Bruce was heading back to the lobby, when he passed two women, sitting in chairs by the fireplace. "Hello, Miss Drew," he said.
"Call me Nancy," Nancy said.
"And I'm Lisa!" said the other woman, in a high-pitched voice.
"I'm Bruce Wayne," Bruce introduced himself.
Lisa gasped. "The millionaire playboy?"
"Rumors of my romantic escapades have been greatly exaggerated." Bruce pretended to chuckle, then looked at Nancy. "Did you finish the chore that Mr. Egan gave you?"
"I did," said Nancy. "All three of them!"
"Three?" Bruce asked. "I thought he only wanted you to fetch the professor's ski boots."
"He did," Nancy said. "And after that, he told me to get her dinner order and give her a menu. If you're not careful, he's going to give you a bunch more chores, too."
"Good to know," Bruce said. "I was just on my way to tell Mr. Egan that I fixed the fuse box. "
"No offense, but I don't think you fixed the fuse box," Nancy said. "I was in the elevator just now, and it stopped in between floors for no reason at all."
"I hate that elevator!" Lisa said. "I only rode it once, and the whole time, I felt like it was going to break down. It's so rickety and old! As soon as I got off, I swore that I would only take the stairs here."
"I haven't used the elevator yet," Bruce said. "I did notice an elevator reset lever, near the fuse box. Perhaps that's what happened."
"You mean, someone pulled it on purpose?" Lisa asked. "To what, scare Nancy?"
"Who would do that?" Nancy asked.
"It was probably Dexter," Lisa joked. "He's angry that you finished all his chores in under ten minutes. You're seriously making him look bad!"
"No, you misunderstand," Bruce said. "I meant, if the elevator gets stuck between floors, maybe you can use that lever to reset it."
"How often does an elevator have to get stuck, before they make a special lever just for that problem?" Lisa asked. "Imagine if that happened to you, in the middle of the night! It'd be hours before you'd be found!"
"I'll be sure to avoid sneaking around in the middle of the night, then," Bruce said.
"Well, someone must be sneaking around at night," Lisa said. "You heard what happened to the library, right?"
"Yes, Dexter told us," Nancy said. "Why would anyone go on a rampage in a library?"
"I bet it's the person who robbed Hotchkiss," Lisa said.
"Robbed Hotchkiss?" Bruce asked.
"She's this nutty old professor who never leaves her room," Lisa said.
"I can attest to that," Nancy said. "I talked to her three times, and she never opened her door any farther than an inch."
"And she was robbed?" Bruce asked.
"Apparently," Nancy said. "She refuses to say what was stolen. I get the sense that she's protective of her work in general, and now that she's been robbed, her paranoia is off the charts."
"A paranoid professor, a ruined library and the world's hottest ski instructor? Did we stumble on the set of As the Castle Turns, or what?" Lisa joked.
"Hmmm..." Bruce said. "If there's a thief on the loose, I might have to look into using the hotel safe. I'll ask Mr. Egan about that. See you two ladies later."
"See ya!" Lisa said.
"Goodbye, Bruce," Nancy said.
Bruce smiled at the two ladies, and he walked to the lobby. As soon as he was out of view of anyone else, his face erupted into a frown. A second crime had been committed, and unlike the library vandalism, this one had a victim. Someone had deliberately targeted Professor Hotchkiss, the very person that Bruce had come all this way to see.
Bruce practically flew up the stairs, to the second floor. It was easy enough to find Professor Hotchkiss' room. All he had to do was follow the sound of typing, random muttering and the gnawing of chicken wings.
"Professor Hotchkiss?" Bruce asked.
"Not now!" a voice called from behind the doors. "I am not taking visitors right now! I'm outlining my manuscript! Please go away, Candor!"
"I'm not Candor," Bruce said. "I'm Bruce Wayne."
"I don't care who you are," Hotchkiss said. "I will open my doors for no man, and for no reason! Not even the ghost of Marie Antoinette can disturb me from my musings! Mmmm, I should have gotten the spicy barbecue sauce."
"I'm here to ask you about an Olmec Crystal Skull," Bruce said. "I believe it's called 'The Listener'."
There was a loud scraping noise, as Hotchkiss jumped out of her chair and threw herself across the room. "Please, please, come in, Mr. Payne!" she said.