South Fork Inn, Hamptons
Charlotte went to the hotel's reception counter and introduced herself. "Charlotte Grayson," she said firmly. "Is my father, Conrad Grayson, currently a guest at your hotel?"
The young lady behind the counter looked at her computer and then nodded. "Yes, he checked in here this morning, Suite 205." She reached for the phone. "Should I announce your arrival?"
"There's no need for it," Charlotte said hastily. "I'm his daughter."
The lady looked at her thoughtfully for a moment before pointing to the elevator. "A lovely stay at the South Fork Inn!" She smiled, then turned back to her work.
Charlotte went to the elevator where Emily and Nolan were waiting for her. Together, they entered the elevator cell, and Charlotte pressed the '2'. "Room 205," she told the others.
"So he is really here?" Emily asked, amazed that her assumption had been confirmed.
Charlotte nodded. "He must've booked in here after he had left the house." She wiped her sweaty hands on her pants. "I'm totally nervous," she confessed. "What should I tell him?"
"How about the truth?" Nolan suggested. "Perhaps his guilty conscience awakens when he learns that you know what he did to your mother."
Charlotte let out a sigh. "Yes, maybe that would be the best thing," she agreed.
They had reached the floor and got out of the elevator and went down the hall until they found the suite with the number '5'. Hesitantly, they stopped for a moment before the door and listened. But they couldn't hear the slightest noise. Charlotte was about to knock as Emily exclaimed, "The door is unlocked!" In fact, the door was ajar, so that they could enter without hindrance.
"I have a bad vibe about this. You too?" Nolan looked uncertainly between the women back and forth and pulled out his gun as they both nodded.
Emily exchanged a look with Nolan and then carefully pushed the door open. "Conrad?" She asked, stepping into the entrance of the suite when she received no reply.
"Dad, are you there?" Charlotte followed Emily and then looked around. The first thing she noticed was a jacket that hung over a chair. "This belongs to my father," she concluded, and went further inside. She looked up. "That proves he was here," she said excitedly. "But where is he now?"
Nolan put his gun back in his pocket, went to a small table and picked up an item, which he eyed thoughtfully. "This is the keycard to the suite," he murmured, lost in thought. "Normally you take that with you when you leave the hotel room." He looked over to the adjoining bathroom, where the door was locked.
Emily understood what he wanted to say with his gaze and went to the bathroom door and knocked carefully. "Conrad, are you in there?" Again no answer. She looked at Charlotte, who was pale and nervously chewing on her lower lip.
Nolan went to the bathroom door and looked inside. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found the room empty. For a moment he had the crazy idea of finding Conrad drowned in the bathtub. He shook his head to expel the thought. He had clearly seen too many crime movies lately!
"I don't understand that." Emily frowned. "His keycard is on the table, his jacket hanging over the chair, all evidence that he must have been here, but where did he go?" She heard a scream and turned around quickly.
Charlotte knelt next to the sofa, her eyes fixed on a spot on the floor. "Is... is that... blood!?" She pointed with a trembling hand to the pale carpet, where one could clearly see a red-brown stain.
Nolan reacted instantly. He reached for Charlotte's arm and pulled her up. "Don't touch it!" he said urgently.
"That's blood, isn't it?" Shocked, she looked at him with wide eyes. "What happened here?" She stammered.
Nolan quickly exchanged a private look with Emily. Both had exactly the same idea. David had gotten there first. Clearly the dried blotch in the carpet was blood. Whether it was Conrad's or David's had to be proven. One thing was clear, they had to get out of here before anyone else believed they were responsible! "Get out!" He pushed Charlotte towards the door. "We need to go. I'll be no party to that!"
"But what about my father?" Charlotte said desperately. "Where is he, what happened to him?" She repeated again.
Emily shook her head helplessly. She didn't know what to tell Charlotte. She didn't know herself. She only worried that her father was involved in this.
"Come on!" Impatiently, Nolan grabbed Emily's arm. "We have no business to be here. It's the task of the police."
"Police?" Charlotte gasped out.
"Apparently a crime has been committed here," Nolan began, but stopped the sentence as he glanced at Emily, who shook her head slightly. He understood her without words. "So I really wanted to say that we don't know what happened and should leave the work to the police."
When Charlotte burst into tears, it was Emily who looked after her sister.
"I-I was angry at him for hurting my mother, but I didn't want him to be hurt," she sobbed.
"None of us wanted that," said Emily comfortingly, as she pressed Charlotte to herself. "We are going to the reception and share what we've found, and you'll know what to do."
"I have to tell my mom." Charlotte looked at Emily with tears in her eyes. "How am I supposed to explain what I did at the hotel?"
"You were worried because he just ran away," Nolan suggested. "That sounds plausible."
Emily gave a sigh of frustration as she took a last look at the suite. "I don't hope my father is responsible for it." It was a lie because she knew he had been. She heard his threat so clearly in her ears as if he were standing next to her at the moment. "Let's go," she said softly.
Silently they drove down with the elevator and then waited for Charlotte in the entrance hall.
"Mr. Grayson is not in his suite," she said with a trembling voice, placing the keycard on the counter. "The door to his suite was open. It looks like someone abducted him..."
