The Jacobs Assignment (A Janet Markham Bennett Cozy Thriller Book 10) by Diana Xarissa

Author:Diana Xarissa [Xarissa, Diana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-08-10T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

“Everything is delicious,” Janet said after a few bites of her dinner.

“Thank you,” Joan said.

Janet glanced at Edward. He’d seemed preoccupied since he’d finally emerged from the library for dinner. Now he looked up and then smiled.

“It’s wonderful, as always,” he said.

“Has anyone heard anything more about the murder investigation?” Joan asked.

Janet hid a smile. The question was clearly directed at Edward. After a moment, she shook her head.

Edward seemed focussed on his plate. After several bites, he glanced upwards and realised that everyone was staring at him. “I’m sorry. What was the question?”

“What’s happening with the murder investigation?” Janet asked.

“Ah, yes, of course. I should have realised. What’s happening with the murder investigation? I wish I knew. It’s quite complicated, really,” he said.

“Complicated why?” Joan demanded. “I thought the police had only a handful of suspects.”

Edward nodded. “He had to have been killed by one of five people. That’s been pretty firmly established. There have been a few rather more outlandish theories offered to account for what happened, but the police seem to be proceeding on the assumption that one of the five killed him.”

“Outlandish theories?” Janet repeated.

“Someone suggested that the killer hid in the building overnight, only emerging to kill Ted and then sneak out,” Edward said.

“Could someone have done that?” Janet asked.

“Not according to the men and women who work in the shop. Wayne and Ted were the last two people to leave on Friday evening. Wayne insists that he and the other assistants all did routine checks to be certain that every customer had gone before the doors were locked for the night.”

Janet tried to remember everything that she’d seen in the shop. “I can’t remember seeing any places where someone could have hidden,” she said eventually.

“And that was quite deliberate,” Edward told her. “Ted was very security conscious, and Wayne was even more so. When he was working at the shoe shop, he went in one morning and found a man passed out in the shop’s storage room. Apparently he’d sneaked into the storage room and then hidden in the small loo until the shop shut for the night. He’d brought along a bottle of wine and proceeded to get drunk while trying on just about every pair of shoes in the shop.”

Janet stared at him. “Why?” she finally asked.

Edward chuckled. “I’m not certain anyone ever found out why he’d done it. He’d planned to hide in the loo again in the morning, hoping to sneak out once the shop was open.”

“Surely all of his antics left evidence behind. He must have known that he’d be found once someone arrived to open the shop and discovered the mess,” Janet said.

“I wish I could tell you more, but that’s all that I know of the story. Wayne told Inspector Rosen that the woman who’d closed the shop the previous evening hadn’t followed the proper closing routine or she would have found the man before she’d gone for the night. Consequently, he was very strict about those procedures in the jewellery shop.

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