“Embarrassing, but I suppose it’s all we’ve got to work with.”
Simon glanced at his notes. “We’ll start with room three twelve.”
“What is the name of the guest in three twelve?”
Simon consulted his notes. “Coulson.”
They climbed to the third floor and walked down the hall to three twelve.
“I’ll knock,” Lyra said. “Why don’t you stay out of sight? We know the occupant is a woman. If it’s Raina, she’ll recognize me. If it isn’t Raina, whoever is inside will be alarmed at the sight of a man.”
“You’re right. Go ahead.”
Lyra rapped lightly on the door. There was no response.
“It’s three in the morning,” Simon said. “Whoever is inside is probably sound asleep. You’ll have to knock louder.”
Lyra shot him a quelling look but she did not argue. She raised her hand, made a little fist, and knocked again. Sharply.
There was a moment of silence inside and then a woman spoke. Her voice was thick with sleep.
“Who’s there?” she called.
Lyra took a quick breath and stepped back. She glanced at Simon, shook her head, and mouthed the words,“Not Raina.”
“Sorry,” she said, raising her voice. “Wrong room.”
She turned quickly, motioning to Simon.
“Let’s get out of here,” she whispered.
But it was too late. The door opened abruptly. An attractive woman in her late twenties or early thirties peered out. She was dressed in an expensive silk robe. Her hair was pinned up in curls. She studied Lyra with sleepy blue eyes.
“Who are you?” she demanded. Then she noticed Simon and frowned. “What’s going on here?”
“I’m so sorry we awakened you,” Lyra said. “We are looking for our friends. They invited us up to their room for a nightcap after the bar closed but we must have got the number wrong.”
“House phone’s on the table down the hall,” the woman said, clearly irritated. “Call the front desk and get the right room number.”
“Excellent idea,” Lyra said, edging away. “We’ll do that. Again, we do apologize.”
The woman muttered something in response and closed the door. Simon heard the key turn very firmly in the lock.
Without a word, he and Lyra went several steps down the hall.
“Good story,” he said softly when he was sure they were out of earshot of the woman in three twelve. “Better than mine.”
“Thanks.”
“Also, you managed to avoid giving her our names. Very professional.”
“Do you think so?”
“As a rule, it’s always better not to give out any more information than absolutely necessary. Less stuff to remember that way.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
They went down to the second floor and began what turned out to be a very long hike through the quiet east wing of the hotel.
