Brownies & Betrayal (Sweet Bites Mysteries, Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

to 327 had a ‘do not disturb’ card in the key card slot. I pulled it out and slid the key card into the lock. Green light.
    Bingo.
    I hoped this was Valerie’s room, and not someone else’s. I opened the door. Inside, the suitcase had been opened and the contents were strewn across the king-sized bed, revealing a plethora of makeup, underwear and casual clothes. I poked through the items and noticed a number of designer tags.
    “Hey, be careful about fingerprints,” Honey reminded me as she used the hem of her shirt to open the top dresser drawer.
    “Right.” I followed her example, picking up a scarf and using it flip things over and poke through the clothes.
    A few kid’s clothes were in the room as well—her daughter’s, I realized, and remembered the little girl’s tears. I moved to the closet and found four dresses, including the bridesmaid dress that matched the others, though this one had additional flourishes at the waist—probably to indicate her elevated status. Then I wondered if Analesa had known about the additions to the dress, or if Valerie had added them without permission. Six pairs of dress shoes with four-inch ice-pick heels lined the floor.
    “And we have liftoff,” Honey said as I admired Valerie’s taste in footwear.
    “What?” I turned to find Honey flipping through a planner and some papers.
    “Here’s a statement for her cell phone. There’s also one from the bank.” She picked up the paper and scanned it, flipping it over to check the charges and deposits. “Looks like regular charges: home, car, gas, food, nothing special.” Still, she pulled the notebook from her purse and scribbled down the account numbers for both.
    “I wish we could see her cell phone or computer or something, see if she had a note written down about her schedule.” Honey muttered this as she flipped through a few more pages, but didn’t find anything useful.
    “We’ll have to see what else we can dig up, I guess.” I checked my watch again. “It’s almost eleven. Want to see if the same clerk is on duty tonight?”
    “Let’s go.”
    I closed the closet door and checked to make sure everything else was the same as when we arrived. I didn’t want anyone to know we’d been there, and since we weren’t taking anything with us—other than Honey’s notes—I hoped there wouldn’t be a problem. I dropped the scarf back with the clothes where I’d found it.
    We arrived at the front desk in time to see the changing of the guard. A young Latino man and little redhead were swapping the computer and cash register. We walked over and both clerks turned and smiled. “Can we help you?” the young man asked.
    “Yes. I’m Tess Crawford, the cake lady from the wedding. I wondered, were either of you working last night?” I folded my arms across the chest-height counter and directed my attention to the young man.
    “I was,” he answered. “It’s spooky, thinking about something like that happening only a few rooms away, without me knowing about it.” He shifted his shoulders almost in a shrug, but looked a little unnerved.
    I couldn’t blame him. I often saw the murder scene when I closed my eyes. I was totally not looking forward to my dreams. “Yeah, I bet. Do you remember Valerie coming in last night, or passing through the reception area? I know you probably have a lot of people through here, but she’d be hard to miss in her little red dress.”
    He blushed a little. “Oh, yeah, I remembered the dress. She came in around midnight. I know because I was in the middle of the daily reports.”
    His expression said he remembered the parts of her which weren’t in the dress, rather than the other way around. I wondered why she had left the hotel and with whom. “Do you remember how she acted? Did she appear drunk or upset or anything?”
    “No.” He shrugged. “She came in chatting on her cell phone, like it was normal to hold conversations with people at midnight. She didn’t look my