“Perhaps you need to talk to management.”
“Perhaps, but right now I’m talking to you,” Margot said as she laid a twenty-dollar bill on the counter. It wasn’t much of a bribe, but she wasn’t asking for much either. Even though as far as bribes go it was light, she would still be writing it up in her expense report if he took it.
The clerk put his hand on the bill and said, “I was.”
Margot took out a trio of pictures of Phoebe and set them on the counter. “Did you see this woman? Coming in around seven and walking out around eleven?”
He looked them over. He seemed to be taking this seriously. After a solid minute, he answered, “I don’t think so.”
Margot took out another twenty, put it on the counter, and said, “Think?”
“Keep your money; I honestly don’t remember her.”
“You behind this desk that whole time?”
“Sure, did she get a room? Maybe you have the wrong night.”
“She didn’t get a room, but she should have been here.”
“If I had a customer when she walked through, I never would have seen her. It’s possible she didn’t leave through the lobby or—for that matter, come in this way at all if she was seeing a guest. He could have let her in through the side door.”
“He?”
“Or she, or whatever. I’m making an assumption based on your job that she wasn’t here for a business meeting. Am I wrong?”
“No. Is there anyone else I can talk to?”
“The bartender might have seen her, maybe the bellhop. Just be discreet. We like to pretend that kind of thing doesn’t happen here.”
“No problem.”
Margot made her way across the lobby. She noticed Theodore picking up the phone and turning his back to talk. She couldn’t tell if he was taking a call or making one but decided not to worry about it either way.
Margot didn’t see a bellhop around, so she took a seat at the bar. The bartender, a tall brunette around Margot’s age, was slow to get over even though Margot was the only customer, but she made it eventually.
“Maker’s on ice,” Margot told her. Normally she tried not to drink on the job, but bartenders tended to be more cooperative if the person asking questions was buying drinks, so Margot figured she’d have one on Phoebe.
Margot put a twenty on the bar and told her, “Keep it.”
“Considering how much we charge for drinks, that's not much of a bribe.”
“You saw me talking to Theo?”
“It’s not like I had something better to do.”
“So, you pay attention. Were you here two nights ago?”
“I was, but I had customers that night, so I wasn’t keeping tabs on Theo, who hates it when people call him that, by the way.”
Margot took out her pictures and set them on the bar. “Was she one of them?”
Like Theo, the bartender gave them a good looking over.
“What did Theo say?” she asked.
“Tell me what you saw first.”
“She wasn’t at the bar. If she came through the lobby, I didn’t see her. Sorry.”