Who Glares Wins (Lexi Graves Mysteries) (13 page)

"Yeah. Imagine three hundred guests
arriving,
and we don't even have the tables and chairs set out
, never mind the sound system
. Fortunately
,
my house manager, Sylvia
Cooper
, is amazing. It normally takes us a couple of hours, or overnight, to set everything up
; but s
he got everything ready in thirty minutes
while we
poured
free coffee and tea in the bar
."

"You think she's after your job?" What I meant
, of course,
was could she have done it
?
T
hen made herself look good
by
saving the day
?

"No. She wants a life." Edward smiled, like that was a funny idea. "That's not the only ti
me she's had to do it either. I was worried we'd
lose her to a rival.
Now I’m worried she’ll walk out
at
the first decent offer she gets.
"

"What's your gut feeling on all this?"

"My gut? Honestly, I don't know. Sometimes
,
I think it's personal. Sometimes I think it's against the
Addison G
roup for buying the hotel
and
including it in the
chain
."

That was what I expected, having already come to the same conclusions.
I tried a different question. "What sort of person do you think could be responsible?"

Edward breathed in deeply and stared up at the ceiling, his fingers steepled under his chin.
"Most of our employees can only access the things that are
necessary to
their job. Waitresses can't use the front of house computer system, for example, and the concierge would
certainly
stand out in the kitchen. So
,
either they can access a lot without
being
notice
d
, or they've found a
nother
way to do it. That's not much help
,
I know."

I was noting this down. "It's very helpful," I assured him
, looking up to offer a smile
. "Please
,
go on."

"Hmm, okay. Well, they would need to access the computers, either in-house or hack in, because that's the only way to mess with the bookings and the rotas." I made a note to
ask
Lucas
to go into the system again
and run diagnostics
,
before waving
Edward on. He continued, "They would also need to be able to access the guest rooms."

"How are the guest rooms accessed?"

"Electronic key card
s
. We program the card
to the room
at the desk when the guest checks in and they keep the card for the duration of their stay. It gets deactivated when they check out
and
then
we reuse the card
."

"How many cards do you issue per room?"

"Usually
,
not more than two."

"And if they lose their card?"

"It
can be
deactivated
from here
and a new one issued."

"So, someone could
potentially
program another card for access and
hang onto the first one
?"

"Yes."

"Do you keep records of activations and deactivations?"

"Yes
, always
."

"And housekeeping?"

"They're issued an all
-
access card when they go on shift
,
and
they
return it when they're
finished
"

I made another note for
Lucas
and smiled. "This is all really helpful, Edward."

"Do you think it's enough to catch this person?"

"Not yet," I said. "But it's a start. I hear there'
s a conference on this week. Have
there been any problems
or complications
with that?"

"It's more of a convention," Edward corrected. "And not yet. Trust me, I hate saying 'yet
,
' but
so far
it's been smooth. Not exactly classy
,
if you know what I mean. A bunch of geeks and these pony toys that
little
girls like. Did you ever have any
Super Ponies
when you were young?"

"Sure," I said
, remembering back to when my biggest problem
was
whether to get the turquoise
-
blue pony with the pink
,
glitter
y
hair
,
or the purple one with
the
lime
-
green mane
. "It's a
rite
of passage
,
midway between building blocks and Barbie."

"Try telling these guys that."

"Neigh to that."

Edward cracked a smile. "I think I've heard every bad horse joke since we got the booking. But let's get serious. Another bad event could truly sink us. My bosses are not happy."

"Are they looking to remove you?"

"Not yet, but they will if revenue drops below predictions."

That piqued my interest. "What happens then?"

"If I get fired for the hotel failing, they either bring in a rescue team, or sell the hotel and cut their losses. Or they could close the place down
,
if the books aren’t viable for a sale
. It's not just
I who
will suffer. We employ a lot of people and I try to be flexible in my employment practices. Single moms, kids who need to bus tables to make money for college, and staff who come from nothing
,
but
possess
the spark
of ambition
that
ensures
we can train them to a high
standard. I can't let them down,
"
he said. A bead of sweat trickled down his forehead and he wiped it away, before rubbing his head in frustration.

"You sound like a good boss,” I said, honestly.

