Free Death on the Bella Constance (A Jesse Watson Mystery Series Book 6) by Ann Mullen Page B

greeted by the three
sisters from Georgia . Bertie had her hand raised as if
she was just getting ready to knock.
    “Hello, ladies,” Billy said with a smile. “We were just
getting ready to leave for dinner. Is there something we can do for you?”
    Not again. Lord, please don’t let these women be seated at
our table, I prayed to myself. I think I might go off the deep end, if they do.
    “We won’t keep you, I promise,” Bertie said. “But we have
some information that can’t wait.”
    “You’ll want to hear what we have to say,” Dorothy chimed in.
    “May we come in?” Bertie asked as she walked passed us into
the room. Dorothy and Mabel followed. Mabel stood off to the side and remained
silent while her other two sisters talked. Occasionally, she would shake her
head. She obviously wasn’t the instigator of this visit. Her eyes begged for
forgiveness.
    Stunned, Billy and I stood there with the door still opened.
Finally, Billy closed the door, turned to Bertie and said, “I’m sorry, but
we’re going to dinner, so we can only give you a couple of minutes. We don’t
want to be late.”
    “Are you dining at the captain’s table?” Dorothy asked.
    “That’s none of your business!” Bertie scolded her.
    “I was just asking. You don’t have to be so snotty to me. I
can’t believe you’d be so hateful in front of them.” She glanced over at us,
and then continued, “You do this all the time. You have to have the final say
about everything.”
    Disgusted, but not showing it, Billy said, “Ladies, please.”
He looked at his watch. “We really have to leave. Please say what you came here
to say.”
    “The man you’re looking for is in room 527, right across the
hall from that poor girl,” Bertie said. “Don’t ask us how we know about him, or
how we found out his room number. You have what you need, now you can act on
it. As I told you at the dress shop, there’s not much that gets by me. I can be
a big help to you.”
    Ah, so that was it! Bertie fancied herself a sleuth, and was
willing to dig until she got her answer. Maybe she could be of service to us.
    Having left us with a tidbit of information, the three
sisters from Georgia walked out of the room as quickly as
they had entered.

Chapter 6
    We didn’t know whether there wasany truth to what Bertie said, but we would surely check it
out later. For now, work was going to have to wait. We were headed to the main
dining room to dine at the captain’s table, and all I could think about was how
exciting the evening was going to be. I felt like a princess being escorted by
my prince. I was full of joy. When we entered the dining room, we were
immediately approached by the maitre d’.
    “Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Blackhawk,” he said. “Please
follow me to the captain’s table.” He led us past the other diners and then
seated us across from Bella and Loukas at the end of the table next to Captain
O’Riley.
    Captain O’Riley introduced us to the other folks already
seated. He gestured as he said their names, starting at the end of the table on
our side. “This is Utah and Nell Hawks, and across the table
are Jeff and Ruby Reed, and Steven and Jena Nelson. Of course, Bella and Loukas
Constance need no introduction. There will be others joining us who should be
here very soon.”
    There were two empty chairs beside Bella, and three next to
me. I wondered who else would be joining us, but didn’t ask. I looked over at Jena and realized that she was the salesgirl at Bella’s
Boutique. “I know you,” I said as I sat down next to Billy, he and I being the
only two people seated on our side of the long table. “I didn’t realize you
worked at the boutique.” I was a little surprised that one of Loukas and
Bella’s daughters would be working as a salesgirl considering all the money
they have. Or did they? Just because the parents have money, it doesn’t mean
the kids do.
    “Yes, I do,” Jena replied. “I love the work. I own