The Mystery at Faldor Hotel Ch. 01

Most astounding of all were the four, huge crystal columns that supported the ceiling. They had to be at least two feet thick and, equidistant from each other, they rose from the floor to form the corners of an approximately fifteen foot square in the middle of the lobby. Completely carved from bottom to top with intricate designs and polished to a flawless finish, they seemed to be lit from within, rather than by the large chandelier that hung above and between them. The colours this created through the carvings were glittery and dazzling, yet somehow congruous to the room's overall feel of old world class. Nancy doubted she could get her arms around their girth and surmised that these elaborate columns must be supported by the basement floor.

"This is..." George trailed off.

"Incredible!" Bess finished in understandable awe.

Nancy could certainly understand their reaction. The entire lobby, even beyond every single detail by itself, impressed a feeling as one entered that was impossible to explain. Furthermore, the interior, at least where the lobby was concerned, justified and even somehow explained the Faldor's foreboding exterior. In fact, once inside, everything about the old structure had purpose and a sort of natural sense. As Nancy saw it, the only thing about it that didn't make sense was the fact that it was in Cinder Bay.

"Welcome to the Faldor Hotel!"

It was difficult for the three friends to tear their attention away from their surroundings, to redirect it to the man who stood smiling behind the large, mahogany reception desk. He wore a deep, wine coloured blazer, the breast of which didn't sport any crest of the hotel but, really, it didn't need to. The Faldor Hotel certainly spoke for itself.

He was still smiling when they reached his station, Bess and George still looking around themselves, jaws parted in wonder with vague smiles as Nancy somehow managed to center herself on the Desk Attendant. He had to have been almost six and a half feet tall and filled out his blazer in a sense that suggested a muscular build, yet not like that of a professional bodybuilder. His hair, short and impeccably neat, was black enough that Nancy suspected Grecian Formula. Somewhere in his mid-forties, his professional smile had a strength that added to his natural good looks and stature and the nameplate on his well fitted blazer read, 'James Carmody, Manager'.

"Hello, I'm James Carmody, Manager here at the Faldor Hotel," he stated. "Do you ladies have reservations?"

"Yes," Nancy replied, "A reservation for three under Eloise Drew."

"Ah, yes, we've been expecting you. As Miss Drew is yet to arrive, could I please have your names?"

"I'm Miss Drew's niece, Nancy Drew, and these are my friends, George Fayne and Bess Marvin."

"Splendid," he remarked, writing some quick notations into the register with a gold pen that looked dainty in his big hand. "You have luggage, I presume?"

"Yes, out in the car," Nancy replied, placing the Mustang's keys on the desk.

"Very well. Here are the keys to your suite- I'm sorry, we only have two guest keys per suite- and I'm afraid we don't have an elevator," he added as his thick index finger tapped a small bell on the desk.

"That's alright, Mr. Carmody," Nancy assured with a polite smile, now mostly recovered from the unexpected pleasure of the Faldor's lobby. "We girls are in good shape and can easily handle the stairs."

"Well, that's good news," Carmody said, then joked with a warm smile, "They certainly keep our bellhop in shape, but that doesn't stop him from complaining."

The three girls laughed politely and were about to head for the wide, carpeted stairway with the copper inlaid, mahogany railing when Nancy asked, "Oh, by the way, is Susan Quinn still staying here at the hotel?"

She'd meant to catch him by surprise with that, but Carmody showed no suspicious reaction as he replied with an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry, Miss Drew, our policy here at the Faldor is not to give out guest information under any circumstance. Your aunt also asked after Miss Quinn, but I unfortunately had to tell her the same thing. I do wish I could help you, but this policy is for the protection and privacy of all our guests."

"Of course, I'm sorry," Nancy politely told him.

"Oh, not at all, Miss Drew, not at all. Is there anything else I can help you lovely ladies with?"

" ... Well, actually..." Nancy replied, hesitating to raise the matter that had suddenly returned to her mind.

"Yes?" the manager asked, one expectant brow raised with his professional, service industry smile still on show.

"I almost hate to... It's a little embarrassing to mention, but there was a man outside when we arrived. A sort of bedraggled looking man. He was across the road and... well... urinating against the side of the church..."

This did disrupt Carmody's smile, replacing it in a near instant with an expression of exasperated anger that was almost completely replaced just as quickly with one of apology.

"Oh, no! Ladies, please do accept my profound regrets and apologies for that! That would have been ah- a townsperson who isn't quite all he should be," he explained, tapping the side of his head with the tip of his index finger. "We here at the Faldor try to impress some values and propriety on the rest of Cinder Bay, but it can be a daunting task at the best of times. Again, please accept my apologies and know that I'll speak to Reverend Stephens about the matter before the day is out."

There seemed little more to say to on the subject, so Nancy simply smiled and thanked him for his promised efforts. Glad that the embarrassing and awkward matter was dealt with and eager to put it behind her, she and her friends ascended the staircase to the sound of the little bell on the reception desk being tapped several more times in rapid, insistent succession.

