“Do anything?”
“I realize you’ll probably feel you must fire them. That will be devastating to both, I promise you. Losing their jobs will be ample punishment, especially because in a small town like Burning Cove it will be very hard for them to find new jobs. Once the word gets out that you let them go, other employers won’t want to hire them.”
“Maybe they should have considered the consequences before they started stealing from me,” Luther said.
“I told you, they are very young.”
“And in love. And trying to pay for an operation. Stop right there. If you give me any more details, you’ll have to provide me with a hankie.”
She relaxed a little. “There’s an extra charge for hankies.”
Luther’s mouth kicked up a little at the corner. “All right, let me get this straight. You’ll give me the names of the thieves if I promise to do nothing more than fire them.”
Raina cleared her throat. “I don’t want you to make an example out of these kids by doing something . . . harsh.”
Luther tapped one long finger on the arm of his chair and watched her with unreadable eyes.
“Do you really think I’d have a couple of kids beaten up, or worse, just because they stole some liquor from me?”
Raina exhaled deeply. “No. But I had to be sure. You have a certain reputation, Luther. I’m told you have connections to some very dangerous people. That makes you dangerous, too.”
He gave her a considering look. “You know a little something about dangerous people, don’t you, Raina?”
She froze, fighting to keep her face expressionless.
“One meets a few in my line,” she said carefully. “A hazard of the investigative profession, I’m afraid. Take yourself, for example.”
“Or, perhaps, your previous employer? I believe you were a secretary for the firm of Enright and Enright in New York.”
She forced herself to breathe. “How did you figure it out?”
Luther raised one shoulder in a casual shrug. “A lot of little things. Your East Coast accent, your rather vague employment history, your connections with other private investigation agencies. And then, of course, there was the matter of your timing.”
She tightened her folded hands. “What about my timing?”
“You showed up here in Burning Cove a couple of weeks after the death of your former employer.”
“Why did that make you suspicious?”
“As I said, it was just a lot of small things that started to add up. What clinched it, though, was the day that we met in the Burning Cove Library. You were reading some month-old newspapers. The headlines involved certain incidents that took place here in town, including a fatal car crash.”
She exhaled softly and nodded, resigned. “I was afraid that you had noticed the articles I was reading. Are the circumstances of my arrival here in Burning Cove a problem for you?”
Luther smiled. “Not in the least. I do find them intriguing, however.”
He was telling the truth, she decided. She got to her feet and walked across the room to the window. The morning fog had burned off. The warm, golden sun filtered through the leafy palms, dappling the courtyard.
She had not been in town very long, she thought, but she was already in love with Burning Cove. It felt like home in a way that New York never had.
“I’m not sure why I decided to come here,” she said.
“I know why.” Luther rose and came to stand behind her. “You had to see the place for yourself. You had to read the papers. You wanted to know what happened to your employer’s son.”
“Yes. And after I got here, I decided to stay. I like it here.”
“Welcome to California. And welcome to Burning Cove.”
She had the impression that he was about to put a hand on her shoulder, perhaps turn her around to face him. They were standing very close together. Anticipation made her a little light-headed. Luther Pell was a dangerous man but he had the hands of an artist.
“Thank you,” she said.
“Stop worrying,” he continued. “I won’t fire Romeo and Juliet. And, yes, I’ll pay for the surgery.”
She turned around and smiled. “I thought you would say that once you were familiar with the nuances of the case.”
“You know, until now, I never realized that I was a man who appreciated nuances,” Luther said.
“How odd.” Raina could not stop smiling. “I knew from the moment I met you that you were exactly the kind of man who appreciated nuances.”
Chapter 51
That afternoon Adelaide sat with Raina in the offices of Kirk Investigations. They were drinking coffee that Raina had made. Jake and Luther were meeting with Detective Brandon to give him the carefully packaged news that Paxton, Gill, Zolanda, and Thelma Leggett had been dealing drugs and that it looked like Leggett had murdered her boss. Paxton had decided to get rid of the other members of the gang and had pursued Jake and Adelaide to Rushbrook hoping to stop them from collecting evidence.
The hatbox full of celebrity secrets was presently concealed in the trunk of Adelaide’s car. Neither she nor Jake had wanted to risk leaving the box unattended at the cottage, and they had decided that no one else needed to know about the contents. Hiding a large container of blackmail materials had proven to be somewhat awkward, however. The trunk of her car seemed as safe a place as anywhere else. The plan was to burn the contents of the hatbox and her patient file that evening.
“I still can’t understand why Madam Zolanda predicted a death at the end of an otherwise routine psychic act,” Adelaide said. “She had no history of adding such a dramatic touch to her show.”
Raina set her teacup down with a thoughtful air. “I realize I’m supposed to be the cynical private eye here, but what if Madam Zolanda really was psychic?”
Adelaide almost laughed. “Are you serious? Do you mean to tell me that you actually believe that she really did have some paranormal power?”
“No, but the only other viable explanation is that the prediction was somehow supposed to tie in with your disappearance or murder.”
“That’s what Jake says but I’m not sure I buy that explanation. Why would Zolanda risk calling attention to herself in that way? Yes, it would have been good publicity for her but she had to know that the police would immediately suspect her. And if that was her plan, why didn’t she at least set up a solid alibi for herself for the hours following the end of her performance? As far as we know, she was home alone.”
“Except that it looks like she had a visitor who murdered her. You said Paxton denied killing Zolanda, so obviously it must have been Leggett who did it. After all, she’s the one who ended up with the stash of blackmail secrets.”
“Paxton was convinced Leggett murdered Zolanda. That makes sense but it still leaves me with my question—what did Zolanda think she was doing when she gave that final prediction?”
“I have no idea. Let me know if you come up with any good theories.” Raina put down her cup and opened a desk drawer to take out a notebook. “Meanwhile, I’m going to start work on my new case.”
“You said you solved Luther Pell’s missing liquor problem.”
“I did.” Raina looked pleased. “There wasn’t much to it, really. But it turns out that handling Luther’s case made for some excellent word-of-mouth advertising. I got a call from Mr. O’Conner. He’s the head of security at the Burning Cove Hotel. He asked me to make some inquiries into the background of someone the hotel is considering for employment.”
Adelaide smiled. “You did it, Raina. You got your investigation business up and running. Congratulations.”
“What about you? Now that you’ve got access to your inheritance, surely you’re going to stop working at the tearoom.”
“I dropped in at the tearoom before I came here to see you. I wanted to let Florence know that I was back in town and that all was well. I told her I could work for her as long as she needed me and that I would continue to blend teas for people.”