Gold jewelry.
Designer handbag.
And tucked beneath one arm was a tiny white dog wearing a crystal-covered pink collar.
The second Vanessa saw me, she pointed.
“That’s her.”
I stopped.
“That’s the woman who was in our room.”
Mr. Bennett cleared his throat.
“Rachel, Mrs. Carter says something is missing from her suite.”
“What?”
“My diamond ring,” Vanessa said.
Then she added,
“It’s worth five thousand dollars.”
The way she said the amount made it sound like evidence.
As though someone who cleaned hotel rooms couldn’t stand near expensive jewelry without wanting to steal it.
“I didn’t see a ring.”
Vanessa stared at me.
“I left it on the nightstand before breakfast.”
She crossed her arms.
“When we came back, it was gone.”
I remembered their room clearly.
The messy bed.
The room-service trays.
The clothing on the chair.
There had not been a diamond ring sitting on the nightstand.
“I cleaned your suite this morning,” I said. “There was no ring there.”
Richard spoke quietly.
“Vanessa, maybe we should check the luggage again.”
“I already checked everything.”
She didn’t even look at him.
Then she turned back to me.
“You were in the room. Now the ring is gone. It isn’t complicated.”
Employees behind the front desk were pretending not to listen.
My face burned.
“I did not take your ring.”
Vanessa gave me a thin smile.
“Then you shouldn’t mind being searched.”
So they searched.
My housekeeping cart was emptied in the lobby.
Supply shelves were checked.
Mr. Bennett personally went upstairs and searched the suite.
Nothing.
Of course there was nothing.
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