When she threw open the door to the corridor, Viktor was standing in the threshold.
“H-hi,” she stammered, his proximity washing over her in sweet waves.
“Hi,” he said.
“Is everything okay?” she asked, remembering why he hadn’t been there to help her look over the journal. “What did they ask you?”
“Nothing I couldn’t answer,” he told her.
“Did they insist on getting you treatment?” she asked.
“No,” he said. “Everything’s fine. Where are you and Edgar headed in such a hurry?”
“I found a clue in the journal,” she told him. “A clue about where to find the treasure.”
“What was the clue?” he asked.
“It said that the key was over the uniform,” Dru told him.
“Captain Pembroke’s uniform,” Viktor said, his eyes lighting up.
“Exactly what I was thinking,” Dru said.
They set off together for the main stairs.
It was nearly midnight, but the presence of the police and the power being back on seemed to have infused the place with energy.
Hailey was at the desk chatting with Tyler Park, who seemed to be returning her enthusiasm.
Jeffrey and Jenna Wilder sat in the chairs by the fireplace, reading, while Angie leaned against the wall, nodding her head in time with whatever was playing in her ear buds, and looking out the window.
Hailey gave Dru a nod as she went past with Viktor in tow. As if to say, Look at us, with our gentleman callers.
Dru nodded back and headed down the corridor for the sitting room.
On the way, they passed Oscar Hawkins, chatting with Melody the photographer, and the mayor over a snack in the dining room.
Mercifully, the only people in the sitting room were Hazel and Honey Van Buren, who appeared to have nodded off over their respective books. The ancient sisters looked like a Norman Rockwell painting, leaning against each other on the sofa by the fireplace, paperbacks dangling from their hands.
The uniform was exactly where it always was, in its place of honor over the small games table.
Above it, was Mr. Moosehead.
Could the clue be inside Mr. Moosehead? It would be such a pain to try to get that thing off the wall to look. And an even bigger pain to put it back up…
“Oh my God,” Dru murmured.
“What is it?” Viktor asked.
“Someone’s already been here,” Dru said.
“What do you mean?” Viktor asked.
“The moose,” Dru said. “He was on the floor. Chester was so mad that he had to put him back up. Someone already took it down to look for the key. We’re too late.”
A wave of disappointment washed over her, snuffing out the fire of enthusiasm she’d felt on the way down.
“The person who deciphered the journal,” Viktor said.
Dru nodded.
Someone had stolen her journal and deciphered it.
But if they had already found the treasure, then why give her the deciphered pages?
They must have hit a dead end.
Maybe they weren’t too late after all.
They must have thought she would have more insight, since the journal had come from her family.
“The key wasn’t in the moose,” she breathed, stepping back out into the hallway. “Whoever gave me the pages is expecting me to figure it out. Which means they’re going to be keeping an eye on me.”
Viktor moved closer, as if instinctively trying to protect her.
Dru glanced around at all the people nearby.
The Van Buren sisters were still snoozing lightly in the sitting room.
In the dining room, Oscar, Melody and Mayor Tuck were chatting as they munched on cereal.
Tyler, Hailey and all three Wilders were in the lobby, relaxing.
But one of them wasn’t doing what he or she seemed to be doing.
One of them was watching Dru.
A shiver went down her spine at the thought.
But she wasn’t about to let it stop her.
10
By two in the morning, things had calmed down a bit downstairs and Dru was feeling more like herself.
The guests had all trailed off to their rooms, except for Viktor, who was keeping Dru and Edgar Allan Crow company at the front desk.
“I guess I should drop off the clean towels at everyone’s doors,” Dru said. “Do you mind keeping an eye on Edgar?”
“Of course not,” Viktor said. “But I can come with you if you want.”
The offer was tempting. Knowing someone in the hotel was watching her was spooky enough, not to mention that there was still no sign of Johnny.
What if he was the one who had deciphered the journal?
But no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t picture the big man hunched over any kind of book for that long. It had to be someone else.
And Viktor wouldn’t always be around to act as her body guard. From dawn to dusk each day, she would be on her own.
“Nah, I’m good,” Dru said, sounding more certain than she felt. “It’ll only take a minute, and everyone’s asleep.”
He nodded, but his blue eyes were concerned.
“Really, I’ll be right back,” she promised.
She grabbed the bags of towels and jogged upstairs.
Edgar made a bleating sound as she left.
“I’m coming back bud,” Dru sang out to him over her shoulder, gratified that she had a connection with the creature.
She headed all the way down to the servants’ wing and then made her way back, hanging bags of clean towels around door knobs as she went.
It was incredibly quiet, even the sound of her footsteps was swallowed up by the thick carpet.
As she drew closer to the mayor’s room, she heard the sounds of a television coming from somewhere nearby.
She hung a bag on the mayor’s door, but before she could move along, the door opened.
Melody stood in the threshold in a pair of flannel pajamas large enough that they were clearly the mayor’s and not her own.
“I’m so sorry to have disturbed you,” Dru said softly.
“You didn’t disturb me,” Melody said. “Who could sleep with all that racket next door.”
She wasn’t wrong The TV really was louder than it needed to be. It seemed to be emanating from Tyler Park’s room.
“I’ll just ask him to keep it down,” Dru said.
“Thanks,” Melody said with a tired smile, grabbing the towels and closing the door.
Dru hated being a rule enforcer, but it was the middle of the night. Tyler should understand that sound would carry in the old building.
She knocked lightly on the door and waited.
There was no answer.
She knocked louder, trying to be heard over the TV, without waking up the whole hallway by banging.
Still nothing.
Something about the voices on the TV show sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place it.
Why wasn’t he responding?
With everything that had been going on, it didn’t take her mind long to start moving in a dark direction. He could be hurt in there, or worse.
After another round of knocking with no results, Dru got out her skeleton key.
“I’m coming in, Mr. Park,” she called out as she opened the door.
The lights were on, but the room was empty.