“Why would those two be here? And why would they be together?” Annette wondered.

It was already 4:00 a.m. so Annette decided to shower and do a little investigating before she met Jack and Kat in the lobby at 8:00. The plan was for them to compare notes before meeting with the detective at 9:00 at the Roadside Cafe.

When she first heard and then saw the couple by the pool near her patio, her first instinct was to quickly move to a corner of the patio where she couldn’t be seen by the two. She could no longer see the couple, but she could hear them.

“I want to see her. I need to see her,” Annette heard. “I should have made it happen a long time ago.”

“I’m really afraid this is going to end badly,” the other voice answered. “I hope you have a plan to get us out of here. “

“I have told you!!” The other one said angrily. “We aren’t going anywhere. Now go home. You have to be at work in a couple of hours. I’m going to my room. I’ll be in touch later.”

Annette watched as the man walked to his room. She had moved closer to the front of the patio with the goal of getting his room number. He put his key in the lock, but before going inside, he turned around and looked in the direction of Annette. Did he see her? Did she have reason to be afraid?

“We’ll wait another five minutes,” Jack said. “That will barely give us time to get to the Cafe to meet the detective at 9:00. You go to her room and knock on the door and I’ll check with the front desk to see if they have seen her.”

“Excuse me. I’m concerned about my co-worker. She was supposed to meet her cousin and I in the lobby at 8:00. Her name is Annette Morris and she’s in room 114,” Jack said.

“And your name is?” The desk clerk asked.

“My name is Jack Stein. I’m also registered here.”

“As a matter of fact, Mr. Stein, she was here about an hour ago and left you a note. Yes…here it is.”

Jack opened the envelope and began to read the note just as Kat returned. When he finished reading it, he handed the note to her.”

Jack,

I saw Paul and I’m going to find out why he’s here. Don’t wait for me, I will get to the cafe as soon as I can.

Annette

“Do you have any idea who Paul is?” Jack asked Kat.

“Not a clue.”

“I probably shouldn’t share this information,” the desk clerk said, but we have a guest registered here by the name of Paul Morris. I wonder if they’re related… Paul and Annette I mean… They have the same last name.”

Kat and Jack decided to go on to the cafe. This was something they thought the detective should know about.

When they arrived at the Roadside Cafe, the detective was already there. They showed him Annette’s note and told him they didn’t know Paul Morris, but he must in some way be related to Annette.

Sandy, the waitress came over to fill their coffee cups.

“I’m not sure if you know this,” she said. “But Annette and I have become friends and we’ve talked a lot since all of this began. Edith Morris was an evil person who deserved to die.”

“It appears so,” Kat said. “How long have you worked here, miss.. ?” Kat asked as she added cream to her coffee.

“My name is Sandy…I’ ve been here a long ten years,” Sandy answered.

“Do you know who Paul Morris is?” The detective asked.

Sandy hesitated a moment before answering. “Yes,” she said…he’s Annette’s stepfather,”

The detective quickly figured out that Jack was trying to cover for someone and he had an idea who that might be.

“Mr. Stein, did your daughter tell you that she was very overwrought when she paid Mrs. Morris a visit last evening?”

Annette overheard the conversation between Jack and the detective and interrupted.

“I was with Vanessa in my mother’s room. We were both upset. We had just learned of all the evil things she had done and we were trying to confront her about them.”

“Did she respond to you?” The detective asked.

“She was sleeping. We were about to wake her up when a nurse came in to check her vital signs.”

By this time, Kat had joined them. “I saw them both leave Mrs. Morris’ room around 7:45. I was waiting to see Vanessa. I stayed with her until after 10:00.

Jack breathed an audible sigh of relief which didn’t go unnoticed by the detective.

“Well, the nurse reported that Mrs. Morris was alive when she checked on her.” Listen…it’s late… or early depending on how you look at it. Why don’t you all go get some rest. We’ll continue with the questioning tomorrow.

This brought an objection from Jack.

“My daughter is being released tomorrow and I was planning to take her home. My other daughter is still in a hospital in Boston. They’ve both been through enough.”

“I’m sorry Mr. Stein. None of your alibis are complete…at least not until the coroner has established the time of death.”

“Detective…do I need to get a lawyer?” Jack asked.

“Well, that’s up to you, Mr. Stein. I’m a small town guy and I like to think of myself as a fair man. At this point, I’m just gathering some information. I’ll be at the Roadside Cafe at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow in case any of you would like to join me for coffee.

After they checked on Vanessa one more time, Jack, Kat and Annette drove back to the hotel. It was now 3:00 o’clock in the morning and after agreeing to meet in the lobby at 8:00 a.m., they all went to their rooms to try and get some sleep.

After tossing and turning for a few minutes, Kat finally went to sleep. Jack was sitting at the desk in his room. He was jotting down notes to share with the detective in the morning.

Annette decided she needed some air. She opened the sliding glass door and walked out onto the small patio facing the pool area. The cool air was refreshing. She was surprised when she heard what sounded like two people in a rather heated conversation. It was dark, but she was able to spot them sitting at a small table.

Though she couldn’t hear what they were saying well enough to understand what they were arguing about, she could tell it was getting very contentious. And there was something else… Annette moved back into the shadows. She recognized those voices. “Could it be?” She thought. Could it really be?”