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“No, no, I just need a moment. I’ve worked in hotels for twenty-three years. I’ve seen and heard and dealt with a great deal, as you might expect. But to think I may have . . . the person who did . . . But, he had a child!”
“Maybe. Is this the guy?”
Patting his chest, Henry studied the image on screen. “Oh, no, he was younger than this.”
“How about this guy?”
“No, not that young. I’m sorry.”
“Elimination’s good.” And that eliminated the two Philip Carsons in East Washington who were under eighty and over twenty. “Housekeeping, Henry.”
He let out a long breath before pulling out a ’link, tapping a code. “Tasha, I need you in 1004, right away.”
“If this room was used, I got really lucky, but luck can happen. Or I could be wrong. Do you have security feed from yesterday?”
“We— I’m sorry— We don’t have it at all.”
Another good reason to pick this location, she thought. “Can you describe the man and the kid?”
“Yes, yes.” Some of his color came back. “I absolutely can do that. I’d be happy to do that.”
“Okay, you’re going to give me the basics in a minute, then I’m going to have you work with a police artist. Can you come to Central?”
“I—I just need to have someone come in to take my shift.”
“How about I send the artist to you?”
“Thank you. It would be helpful.”
“You’re helpful, Henry. I’ve got it,” she said at the knock on the door. She opened it to a tiny blond woman with enormous blue eyes.
“Tasha, this is Lieutenant Dallas. She needs to ask you about the guests who were in this room.”
“And the room after they left it.”
“Okay, but I didn’t actually see the guests. They had their privacy light on, so I didn’t see them.”
“What can you tell me about the room, after they checked out?”
“They were really neat. I could tell they’d used the kitchen, but they’d washed up after themselves. Most people don’t. I still washed everything, Mr. Henry. And they used the honor bar, so I replaced everything.”
“The rug, over here by the window. Did you notice anything?”
“Now, it’s funny you should ask. I could see they must’ve brought over the chairs and sat there by the window. You could see the, you know, dents in the rug. And there were a couple other dents. I think maybe they had like a little telescope, and sat there looking at the city. People do that.”
“Oh my,” Henry murmured. “Oh my.”
“I vacuumed up really good, Mr. Henry.”
“I know you did, dear. The room is spotless, as always when you turn one.”
“What did you do with the trash? They must’ve left some trash.”
“Oh, that goes straight into the recycler.”
“Sheets, towels?”
“Right to Laundry.”
