Adventure in the World of Crimes

3.10 Source of Information

Reign opened the door of her hotel room and took the desserts she ordered from the room service which she ordered a plate of waffles, two cups of chocolate ice cream, and two glasses of fresh orange juice. She thanked the man who delivered as she pushed the room service tray as she closed the door. The door beside her room was also already closed, the floor's hallway had put into its usual stillness as no one was found outside.

She pulled the tray to the living room, where the janitress was awkwardly seated on her couch, unused at the feeling of treating like a guest to her workplace where people often treat her like a normal worker lower than them. But it was her first time being invited by a tenant, a beautiful one to be exact, and had a good heart too as she lent the food on the tray to her and sat beside her.

"Are you sure I can chill off a little as you said? They're paying me so I have to work." She asked dubiously, her hand never stopped on fiddling the white rag on her hand and irking to move around.

Reign took one glass of fresh orange juice and sipped on it, slowly resting her back on the backrest of the couch as she looked at the woman, waving her hand, "You don't have to worry about it, you can make an excuse that I made you help me with fixing my things. By the way, what's your name, Ma'am?"

"Victoria. How about you?"

"My name is Reign. You should at least rest for a while, Victoria. Your chores wouldn't run, you should eat while we talk about something for a while." She persuaded again, she took the rag from her hand and replaced them with the plate of waffle and glass of fresh orange juice on the other.

The woman sighed and surrendered, sipping on the juice as well as she shifted to her seat and made herself comfortable. "What do you want to talk about, Ma'am Reign?"

"I want to know about the happenings on this hotel. The spooky experiences you've been experiencing." She told her seriously, she knew her voice came with great interest, "I've been researching about this hotel but it's still different to get something from someone who has been here all these years."

She just realized now that if there was another information holder about the hotel, the crime scene, it would certainly the staff and the people who had twenty-four-seven access in the rooms and the whole hotel. Thanks to this janitress whom she happened to come across with and the heavens let their fate convened.

"Ah, that." The janitress nodded, "What specifically do you want to know? I'll try my best to shake off my memory to remember everything." She put back the plate and glass on the tray.

Reign thought of something first, her head tilted to the side. She hummed, "Where are you when the annual plotted murders happened?"

"Depending on the rooms I was cleaning. Most of the time I am not on this floor, sometimes I'm in the bathroom and sometimes on the higher floors." She answered, "To tell you honestly, every coming award show, and the artists were all occupying the place, it is sad when I look at them one by one and think one of them will die sooner, Every night before the award show, the hotel becomes very eerie like everyone knows something would happen but they decided not to speak about it and did not even make an effort to warn everyone."

"Have you ever tried to warn them yourself?"

"Yes, turns out that they know it very well." She replied, "The recent victim, I think the name was Gre...gory? The previous occupant on room 236, I did warn him about the room and the tragedy happening in the room, but he was hardheaded, cocky, and too proud of himself telling me that I do not have to worry because he could take the Mafia down and that pillow suffocation wouldn't be enough to kill him."

Reign was not shocked anymore knowing Gregory's personality. She just shook her head at that young man's fate that even on his last night, he was still conceited.

"Are there any chance that you happened to be in the room or on this floor when the crime happened?"

She looked up, thinking and remembering if there was that case that happened while she was working in the hotel. She slowly shook her head, "I don't think- Wait!"

Reign raised her brows, watching the janitress placed her hand under her chin as she looked down.

"Ah, no. I was not on this floor when those things happened. However, the closest I got I think was in the fourth victim, I was in room 126, cleaning the room of the occupant which she asked for help. That time, we're both inside her room when we heard a sound as something hit the sliding window that surprised both of us inside, we were both hesitant on peeking at it, but when I did, there was no one, nor anything at all so we thought it was nothing." She stated, her forehead heavily creased as she thought of that experience last year.

"But you know what made me think it was spooky?" She added, looking at her with wide eyes. Reign shook her head, looking forward to what she would say. "The feeling like someone was watching or someone was there outside of every room, I always felt like it every night and every time I was cleaning the room of the occupants but whenever I looked at it, there was no one."

Reign stood up, confusing the janitress as she followed her through her eyes as she walked towards her room and opened the door of it. The janitress was watching her like she was possessed by a spirit by how she had a very serious expression. In her curiosity, she decided to follow her.

Reign opened the door of her room, walking straight to her sliding window, and unlocked its latch as she looked at what was outside.

"What are you doing, Ma'am?" The janitress asked, holding the hem of the lady's leather to make sure that she wouldn't jump from it especially that she saw how she was *possessed* by something.

Reign squinted her eyes, her forehead creased as her brows furrowed. She looked around, the view from the second floor was not that high, the back of the hotel building was only the high grassy field that she could see creepers crawling on the wall. She looked on the left where the window of the room was.

Generally, the whole building was painted white, the back was already in dirty white. Reign's hawk eyes and observant skill, her lips started to quirk up, unaware of how she scared the old woman who was beside her. She took out her phone and captured the wall three times. She then closed the window abruptly after confirming something, facing the janitress with a huge smile.

"Can I ask for your number?"

"Pardon, Ma'am?"

"Your number, cellphone number? I have work to do and I still have lots of questions to ask you so I need your contacts." She asked, almost too demandingly and unaware of the woman's conflicted face.

"I don't have a phone, Ma'am. I'll just meet you here when you come." She answered sheepishly, "I can make time for you."

Reign pursed her lips in disappointment, "Okay," she breathed out, huffing. She walked out of the room as the janitress followed. She opened her purse and took a certain amount of cash from there. "Still here, a thank you gift for your time. I will come here every Sunday, also if you can tell me about something suspicious in room 236, or the people coming in and out of there, don't hesitate to tell it to me, I'll pay you."

"Are you undercover police or something? Detective perhaps?" She curiously asked, taking the money gift from the lady which was too much with just a few pieces of information she got from her but having been taught not to reject a blessing, she accepted.

"No, just a fan of mysteries." Just right in time, her phone rang, showing Manager Betty's number. She looked at the "I have to go, Victoria. Please take the food and send the tray back to the kitchen. See you on Sunday."

"Thank you, Ma'am." The janitress answered, watching the lady walked towards the door.

Reign answered Manager Betty's call while walking out. She bet the manager was already or on the way to the hotel.

"Be ready, we're near the hotel." The manager told her. She heard the sound of the radio in the background that the driver always played.

"I'm not in the hotel but I'm going back now. Just wait for me for a little while at the parking." She answered, running down the stairs, out of the hotel to her car. "I'll be quick. Bye."

She ended the call and immediately closed the curtains again, taking off her clothes and taking out the spare dress on her bag along with the make-up kit. She threw her previous clothes at the back of her car and fixed her makeup.

After a while, she finished retouching, just tying her hair with a simple and clean bun for a change as she started driving back to the hotel. Her eyes caught her phone when it lit up, she took it and saw a notification from an unknown number. She squinted her eyes a little as she thought how did someone knew her number but then she remembered Martin.

"I knew you'd be interested. I'll see you later, beautiful."

She rolled her eyes when there were two hearts included after the word beautiful. She was about to put it down but it lit up again. It was him again.

"Should I call you Flora or Reign?"

Reign almost stepped on the brake in surprise. Then another one came which only made her heart beat faster and anxious at the same time.

"I think Reign Flora would be amazing."