Page 7 of Dirty Liars

“We appreciate your time, Mr. Harris,” Jack said. “I know you gave Detective Cole a brief statement earlier. But would you mind running it through again for us?”

There was a soft knock at the door, and it opened again with the front desk woman pushing in a rolling cart decked out with a full coffee service and scones. I couldn’t even pretend to hide my relief. I was always ravenous after the morning sickness passed.

We paused briefly while the woman asked each of us how we liked our coffee, and then she passed them out very properly in fine china cups before letting herself out quietly.

“Please, help yourself to the scones,” Harris said, looking directly at me. “How far along are you?”

My head jerked up in surprise and he laughed.

“I’ve got six myself,” he said. “I can recognize the signs by now. My wife starts getting that look in her eye like you’ve got right now, and I know I’m in for it.”

“Six,” I said, not even able to imagine one, much less six. I helped myself and put one of the scones on the thin china plate, adding a dab of clotted cream and strawberry jam.

“A large family is something special,” he said. “My wife and I are outnumbered, but we wouldn’t change a thing. Our oldest daughter is about the same age as that girl I saw this morning. I can’t imagine what her family will go through. And I can’t imagine I’ll ever forget it. Images like that tend to stick with a man his whole life.”

“How long have you been the manager here?” Jack asked casually.

“Since we opened last year,” he said. “I was the manager at one of Mr. Riverdale’s properties up in the Poconos. When he asked me if I wanted this property five years ago I jumped at the chance. I was able to get in on the design and planning from the ground up. There were times I didn’t think we’d ever open the doors, but we did it. My family had to uproot and move states, but it was worth it.

“I’ve been in hospitality for twenty-five years,” he continued. “So I’ve seen an unusual thing or two. A few suicides and several deaths by natural causes. But I’ve never seen anything like what I saw this morning. And I hope to never see anything like it again.”

“Was anyone hanging around the lobby last night when Mr. and Mrs. Vasilios arrived?” Jack asked. “Anyone follow them in inside?”

“The lobby was crowded as usual on a Friday night, even as late as they arrived,” he said. “We have live music near the bar until two o’clock, and s’mores available at the fire pits on the lawn until midnight. I don’t normally work the night shift, but my night manager was rushed to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy yesterday morning, so we were short staffed last night. And then two of my front desk staff are out with the flu. It seems to be making the rounds.”

He paused to take a sip of his coffee and then said, “I came out on the floor to help wherever I was needed. We had several late check-ins last night. It’s wedding season. So we were busier than usual from about eight to midnight. I knew Mr. and Mrs. Vasilios were scheduled to arrive after their wedding, and I wanted to be there to personally welcome them. They were considered to be VIP guests. No one came in with them.”

“How was their behavior?”

Oliver smiled sadly and said, “How do you think? Mr. Vasilios looked like he couldn’t wait to get to that room.”

“Not Mrs. Vasilios?” I asked.

“She looked exhausted,” he said. “And nervous. She was more than a little tipsy. So was he, but Mr. Vasilios said they’d come straight from the reception. Mrs. Vasilios was holding on to him for dear life. She was a little unsteady on her feet.

“When my daughter got married she spent most of the day throwing up,” he said, smiling fondly at the memory. “She’d worried herself sick, trying to make everything perfect. It’s a very stressful day for the bride, and I could tell that Mrs. Vasilios was at that point. I wanted to get them to the room quickly. I drove them on one of the guest golf carts to the honeymoon villa. One of the bellmen followed behind us with their luggage.”

“Tell me how you found the villa when you arrived with them,” Jack said.

“What do you mean?”

“Were the lights on or off? Was the door unlocked? That kind of thing.”

“Oh,” Oliver said, nodding. “All the lights were on, but that’s not unusual. The villa had been prepped for their arrival. But the front door was locked as it was supposed to be. I unlocked it for them myself, and I let them know we’d prepared a light snack and champagne out on the deck for them. Roger brought in the luggage behind me and placed it by the door. Mr. and Mrs. Vasilios didn’t seem too interested in the champagne and they turned down my offer to show them through the villa. Mr. Vasilios tipped both Roger and me very generously, and he closed the door behind us.”

“Who prepared the room for their arrival?” I asked.

“I’ll have to check with housekeeping and food services, but that shouldn’t be difficult to get you that information.”

“What about the other villas?” Jack asked. “Were those occupied last night?”

“We’re at full capacity for the next eight months,” Oliver said. “All of the villas are occupied.”

“We don’t want to disturb your guests,” Jack said.

“I’d greatly appreciate that,” Oliver said sincerely. “We’ve had several guests already notice the police presence, even though you’ve been working on the far edges of the property.”

“I’m going to need a list of anyone on the property last night,” Jack said. “All staff and guests.”

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