Mara answered while I was cleaning a bathroom.
I'll look in the old correspondence. Where has Ruby seen this watch?
I took my gloves off and put the phone on the dry end of the basin.
She says it was her father's, I wrote. I'm not sure. I wanted to compare it.
That didn't answer where. I knew it didn't.
Mara didn't reply straight away. I put my gloves back on, finished the bath and took the bag of dirty towels down to the laundry room.
For the rest of the shift, every noise from my phone made me stop. One was Callum asking whether I'd eaten. One was an offer from a shop I hadn't been to in months. I put the phone on silent and found myself checking it anyway.
At four, I was back in my room, sitting on the floor with the tote between my knees. I'd taken the tin out of the bag. The mug box was beside my suitcase, its Kitchen label facing me.
Mara sent the photograph at ten past four.
The watch lay turned over on its open presentation box. Oliver had sent it to Mara when he first reported the watch missing, six months ago. The date printed in the photograph was from before his stay.
I enlarged the photograph.
Twenty summers. Yours, E.
The little dent was there too, in the edge beside the knob. It caught the light in the photograph, just as it had under Callum's window.
I set my phone down and worked the tin lid off. The notes were exactly where I'd put them. I lifted the cloth and turned the watch over.
For a moment I tried to find a difference.
The spacing between the words. The shape of the capital E. The dent.
There wasn't a difference I could see.
Another message arrived.
That's Mr Reed's photograph. Where is the watch you're asking about? If there's an actual object, bring it to me.
I stared at that last sentence.
Mara was downstairs. I could put the watch back in the tin, pick it up and take it to her office. I'd be there in a minute.
I opened Ruby's messages instead.
Still five? I wrote.
Yes. I'll be there, she answered.
I thought of her saying it had been her father's. Of Callum not really knowing him. Of the watch sitting in a drawer for months.
Maybe he had bought it for her without knowing where it came from. Maybe there had been someone between Oliver and that drawer. Callum had lied about the room, about the beach, about how long we'd been carrying linen. I still wanted one part of this to have another answer.
If I put the tin on Mara's desk now, I'd have to tell her whose drawer it had come out of. Ruby might never give me anything except a new story afterwards.
I could keep the tin. I could show her the photograph, make her tell me why the watch matched, and then call Mara with the whole answer.
My phone vibrated in my hand.
Lena? Mara had written.
I typed, I need one direct answer first.
I knew I was avoiding her question. She hadn't said I could take it anywhere else.
I sent the message and put the watch back in the cloth. The money went on top. This time I had to push harder on the corner to shut the lid.
I stood and got my jacket. I took everything out of the tote that I didn't need, leaving the tin at the bottom and my phone in its small inside pocket. There wasn't a zip across the top. I pulled the sides together anyway and held them while I walked.
At the head of the stairs, I stopped.
Tess was behind reception below me, talking to a guest. I could see the sleeve of her cardigan as she pointed at the breakfast room. Mara's office door was open farther along the corridor.
I could still go there.
Then Tess looked up. We saw each other before either of us had time to pretend otherwise.
She glanced at my bag.
“You got it?”
“Yes.”
“All the money?”
“Yes.”
The guest asked her another question. She turned back to him, and I went down the last steps.
I wanted to say sorry about last night. I wanted to put the tin on the counter and ask her to look at the watch with me.
Instead, I went out through the front doors.
The promenade was busier than it had been on Tuesday. People were coming off the beach with folded towels and sandy feet. An empty coach pulled away from the stops, leaving its exhaust smell behind.
I found the shallow shelter beside the timetable board. There was a bench against the back wall, an open front and enough room to get out at either end. The kiosk was farther along the same stretch of promenade, beyond the hire boards and a row of litter bins. Callum would still be there.
Ruby had said she'd arrive early. She wasn't there yet.
I sat at the end of the bench, set the tote between my feet and took out my phone. Mara's photograph was still open on it.
I enlarged the engraving once more, then let it return to its ordinary size.