Page 148 of Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies

No point in asking him about the other times he’s been drugged.

“But how did they get into Eleanor’s room?” Allison says. “Those doors lock automatically when you close them.”

“The key,” Harper says in a small voice. “The master key.”

“You still have a master key?” I say.

Her hands flutter by her sides. “They gave it to me when we checked in.”

“What do you mean?” Emily asks. “You have a key to everyone’s room?”

“I always have one.”

“Why?”

Harper shakes her head slowly. “I don’t know… I never questioned it. The first tour we did, they gave me one because the master booking was in my name, and it seemed easier. With packing Eleanor’s things and…” She looks at me with an apology in her eyes, and I’m not sure what she’s excusing herself for. “Anyway, every time we go on tour, I have one.”

“I get it for Eleanor’s room, but why the rest of us?”

“I don’t know.”

Emily crosses her arms over her chest. She’s in a cute romper, her hair in a messy ponytail. She looks younger and more vulnerable than I’ve seen her since we met. “You expect us to believe that someone just gave you a key to all of our rooms without your asking for it?”

This doesn’t extend to her tone, obviously.

“What are you implying, Emily?” I ask.

“Seems pretty clear to me.”

“Why don’t you make it clear for the room?”

“That’s how they got the gun. With the master room key.”

Allison nods slowly. “And then that handkerchief around the gun. That’s yours, right, Oliver? You gave one to me yesterday for the salve, but it didn’t have that stain on it.”

“What stain?” Harper asks.

“There was a bloodstain on… Oh! The ruins. When Harper tackled me… She cut her head and she used your handkerchief to wipe the blood.”

“I took that back,” Oliver says. “I put it in my laundry bag to clean when I got back to the States.”

“Are you sure?”

His brow creases, and though I have a distinct memory of him taking the handkerchief back and putting it in his pocket, now I’m not sure either. “I can check.”

“I’m sure the police will do that,” Emily says.

“Where’s the master room key now?” Allison asks Harper.

Harper pats herself down, like she might find it on her person. “It was in my purse…”

Guy holds up his hand and counts off on his fingers. “The room key, the gun, the handkerchief…”

“And she has sleeping pills,” Emily says.

There are two bright spots of color on Harper’s cheeks. “Yes, I have sleeping pills. But I didn’t use them to drug anyone. I wasn’t even sitting at Guy’s table.”

“You went to the bathroom, though, and stopped to talk to them,” Emily says. “I saw you.”

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