Dugan appeared in the doorway.
Robie strode over to him.
“What the hell happened?” he demanded.
“One of the staff came to take her dinner tray away, and…found her.”
“And then you called the cops?”
“Yes.”
“When was she found?”
“Maybe ten minutes ago. As soon as I was alerted I called the police.” He listened to the sirens, which seemed to be right on top of them.
“The shot came through the window,” said Reel. “Did anyone see someone back there?”
“Not that I know of. But I haven’t really asked, either.”
“Did anyone visit Jane Smith since I called you?”
“No! No one’s been since you two were here.”
“Any unusual visitors here today to see anyone else?”
“What do you mean by unusual?”
“Anyone who hadn’t been here before,” snapped Robie.
“No, I mean I don’t think so, no.”
?
?That’s not good enough,” said Reel. “We need to be sure.”
“I’ll…I’ll have to check.”
Robie thought of something. “Did anyone call today to ask about Jane Smith? Maybe what room she was in?”
Dugan looked at him puzzled. “Why?”
“They had to know which room she was in to shoot her from outside,” replied Robie impatiently. “Can you please check?”
Dugan ran out of the room and then was back in less than two minutes.
“No one called. And there were no unusual visitors.”
“You’re sure.”
“Yes.”
Robie looked at Reel. “Then how the hell did the shooter know she was in this room? The room numbers aren’t posted on the outside of the building, only on the inside.”
They heard cars screeching to a halt outside and the sirens ceased.
Dugan said, “Shit, they’re here. I’ve gotta go.”
He raced out of the room.
Robie looked around, saw the door of the bathroom, opened it, and spotted a box of Q-Tips in a box on a shelf. He pulled out a Q-Tip, stepped back out, and raced over to Jane Smith.
He swabbed the inside of her mouth with the Q-Tip and then looked at the dead woman’s face.
Reel said, “Robie, we’ve got to go. They’re coming.”
Robie said quietly to the dead woman. “I’m sorry.”
The next moment they were racing down the hall in the opposite direction from the entrance.
They exited the building at a side door and flitted back to the front. When the area was clear, they slipped to their car and drove off.
Once they hit the surface road, Reel punched the gas and the car flew down the asphalt.
Robie held up the Q-Tip.
“We need to get that to Wurtzburger,” said Reel.
Robie nodded but said nothing.
Reel shot him a glance and saw his frozen features.
“Robie, I’m really sorry.”
“We don’t know that it was Laura,” he said immediately.
“I know, and I hope it wasn’t.”
“But whoever it is, she’s dead. And someone murdered her.”
“And we’ll find out who it was.”
It had come from somewhere on the second floor.
They ran out of the room and looked in either direction.
“That room,” said Reel as the sound came again. “What is it?”
“I don’t know,” said Robie. “I’ve never been in there.”
The sound came again. It was a groan.