to sign for it! That’s terrific!”
    “I don’t think it’s so funny,” I said. “Lamar is very embarrassed about it.”
    For the first time Art’s eyes met mine. “He should be embarrassed. For all any of us know, he was in on it.”
    “No! I don’t believe that!”
    He slowly stood up and stretched, rippling all the way down. I wasn’t impressed. Mrs. Zellendorf’s cat can do the same thing. “Now that you’re here, you can take over,” he said. “I’m off and won’t be back until tomorrow A.M. ”
    “Okay.”
    “Don’t forget to clean the tiles and pick up the towels,” he said.
    I had to clamp my teeth together until they hurt to keep from reminding him that I hadn’t forgot yet, and he knew it.
    He sauntered from the indoor pool area toward the hotel, stopping to smile and ripple at two good-looking women who were lounging near the Jacuzzi.
    Mr. Kamara passed him on his way to the pool. They said something to each other, and I could practically see sparks. What was the matter with Art?