Proof of Murder (Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery #4) - Lauren Elliott Page 0,56
dismissed her to the waiting room—nearly two hours ago.
Her gaze bore into the closed door. It was times like this she wished she had x-ray vision or could be a fly on the wall. She’d have given anything to know what they could still possibly be debating. Simon was relatively an expert on the health app data they’d presented. It made her wonder if it was Marc or Ryley questioning his explanation. Surely they could see by now she had an airtight alibi. It was all there, logged into her phone. She rose to her feet and started pacing.
Marc’s office door opened, and Simon stepped out.
“Simon, finally. What’s going on? Why is this taking so long?”
Marc and Ryley, hot on Simon’s heels, exited down the back staircase without even a glance in her direction.
“Simon, what’s happening? Am I free of the charges?”
His drawn face said it all even before he spoke, she knew the answer. “No, but I’m pretty sure you will be soon. Hang in there awhile longer.”
“What do you mean? Can’t they see I couldn’t have been the one that broke into the library? We have proof now.”
He brushed his lips across her hot cheek. “I think you were right to add Ryley’s name to your suspect list,” he whispered in her ear.
Her eyes widened. He rested his forehead against hers, drawing her closer. “For some reason, she’s trying to find a loophole in the data program and refuses to believe you are innocent. It didn’t matter what I said. She won’t be convinced. I’d say something else is driving this, but I don’t know what.”
“So now what?”
“She wanted to wait to do any follow-up on this until after the weekend because the DA doesn’t generally work Saturdays, but I made Marc call him and run this new development past him.”
“And?”
“And he’s agreed to meet with us at his house in Salem.”
“You’re going, too?”
“Yeah, she said a couple of things that made me wonder how much she could be trusted to present all the facts about this program and its capabilities. I want to be there just in case she tries to brush any of it off. Then it will be completely the DA’s call if he wants to pursue charges against you or drop them, and he won’t be influenced by a partial report.”
“I thought she was a professional. Wouldn’t she want to get to the bottom of this?”
“You’d think, but as I said, I get the feeling that there’s something else going on here, but I have to go. They’re waiting.” He squeezed her arms and gave her a light kiss. “I’ll call you as soon as I know anything.”
Addie plopped onto one of the waiting room chairs. She couldn’t believe it. When she’d added Ryley’s name to her suspect list, she had done it out of pure spite and anger but never really had any intention of following through with an investigation on her. Now she wasn’t so sure. Maybe her gut instincts knew more than her head, and she better think twice about dismissing the agent’s actions so quickly.
Addie gathered up her bag and headed out the door. Since Simon had driven them to the station first thing this morning, Addie was on foot as she made her way over the two blocks to her shop. But she didn’t mind. It was a beautiful summer morning, and the warm breeze off the harbor gave her just the lift her spirits needed as she mentally processed all the information rattling around in her head. There were too many questions and not enough answers. She was in the middle of writing a mental to-do list when Martha came out of the bakery, brandishing her famous broom.
“Morning, Addie.” She swept the sidewalk in front of the bakery door. “It looks like it’s going to be a quiet Saturday down here.”
Addie blinked. She’d been so wrapped up in her thoughts, she hadn’t even noticed, but Martha was right. It was nearly ten, and there were still plenty of parking spots. “It’s like a ghost town this morning. What’s going on?”
Martha stopped her sweeping and leaned both hands on the end of the broom handle. “I hear half the town is at that yard sale today. I guess there’s not a parking spot for over six blocks around that house.”
Addie glanced up the deserted road. She had completely forgotten that this weekend was the public sale.
“Mildred was furious. She was late opening the Emporium on Main Street this morning