"It is really well hidden."(Quizzical smile)
"Our hide-and-seek puzzle for the next guests."
"Ah, got you." (Broad smile from hotel receptionist)
We were in Hobart for a business and (mostly) pleasure trip and had just checked in to our beautiful, barn-like art hotel with port views when I heard a gentle beeping. I tracked it down to somewhere near the safe in the cupboard next to the bar fridge... just before it stopped.Later that evening - same, same - and then silence.
The next morning, at our third episode of short-lived but persistent beeping, I rang down to reception and a handyman came up to investigate. It was surmised that the safe's battery was going flat and was replaced expediently.
Thus it was that when the, by now familiar, sound started up again the second morning, I acted quickly. My husband was even quicker and with his never-go-anywhere-without-it headlamp in place scrutinised the interior of the safe. Nothing. Around the safe, under the safe, on top of the safe. Nothing. And still it beeped. Not one to give up, my husband lay on the floor, contorted himself into a skinny L-shape and peered into the small gap between the wall and the safe. Nothing...until...
"Bingo". (Delayed, but triumphant)
Any guesses as to what he found and where?Perhaps it was a message. I feel like I am constantly looking for my next challenge/direction/focus. Is it already beeping at me loudly and clearly but I just can't see it for looking?
And, no, we didn't really leave the next guests a similar challenge - but we did think about it.
Hobart, by the way, is well worth a visit, as is Chez Moi French Style in Liverpool St, my newest stockist of 'But you are in France, Madame'. Also available for your Kindle here
I confess to still being mystified about the source of the beeping. A lost phone or alarm clock? BTW, you look smashing and very French in your suede ankle boots. That color is still all the rage here as the autumn neutral that goes with everything.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ellen. You are always so sweet. As for your guessing - very nearly correct.
DeleteI read and re-read but didn't manage to crack the code. Did you find the cause of the beeping, or didn't you? You might not have left the puzzle for the next guests, but you certainly have left it unsolved for me. Or am I just blind?
ReplyDeleteHaha! We did find the cause of the beeping after two maintenance men from the hotel had tried and failed. The previous guest had stored his iPad in the safe but it had got wedged up against the side wall and the cover was the exact colour of the interior, hence extremely well hidden. The beeping was the owner and hotel managers trying to re-locate it.
DeleteAh, a lost ipad! Glad it was found, even though it was tormenting you for a bit!
ReplyDelete