“It was tolerable. I was so livid over the fire, I cleared my calendar in order to deal with this. How bad is the damage?”
“It’s nearly all repaired.”
“Make sure to give me the receipts, and you will be reimbursed.”
“Well, the repairs ... we all pitched in and did them together.” She shrugged. “So very little money was spent.”
His expression changed to disbelief. “Truly? Your parents helped?”
“No, not them, but different folks—yes. The ladies at the church helped by washing out the bedding and draperies, Owen and LeRoy—two friends from church—have done the hardest work of taking out the damaged parts of the kitchen and replacing them. They made some new cabinets, so we can find out what that cost, but I doubt they’d let you pay them.” She paused and smiled. “Even Gary helped.”
“But not your father or mother?”
Susanna knew she couldn’t lie. She bowed her head. “No. Father has scarcely even come to work since it happened. I’m not sure what’s going on.”
“So he’s not been doing his job?”
“No. I’m afraid if I were gone, he’d lock the place up and leave it to die.”
“We’ll see about that. I’ve had all I’m going to take from him. The fire chief here feels the fire was deliberately set.”
Susanna nodded. “I think so too. It was too obvious that someone broke into the desk and took the money from Friday through Sunday morning before the fire started. I think they were covering up the theft. We were packed full Friday and Saturday nights, and there was quite a bit of money, but because the bank was closed, I locked it in the desk. Unfortunately, the hotel ledger and bank book were in the desk drawer too, and they burned as well.”
“To eliminate the record of how much was actually there, no doubt.” Uncle Harrison glanced at the hotel. “The fire chief didn’t think the ashes looked like paper money, and coinage wouldn’t melt unless the fire was much hotter.”
“I wondered about that myself. I have no way of knowing what burned money should look like, but I didn’t think the coins would burn, and even if they did, I figured we’d find them maybe melted together. There was no sign of them.”
“That’s what the fire chief said. Do you have an idea of who might have set the fire?”
“Not exactly. I wondered about Gary and his friends, but I really don’t think they had anything to do with it. However, Gary’s been very upset about it and ... well...” She fell silent for a moment and raised her gaze to his. “Gary was here sleeping when I left for church. Everything was fine then. Gary says it was fine when he woke up around eleven and headed out for something to eat. Mother and Father were also at church thatmorning. I took a walk with Owen Turner after the service. We probably returned to the hotel around one o’clock. By the time we arrived, the fire had already been put out.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“It could have been anyone, I suppose. Gary admits to leaving the hotel unlocked. He doesn’t have a key. I do. Father has the only other one.”
“So anyone could have walked in and gone in search of money.”
“Yes.” Susanna tried not to blurt out what she was thinking, but she couldn’t stay quiet. “I think ... I’m horrified to say it, but I think maybe Father was responsible.”
“So do I.”
“Why do you think it?”
“Because he made a small investment with one of our friends. Unless you gave him the money, he had to find it somewhere else.”
Susanna gave a slow nod. “I see. No, he didn’t get the money from me. I haven’t given them anything extra, although they’ve tried to get all of my money. They found out I am well off. Mother feigned being sick, telling me that she and Father needed to go to California so she could see a specialist. She said she’d need a lot of money because they’d have to stay there. I knew she was lying but offered to make arrangements to go with her so Father could remain here to run the hotel. She had a fit. She felt I should give them the money, then remain here and run the hotel. I’ve no doubt in my mind that, had I done so, they would have continued to ask for money from California.”
“No doubt.” Uncle Harrison thought for a moment. “This really is getting us nowhere. If Herbert is going to steal from the hotel and set fires to hide his guilt, I can hardly keep him here.”
“Well, we don’t know for sure that he did it.”
“Don’t we? Where else would he have gotten the money?”
“Mother still has some jewelry. She hid it when they wereforced from the house. He could have sold it. There are a few wealthy families in the area. He might have sought them out or maybe gone to one of the Santa Fe top men.”
“I suppose that is a possibility.”
Susanna knew they both wanted any excuse that didn’t involve her parents. Sadly, they both knew that wasn’t likely.
