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Jacob glances at it, shaking his head with confusion. “I’m afraid I don’t know, sir. Is it not yours?”
“It’s my wife’s, but up until now, it’s been missing.”
As if he just registered who Blake is, his lips form anOshape and he sucks in a breath. “I didn’t… I don’t know, sir. Hang on. I’m training today. Hilda cleaned your room. Maybe she found it.” He presses his key card to a door and pops his head inside. “Hilda, could you come here for a second?”
An elderly woman walks out, her eyes wide.
“Did you put this on my bed?” Blake demands, holding out the purse.
The woman shakes her head furiously, speaking in broken English. “I no take anything. It all there.All.”
Jacob says something to her softly in a language I don’t recognize, though I suspect it may be Indonesian, as his nametag hasIndonesialisted under his name.
She gesticulates wildly as she answers him.
When he turns back to us, it’s with a hint of apprehension. “Hilda says shedidput the bag on your bed, but it was in the guest lost and found. She says someone had tagged it for your room, probably because of the identification inside of it. They would’ve tried to call you first, then sent it to be delivered for your convenience.”
They both study us worriedly.
“How did it end up in the lost and found?” Blake asks.
“I’m sorry, sir. I don’t know.”
“Well, who found it? Where was it found? Is there some sort of log?”
“No, sir. There are no records. A guest may have turned it in or possibly a crew member. There’s no way to tell. I’m so sorry. I realize how frustrating that must be, given your circumstances. Is there…anything missing?”
“Just my wife,” Blake says bitterly, turning to walk away.
Back in the room, we go through her things.
“Nothing’s missing,” he tells me, holding out her phone, wallet, and a tube of ChapStick. “Not even the cash in her wallet.”
“Could it have been a crew member who took her? You heard him. Anyone could’ve turned that in. We should ask Diego to check the security footage of the lost and found.”
“Yeah, that’s not a bad idea, though it’s probably in ablind spot.” His voice mimics Diego’s when he says the words. “Someone here knows something.” He holds the power button down on her phone, trying to turn it on, but it’s dead. He leans forward and plugs it in, placing her wallet and ChapStick down. Then, he crosses the room and picks up the landline attached to the wall, pressing the button to call Diego.
“I need to speak to Diego please.” He pauses. “Yes, it’s Blake Barlowe. Tell him it’s urgent.” Another pause. “Yes. Fine.” He taps his finger against the wall, dipping his head down. Seconds later, his head pops up. “Diego, hi. Listen, Mae’s purse was brought to our room. Jacob said it was found in the lost and found and returned to us—” He’s cut off. “Right, but I wanted to see if you could check the footage for the lost and found. If we had an idea of who turned her purse in, it would help us figure out… Okay. Yep. Thanks.”
He places the phone down. “He’s going to look into it. I’m not holding my breath.”
Did Mae hold her breath when she hit the water?I hate the question as it pops into my mind. Hate that some small part of me has already resigned her to a fate we can’t prove.
As he walks back toward me, my phone vibrates.
“It’s Patton,” I say, reading the screen. “He may have found something about Zach.”
“Go ahead,” he says, hardly listening.
“Hello?”
“Hey.” His voice is firm. Urgent, almost. “I think I found something.”
Something inside my chest stirs. “Yeah? What is it?”
“You may want to come see in person. It’s…it’s not good, Florence.”
“Just tell me.” I put the phone on speaker and squeeze my eyes shut. “Blake’s here, too.”
