Page 39 of Last Seen Alive

A man in a suit greeted them at the front desk. He swept his gaze over them, at first giving the impression he thought them to be a couple, but then his eyes dipped to the badges clipped to their waistbands. “What can I do for you?”

Amanda tapped a finger to her badge, just to emphasize their authority. “Do you have a Deb Smith staying with you?” She’d roll with Claire’s alias, figuring that’s how she would have booked the room. It was curious how she got a room without a credit card to secure it, but sometimes a cash deposit was accepted. Again, Amanda wondered where Claire got her money and where she kept it.

“One minute.” He clicked on a keyboard, and a few seconds later confirmed the booking.

“When did she arrive, and how long is she set to have the room?” Trent asked.

“I’m not sure how much I should tell you without a warrant.”

“Deb Smith was found murdered last Friday evening,” Amanda said.

“Oh, that explains it then.”

Tingles spread over Amanda’s body. “Explains what?”

“Why I haven’t seen her. And the maids told me they haven’t had to make up her room for the last few days.”

“And that didn’t strike you as odd?” she asked.

A twitch of irritation tugged at the corners of his mouth. “It’s not our place to interfere with our customers or their schedules. As far as we’re concerned, she dipped out for a couple of days. It was assumed she was returning as her possessions remained in her room.”

Amanda was curious how long it would take before hotel staff became concerned. “Do you know if she had any visitors?”

“I never saw any. She left the hotel, though, a few times in taxis. Don’t ask what cab companies. I wasn’t looking that closely.” He nudged his head to a phone on the end of the desk. “She used that to order the rides.”

They could request the phone records for that line, but without more information to go on, narrowing it down would be impossible. But the use of public transportation raised another question. “Did she not arrive in her own car?”

The clerk glanced at the screen. “There’s no request for parking.”

It was possible Claire had taken a bus into town and then a taxi to the hotel. “When did she check in?”

His eyes flicked to the monitor. “She got here last Wednesday just after noon.”

Two days before her murder…“Do you know where she was coming from?”

“No.”

“Did she use a credit card to secure the room?”

“No, she didn’t have one, but she provided us with a thousand dollars cash as security.”

Trent looked at Amanda and raised his eyebrows. Claire had financial resources available to her.

“How long was she booked to stay?” Trent asked.

“Until this Wednesday.” At least the clerk was being far more helpful than her first impression led her to expect.

So, one week.Taxi rides would suggest she had places to go, people to visit. And assuming Claire had been away from Prince William County all this time, what had her back and planning to stick around for seven days? Was it as she considered before—to come clean with loved ones before the cancer took her? “We’ll need to know when—within approximation—that she left in taxis. Can you help with that?” They’d need to follow up from there and see if they could hunt down the drivers and find out Claire’s destinations.

“I think so.” He wiped his brow, which had become shiny with sweat.

“Great. Do you have surveillance cameras on the lot?” she asked.

“Yes, and in here.”

“We’ll want that footage.”

“We’ll also need access to her room,” Trent interjected.