I need to talk to you, I know all about Conor’s daughter. Come to the house across the street, I’ll be waiting.
Suzanne
Kate stared at the signature. Suzanne was the young calligrapher Maeve had hired at the last minute. She and Kate had barely had the chance to speak, and now she was saying she knew all about Conor’s daughter? Kate felt as if she’d been punched in the gut.
“Do you know when the note was left?” Kate asked.
“It must have been very early this morning,” Christina said. “I came in at seven, and it was already here.”
Kate stared out the open door, at the house where Belinda had been murdered. The house across the street. Suzanne had wanted Kateto meet her there and had left the note before seven—when Belinda’s body had been found. Had Suzanne been setting a trap? If Kate had gone, would she have been the victim instead of Belinda?
Kate pulled out her phone and called Maeve’s mobile. Maeve had the list of all the room numbers—she was efficient that way, wanting to make sure that all the cards and welcome gifts Kate had prepared for her guests were delivered to the right place. Kate was anxious to get together with her and ask how she knew Suzanne, how she had come to hire her. But mostly, she needed Belinda’s room number.
The phone rang, and Maeve didn’t answer. The call went straight to voicemail, as if the phone was turned off. She went back to the front desk, asking to be put through to Maeve’s room. Lincoln answered.
“Hey, Kate, are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine, thanks, Lincoln,” she said. “Is Maeve there?”
“She’s gone out,” he said. “And I’m about to meet her.”
“She’s not answering her phone. Is she all right?”
“Not really,” Lincoln said.
Kate was so fond of Maeve; her sensitivity made her ideal as an assistant—she was a careful art historian and interpreter of artists’ work. Kate couldn’t bear the idea of her faced with a blood-soaked murder scene.
“I want to talk to her,” Kate said. “To see how she’s doing.”
“Thanks, Kate. Right now, I think she just needs the beach—we’re going to Napatree, walk the whole way to the point.”
Kate pictured the tremendous beauty of that long spit of sand. The soft dunes of Napatree Point stretched along the Atlantic on one side, then curved into Little Narragansett Bay and Watch Hill Harbor on the other. She could imagine it soothing Maeve.
“Lincoln, I need some information. Do you know if the calligrapher she hired—Suzanne—was staying here at the hotel?” Kate asked.
“No, I’m pretty sure she went home last night.”
“Okay,” Kate said. “Another question. Maeve kept a list of where each of the guests is staying in the hotel. Do you see it anywhere?”
“Yeah, it’s on the desk.”
“Good,” she said. “Can you please take a look, tell me the room number for Garrett Milne and Belinda Tyler?”
“I don’t even have to look,” Lincoln said. “Their room is right next door to ours. Belinda accidentally walked into our room last night, through the adjoining door. Families book these when they don’t want the kids out of sight.” He paused. “Maeve wasn’t happy to see her, after what she did at the rehearsal dinner. That was terrible. And now, knowing what happened to her, it’s freaking Maeve out.”
“I can imagine,” Kate said.
“I’d better go—I don’t want to keep her waiting,” Lincoln said.
“Of course,” Kate said, her thoughts racing. “Could I ask you a favor? Could you leave your room unlocked or give me the key? Maeve has all the paperwork for the weekend, and I need to check on some things.”
“Sure,” Lincoln said. His voice dropped down. “I’m really sorry about the wedding, Kate. It sucks.”
“It does,” Kate said.
Lincoln came down to the lobby and gave her the key. He was tall and had to bend over to give her a big hug, and she was relieved he didn’t say anything more about the wedding.
She let herself into the room he shared with Maeve. It was as tidy as Kate would expect from her fastidious assistant. She saw a pile of papers on the desk, including the list of guests. Her heart was pounding as she walked to the adjoining door and turned the knob. She knew the next part would depend on whether Garrett and Belinda had locked the room from their side.
