Merry Masquerade in Savannah: A Made in Savannah Cozy Mystery (Made in Savannah Cozy Mysteries Serie by Hope Callaghan (rosie project .TXT) 📗

“Oh, but we can. Let’s do a quick search of Mrs. O’Brien’s room since we’re here.” Tori pulled the master key from her pocket and dangled it in the air.  “My employee contract states that management - meaning me - is allowed to access the employee’s private quarters for emergency purposes and I deem this an emergency.”

Carlita grinned.  “A woman after my own heart.  Gotta love an ironclad agreement.”

“Especially if you have a tenant like Elvira,” Mercedes said.

The women quickly searched Mrs. O’Brien’s room, which took less than five minutes.  The woman’s private space was spotless, squeaky clean as Carlita called it.  They exited the room and stepped into the hall.

“We’ll start with Chad’s efficiency.” Tori flipped the light on.  “Let’s split up like we did in Ava’s room.”

“I’ll take the kitchen again,” Mercedes said.

“And I’ll take the bedroom.” Tori strode to the bedroom and Carlita hurried into the bathroom.

They searched the entire efficiency from top to bottom, pulling up rugs and searching the light fixtures.  Carlita even checked the toilet tank, thanks to Elvira who gave her the idea.

They dug through every trash can, rifled through every piece of paper, but found nothing.

Mercedes washed her hands in the kitchen sink.  “This was a bust.”

“Chad spends half of his time camping out in the detached garage’s loft,” Tori said. “If we don’t find anything in Patrick’s room, we may want to search Lucien and Byron’s rooms, just to be sure. The garage will be our last stop.”

“We better get a move on before the cops show up,” Carlita said.

“Or worse yet, one of the employees returns and catches us tearing their rooms apart,” Mercedes said.

“This should be easy. Patrick and Chad share a bath.  If the door is unlocked, we can walk on through.”  Tori turned the knob, but the door was locked.  “Okay, maybe not so easy.  We’ll have to enter through the hall door.”

Tori shifted to the side and waited for Mercedes and Carlita to exit Chad’s private quarters before turning off the light and locking the door.  She unlocked Patrick’s door and motioned them inside.

“Let’s split up again. I’ll start in the bathroom.” Carlita slipped inside and began to gag.  The room reeked of dirty socks, body odor and stale cologne. She pinched her nose and forced herself to focus on the task at hand.

Mercedes rummaged through the drawers, the stack of dirty dishes in the sink and the overflowing trash can.  “We should’ve brought rubber gloves.”

“Yes, we should have.” Tori held up a pair of lace panties.  “Either Patrick has a panty fetish or I may have found a clue.”

Mercedes dropped the dirty dish in the sink and darted across the room.  “Would these fit Ava?”

“Without a doubt,” Tori nodded.

“I think I’m onto something,” Carlita hollered from the bathroom.  The words were no more out of her mouth when they heard the sound of a hall door slamming.

Chapter 21

Things moved fast after that.  Tori shoved the panties back where she found them while Carlita quickly snapped a picture of the medicine cabinet and tiptoed out.

Mercedes replaced the lid on the trash and the women hurried to the door.  “It may be Lucien or Byron,” Tori whispered.  She held a finger to her lips and then quietly eased the door open, taking a quick peek into the hall.

She motioned them forward and the trio crept into the hall.  Tori silently eased the door shut, praying it wouldn’t squeak and let out the breath she was holding when it was shut and locked.

The trio trekked down the hall. They had almost reached the safety of the stairs when one of the hall doors flew open.

Lucien emerged from his room.  “I thought I heard someone.”

“We were searching Ava’s room again,” Tori explained. “The investigators will be here shortly and we wanted to make sure…”

“Make sure you didn’t miss anything the first time you searched it?” Lucien guessed.

Tori wagged her finger at Lucien in a failed attempt to appear indignant.  “Far be it from me to tamper with a police investigation.”

“Of course.” The smile never left Lucien’s face as he winked at his employer and she smiled back.

The women continued to make their way down the steps and onto the back lawn.  Mercedes was the first to speak.  “What did you find in the bathroom Ma?”

“Women’s toiletries.  Perfume, deodorant, makeup.  Patrick is entertaining a female after hours.” Carlita turned to Tori.  “What did you find?”

“I found a pair of pink panties, ones which would most definitely fit Ava Torrez.”

“What about Iris?”

Tori sniffed.  “Iris wouldn’t shack up with a man, no matter how enamored she was with him.”

“Or Jenny?” Carlita suggested.

“I suppose it’s possible.”

“I managed to snap a picture of the inside of the medicine cabinet.” Carlita glanced over Tori’s shoulder.  “It will have to wait.  It appears you have company.” She held out an arm to stop Tori.  “You should take them to search Patrick’s room first.”

“I agree.”

Detective Wilson strode across the lawn. “Mrs. Montgomery.” He extended a hand.  “Thank you for agreeing to meet us on such short notice.”

“By design, I’m sure,” Tori said.  “I trust you brought your search warrant?”

“I did.” Detective Wilson nodded.

Zachary joined the group and focused his attention on Mercedes.  “Hello Mercedes.”

“Hi Zachary. Detective Jackson.  Mrs. Montgomery graciously offered to let us stay with her while we have some minor repairs done to our apartment.”

“Isn’t one of your apartment units vacant?” Zachary asked.

“It is, but we’re trying to get a new tenant in there and didn’t want to mess it up,” Carlita said.

“I see.”

Carlita could tell the young detective wasn’t buying it, but then he didn’t have much of a choice.  They weren’t breaking the