“He got here before you?”
“Well, yes.”
“Interesting,” Des said, because this directly contradicted what Aaron had just told her. One of them was lying. Or, possibly, mistaken. Witnesses often remembered a sequence of events differently. It could mean something. It could mean nothing. “Let’s talk about last night, Carly. Can you describe how your night was for me?”
“It was long,” she said, letting out a humorless laugh. “Put yourself in my position, Des. My unfaithful husband is lying there next to me. His humid young whore is parked in bed across the hall, waiting for him to make passionate love to her. I didn’t drop off for a single second. I was too busy waiting to catch those two in the act.”
“And did you?”
“No, I didn’t. Aaron stayed in our bed all night. He never got up once.”
“What about the other nights since you folks arrived here?”
“He hasn’t dared. He grabs what he can when he thinks it’s safe, like when I caught the two of them kissing out on the observation deck yesterday. But he’s slept straight through the night every night. I can tell by his breathing. It’s deep and steady. When he’s awake, it’s much shallower and more ragged.”
“Sounds like you’ve made a real study of it.”
“When you’re married to a man like Acky, you become a pulmonary specialist, believe me.”
“Oh, I believe you,” Des said, wondering if Carly was being even remotely straight with her. Wondering if she’d lie to protect her husband. If she’d kill for him. What if all was not as it appeared to be? What if Aaron’s fling with Hannah, Carly’s little vanishing act last evening, the ladies’ lounge histrionics-what if all of that was a ploy to throw off suspicion? What if Aaron and Carly were, in actuality, doing just fine together? So fine that they’d teamed up to commit these murders? “Last night, Carly, is there any chance that you yourself dropped off for a little while?”
“No chance at all,” Carly answered crisply. “I was awake all night hashing over my new life plan. I’ve come up with my three top priorities. Number one is to rid myself of my humiliating, debasing marriage.”
“And the other two?”
“Quit smoking and start researching a new book. I need to sink my teeth into some solid work. Work is the best man cure I know. Other than starting over with another man, of course. And that’s not going to happen. Not for a good, long while. This time, I’m taking care of me.”
“Carly, did you happen to get up in the night? Perhaps slip out for a quick smoke?”
“Not a chance. I couldn’t. I’m afraid of the dark, you see. Always have been.”
“Did you hear anyone else slip out? Footsteps out here in the hall? Doors opening or closing? Because if you were awake all night…”
“I was, I swear.”
“Then you’re in a real position to help me. Think hard, please. This is important.”
Carly considered this for a moment, her eyes lingering on the sealed doors to rooms one and three. “You’re wondering about Norma, I imagine. If Norma got up, I didn’t hear her. But her room is right here next to the stairs. We’re over in five.”
“Ada was right next door to you. Did you hear her get up?”
“I’m sorry, no. I can’t help you with that.”
Des wasn’t sure whether to buy this or not. While it was true that she herself had easily heard Les open and close the door to room ten from room one, it was also true that Les had not been making any effort to keep quiet. In the middle of the night, Norma and Ada doubtless would have.
“But I’ll tell you what I did hear.” Now Carly lowered her voice. “I heard somebody moving around upstairs.”
Des frowned at her. “What do you mean, upstairs?”
“I mean, up on the third floor,” she said, gazing up at the ceiling. “I heard the floorboards creak in the night. Someone was up there.”
“Doing what?”
“Besides walking around? I truly can’t imagine.”
“But there’s no one staying up on the third floor, is there?”
“Not a soul. During the off-season, they close it off to save on fuel.”
“Any idea what time it was when you heard these footsteps?”
“Two, possibly three in the morning.”
Des weighed this, baffled. Why would anyone have been wandering around up there in the middle of the night during a power outage? “And you sure you weren’t dreaming?”
“Positive,” Carly insisted. “My ears could have been playing tricks on me. It was a stormy night, and old places like this creak like crazy in the wind. Maybe that’s all it was. Or maybe it was mice. But you asked me what I heard…”
“And you heard creaking floorboards.” Des glanced up at the ceiling doubtfully. “Anything else?”
“No,” said Carly, the tip of her tongue flicking delicately at her lips. “Not unless you count the lovemakers.”
Des cleared her throat, well aware that she and Mitch had gotten more than a little bit busy last night. “Which lovemakers?”
“The ones next door in Spence’s room.”
“Spence had a woman in his room last night?”
“I’m assuming it was a woman. I don’t think he’s gay. Mind you, one never knows for sure.”
“Well, who was she?”
“I have no idea.”
Des had very little doubt. It had to have been Hannah. After all, she and Spence had known each other for years from the studio’s internship program. The only question was whether they were longtime lovers or if this was something new. And it was a mighty important question, because if the two of them went back a ways, then it was entirely possible that they were the ones who were behind these killings. Only why would they take out Norma and Ada? What was in it for them? “Exactly what did you hear, Carly?”
“The usual moaning and panting. I don’t have to act it out for you, do I?”
“Not necessary. You’re sure this was coming from Spence’s room?”
“Positive.”
“Had you heard the woman go into his room sometime earlier?”
Carly stared at her blankly. “Now that you mention it, no.”
Downstairs, the piano had fallen silent. The sudden quiet that descended upon the castle was almost eerie.
“But she could have gone in there while everyone was getting settled in for the night,” Carly suggested. “Plenty of doors were opening and closing, plus the furnace monkey was making firewood deliveries.”
“His name is Jase,” Des growled at her, hearing raised voices down in the entry hall now. “Did she stay the whole night?”
“Well, I didn’t hear her leave.”
Des searched her memory of early that morning, when Les found Norma dead in bed beside him and cried out for help. They’d all come spilling out into the hall. Hannah had come out of her own room. Spence had been alone in his. She was quite certain. “Are you sure about that, Carly?”
“I’m sure.”
Now Des heard heavy footsteps behind her on the stairs, someone heading back up. “And you’re sure you didn’t fall asleep for a few minutes?”
“I told you, I was awake all night.”
“Well, then how on earth did she-?” Des never got the rest of her words out.
It was Carly. Her big blue eyes were bulging with fright. “Oh my lord!” she gasped, gazing over Des’s shoulder at the stairs.
And that’s when Des whirled and saw him standing there.
CHAPTER 13
Les was studying him very, very intently.
The innkeeper’s face was extremely close to Mitch’s. No more than a foot away.
He’s checking to see if I’m awake, Mitch supposed.
Although, quite frankly, Mitch was finding it hard to suppose much of anything just yet. He felt dazed and confused, the world around him a vague, befuddling fog. Slowly, as Mitch began to emerge from that fog, he became aware that the back of his head ached. And now he recalled that Les… Les had hit him, knocked him out cold. That’s why he was presently lying on the frigid dirt floor of the woodshed. And that’s why Les was watching him.
Not saying anything. Just watching.