Death at the Voyager Hotel Read Online Free PDF Page B

had ulterior motives in their
so-called relationship.”
    Paula was puzzled
by these analyses. “You don’t think he was in love with her either?”
    “In a way,
but…”
    “You don’t
trust him? I mean, what exactly are you saying?”
    “I guess that’s
it,” Diane said with a shrug. “I don’t trust him.”
    Paula watched
her for a moment as she brooded. “Let me ask you something, Diane. It’s very
personal, so you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. Did you and Heather
ever fight over Oliver?”
    Diane sighed
and put her pen down. “Okay, I’ll tell you what happened. A while after I
started working at High Street Academy, I got interested in Oliver. I mean,
look at him. What red-blooded woman wouldn’t be?”
    Paula smiled
slightly, but wasn’t about to admit she agreed.
    “But after I
got to know him a little,” Diane continued, “my character meter started sending
me alarm signals. It’s hard to explain; but at first, his focus seemed to be
all about me; but then I realized that underneath it all, he’s really all about
himself. That’s when I backed off and left him alone. Then Heather got here and
I saw her falling for him, and I didn’t like it—for her sake, I mean.
    “So, about a
month ago,” Diane continued, leaning closer to Paula and lowering her voice, “I
was coming out of my room at the Voyager when I saw Heather going downstairs.
She’d left her door ajar. As I passed it, I saw Oliver inside her room,
watching TV with his shirt off. He didn’t see me. When I got downstairs, I
bumped into Heather as she was coming back up. I don’t know what got into me,
but I blurted out to her that she shouldn’t do anything she would later regret.”
    Diane paused,
wiping her sweaty palms on her skirt. “Of course, as soon as I said that, it
was me who regretted it. Heather got upset and accused me of being jealous of her
relationship with Oliver, and then we started bickering. Oliver heard us, and
he came down the hallway to find us arguing. The whole thing was ugly and
embarrassing, and I blame myself for starting it. But, you know, in the end, I
was only concerned about Heather. That’s all it was. I know it might have
seemed like jealousy, but it wasn’t.”
    “I see,” Paula nodded,
even though she wasn’t convinced that no jealousy had been involved. Diane’s
head might be saying that, but Paula doubted her heart was.
    “So anyone
suggesting I had it in for her,” Diane said with a weak grin, “don’t pay them
no mind.”
    “Anyone like
whom?” Paula asked curiously. Perhaps she meant Oliver.
    Diane shrugged.
“Oh, I don’t know. Anyone.”
    Paula rested a
gentle hand on Diane’s shoulder. “Are you going to be okay? Is there anything I
can do to help?”
    “No, nothing.” Diane
smiled at her. “You’ve done a lot already to help me get through this. Thank
you.”
    It looked like
she wanted to say something else.
    “What is it?”
Paula asked encouragingly.
    “D’you think
Heather was murdered?”
    Paula gazed at the
floor to frame her thoughts, and then looked up. “It isn’t something we like to
think about, but what we know about Heather doesn’t fit the picture the police
are trying to paint, and so I reject it. I’ve been casting around for explanations,
but each time I come up with the same answer: there must have been foul play.”
    Diane was
studying her closely. “That’s a relief in a weird way. Just like you, I can’t
see Heather being responsible for her own death. I mean, all this stuff about
going swimming while drunk…there’s just no way.”
    Paula nodded.
“Agreed. It feels like we should do something to set the record straight.”
    “Well,” Diane
offered. “If you need me to help persuade that chief inspector he’s got it all
wrong, let me know, because I’m happy to do it.”
    “Thank you.”
    “Meanwhile, I had
an idea today,” Diane said, brightening. “I want to put together a collage of all
the pics I took of