<div style="text-align: justify;">Unaware of what was happening upstairs, the receptionists and chambermaids had resumed their normal work. The chambermaid who had seen Diane, of course, had mentioned the woman to a friend, but hadn’t spent too much time dwelling on that. She had work to do, after all. <br/><br/>When Rich went downstairs, everything seemed peaceful. The first woman he approached didn’t understand English, but she gestured for the man to wait and returned with another person, who understood and spoke English. <br/><br/>The man paid attention to what Rich had to say and nodded. “Of course. Just a moment, please”, he replied, checking the books for the name Rich had requested. It didn’t take too long to find it. “Shane Malone, here it is. Room 203”, he said, after making sure he had the right information. “From what I see, he is not in right now, though, sir. Would you like to be informed when he gets back?”, the man asked politely, not suspecting anything.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><br/><br/>Colette listened as Paul answered her question. She couldn’t really see Paul being guilty by association of whatever Rich had done. She could, though, see Rich doing terrible things to people. He was obviously a bad person, and if he had treated her like he had, she could imagine how he would treat everyone else. <br/><br/>~“I don’t really see you being guilty by association, I mean, not in the way that you would do something because he told you to. But could you be guilty of something bad by omission?”~, she asked.<br/><br/>While Colette felt that she was perhaps asking too much, the young woman felt that she needed to ask questions and maybe help Paul get to the bottom of the situation. In her mind, at least, finding the person should be the first step. Once they found a few options, they might have a better shot at figuring all of this out.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">**********************************</div><br/><br/>Marie was really willing to listen to what Shane had to say. He was such a nice boy, and didn’t deserve to be mistreated or ignored by that woman. When Shane said that the woman might not like if she talked to her, Marie sighed.<br/><br/>“I can imagine that she might not like it”, she commented quietly. “But she really needs help, don’t you think, son?”, the woman completed. <br/><br/>She would say something more, but the woman who had taken their orders had just gotten to the table. Marie nodded and thanked the woman, waiting for her to step away before speaking. “Let’s speak about more pleasant matters while we eat, shall we?”, she suggested. “Everything will be all right, son, don’t worry. I will help you in any way I can”.<br/><br/>With a motherly smile, she patted Shane’s hand. “Now eat up. Problems always seem less dire on a full stomach”.</div>