my suitcase beside the counter. “That is why I came downstairs,” I said. Ben looked from the case to his wife, and for a moment nobody filled the silence.
Ms. Patel asked Renee to confirm her room number and describe the bracelet before proceeding. Then she checked the hotel’s lost-property record. The bracelet had already been found the previous evening, after Renee left it near the private dining room. Staff had returned it to her at nine fifteen. There was a collection form, signed with her name.
Renee said she must have forgotten collecting it. The receptionist calmly remembered the exchange: Renee had asked for an envelope, decided the pouch was sufficient and put it into her handbag. Ben remembered the handbag too. He had carried it upstairs while Renee took a phone call. Her statement that she had not seen the bracelet since Friday no longer made sense.
“I
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