06 Suspects and Surprises by Cindy Bell Read Free Book Online Page B

sighed. “I don't think this investigation is getting us anywhere.”
    “Let's take another look inside,” Mary suggested. “There still might be something we're not thinking about.”
    “Okay,” Suzie nodded, but her shoulders had slumped with defeat. She didn't want to admit it out loud but she could see why Jason had found it hard to believe that this death wasn't an accident. Everything about the scene pointed to an accident. Maybe it was just an accident after all and she just didn’t want to admit that they had a faulty railing. Suzie tried to push that thought from her mind, probably because she simply didn’t want to believe it.
    Suzie stepped back into the room with Mary just behind her. When she slid the door shut, she noticed a strange spattering of marks on the glass. The morning sunlight filtering through the glass made it very easy to see. They didn't look like fingerprints.
    “I wonder what caused this,” Suzie said as she studied the marks. “I know they weren't here before Warren checked in. I did a thorough cleaning.”
    “Sometimes you can't get all of the smudges,” Mary pointed out. “Sunlight can be very unforgiving.”
    “I guess that you're right,” Suzie nodded. She ducked down to look under the bed again. Then she picked up a few of the pillows to see if there was anything hidden underneath. She found nothing unusual. She picked up the trashcan which only had a few papers in it. One was a receipt from a restaurant on the way to Dune House. Suzie remembered that he had said he ate on the road. Another paper was a scribble of what looked like one of the antique vases that lined the shelving. The last piece of paper was crumpled up. Suzie thought it might be very important. If he had taken the time to wad it up into a ball he probably didn't want anyone easily seeing what was written on it.
    “I think we've got something, Mary,” Suzie said. She carefully unfolded the paper.
    “Oh yes, you have something all right,” Mary gulped out and cringed at the sight of the used chewing gum that Suzie had unveiled.
    “Gross,” Suzie cringed and wadded the paper back up. “That's it then,” she said with a huff. “There's nothing. There's not even a bag of leftover pistachios around here.”
    “We should have a look around down below the balcony, too,” Mary suggested.
    “Good idea,” Suzie nodded. She walked back across the room to lock the doors that led to the balcony. She didn't want there to be any chance of anyone else getting hurt. When she turned back to leave the room, she saw the mirror positioned on the bed across from the sliding glass doors. In the mirror she could see the sun rising, the water glistening, and the balcony railing swinging. Her heart skipped a beat as she wondered just for a second if somehow Warren's death really was her fault. As she stared through the mirror she noticed the smudges on the glass door again. She was certain they hadn't been there when Warren checked in. With a shake of her head she left the room. She locked the door behind her.
    “Are you okay?” Mary asked when Suzie joined her in the hallway.
    “I don't think I will be until we find out what happened,” Suzie admitted. She felt a heavy weight on her shoulders. She knew that she still had a birthday party to plan. Benjamin and Catherine would still be flying in, and they would expect to be able to celebrate with their mother. Suzie had to find a way to juggle everything, and she still wanted it to be a surprise for Mary. As they walked down the stairs to the lobby, Suzie noticed John standing by the front desk. He looked a little uncomfortable. Suzie assumed he had seen some of what happened.
    “Sorry for all of the commotion,” Suzie said sadly as she walked over to the desk.
    “I'll make some coffee,” Mary offered and headed for the kitchen. Suzie was sure that she was going to need some to get through the rest of the day.
    “What happened?” John asked. “I woke up and saw a