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rifled through them. The notepad and pen beside the phone were askew, as if hurriedly pushed aside.
    He was positive he hadn’t disturbed the room in that manner. Had the young woman…Patti, he corrected, glancing at Kerry, who now looked sad and drawn. Had Patti gone through his things, maybe looking for money for another drug hit?
    “Kerry had nothing to do with this,” he said. “Can’t she go to her room? The police can get a statement from her tomorrow if they need it.”
    “She’d better stay,” Charlotte told him, giving Kerry a sympathetic glance.
    The security chief appeared at the door at that instant. “The police,” he announced and led two men inside. He introduced them as detectives from homicide. “Crime scene investigators.”
    Charlotte moved away from the bed. “I’m not sure there’s been a crime. It may be an overdose.”
    “We’ll check it out,” the older of the two men said. “Who found the body?”
    “I did,” Matt said. “She was in my room when I came in. The electricity was off and I undressed in the dark, then went to bed. That’s when I discovered her—Patti.”
    Both officers gave him a sharp glance. “You know her?” the older one asked.
    “No,” he said.
    “I did,” Kerry told them. “I met her today. She was my waitress at lunch.” She told them where. The younger detective wrote the info down. “Then she was the docent at the voodoo museum this afternoon, only she called herself Queen Patrice. She took my picture with Jolie—the python,” she added at the blank expressions on the men’s faces.
    Matt reassessed Kerry’s delicate frame. If she’d agreed to have her picture taken with a snake as large as a python, she must be stronger than she looked.
    And braver.
    He liked the way she’d come over to help him out when he’d discovered a strange woman in his bed.
    That showed a level of confidence that he admired.
    Independent women appealed to him. Kerry wasn’t at all like the women in his family. For years, he’d wondered why his mom didn’t leave his father, a ruthless, controlling man. Finally he’d realized she couldn’t, that she didn’t know how to live her life without someone like her husband to take charge.
    Or maybe she was willing to put up with the cold temper and authoritative ways in order to live a comfortable life as the wife of a successful lawyer and community leader.
    He sighed and wondered what had brought aboutthese ruminations. Glancing at Kerry, who waited patiently beside him for the police to finish, he had an odd impulse to take her hand and kiss it to thank her for coming over, for being cool and levelheaded when confronted with such a difficult situation.
    She looked over at him and gave him a wan smile that spoke of weariness and empathy.
    After the detectives had gotten a statement from everyone, paramedics arrived with a gurney and quietly took the body of Patti, alias Queen Patrice, from the room.
    Once the police and paramedics were gone, Charlotte and Matt walked Kerry to her door and bid her good-night, then continued to the next suite.
    Charlotte unlocked the door with a master key.
    “I’ll have a bellboy pack for you and bring you a key to this suite.”
    “Fine,” Matt said.
    “Thank you so much for your patience.” Charlotte shook his hand. “I can’t tell you how much I regret what has happened.”
    He shrugged. “It was a shock, but things happen that are beyond anyone’s control.”
    “I hope you rest well,” she said. She departed, leaving a battery-powered lantern for him.
    Next door, he heard a slight noise and wondered if his neighbor would be able to sleep.
    Glancing at the elegant bed in his new quarters,he gave a rueful sigh, then secured the interior bolt and chain.
    One ghastly surprise per night was more than enough for Matt.

CHAPTER THREE
    T HE SUN WAS HIGH and the temperature in the sixties by the time Kerry emerged from her room on Sunday morning. Dressed in white slacks and a