The Rotary Club Murder Mystery Read Online Free Page B

brought out a big pile of sheets and towels, dumped them into the hamper, and took the sweeper into the room. She pulled open the curtains and started vacking the rug.
    And that was why she had turned up the TV so loud—so she could hear it above the racket of that sweeper. And it was loud, I tell you. Why, I heard it clear as day across the pool and above the Muzak!
    According to my watch, it took her a little over ten minutes to run the sweeper, make the bed, and put out the towels. Then she closed the curtains, turned off the TV, dumped the soiled linen in her hamper, took the wedge out of the door so it would close, and went on to the next room, where she went through the same thing.
    I noticed that every time she went into the rooms on that side of the pool, she would leave the cart with the hamper outside, right there in front of the window of the same room where she was working. That meant she could easily see everybody that might come along and stand anywhere near that cart.
    But you see, if she got to the end of that row and then pulled her cart back to the corner where the two wings of the building came together, she would be starting out differently on that row because the first door she would come to would be right at the corner. So when she went to the next room, she would most likely drag the cart behind her and leave it in front of the window of the room she had already cleaned. And that was what I wanted to see her do.
    So I just waited. I had three cups of coffee. I was almost embarrassed from being there so long, and it takes a lot to embarrass me. But finally, she got to the end of that row of rooms. And sure enough, she did just what I thought she would.

    I paid my bill at the desk in the dining room and went on out the front door. Then instead of getting into my car and driving home, I turned to the left and walked down to the corner of the building and came all the way up the outside to that passage between the two wings of the motel. I just stood there until the maid had gotten to room 106. I could tell when she went from one room to another by the way the TV would be shut off. So I knew the minute when it was right for me to come out.
    Sure enough, there was the cart parked outside the door of 106, but it was in front of room 107, in a position where I could easily have gotten hold of that key without being seen from 106. There was not a soul around except the lady in the bathing suit, and her chaise longue was positioned so that I was completely out of her sight.
    Well I stood there for three minutes by my watch, which was plenty of time to take an impression of the key—in a bar of soap or a ball of wax—I think that’s the way they always do it in detective stories. So that was one way someone could have gotten the key. But it would be risky—because if you were seen doing it, that would just let the cat out of the bag. Still, there might be other ways to get the key.
    Then I heard the TV in room 106 go off, which meant that the little cleaning woman would come out.
    I put on a big smile and said, “Good morning! Isn’t this a perfect day! I was just standing here looking at that beautiful pool with the lovely blue water and all the bright colors of the umbrellas and the pretty furniture around.”
    She gave me a look as if to say, What is that old bat talking about?
    â€œHave you worked here long?” I asked. Anything to get a conversation started!
    â€œâ€™Bout five years.”
    â€œI bet you never had as much excitement as you did last week.”
    â€œLord, no!” she said. “And I hope I don’t never have nothing
like it again. I come around here about nine, nine-thirty and knocked on that ther’ door, see. Didn’t nobody answer, so I thought it musta been empty an’ unlocked it. But then I seen it was on that chain thang. So I jist said,’ ‘Scuse me,’ and went on to the next room, not thinkin’ a‘tall