02 A Body in the Bookshop by Helen Cox

Author:Helen Cox
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: Mystery & Detective, General, Cozy, Fiction
ISBN: 9781529402247
Publisher: Hachette UK
Published: 2019-10-31T00:00:00+00:00

Twenty

‘Shouldn’t we wait for Halloran?’ asked Evie as she, Grace and Kitt approached the entrance of North Riding Auction House on a quiet street on the outskirts of Wetherby. Though she had played a bit fast and loose with the out of town speed limit in the hope of catching Holt while they had the chance, Evie was suddenly very aware of the fact that they could be about to have a showdown with a murderer – her second in six weeks – and for that kind of thing she would be much more comfortable with police back-up.

‘We can’t hang around,’ said Kitt. ‘Who knows when he’ll pick up that message? I’m hardly going to waste time waiting for him to get back to me if there’s a chance of recovering a first edition copy of The Big Sleep from the hands of thieves.’

‘This just feels like it’s escalating fast all of a sudden,’ said Evie, thinking back to her trip to the hospital and how much trouble she managed to cause with that one visit.

‘Escalating is good,’ said Grace. ‘Escalating is better than slow or dull. Like most days.’

Evie pouted. She knew she couldn’t have counted on back-up from those quarters. From what Kitt had told her about their last adventure, Grace was more than happy to leap into things and just hope for the best. Looks like she was outnumbered.

The auction house was comprised completely of brown stone save for its lead-paned, circular windows. The weather vane shaped like a fish on top of the ornate gable roof pointed south-west. There was something intimidating about it for such a small building and the closer Evie got to the tall wooden door the more sick she felt. The strong scent of pipe smoke lingering by the entrance didn’t help. The sweetly sour smell always turned her stomach.

‘Besides anything else,’ said Kitt, apparently not quite finished convincing her friend of the urgency, ‘both Grace and myself have got to be back at the library in about forty minutes unless we want to suffer the wrath of Michelle, and you’ve got massage appointments to keep this afternoon.’

‘All right, I get it – time is of the essence,’ Evie said with a sigh. ‘But let’s just go steady. We could just suss the guy out. We don’t have to approach him.’

‘Are you kidding?’ said Grace. ‘I didn’t come out here to watch someone bid on a vintage teapot.’

‘Sadly, that does sound like my idea of fun,’ said Evie.

‘Given his weakness for younger women, I’ve got a much better idea,’ said Grace.

Kitt narrowed her eyes at her assistant. ‘What?’

‘You’ll see, just follow my lead,’ said Grace, pulling open the door to the auction house.

‘Er, wait a minute, that’s not how this works, is it?’ said Kitt.

‘It does this time . . .’

Kitt shook her head at Evie. ‘Oh dear. Why couldn’t I have recruited a shy and retiring assistant?’

They hurried after Grace and the second Evie was over the threshold she was hit

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