Stolen Christmas by Marie Sexton

Author:Marie Sexton [Sexton, Marie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-11-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

We lingered at the table for a long time after lunch ended, chatting with Pierce, Haven, and Kayleigh over hot coffee, cold beers, and glasses of wine. Pierce told us about some of the spookier buildings he and his brother had investigated. Haven talked about one of his books that was being made into a movie. Kayleigh indulged us with a few stories of the famous people she’d worked with. By the time we left the table, it was after two.

I hoped we’d go back upstairs after that, but Max was having fun with Pierce and Haven and didn’t seem inclined to leave yet. I followed the three of them into the lobby where we claimed seats in front of the fireplace, this time with the weatherman and his husband. Molly once again made the rounds, happily sticking her head into people’s laps, practically forcing them to pet her. Pierce had a hundred questions for Max about the supposedly haunted places on Whidbey Island, saying he hoped to do some shows there next season. Max did his best to make me feel like part of the group, but years of working at the inn had me distracted.

Something was going on.

First, Stacy Ingram came downstairs with tears in her eyes and spent several minutes in a whispered conversation with Rhonda and Suzanne, who were visibly upset. Stacy was clearly torn between rage and sadness. She eventually stormed away, her cheeks still wet with tears. I excused myself from the conversation with the others and went to find out what was going on.

“Another theft,” Rhonda said. “Somebody stole Stacy’s wedding ring, and a diamond necklace that was a gift from her father, who died two weeks ago. So she’s not taking it well.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Suzanne’s calling the cops right now. And us?” She sighed. “We need to get everybody down here.”

We spent the next few minutes gathering the few guests who weren’t already downstairs, asking them to join us in the lobby. By the time they’d all congregated in the large space, the police had arrived. The room buzzed with excitement and nervousness as it became clear this wasn’t some kind of fun holiday game.

Rhonda stepped forward to address them all. “Thank you so much for being here. I’m really sorry to interrupt your holiday, but as many of you know, we’ve had a string of thefts. After the most recent one, Suzanne and I decided it was time to bring in the police to help figure out who among us is a thief.”

She gestured toward Mitch, who stepped forward, taking her place in the middle of our rough circle. Mitch was a local boy, albeit all grown up now. I was glad he was taking charge and not Officer Randall, who had to work a bit too hard to hide his homophobia.

“Good afternoon, everybody. I’m Officer Mitch Howard of the Sandpoint Police Department. This is Officer Randall. We’re here—”

“I think it was them,” Mrs. Tottenham said, drawing everybody’s attention.

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