The corridor of the fourth floor had the same coffered style ceiling. A wide, copper panel ran the length of the corridor, dividing upper and lower mahogany panels on both sides between intermittent doorways. The floor was of a lighter coloured hardwood with a medium brown, carpeted runner.

Suite 408 was decorated in much the same manner, without a coffered ceiling, but still covered in stylized, copper tiles. There were two large canopy beds with a copper canopy support and ornate copper bedheads. These pieces, like every other piece of copper they'd seen since they'd arrived, were highly polished and shone beautifully in the light from the large, heavy framed window. Nancy held the thick, dark brown curtains and pristine white shears aside as she looked out across the water with some disappointment in her attractive features.

"I was hoping for a street view," she imparted, "but I suppose this will have to do."

"Mr. Carmody seems nice," Bess commented from the bed she was sitting on, bouncing as though to test its firmness while George repeatedly glanced at her cousin's bouncing breasts with an unreadable expression.

Turning from the window and with a thoughtful look, Nancy informed, "I'm not so sure about him."

"Why?" George asked, taking her alternating attention from Bess's chest.

" ... Nothing I can put my finger on. Just instinct, I suppose."

"I don't know about Mr. Carmody," Bess proclaimed as she got off the bed, "but I love this place!" She walked to the window and looked out with a bright smile. "At first it seemed scary but, once I walked through the front door... I just loved it!

"It does have a certain air about it, doesn't it?" George agreed with a careful smile as she looked at Nancy.

"It sure does," Nancy agreed, "but we shouldn't let ourselves get distracted. Remember, girls, we're here to do a job."

"Nancy's right," George acknowledged. "I suppose the first thing we should do is take a look around town?"

"Great idea," Nancy agreed, "but the Faldor will probably take as much time to look over as the rest of town, so I suggest we split up. George and I will take the hotel. Bess, you take a look around town."

"Good idea," Bess enthused, turning from the window to add, "Maybe I'll even find a restaurant that serves lobster!"

Both Nancy and George rolled their eyes and laughed.

"Bess," Nancy said, "If you don't get your mind off of eating, one of these days, you'll end up the size of-"

She was interrupted by a sharp rapping at the door.

Nancy opened it to the bellhop, a tall, lean man in his late twenties wearing the traditional uniform of the same deep wine colour as Carmody's blazer, but without the jaunty cap that normally went with it. Also, his hair was as black as that of the hotel manager's, but of a longer, 'greaser' style with a pompadour. He was chewing gum with his mouth open and did a double take at the sight of Nancy, his brown eyes widening as he looked her up and down to finally speak to her chest.

"Yeah, so ahhh, I got your luggage, Miss Drew."

Nancy hesitated while his eyes openly groped her, feeling put down by how he objectified her, yet a small part of her was strangely pleased at the blatantly rude attention. Her mouth worked without sound for a few seconds until she cleared her throat and was able to speak to the completely disrespectful, unprofessional lout.

"Very well," she clipped, offense overriding her vague and inexplicable gratification at being treated this way. "Just leave them; we'll get them from here."

"I can bring them in," he offered her breasts. "Hell, I got them all the way up the stairs, I might as well-"

"No," Nancy told him, more firm this time. "We'll get them from here."

"Suit yourself," he said with a shrug, finally looking up to her face at her sharper tone, "but there's one more to get, so I'll be right back with it."

With a last look at Nancy's body, he turned to see to his duty regarding the remaining suitcase. Nancy quickly grabbed the two he'd brought and dragged them through the doorway, shutting the door afterward with a disgusted hiss and a shake of her blonde head. During the course of her sleuthing, she'd been all over the world and had found herself in more dangerous situations with more nefarious individuals than she could count, yet never in her life, not even once, had she been treated that way. She couldn't believe such a brash person could even exist, let alone have a job in the service industry. Yet, that small part of her that was pleased at his attention remained, even forced a light flush as she turned to see her two friends looking at her with questioning expressions. Looking at Bess, she vaguely wondered if this was how she felt when men looked at her the way they did before she explained.

"That bellhop..." she tried.

"What?" George anxiously prodded.

" ... He's a lecherous beast!" she managed, explaining his offense afterwards.

"We should report him to Mr. Carmody!" George exclaimed.

"I've a good mind to do just that!" Nancy threw in. "He even swore!"

"What did he say?" Bess inquired, not quite as flabbergasted as her cousin.

"H-E-L-L," Nancy related.

"We should certainly report him," George ascertained.

Nancy was about to agree when Bess broke in with, "Maybe that's not such a good idea."

Both her cousin and Nancy looked at her, waiting for some explanation as to why they shouldn't report the offensive bellhop while Bess began to explain with a crafty expression.

"Well, since he is a hotel employee, it stands to reason that he may know something about Susan Quinn and, since he is a lecherous pig, I'll bet we can use that to get the information we need out of him."

The two thin girls only looked at her as though they didn't understand what she was talking about, though, on some level, they both did. Their silent hesitation was only due to the fact that they couldn't believe Bess was proposing the information gathering methodology she was. In addition, neither Nancy nor George had the slightest clue as to how to go about such a thing. Correctly assuming as much, Bess giggled and blushed a little with a forbidden excitement over what she intended as she reached for her suitcase while starting the instruction of the other two girls.

