Page 29 of Murder at the Mayfair Hotel

“I put the cup down on the table beside the empty pot of chocolate, opened the curtains, and turned around to greet Mrs. Warrick. That’s when I saw her…covered in her own sick.” She shuddered and clutched her throat. “It was awful. I’ll never sleep tonight with the memory of her ghastly face in my mind.”

Harmony touched Edith’s hand, and Goliath squeezed her shoulder.

“I came straight outside and told the other guest still reading his paper that Mrs. Warrick looked dead. He went into her room to check while I ran to tell Mrs. Kettering.”

The poor girl. No wonder her hands still shook. I wasn’t sure I’d still be able to work if I’d discovered a dead body just that morning.

“You mentioned you have a key to the rooms you clean,” I said. “Who else has access to room keys?”

“Mr. Hobart and Mrs. Kettering each have a master set of keys,” Peter said. “If a guest loses their room key, I have to ask one of them to unlock the door. It doesn’t happen often.”

“Mr. Armitage doesn’t have keys?”

“He uses Mr. Hobart’s set if the need arises.”

“Who do you think could have murdered her?” Goliath asked. “She was at the hotel alone, wasn’t she?”

Peter nodded. “She checked in two days ago. I recall her saying she was looking forward to the ball and seeing old friends.”

“Had any of those old friends arrived yet?” I asked him.

“I don’t know.”

“Peter, do you recall yesterday afternoon when Mr. Armitage spoke to a gentleman beside the Christmas tree? There was another man also nearby, reading the newspaper.”

“Just after you and Miss Bainbridge came out of the sitting room?” Peter nodded. “I remember.”

“Hedoesn’t miss anyone,” Goliath said with a smirk at Frank.

Frank looked like he wanted to retort, but he pursed his lips and hunched his shoulders. Goliath chuckled into his teacup.

“The man Mr. Armitage spoke to is Mr. Hookly, room five-oh-five,” Peter said. “Nice fellow, cheerful, receives a lot of parcels from various shops. The one reading the newspaper was Mr. Duffield, second son of a second son of an earl, or something like that. Bit of a snob but doesn’t give us any trouble. He’s staying on the third floor.”

The same level as Mrs. Warrick. “Do you know what they’re doing in London?”

Peter shrugged. “They came for the ball, I suspect. They must have decided to come a few days early. The unmarried ones without family like to spend Christmas Day here.”

“Do you know anything about where they’re from? What they do for a living?”

“No, but I can find out their addresses. Everyone has to leave one when they check in. It’s recorded in the reservation book.”

“If you could get them for me, that would be marvelous.”

“Why?” Goliath asked. “What have these men got to do with Mrs. Warrick’s murder?”

“She recognized one of them, but I don’t know which.” I didn’t tell him that she could have been referring to Mr. Armitage. If I did, would these staff defend their superior’s honor? “It could mean nothing,” I went on. “It’s just a line of inquiry I want to follow.”

“You’re very thorough,” Harmony said, taking my empty cup and placing it on the tray.

Edith suddenly got to her feet with a gasp. “Look at the time. I’d better return to work.”

Harmony glanced at the small clock beside a stack of periodicals on the shelf. “I thought you’d finished for the day, like me.”

“Mrs. Kettering asked me to do something for her.”

“Or are you really going off to see your beau?” Goliath asked with a wink.

Edith blushed and lowered her head.