Sudden Vacancies

Sudden Vacancies

James Kipling

Global Village Publications

Sudden Vacancies

Copyright 2014 James Kipling

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Prologue

Welcome to the Paradise Hotel, located in the heart of downtown Columbus, just blocks from the Veterans Memorial Arena and the Gregory Vaudeville Hall, both of which are well worth a visit. We want our guests to feel special and strive to treat every guest as a VIP.

Offering a wide array of services, the Paradise aims to meet your every wish. We take the comfort of our guests very seriously and our staff is here to make your stay as comfortable as possible.

Thank you for choosing to stay at the Paradise Hotel. If there is anything we can do to make your stay more pleasant, please do not hesitate to let one of the hotel staff members know.

Also, please let us know how you learnt about our hotel...

Chapter 1

A housekeeper’s job might be described, especially by those who are occupied in the task, as an exercise in tedium.

The standard protocol for cleaning rooms at the Paradise Hotel was straightforward and simple. Every room was to be cleaned and readied for future guests, each and every day. Rooms, which had been occupied the previous night, were to be cleaned first; and all housekeeping staff were instructed to verify the occupants had indeed checked out - prior to entering the room.

“Hello?” Tina Allison accompanied her question with a knock on the door to room 915.

When no one answered, she tried a second time, identifying herself, “This is housekeeping!”

Waiting another few seconds, and hearing no response, she pulled her master key from the pocket of her apron and attempted to open the door. To her bemusement, the door didn’t budge. Further inspection revealed the deadbolt had been thrown from the inside.

Tina Allison had been working as a daytime housekeeping staff member for the past year as a way to pay for her college expenses. Although she dreamt of a better paying job, she wasn’t in a big hurry, as her workload gave her plenty time to devote to her studies. She knew it was only a matter of time before she would be finished with college and a better job was just around the corner. That anyway, was her plan.

Grabbing the two-way radio she kept on her cleaning cart (which she was thinking about naming) she called for Randall Foley, the head custodian and person in charge of the housekeeping staff. As she waited for him to respond, she pondered on his classic good looks and smiled as she added him to the plus column for retaining her housekeeping position. Eye-candy!

“This is Randall,” came the reply over the radio.

“Sir, this is Tina up on the ninth floor. I was attempting to enter room 915, but it appears the deadbolt has been thrown from the inside. I’ve knocked several times, but no one’s answering.”

“Gimme about ten minutes,” Randall said.

“Will do,” replied Tina. Grabbing a bottle of water from her cart, she slid down the hallway wall to wait. She could do with the break, she supposed. She ran through the various scenarios that awaited her on the other side of the door. She hadn’t heard anything about police or media being called to the hotel so it was a pretty safe bet that he hadn’t jumped from the window. Probably just overslept.

If he was awake, maybe he had exited through the room next door? Sometimes the guests took two rooms-and there was a connecting door. She picked up her master key and moved down to Room 917. After knocking to ascertain the room was empty, she used the key to enter.

She quickly realized that the room had been unoccupied the night before and the connecting door was closed. She attempted to gain access to room 915 via the connecting door, but it was bolted from within – just like the hallway entrance.

Tina quickly did a visual inventory of the room, including the outside balcony. Glancing at the balcony attached to room 915, she noticed that it was closed up tightly, and felt a sense of relief. She had never seen a Jumper and wasn’t keen to begin today. So - no help here.

She returned to the hallway.

Randall showed up several minutes later and did his own door check. He didn’t seem to be in much of a rush, but his expression indicated this was definitely out of the ordinary.

“Sir, I don’t get the predicament here,” she said. “I’ve never come across this problem before. There’s still no answer and the bolt is secured shut.”

“I’ve never come across this either,” Randall responded, “And call me Randall.” Randall followed up his correction with a smile for Tina, which she returned with a nod. “It makes you wonder what could have happened. Maybe the guy had two rooms and jumped across to the balcony in 913 or 917 and left through one of those doors.”

“I thought of that myself, sir, but room 917 is the only connecting room and it wasn’t occupied last night. Besides, there’s five feet of space between each balcony! I can’t imagine anyone risking their neck trying to jump between balconies.”

“What about room 913?”

Tina spoke with some authority. “I already took care of 913 and it’s ready for the next guest, as per your usual instructions.”

Tina frowned as she said this, maybe there was another way out?

