Page 20 of Cougar Point

“Connie, what was the room like before you cleaned? I need all the detail you can remember,” I say.

“The covers weren’t down like Mrs. Marsh had slept there. I guess Mrs. Marsh could have slept on top of the covers but hardly anyone ever does because they’re afraid we don’t clean them.” She hurriedly says, “But we do.”

Myself, I never sleep on the duvet. I pull it off on the floor where it belongs.

“I’m sure you do a thorough job, Connie. Go on.”

The dam breaks and the rest spills out. She has a good memory. She went in the room a couple of hours before Roger told her to stay out. Rebecca would have been on the back deck waiting for her mom at that time. There was an empty champagne bottle lying on the floor. She put the bottle in the trash, then cleaned the room. She took the trash away and threw it in the bin outside. If she can be believed, she hadn’t touched anything else. She hadn’t seen the note on the floor outsideVictoria’s room. I took Connie’s contact information and let her go.

With Connie gone I ask, “What time did you have dinner with your mom Thursday night, Rebecca?”

“Maybe seven or eight. Then we went to her room and sat on the veranda and talked. There wasn’t any champagne in the room. I’m sure of it. Mom is not much of a drinker. And when I looked for her, I went to her room and there was no bottle of champagne. Unless it was in the trash. I didn’t think to look there. Connie said she threw the bottle away so I wouldn’t have known.”

“Maybe she ordered another bottle that night after you left the room?”

“I’m sure she wouldn’t have.”

I call the front desk. Roger answers.

“Mr. Whiting. This is Detective Carpenter. Is Connie still around?”

“She’s right here. I’ll put her on.”

She answers in a hesitant voice. “This is Connie.”

“Detective Carpenter, Connie. I just need to clarify something.”

“Okay.”

“You found a champagne bottle on the floor. Do you remember if there was anything left in the bottle?”

“Yes.”

“There was some left?”

“Not much though. Is it important?”

“How many glasses for the champagne were in the room?” I’d forgot to ask that question.

“There were two. But now that I think of it, they hadn’t been used.”

I mull that over and then ask if there’s anything else she can recall that might be helpful. You’d be amazed how often that “anything else” question bears fruit.

She hesitates for a second. “Well, there was one other thing. Sort of.”

“Sort of?”

“I didn’t think it was important enough to mention because you asked about unusual things. This isn’t unusual.”

“Tell me.”Before I strangle you.

“It’s probably nothing. People are always coming and going.”

“Tell me.”

“It’s just, I didn’t think it was worth mentioning. I was getting some ice and I ran into Missy. She always likes to make sure I’m doing everything right. Anyway, when she was talking to me, we saw a guy and a woman going out of the downstairs back door. I just saw them for a second. I thought the woman was a little drunk, the way she was draped around the guy.”

“Were they guests?”

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