Perfect hair.
Gold jewelry.
Designer handbag.
And tucked beneath one arm was a tiny white dog wearing a crystal-covered pink collar.
The second Vanessa saw me, she pointed.
“That’s her.”
I stopped.
“That’s the woman who was in our room.”
Mr. Bennett cleared his throat.
“Rachel, Mrs. Carter says something is missing from her suite.”
“What?”
“My diamond ring,” Vanessa said.
Then she added,
“It’s worth five thousand dollars.”
The way she said the amount made it sound like evidence.
As though someone who cleaned hotel rooms couldn’t stand near expensive jewelry without wanting to steal it.
“I didn’t see a ring.”
Vanessa stared at me.
“I left it on the nightstand before breakfast.”
She crossed her arms.
“When we came back, it was gone.”
I remembered their room clearly.
The messy bed.
The room-service trays.
The clothing on the chair.
There had not been a diamond ring sitting on
