Page 42 of Nightcaps at The Beach House Hotel

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The next morning, I arose and after seeing that Darryl and Abbie were set for the day, I dropped Robbie off at school and headed to the hotel.

I was eager to see how the situation with Everly’s death had been handled.

Bernie and Rhonda were in his office when I arrived.

“I’m glad you both are here so I can give you an update,” said Bernie. “The body was removed discreetly just before the busy dinner hour last night. The coroner’s initial report arrived this morning. The police have determined that all evidence has been collected.”

He held up papers for us to see. “Later this morning, after a final check, they will release the room to us. I’ve arranged for a crew to replace the carpet and furnishing in the master bedroom, and the housekeeping department will give the entire suite a deep cleaning. There will be no sign of what happened there, and we want to keep all talk about it under control. I’ve sent a message to all department heads. We’re meeting this morning to go over the importance of speaking to all staff members about our protocol.”

“It seems as if it’s a pretty straightforward case,” I said.

“Yes, the police officer handling it is now concerned about where Everly might have gotten the drugs. The alcohol came from the hotel, of course.”

“Does the police detective need to talk to Annie and me again?” asked Rhonda.

Bernie shook his head. “The information he gave me said he was focused on anyone Everly might have met with. Unfortunately for Brock Goodwin, that includes him.”

“He’d be in the clear if he wasn’t such an egotistical bastard,” said Rhonda. “I hope he wasn’t stupid enough to help her find the drugs.”

“What was it? Fentanyl?” I asked.

“Probably. That and alcohol,” Bernie said. “I have no idea what drugs she took.”

“Thank you for handling this so well,” I said.

“Yes, we appreciate all you’ve done,” said Rhonda. “It’s a tragic situation.”

“I told Darryl about it,” I said. “He was upset to learn Everly’s life had ended this way, but he wasn’t surprised. It seems she liked to party a lot, which is one reason he filed for divorce. He called Everly’s sister in New York.”

“Thanks for that information,” said Bernie. “I think we’ve handled the situation the best we could. As I’ll tell our department heads, the way to approach this is to simply not allow any talk about it. The media is going to want to make a big deal over it. There’s nothing we can do about it except to keep our stance that all guests are due privacy, including her.”

“Absolutely,” I said.

“What are we going to do about Brock, if anything?” asked Rhonda.

“I’m afraid it’s out of our hands,” said Bernie. He held up the old newspaper with Brock’s picture with Everly on the front page. “He needs to explain a lot.”

“That might help us by keeping the focus on the drug source and away from the hotel,” I said optimistically.

“Humph, if Brock is doing us a favor, it’ll be the first time,” said Rhonda.

Bernie held up a finger. “He’s calling me now.”

Rhonda and I sat quietly while Bernie carried on a brief conversation with Brock.

“No, indeed,” said Bernie into the phone. “We’ve done nothing of the sort, merely answered questions for the officers involved in the case. If you’ll excuse me, I have a hotel to run.”

Bernie ended the call and faced us shaking his head. “Brock is furious that someone mentioned that he was going to visit Everly yesterday. He’s blaming us for the suspicion placed upon him for providing Everly with the drugs.”

“I’ll wait until the situation has eased, and then I’ll speak to him,” I said. “Rhonda and I can’t jeopardize our reputation by not cooperating with the police. It wasn’t done out of spite.”

“But now that I think of it, I like the idea he’s caught in this mess because of his ego,” said Rhonda.

“Agreed,” said Bernie. “Let’s carry on like we normally do.”

Rhonda and I left his office and went to the kitchen for a strong cup of coffee and something sweet. We were facing a couple of tense days.

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