A Cauldron of Deceptions by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aconite Cafe
Published: 2021-10-25T00:00:00+00:00

3

Becca York stood outside her shop, talking to Rafael. Nora told herself it wasn’t her fault that Margo got so excited to see Rafael that she did a happy little dance. Nora couldn’t say no to that; she wasn’t a monster. So, the pair bypassed their own shop and walked up to Becca and Rafael.

“Nora—” Rafael began, his exasperation plainly written on his face.

“What? I’m just here for Margo to say hello to you,” Nora retorted. “But, since I’m here, are you okay, Becca?”

“No! Someone broke into the store last night.” Becca wrung her hands in agitation, looking back to her business.

“That’s horrible! Did they take anything?”

Becca shook her head. “I don’t know. It looks like they mostly smashed the place up.”

“Can you think of anyone who might want to do this?” Rafael asked, his voice gentle.

“No. I don’t know. I mean, who would want to do this?”

“The timing certainly seems significant,” Nora observed.

“Someone came in asking about buying the place yesterday,” Becca said. “I told them I wasn’t interested, but it struck me as funny after our conversation yesterday, Nora.”

Rafael turned to Nora, arching an eyebrow as he waited for an explanation.

“Becca commented that she assumed Samara would have to sell to cover her legal fees,” Nora explained.

“So, are you thinking there’s a connection, Becca?” Rafael turned his attention back to her. “Do you think this might be someone trying to get you to sell?”

“I don’t know.” Becca blinked her big blue eyes at Rafael. “Could it be?”

“At this point, we’re looking into all possibilities,” he answered. “I’m going to ask you to give Officer Schmidt here your contact information, okay?”

Nora waited patiently for Rafael to get Becca handed over to another officer, freeing him up to walk back to the shop with her.

“You know,” she began once they were out of earshot. “Raymond mentioned last night that Walter and Skyline Limitless got into a spat before he died because they got pretty pushy trying to get him to sell.”

“So, what? You think Skyline planted Gunnar’s body in The Cauldron to force Samara into selling?”

Nora bit her lip in thought. “But why kill Gunnar?”

“Maybe he was blackmailing them,” Rafael suggested.

“August did say he wasn’t well liked at work.”

“How does August know whether or not he was liked at work?” Rafael ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. “You know what? Never mind. I don’t want to know. Ignorance is bliss.”

“You know what’s bothering me?” Nora asked.

“No, but I have a feeling you’re going to tell me.” He stopped in front of her shop, leaning against the brick wall and waiting for her to enlighten him.

“Say it was Skyline, and this is all some elaborate ruse to silence Gunnar and convince businesses on the street to sell—wouldn’t it make more sense to take them out one at a time? Staging a break-in so close to a murder feels, well, obvious.”

“Agreed. But the odds of both crimes happening so close in proximity and time? They have to be connected.”

“You know

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.