Chapter 3

Hutch had been talking to the receptionist and was getting to know her; her name was Joanne and she was funny and entertaining, which was making this part of the assignment more bearable. At the moment she was describing her impressions of some of the guests to him.

"Have you seen the guy in room 203? He's... a little odd," she confided.

Hutch snorted at her description of Starsky. "Yeah, I know the guy you mean. I guess you could describe him like that."

"He was down here yesterday showing me his Bogey impression. It was awful."

Hutch laughed. "Aw, I'm sure he's not that bad."

"Well, yeah, I guess he was kinda sweet."

Hutch made a face. "I wouldn't go that far."

Joanne laughed, and Hutch decided he could risk talking to her about the murders now.

"So," he began, "I heard there'd been some murders here. Do you know anything about them?"

"Yes, horrible, isn't it?" she shivered as she thought about it. "And no one saw anything for any of them. Isn't it weird to think that whoever did it could have walked right through here, and no one would have known?"

"Yeah. Well, let's hope they catch whoever did it soon. Does anyone have any idea why they were done?" Hutch was still trying to appear as if he was just innocently interested.

Joanne checked over her shoulder before answering. Hutch had noticed that that seemed to be a reflex for people who worked here. "Well, maybe I shouldn't say, but Mrs Hawthorne did mention that they were some of her best customers."

"Does that mean the richest?" Hutch asked dryly.

She smiled. "Maybe. They were frequent guests here anyway."

"Huh." Hutch considered the information, then stored it in his mind to share with Starsky later. Maybe Starsky could search out some more of the richer guests and try to talk to them. It was likely, after all, that one of them would be next, so if Starsky was able to be near them, he had a better chance of seeing something.

***

Starsky was bored in his hotel room. It was mid-afternoon, and he really had been trying to do some work, but with no success so far, mainly because there was hardly anyone around to talk to. He had wandered the empty corridors for some time and seen nothing interesting, he had been to the bar, which at this time of day was nearly empty, he had explored outside the building, and finally wound up back at his room, having found nothing. He had made some notes on things he should try to look for while he was here, and he had made a mental note that later he should try and start some conversations with fellow guests, while Hutch could talk with his fellow staff members. They had hoped that by this method, one of them might manage to talk to someone who knew some useful information. If not, all they could do was wait and watch until something happened.

Now, though, Starsky had a better way of passing the time. Flopping on the bed, he picked up the phone that sat on the table beside it and pressed the button for the front desk, grinning to himself in triumph when Hutch answered. "Hutch, I want a drink."

"You know where the bar is buddy."

Starsky tutted. "What would Mrs Hawthorne say if she knew you were talking to me like that?"

Hutch checked around in all directions before answering. "I don't give a damn what she would say."

"Hutch, it's boring in the bar. It's almost empty and they're all men. Besides, if you come up here we can, uh, compare notes or something."

"Fine. I'll be there in a minute." Hutch gave in, being extremely bored himself. At least this would give him an excuse to get away for a few minutes. He hung up and went to get the necessary drink. He figured that as long as the police department was paying, he could get one too.

He hoped Starsky wasn't planning on making a habit of this though, because after all, they were supposed to be working, and if he wasn't able to laze around why should Starsky? He still had to get his revenge for Starsky winning the easier role in this mission somehow.

Taking two bottles, he headed up to Starsky's room. Starsky was waiting with the door open, and brightened up when he saw Hutch. "You think I got the easy job, pal, but this is really boring."

Hutch grinned. "Wanna swap?"

Starsky made a face. "Oh yeah, do you think they'd notice?"

"Hmm, maybe."

"So, have you found anything?"

Hutch sipped his drink. "Nope. All I've found out so far is that Hawthorne woman has it in for me."

"Still haven't made friends with her?"

Hutch made a face, and Starsky continued with his own story. "I got ignored by a lot of people and found out absolutely nothin' from walking around this place."

"Maybe you need to go and sit in the bar or somewhere and wait for people to come."

"But all the murders have been in the rooms, not down there."

"You just want to stay in here so you can watch the TV."

"Nope. Nothing on. Anyway, I won't find anything out until this evening, probably."

Hutch shared with Starsky the information he had found out from Joanne, they finished their drinks, and Hutch made a move towards the door, stopping and turning back to Starsky as he remembered something. "Where's my tip?" Hutch held out his hand, apparently serious.

Starsky fished in his pocket and brought out the dime Hutch had lent him for the coin toss, handing it back to his partner.

Hutch stared at the coin in his hand for a moment, then stuck it in his pocket.

"Generous. Thanks. I'll be sure to make a note of your name."

"Okay, I'll give you another tip. Try and stay away from that manager woman."

"Good advice," Hutch agreed. Pocketing the coin, he walked off, leaving Starsky to his boredom.

Hutch arrived back downstairs, checked left and right for Mrs Hawthorne, then quickly headed for the desk. She appeared beside him, making him jump. "Was that your partner again?" she asked in a low voice.

"Yeah. He had to ask me something about the case," Hutch lied.

"Oh. Well, make sure you don't neglect your duties here," she told him arrogantly and disappeared again.

***

The phone at the front desk rang for what seemed like the millionth time that day, and Hutch groaned in annoyance, looking at the clock. It had to be almost home time. He had had to deal with several rude guests and requests for room service already. Well he was damn well keeping the tips, he decided.

Starsky, meanwhile, was having more fun now that he had discovered a good pastime - he wasn't above tormenting his partner. He had been plaguing Hutch all afternoon with requests, or simply to tell him he was bored, and having run out of things to ask for, he had decided that it would be good entertainment to ask for things that were harder to come by. He had picked up the phone and called the front desk again, grinning when Hutch answered yet again.

He made his request without offering any greeting first. "Can you bring me a left handed letter opener?"

"No."

Starsky chose to ignore the menace in Hutch's voice and tried another one. "How about-"

"Will you please get off the phone," Hutch growled, cutting off whatever the next request was going to be.

"That's no way to speak to the guests," Mrs Hawthorne told him as she overheard, frowning and snatching the phone from his resisting hand. "I'm sorry, he's new," she spoke into the phone, "What can I do for you?"

Realising that he now had to think of a sensible answer, Starsky thought fast. "Um, that's okay, thank you, he already answered my question," he told the woman, and hung up. He needed some time to think of new material anyway.

"Why does he keep calling you?" she wanted to know, glaring at Hutch as she realised it had been Starsky on the phone.

Hutch bit back the remark he wanted to make about Starsky being bored of her hotel, but before he could make up a reason she began speaking again.

"Does he really have to ask you so many questions about the case?"

"Maybe he just misses me," Hutch told her, just for the fun of it.

Unamused, she stalked off and disappeared into her office. Glancing at the clock, Hutch decided with relief that he could get away with heading home now.

TBC

A/N: Thanks for the reviews so far! As P5 said in her review, this is the calm before the storm and the 'trouble' isn't too far away...