Elaine Viets & Victoria Laurie, Nancy Martin, Denise Swanson - Drop-Dead Blonde (v5.0) (pdf) by Unknown (best classic books .TXT) 📗

``Should we go after them?'' Millicent asked.

``No,'' I said as we watched them stop in front of the elevator and stab at the button. ``They didn't do it.''

``You're sure?'' Cat asked me.

``Yeah,'' I said moodily. ``My lie detector didn't go off when they said they had nothing to do with it.''

Millicent sighed tiredly and asked, ``So what do we do now?''

``I don't know,'' I said, rubbing my temples at the start of a nasty headache. ``Maybe go down to the bar and check with the bartender to corroborate Mark's story? He proba- bly gets in around three, Cat, what time do you have?''

``Uh, it's about . . .'' Cat began lifting her right wrist to look at her watch. ``Ohmigod!'' she said suddenly, lifting her wrist high and widening her eyes in shock.

``What?!'' Millicent and I said together.

``My watch! My Rolex watch! It's gone!''

As one, we looked at each other in startled amazement; then, just as quickly, we each turned our heads in the direc- tion of the twins just as they were getting into the elevator. 310 Victoria Laurie

``Hey!'' I shouted, and began sprinting in their direction. ``Stop!'' I was nearing the doors, which were beginning to close. ``Thief!'' I hollered at the top of my lungs. ``Thief! Thief!''

Five yards from the elevator I watched with mounting fury as the doors closed and one of the twins waved snidely at me as she disappeared behind the steel doors. Propelled by anger I swung a hard left and bolted to the door leading to the stairs, swinging it open furiously and charging down the stairs. Behind me I could hear Cat yelling at me to hurry as she clattered down the stairs herself, hampered by her expensive Manolo Blahnik high heels.

At the bottom of the stairs I yanked at the door and ran out into the lobby, swinging my head in the direction of the elevator, which had already opened, and with a flood of adrenaline I spotted the twins already rushing toward the revolving front door.

Infuriated, I sprinted in their direction and watched as they both picked up their luggage and began running to the exit, which was all that stood in their way to freedom. We reached the enclosure at the same time, and, thinking quickly, I let them jump into the glass revolving door just ahead of me. As the gate turned and both girls moved one step closer to freedom, I jumped in between the frame of the door and the next opening, wedging my back against the outer frame while propping my feet against the window, effectively jamming the door from moving forward. As the girls pushed forward I merely locked my knees, straining hard with all my might, and refused to allow the door to progress.

Just then Cat reached my side and wedged herself into the frame of the door, with me lending her support as both twins strained against our resistance to move the door for- ward, without avail.

As Cat and I strained to keep the door locked a hotel clerk approached us and asked crossly, ``What is going on here?''

``Call the police,'' I said, my voice tightening under the pressure of keeping the door from moving. ``Those two women are thieves,'' I added, ``They just stole my sister's Rolex, and I'll bet dollars to doughnuts their luggage is full of stolen merchandise.'' BLIND SIGHTED 311

The clerk stood gapping at us without moving as a crowd began to gather and the twins pounded on the glass and screamed to be let out.

``Go!'' my sister shouted at the stunned clerk, impatient for him to hurry.

Just then Millicent came across the lobby and took the clerk by the arm, saying, ``Come, dear, I'll explain every- thing on our way to the telephone . . .''

An hour later we had finished giving our statements to the sheriff, and Cat had retrieved her diamond tennis bracelet and her Rolex watch, while Millicent was happily toting her mother's pocketbook again as we watched Wil- low and Waverly being led away in handcuffs. The police found all sorts of valuable objects taken from the hotel, and a stack of credit cards belonging to some hotel patrons and other victims stuffed away in the twins' luggage. We now understood why Willow and Waverly insisted on stick- ing so close to Deirdre during her readings; while the audi- ence member was distracted and focused on Deirdre, one of the twins could pick them clean.

Soon after they were taken away, Cat, Millicent, and I gathered in the dining room for much-needed sustenance, and to discuss our next steps.

``So,'' Cat said, stirring her potato soup to cool it off, ``any ideas on where we go from here?''

I sighed heavily and replied, ``I'm not sure. I mean, where do we even begin? The bartender confirmed Mark's story about being nearly too drunk to see last night, let alone wield a knife, and Willow and Waverly may be bold enough to rob someone blind, but I doubt highly that they'd be motivated to murder, so I'm not sure where that leaves us.''

Silence fell on the three of us as we sat alone in thought, each trying to decide what next step to take, when a gasp sounded among the very few patrons who were left in the hotel and eating in the dining room with us. We all snapped our heads up to look for the cause; then we too released our own gasps of surprise.

Standing at the hostess stand at the entrance to the din- ning room and gazing intently about was none other than Deirdre Pendleton. 312 Victoria Laurie

For a moment no one in the room seemed to move; the hotel patrons sat nervously still and waited to see if perhaps the suspected murderess would lunge for another knife and claim