Chapter 118

The day was rough, and it was going to turn into hell. Juan’s first priority, and to his shame, was to get the guests checked out as quickly as possible. He even put Becky, the waitress, on desk duty with Barbara so they would have two lines going. The last thing Juan needed was a coroner wheeling a dead body out of Garvey’s for God and everybody to gawk at and question.

The guests who mentioned or complained about the racket Ms. Mable made were given a ten percent discount on their last night’s room rate and a three-dollar coupon for the bar. Those who inquired about the incident were told that the maid was a new hire who thought she could handle the weekend environment and she had found out differently. Juan didn’t want to tell a fib on Ms. Mable like that, but he couldn’t allow the customers to learn the truth.

Juan had seen what happens to hotels and motels when a death occurred in one of the rooms. A motel he was staying at in Milwaukee nearly