“I’m sorry, but I don’t remember the dates.”
“Well, will you please tell me one more thing?” Vicki was trying to figure dates, starting with the fact of Dorn’s visit about a month ago. “Did Lucy live at the Hotel Alcott a month ago?”
The woman consulted the ledger again. “Yes. Lucy was with us just barely a month.”
It was possible, Vicki thought, that Lucy might not yet have moved to the Hotel Alcott at the time of Dorn’s visit.
“If you’re trying to locate Lucy, Miss Barr,” said the clerk, “I think the best way to do it would be through Mrs. Heath.”
“Who is Mrs. Heath?”
“A very nice older woman who is now Lucy’s employer. Mrs. Elizabeth Heath. A writer. Gray hair, well-dressed, and distinguished-looking. She stayed with us at the hotel for a while. She was looking for a secretary-companion, and Lucy turned out to be just the right girl for the job.” The hotel clerk said this with a certain pride and satisfaction. “It’s a happy arrangement for both of them, I think.”
Vicki was surprised, but she felt better. Here was definite and reassuring news of Lucy. She asked the woman for Mrs. Heath and Lucy’s address.
“They haven’t sent us their address yet,” the woman said. “Probably they’re just traveling around. Mrs. Heath had a car, and as I understood it, her plan was to travel around California and stay at inns here and there, and write her memoirs in a leisurely sort of way. Mrs. Heath may rent a house. It sounds like a lovely job for Lucy. A lot of the girls here at the Alcott would like to have such a job.”
“It does sound like a pleasant job,” Vicki agreed, “but how can I find Lucy, Miss—?” The clerk said her name was Mrs. Stacey. “Hasn’t anyone here heard from Lucy since she left? Not even a post card?”