Her manager replied, “Well, some people will do stupid things just to try and pull off a practical joke. If this is the case then I hope the person’s gaining a thrill from the hassle they’re putting us through. I’m not sure I would even know how to move a deadbolt from outside a door.”

Randall shook his head and pulled several tools from the belt around his waist. “Step back and let me take care of this.” Rather sexist thing for Randall to have said, Tina considered, as she stepped back out of the way.

Randall changed the bit on his drill, and then proceeded to drill a hole through the center of the deadbolt, giving him access to the inner workings. Using pliers, he turned the mechanism and disengaged the bolt with ease.

Looking at Tina, he grouched, “I’ll have to go downstairs and bring up another bolt. Do you want me to check the room out with you first?”

Tina quickly nodded her head, not liking the various scenarios that had been playing themselves out in her mind. “I’d really appreciate that, if you have the inclination.”

“Sure.” Randall pushed the door open and entered first, with Tina right behind him. It didn’t look like anything was out of the ordinary. That is, until Tina noticed a small patch of dirty carpet outside the door leading into the bathroom. It didn’t appear to be blood, but she had cleaned this very room the day before, and it hadn’t been there.

The door to the bathroom was also locked but Randall used a small pin to disengage the lock. What he and Tina saw next was extremely alarming. Tina gasped and quickly backed out of the bathroom, holding her hand over her mouth and making a muted scream. Seeing a Jumper today had just become the better of two evils.

Randall exited the bathroom just as quickly and promptly called the hotel owner and then dialed 911, requesting police assistance.

Tina sat on the corner of the bed, clasping her hands to try to silence their shaking while she and Randall waited for the authorities to arrive. Her mind kept replaying the image that filled her vision upon entering the bathroom. Even worse was thinking about how it could have happened.

The locked bathroom. No way out. Did she see anything else?

It seemed to her that Randall was not as helpful as he might have been. Obviously, the shock, she thought to herself.

Despite the fear, she decided to look at the bathroom again. Randall tried to stop her, but it was like stopping a truck.

“I order you to you...” Randall started, but she had left the room.

The en suite bathroom wasn’t that big, and she didn’t want to look at the body. Maybe he took some pills? Was there a cupboard anywhere?

There was. She saw a cabinet above the sink. Opening it revealed a lone electric shaver. She closed it again.

There was a glazed window that didn’t seem to open. Could there be another way in though? Maybe the door held some clues?

But before she could look, she heard a shout from Randall. Better leave it for the police, she decided.

She left the room without further investigation.

Two minutes later the owner and manager, Sandra Jones, arrived on the ninth floor. Sandra had only been the owner of the Paradise Hotel for six months, and had made every employee aware of her desire to improve all aspects of the hotel. Having a dead body in one of her rooms was counterproductive to reaching that goal, but she made the best of it. As she attempted to comfort Tina and Randall, her thoughts grappled with the various problems that were about to unfold.

Ten minutes later, the police arrived, along with a crew of paramedics. After ascertaining that nothing could be done for the guest, the coroner was called.

Next to arrive were the local television news trucks and newspaper reporters. More police officers showed up, detectives questioned the remaining ninth floor guests, and new rooms were assigned to them as the ninth floor was deemed a crime scene.

Soon after, the yellow tape came out and investigations began in earnest.

Chapter 2

A TV crew had turned up at the hotel. The most well-known member of their team, at least according to the majority of Paradise’s staff, was Aaron Barkes.

“Things are up in the air at the moment. The local police department has sectioned off a room on the ninth floor of the hotel and all the guests located on that floor have been reassigned to different floors of the hotel. We do not have many details on how this tragedy happened but the hotel is currently cooperating with the local police department in an on-going investigation.

“At approximately 2 pm this afternoon, while making her routine housekeeping run, Paradise Hotel employee Tina Allison made a startling discovery.”

The cameraman panned over to show the housekeeper.

“Tina, could you describe for us what you found upon reaching the room involved in this investigation?”

Tina nodded and swallowed nervously as a microphone was shoved in front of her face. “Well, I was occupied working the rooms like I usually do when I’m here, and I attempted to open a door to clean the space but the deadbolt was engaged. I contacted my immediate superior for help and he was able to open the door. The door to the bathroom was locked too.”

“Locked bathroom? What was inside?”

