I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment. It wouldn’t help to argue in front of Holly so I let it slide.
Holly glanced at both of us and cleared her throat. “I finished up with my usual cleaning at around five thirty and went to the kitchen to grab some dinner.” She looked at the ceiling while talking as if trying to envision her movements from the night before. “Jessica—Ms. Garrett—had said I didn’t need to do the turndown service, so I was planning to go to my room for a little while after I ate and then check with Wallace to see if there was anything else I needed to do.”
Vi and I nodded to encourage her.
“On my way to my room, I ran into Ms. Carlisle. She wanted me to do the turndown service even though Ms. Garrett had said not to and the fact that I am the only housekeeping staff in the building. She had already yelled at me earlier in the day about her room not being tidied, so I didn’t argue with her and said I would start that at seven o’clock.”
I felt my cheeks grow hot when I remembered overhearing Clarissa berating Holly earlier in the day when Mac and I were going down to dinner.
“I went downstairs to my room and saw Kirk.” She blushed and twirled her dark hair around her finger. “He was just coming in from outside and we talked for a couple of minutes in the hall. Ms. Garrett came down and asked Kirk if the generators were working, because she was worried about losing power with the storm that was predicted. It happens pretty routinely out here.”
She focused on her lap.
“I read a book and rested for a while in my room and then went upstairs to start the turndown.”
Vi cast longing looks at her velvet pouch that contained her pendulum. I saw her flexing her fingers in anticipation of questioning it. I shook my head at her and narrowed my eyes.
“I was just finishing in the hallway outside the turret room when I saw one of the knitter ladies—the one with the tattoos—coming out of the stairwell. She seemed surprised to see me and said she had gotten turned around. I showed her the way to her room and then went to finish turndown.”
“You saw Tina coming out of Clarissa’s room?” Vi said. She leaned forward and rummaged in her knitting bag. She pulled her notebook from its depths and began scribbling.
Holly watched Vi with interest. “I saw her coming out of the turret stairway, not out of the room. I can’t say whether she was in the room.”
Vi’s lips made a thin line. She snapped the notebook shut.
“How did you get along with Ms. Carlisle?” Vi asked.
Holly looked down. “Honestly, I didn’t like her.” She raised her head and met Vi’s gaze. “She was hypercritical of the staff and I often had to calm one of them down after they’d had a run-in with her.” Holly looked at me. “I don’t think she will be very much missed by any of the employees.”
“Do you have any theories about what might have happened?” I asked.
Holly shook her head slowly. “No one liked her, but I can’t see any of the staff actually killing her.” She paused for a moment. “I heard she had some history with a couple of the knitters.” She lifted a shoulder. “Maybe it was one of them.”
“How long have you worked here?” Vi asked.
“Two years. Mrs. Garrett has been wonderful to me.” Her eyes teared up and she blinked them away. “I have a five-year-old daughter who has diabetes. If I didn’t have insurance through my job, I don’t know what I would do. Olivia needs a lot of expensive medication and monitoring supplies. Mrs. Garrett made sure it was all covered and she helps me keep my hours up so I continue to qualify under their plan. I’m taking classes at the community college and working here and Mrs. Garrett is always so supportive and flexible.”
“It must be hard for you—caring for your daughter, working, going to school . . .” I thought of my own relatively responsibility-free life. “Where is your daughter right now?” I asked.
“My mom takes her for me when I’m working or in classes. I called her yesterday and she agreed to keep her for me until the storm passed. The other two housekeepers had to get home to their own kids, so I volunteered to stay. Whenever I can, I try to help out.”
“Where were you when the lights went out?” Vi asked.
“I . . . had finished my work and went back downstairs. I was in my room.”
“Weren’t you scared to be in the basement of a haunted house with no electricity?” Vi continued.
Holly glanced at me and I shrugged. If Vi focused on real evidence and not ghosts and animal messages, she might become a good investigator.
“No. I don’t think the castle is haunted and I had a large flashlight with me. I thought the power would come back on pretty quickly—” Holly broke off and stared at the door. “There she is!”