Proof of Murder (Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery #4) - Lauren Elliott Page 0,22

on the hankie. “I was afraid that the culprit was one of my staff, and I wanted to find out who it was before it got out of hand. News of the thefts could have destroyed the reputation of my company.”

“Did you discover who was stealing from the estate?”

“No. I tried everything. I even submitted the staff to bag checks before they left for the day, but things still disappeared.”

“How did your staff take to being searched?”

“Not well at first, but I showed them news articles about some of the larger retail businesses that had adopted the same procedures to help them with loss prevention. I told them it was just a good precaution considering the value of some of the items they were working with.”

“Did that stop the thefts?”

Blake shook his head. “No, and then they started reporting other strange occurrences.”

“Such as?”

Blake glanced at Addie. “Such as things like . . .”

“Like what?”

Blake squashed the balled-up hankie in his fist. “After they had finished setting up the displays in a room and came back the next day, everything had been moved back to its original place, and they had to start all over again.”

Marc tapped his pen on the spiral coil of his notepad. “These missing books that Miss Greyborne mentioned to one of my officers could be part of this same ongoing heist.”

“More than likely.”

“Tell you what, Mr. Edwards. See that officer over by the door? Before you leave, I want you to give him a detailed list of everything you’ve discovered to be missing from the estate collection.”

“Everything?”

“Yeah, we’ll need a full report so we can start investigating.”

“This whole thing about the ongoing thefts won’t become public knowledge, I trust?” Blake whispered.

“I can’t promise that, but I will do my best.”

“I understand.”

“Thank you, Mr. Edwards, you’ve been very helpful.” Marc flicked a glance at Addie and then drew a card from his police-issue jacket. “I may have more questions for you, but in the meantime, if you think of anything else, please call me. That’s my cell number on the bottom.”

“I will. Thank you, Chief.” Blake trudged toward the young officer by the door.

Addie’s phone vibrated in her front pocket. She jerked it out fumbling it like a football in the air. Six missed text messages. All from Serena:

What do you mean it’s too late?

What’s going on?

Are you ok?

Why aren’t you answering?

I’m on my way to Hill Road House!

And the last one:

I’m outside, they won’t let anyone in. Are you ok?

Knowing Serena would storm the gates and probably get arrested, by her brother, again, Addie swiped out a text.

I’m fine, just a bit of an issue here. The police are looking into it. Don’t worry. Go back to SerenaTEA. I’ll come by later.

There, that should calm things down for a while. Addie looked up and glanced around the room for Marc. Surely he’s ready to take my statement now? Her shoulders sagged when she spotted him over by the doorway talking to another officer. She quickly scrolled through her texts and calls but there was still nothing from Kalea. Now she was concerned. Her cousin might be a bit of a flake, but she generally had never been outright rude. Addie held on to the hope that Kalea had been caught in whatever excitement the police presence at the house had caused, and was waiting outside for Addie. She shoved the phone back into her pocket.

When Simon Emerson walked into the library, wearing his coroner’s green hospital scrubs, Addie’s heart leapt in response to his friendly face, and she grinned when his gaze locked with hers. His blue eyes lit up, and he flashed her that dazzling smile that highlighted the slight dimples in his cheeks. Marc greeted his previous rival for her attentions with a hearty laugh and handshake as if they were old buddies—a far cry from the type of greeting they had exchanged at Christmas, which was the last time they’d seen each other. Or was it? Did Simon know Marc was back in town and didn’t tell me? It was clear to her that something had changed between the two of them.

Addie tilted forward in her seat, hoping to hear what they were saying. But it was no use. Marc had told her to sit in one of the chairs farthest from the action, and there were so many people milling around the room now it was impossible to hear much of anything. Then Simon nodded at something Marc said, glanced over at