Page 33 of Lorenzo

The bartender wipes a section of the counter that is already spotless.

He's itching to speak. I can feel it.

His eyes flick toward the front desk.

“A guest had a medical emergency. It was handled quietly,” he says at last.

I guess murder is a medical emergency now. I resist the urge to roll my eyes.

I lean in, matching his subtle yet ‘dignified’ gossipy vibe.

I turn the glass between my fingers. “That is what a place like this is good at, I suppose.”

“We try not to let private matters affect the other guests.”

“Of course, I understand,” I say, sympathy oozing out of me. “Was she alone? I hope not.”

“Oh, well, I'm really not supposed to say,” he says.

“Of course not,” I say, lowering my voice as if it’s our little secret. “I completely understand.”

He's dying to tell me what he knows.

He wipes the counter for another moment before he leans in again.

“I heard, he says, his voice so low I have to lean in as well to hear him, “that she brought a man back here with her. And he left alone, if you know what I mean.”

Slut-shaming asshole.

But I widen my eyes as if I just received a juicy piece of gossip.

“Do they think he hurt her or something?” I ask.

He lifts his hands, palms out as if keeping them clean.

“All I know is they came in together, and he was all charm. Handsome guy. And he left alone a couple hours later.”

“Wait, you saw him leave?” I ask and lower my voice even more. “Alone?”

The bartender nods, as if sharing hot goss. “Umhmm.”

I make a note to check what time the bar closed that night and what time the bartender left.

If he was here when Alessio left, there might be an eyewitness after all.

“Did the woman call the cops on him or something?”

“Well, the bar was closed by the time the cops showed up, so I was gone. But the next morning, they told me that the cops had just shown up and demanded entrance into her room.”

But how did they know? How would the cops know to show up and go to her room at 2:00 in the morning if no one called them?

I make another note to check the 911 call records.

I sit back and mouth, “Oh my gosh!”

He gives a small nod, pleased to have shocked me.

I look around then back at him. “I oughta get myself a job in a hotel,” I say, laughing a little. “Seems like you guys see it all.”