Jaden sniffed. “Bet I can do a better search than you!”
He smiled. “All right, then. Thanks. Do a search for me, will you?”
She nodded.
Their food arrived. The tension that had gone around the table eased somewhat. He worried that he might be ruining a long running and close friendship.
He had no choice.
Kelsey toyed with the blackened grouper on her plate. She stared at him and asked, “So what do you think is going on?”
He wasn’t sure. Maybe it was best to just state his suspicions.
He shrugged.
He realized that they were all silent, staring at him, including Avery, who was wide-eyed.
“Oh,” he said, and set down his fork. “I have a theory. The thief—or murderer, as he might be—wanted the reliquary. Cutter knew that it was a fake, and that was why he had the shotgun, though, of course, he never used it. When Cutter was dead, the thief did try to take the reliquary, but discovered it was a fake.”
“Still worth money!” Kelsey reminded him.
“But not compared to the real prize,” Liam said. “I’m not sure who did know about it, but I think that Cutter had the fake—and the original. The thief didn’t take the fake because he was determined to find the original. While Cutter sat there, dead but undiscovered, he had a chance to search the house. But then I came when Cutter didn’t pick up the mail. The thief was probably there when the kids broke into the house—and scared them half to death. He was probably there when Gary White and Chris Vargas broke in as well, and went back to work once I had shooed them out. Looking for anything in that house is like looking for a needle in a haystack. He was neat as he searched about, knowing that he was after the real prize. If he gave himself away, how could he get back in to search? Now, however, we have every window bolted and new locks on the doors. And, of course, Kelsey has a cop sleeping with her, as well.”
Avery cleared his throat. “I might not exactly be sleeping with her, but I’m not chopped liver,” he said.
Kelsey stared at Liam in silence. So did Ted and Jaden.
Jaden cleared her throat and spoke at last. “So—you think that this will make whoever it was give up the quest?”
“No, I don’t. I think that Gary died because of something he knew or saw.”
Jaden gasped and shook her head. “No, no…Cutter was old. He might have had a heart attack no matter what. But…you’re saying Gary White was murdered? We still have the death penalty in this state for murder!”
“True,” Liam said. “But people have committed murder for a lot less than a million dollars.”
“But…” Ted spoke and broke off, confused. “Cutter Merlin died of a heart attack. He was holding a book, this little reliquary and a shotgun.” He looked at them both. “You have the book, right?”
Kelsey nodded. “In safekeeping?” He lifted his hand, staring at Liam. “Don’t tell anyone where. Liam will start accusing of us of stealing another book.”
“I was asking, not accusing,” Liam said. “For all I knew, you might have slipped it out just to borrow it because you needed it for more research, and meant to put it back.”
“Oh, yeah. Jaden and I sit up nights and think about new ways to worship Satan,” Ted said, an edge to his voice.
“It’s on my mind every morning when I wake up, too,” Jaden said.
“Hey,” Liam said. “A man has been murdered. Cutter might have been frightened to death. Give me some slack. I have to ask questions.”
“You’re all old friends. Stop it. Let’s think about it. Where do the books fit in?” Kelsey asked.
“I don’t know. But that’s what we have to find out,” Liam said. “Would you pass the salt, please?”
He sat comfortably in the handsome chair at Cutter Merlin’s desk. Three of them in the house now, and he was still invisible.
What a lovely time.
Last night, he had stood at the door to her room. He had imagined them together, and he had imagined the time when the cop would be there.
He had to be patient. Well, he’d been patient a very long time. Maybe he had never imagined it would really be this long, but in the end, the prize would make up for it all. Watching them…watching the idiots when they had found the body at last…well, that had been a thrill. Watching them—from the house!—while they had been so certain that their new locks, bolts and wary care could keep him out, was worth his effort.
He heard them coming home, and he quickly rose. It would be no good being found at the desk. That could ruin everything.
He turned away, feeling more powerful than Cutter Merlin, Pete Edwards, Satan himself—or the bastard, Liam Beckett.
He was invisible.
He had committed murder, and he was invisible.
He watched, he waited, he stalked.
And he was invisible.
For a moment, he felt a flash of anger so deep it shook him to the core.
He was invisible, yes.