Tina shivered and answered, “A dead body lying in the bathtub. A cadaver if you will.”

The camera panned past Tina to show her boss. The interviewer continued.

“Mr. Randall Foley, you are in charge of the housekeeping staff here at the hotel?”

Randall nodded, “Mm.”

This didn’t seem to satisfy the reporter and he put his hand up to stop the camera reporting. Aaron took Foley to one side.

“I’m sorry. I know this is a distressing time, Sir. But in order to catch the perpetrator could you give me fuller answers?”

Momentarily lost, Randall looked at Tina.

“The killer,” she translated.

“...could you give me some more detailed answers?”

Randall nodded. Aaron signaled to the cameraman.

“Mr. Foley, you are in charge of housekeeping here?”

This time his answer was more detailed. “I am. When Tina notified me that the door couldn’t be opened, I went up to the ninth floor to assist her. I’ve seen plenty of things around the hotel in the past. There are the occasional drug bits and bobs.”

“Paraphernalia,” interpreted Tina.

Randall’s reply was testy. “Okay, parawhatsit - and sometimes guests leave some weird stuff behind, but that’s been rare. This is about the fourth time I’ve seen a dead body here and the other times were heart attacks.”

Tina looked embarrassed, maybe Randall was revealing too much.

“At least those ones didn’t create such a mess,” was how he finished his reply.

“Mess?” queried Aaron.

Randall shrugged, “Well, I guess we’re not supposed to say anything about what we saw in there, because of the investigation. You understand?”

Aaron nodded, “I certainly do. Thank you both for speaking with me, I’m sure it’s been a trying day.” Not waiting for a response from either Tina or Randall, Aaron directed his comments back to George in the local newsroom.

“According to Homicide, there were no weapons found at the site and the apparent crime scene appeared to be extremely clean. It also remains unclear whether this could have been a very elaborate suicide. For the time being, the police department is treating this as a suspicious event.”

“We have no real information on what is going on, outside of the police department starting an investigation. In accordance with police policy, the identity of the victim is being withheld pending notification of the next of kin. The only information they are releasing right now is that the victim was a white male. Live from the Paradise Hotel, this is Aaron Barkes, WCLB news.”

With no information available to help identify the cause of death, or the reason, the coroner’s office proceeded to perform an autopsy. The entire ninth floor was scoured for evidence, of which none was found.

Maybe they had missed something rather obvious?

Two days later, the results of the autopsy helped identify the cause of death. The investigators also obtained several eyewitness reports that helped explain the victim’s actions shortly before the time of death and several security tapes were used to corroborate those facts.

The victim was identified as a Mr. Saul Brandon, who reportedly came to the hotel to attend a business meeting for a local vending trade company. Several hours before his death, he was seen talking with a prostitute a few blocks from the hotel.

Homicide found evidence indicating that this was not the first time he had spent time with one of the local streetwalkers. Tucked inside his wallet, in a spot that looked as though he hadn’t cleared it out for a while, was a card that read, “Horny girls to your door, satisfaction guaranteed.” The phone number was for a local area code, but further investigation showed the number had been disconnected a few years earlier. It was clear that he had past experience with the pros in the area.

“Tina, did you hear what the investigators told Ms. Jones about the dead guy from the ninth floor?” asked Randall as he entered the employee lounge for his lunch break.

The girl looked up from her sandwich and shook her head, “I didn’t know they had found anything else out. Last I heard, he was seen with one of those sorts that hang out around the block.”

Randall nodded as he sat down and began to unpack his own lunch, “Yeah, I guess he was also seen over at Jim’s bar with the same gal and had a pretty hefty bar tab that night.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I guess it was close to $200. According to the bartender, he was pretty hammered when he left that night.”

“Didn’t they call him a cab to bring him back to the hotel? I thought that was policy around here when someone was paralytic.”

Randall nodded, swallowing before answering, “Well, it’s supposed to work that way. My guess is that the guy indicated he had no plans on driving, and with the little chick hanging around, they just let him walk out the door.”

“Wow.” Tina thought it rather irresponsible of the bartender not to have ensured their patron was getting home okay. Mind you, with the number of customers he had...

“That’s not the only news though; they have a security feed from down the street showing him getting off a city bus.”