"I try. I'm a taskmaster,
I'm sure they'll tell you that
,
but I'm fair. I reward good work. I let people learn from their mistakes
,
rather than freaking out and firing them."

"Can you show me around?" I had several pages of notes now, but nothing
emerged
as the obvious reason for a saboteur to attac
k the hotel, or who it could be
.
We had already
established that there
were
no threats or
attempts at
blackmail.
My best course of action now was to
sniff
around and get to know the employees.
One of them could have seen or heard something, or
possibly
suspected someone.
"Perhaps you can expla
in more about my cover role too
,
so I can make sure
to
fit in.
"

"I don't expect you to do much in your, uh, cover role." Edward rose and walked around the desk.
I gathered my things together, sliding the files and notepad into my purse.
"It's just lucky that the role was
available
. My last assistant just stopped coming in."

"Was that odd?"

His face clouded. "Yeah, it was.
I was pretty mad."

"Has there been sabotage since?"

"Oh, yes."

The missing employee immediately
plummet
ed
from the top of my suspects list
,
but I made a note
about it
anyway. "I'll need those details too."

"I'll make sure we go by HR on our tour."

Edward Killjoy wasn't a talker
,
who
waffled endlessly, but he was friendly and knowledgeable
,
and he knew every employee by name
, even the busboys
. H
e took me on a tour of the employee areas before leading me around the front of house, showing me all the guest spaces from the lobby to the restaurant and bars. By the time we got to the conference center, I figured I would need to put names and faces on flash cards and practice.

"Wow," I said, as we paused in the gallery overlooking the convention below.

"It's really something else, isn't it?"

"You can say that again."

The conference
center
was two thousand square feet of chaos. Stall after stall showcased colorful toys, books, posters, art work, vintage items, collectibles and, disturbingly, costumes for the more discerning customer. I lost count of the number of otherwise normal
-
looking men sporting t-shirts featuring ponies, rainbows and flowers.

"I don't get it myself," said Edward as he passed me a brochure for the event from the
stand by the door. I opened it, not entirely sure what to expect. Despite the rainbow background, it was planned like any other convention.
Listed were speeches on pony metaphors, ponies and meditation, along with seminars on the resurgence of ponies in the modern world, how to write fan
fiction
,
featuring your favorite Super Pony
and workshops on
“I
llustration for
B
eginners
”
from a master pony animator. The whole thing was mind
-
boggling.

"I'm with you."

"I don't get accountant conferences either," he continued,
smiling,
"but who's judg
ing
?"

"Not me." In my head
,
I was doing some serious judging. It was hard not to.

"Be careful if one of them asks you which is your favorite pony. It's like asking
if you’re a Democrat or Republican
. Things can get
pretty
heated."

"Gotcha."

"Let's head back around to HR to get you those details."

I followed Killjoy as he swiped his
all
-
access
card to push through an
“E
mployees
O
nly
”
door
,
leading off the lobby. "No una
u
thorized
persons
can come back here," he told me
, dropping
his voice, "
To get in
,
y
ou
need
to have a pass
,
so I've ruled out guests and visitors.
It’s got to be someone on staff, or someone connected to someone here.
"

The employees
’
areas were nice
,
but stripped of the little extras that made the guest areas special. No fresh flowers, no artwork on the walls
,
and the carpet had a durable quality to it
,
while
the baseboards
had
a lower quality
. Killjoy navigated our way quickly, while I scanned the walls for direction, coming to a halt abruptly at an open doorway.

"HR," he told me,
pointing first to the rectangular placard on the door,
then ahead. "We've already been in my office down the hall
,
and your
office
is the room in between.
This hotel was built long before open plan was
popular
. Anyway,
HR is a bit of misnomer because
it’s comprised
of Louisa Moore and only Louisa Moore." Edward
motioned
me
through
as he
greeted the
woman typing at her computer, introducing us both.

"You must be Lexi, Edward's new assistant. So glad you could join us at short notice."
Louisa was around my height, though she had more than ten years on me, making her similar
in
age to Edward
.
Her d
ark blonde hair was cut in a feathered style and she wore a knee-length skirt, paired with a cardigan. She was neat
,
but not chic, though her smile was warm.