When she finished, Nancy had to agree that it was a good plan while George remained unsure. Bess knew that, had Nancy not agreed, however reluctantly, her cousin would have voted against her plan as well.

When the bellhop rapped on the door again, Nancy opened it with a disarming smile, holding it wide for him and standing aside in silent invitation. He accepted, though with some surprise considering Nancy's previous attitude towards him, entering the suite to set the last suitcase on the floor before straightening up to run his eyes up and down George this time, still chewing his gum with an expression of frank admiration.

Nancy watched her friend, smiling politely despite the bellhop's incredible audacity, and had to refrain from slapping his face when he held out his hand for an expected gratuity. Yet, she was astounded at a sudden jealousy that he should be looking at George now instead of her. She quickly assured herself that the reason she arched her back and filled her lungs to make her breasts protrude was only to most effectively enact Bess's plan, not because of her sudden and unfounded jealousy of George.

That's when Bess walked out of their suite's well appointed, adjoining bathroom, testing Nancy's composure to its limit.

She still wore her jeans, but had changed her blouse to a thin, snug fitting, white top with short sleeves. Its neckline was moderately open, the bottom short enough to expose her midriff and, without a bra, Bess's erected nipples were easy to locate as two spiky points that pointed slightly upward, large, dark areolas barely visible shadows behind the white fabric. Her big, yet perky breasts bounced with every step she took, making Nancy utterly forget her troubling jealousy of only moments before.

George's composure did slip at this undisclosed and completely unexpected part of her cousin's plan as she stared openly, her jaw sagging as it had over the man who'd been urinating against the church.

"Oh, hi!" the well-endowed, ringleted blonde greeted with the carefree tone and smile that the boy's all seemed to like about her.

The bellhop certainly liked her. His eyes widened as George's did, now seemingly ignorant of the presence of both she and Nancy as they fastened themselves to Bess's chest. Like George's, his jaw sagged, gum totally forgotten as his hand dropped to his side.

"What's your name?" she asked.

" ... Hah?"

Bess giggled and repeated her question as the bellhop stared at her chest in a stupor, answering from a million miles away.

"Manny..."

"Hi, Manny. I suppose you'd like a tit? I mean, a tip?"

Now Bess laughed like a schoolgirl at her 'slip of the tongue' while her two friends could only stand and stare, completely aghast at her performance.

Managing to at least get over the initial effects of the sight that was intended for him, Manny grinned and raised his hand again, still watching Bess's chest as she started to dig her hand into the hip pocket of her snug jeans, arching her back while holding the top of the pocket open with her other hand. This made her breasts squeeze out from between her arms, jolting and jiggling as her fingers gathered change at the bottom of the pocket. George, like Manny, couldn't seem to take her eyes from her cousin's chest and Nancy's blank minded confusion somehow reopened the door to that unexplained jealousy.

Once more accentuating her chest, Nancy asked, "Manny, I wonder if you could help us with something?"

"Anything," he mindlessly toned without taking his eyes from Bess.

"Well, a friend of ours is staying here at the Faldor, but we don't know which room."

" ... 'Ginst policy to give out guest information..."

"But we really need to know," Nancy persisted, choking on her next words when she noticed the growing bulge in his trousers. "It's very impk- ... Important."

"Oh, darn..." Bess almost pouted, now un-crumpling a bill from her pocket. "All I have is a ten."

But she stood there, meaningfully holding it just below her round orbs, another obvious and enticing draw that Manny gave into.

"Well... she was in Suite 510."

"'Was'?" Nancy asked, again dismayed at her jealousy over the attention Bess was receiving. "Is she no longer staying at the hotel?"

"Dunno," he replied to Bess's chest. "Brought her bags there, seen her around the hotel and across the street a few times after that, but not for a few days now."

"Where across the street?" Nancy inquired.

"The boutique."

"On what day did you see her there?" Nancy pressed, though still with a sweet demeanor.

"Saturday."

"Four days ago," she clarified. "Is there anything else you can tell us about her?"

He only shook his head and Bess handed him the ten as his reward, saying, "If you think of anything else, of if you see her again, would you please come tell one of us? I promise I'll make it worth your while," she added.

He only nodded and, after a silent pause where he only stared at Bess's charms, Nancy took the doorknob in hand, pointedly clearing her throat as a none too subtle cue for him to leave. Once the door was shut behind him, she and George could only gawp at Bess as she grinned back.

"Bess..." George started, finally able to take her eyes from the busty blonde's chest, if only for short intervals, "you didn't tell us you were going to come out like... like that!"

"Well, it just sort of hit me while I was changing to take off my bra. I mean, if I was going to use his libido against him, I wanted to make sure it was effective."

"But, Bess..." Nancy tried, finding herself without the words needed to explain how improper her friend's self-exposure was.

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?" Bess asked, turning and speaking over her shoulder as she walked back to the bathroom. "Now we know what room she's staying in- if she's still here- plus we have a lead! As soon as I get changed, I'm going to check out the town like we'd planned and ask after Susan at this boutique."

She closed the door behind her, leaving Nancy and George to stare at one another in silent awe.