Tina cocked her head to the side as she tried to figure out why someone would get on a bus to go around the corner. “That doesn’t make any sense. Jim’s is just around the corner and there’s not even a bus stop on that end of the block. He would walk further than Jim’s is to even catch the bus.”

Randall nodded his head, “I agree. Some things just don’t add up on this one.”

In addition to the information about the bar and the bus, the investigators had also received the report from the coroner’s office with the cause of death. Due to the lack of blood at the scene, the coroner had been surprised to discover that the victim died from a brain bleed. Unlike a normal brain hemorrhage, the source of this bleed had originated in his neck with a complete compression of the jugular vein. Blood had entered the brain with no way to return to the heart and the significant pressure increase had caused the smaller vessels in the brain to rupture. Death would have been fairly quick, but extremely painful if not for the victim’s excessive blood alcohol.

All of the signs pointed to a homicide.

To further confirm those suspicions, no paper money was found in his wallet. While his credit cards were all intact, it appeared there was some stress in his wallet. This might have been where some dollar bills were placed. It’s unclear as to how much money was missing, or whether there had been money in his wallet upon leaving the bar, however the waitress at the bar seemed to remember a significant amount of cash present when he paid his tab. It was clear that something was amiss. Either way, no prints were found on it, outside of Saul’s own.

Mr. Brandon may have had plenty of money with him though; after all, prostitutes and bar bills were anything but cheap around this town. The best theory was a theft gone awry. But that still left the problem with the entry.

Seeing Kevin James enter the employee lounge, Randall motioned him over to the table he shared with Tina. “Hey, Kevin, I hear the police questioned you about being the last person to see Mr. Brandon alive.”

Kevin sat down and scowled, “Yeah, like I had anything to do with the guy’s death. He signed the room service ticket, showed me where to put the tray and I left. He didn’t even tip me he was so drunk. Not that they usually do.”

According to the hotel’s security footage, a person did enter room 915 the night in question to provide room service. However, that person was found to have used standard protocol when serving the client-even in a seemingly sleazy hotel!-and was seen leaving the hotel room through the same door shortly after his arrival.

Randall grimaced, all employees secretly despised hotel guests taking them for granted and not showing their appreciation with even a small token of thanks. “I hear he didn’t even get to eat his last meal, poor sucker.”

The steak dinner delivered to his room was not even touched. The steak the attendant left was also found to be rare. The order was specifically for a medium-well done steak, but the food delivered to Mr. Brandon’s room was very rare. Seeing, as the food had not been touched prior to death, the confusion over the order was viewed as non-consequential.

Tina looked at Randall and said, “You shouldn’t talk ill about the dead. Maybe he was a nice guy.”

Kevin shook his head, “The way I hear it, he was a regular with the talent on the next block. He came to town at least once a year and hooked up with someone different each time, if you pardon the pun. They didn’t really mind though.”

“Well, I still think it’s sad that some guy is dead, you know?” Tina replied. “So he paid for sex, there must be more to it.”

Kevin and Randall both nodded their heads. They didn’t care so much about the dead guy, as the death had caused them extra work and aggravation

The police department was unable to determine that a homicide had been committed due to the lack of evidence, lack of a weapon, and lack of any witnesses. The case was put upon the shelf, along with other suspicious deaths, and the news media were told that it appeared Mr. Brandon had died from an accident, complicated by excessive intoxication. Mr. Brandon’s blood alcohol content was almost three times the legal limit.

Two days after the police report was released, Mr. Brandon’s family filed a lawsuit against Jim’s bar for negligence. The suit was filed in response to eyewitness testimony and belief that the bar clearly did not do enough to limit the amount of alcohol he had consumed that night. Although the bar did have a strong policy of discouraging drunken driving, there was the belief by the prosecution that they could have done more to prevent him from drinking excessively.

In addition, the family filed a lawsuit against the Paradise Hotel. While the exact claims were hazy, the family’s primary complaint was for not having adequate security cameras installed to view all areas and floors of their hotel at all times. There were a number of different security cameras all around the hotel, but no security cameras inside any of the hotel rooms. The family complained, and with hindsight some justification, that the rooms should have had security features installed.

The hotel management strongly disagreed. Spying on guests was not something that the Paradise Hotel wanted to become known for. Especially since all hotel employees were aware that certain activities took place in the rooms their guests would not want made public. The high volume of people watching pornographic content each month attested to that fact.