Free Beach Bags and Burglaries (A Haley Randolph Mystery) by Dorothy Howell Page B

the weird part,” I said. “All Pemberton asked me about was stolen panties.”
    Shuman was quiet for a moment, then said, “Were they your panties?”
    A warm rush went through me, which I ignored.
    “No,” I said, and figured it was better not to get into too much detail.
    Shuman didn’t say anything and, honestly, I couldn’t blame him.
    “I’m not following you,” he finally said.
    “I don’t get it either,” I told him. “Why would Pemberton ask me about stolen panties when he has a murder to solve?”
    “Maybe it was his way of bringing you in, getting a read on you without accusing you of anything,” Shuman said. “Maybe he was using the panty theft as cover.”
    “Maybe,” I agreed.
    Shuman was quiet for a few seconds, then said, “I’m surprised the head of security would involve himself with a theft of this nature.”
    “Well, they were lucky panties,” I told him.
    Shuman got quiet, but I was pretty sure I heard him breathing heavier.
    I decided it was a good time to move our conversation along.
    “They take this sort of thing seriously here,” I said.
    “Yes, but they’d try to keep it quiet,” Shuman said, shifting into cop mode again. “It’s not the kind of thing they’d want the other guests to know about, and bringing you in to ask about it would only create an opportunity for word to spread.”
    “Makes sense,” I said.
    “Something else might be happening,” he said. “Who knew you’d found the body and also knew about the stolen panties?”
    Huh. Good question. Besides Bella, Sandy, Marcie, and me, I could think of only one person.
    “Our hostess, Avery,” I said.
    Of course, everyone up the management chain probably knew I’d discovered Jaslyn’s body. Avery could have told her supervisor that the theft of Bella’s panties was connected to me too, but I kind of doubted it. She probably wouldn’t have wanted to admit that the same guest—me—whose satisfaction she was responsible for had encountered yet another problem at the resort.
    I’m pretty sure they note stuff like that in the staff members’ personnel files.
    “Avery told Pemberton about the theft,” Shuman concluded. “Why?”
    “I think she was worried that I was an unhappy guest, after finding a dead body, plus having my friend’s panties stolen out of her room,” I said. “It was her way of dealing with the problem without getting herself into trouble by reporting it to her direct supervisor.”
    That’s what I would have done.
    “Maybe,” Shuman said. “Or maybe the panty theft was her way of getting you in front of the head of security.”
    I gasped. “You think she might have thrown me in front of him on purpose?”
    “Possibly, if she wanted to make sure Pemberton considered you a murder suspect,” he said. “I can think of only one reason she’d want to do that.”
    I could think of only one reason too—that Avery was involved in Jaslyn’s death.
    I remembered then that Avery had told me Jaslyn had been on her team, cleaning the rooms of guests assigned to Avery. That meant they’d known each other and had worked together. Definitely something I needed to check into.
    “Madison hasn’t mentioned you,” Shuman said, “but I’ll try to get some info.”
    “Thanks,” I said.
    A few awkward seconds dragged by. I felt I should say something more personal to Shuman, and I got the idea he felt the same, but neither of us seemed to know exactly what that would be.
    “I’ll call if I learn something,” Shuman said.
    “Great,” I said, and we hung up.

    “This place is so cool,” Sandy said.
    The four of us were sitting at a table near the bar on the beach. We’d stuffed ourselves at dinner but, of course, that was no reason not to have drinks and snacks afterward. Tiki torches and twinkle lights illuminated the darkness. A dozen people were on the dance floor swaying to the rhythm of the reggae band. A resort hostess had organized a limbo game in the sand nearby.
    Sandy