Whispers in the Reading Room by Shelley Shepard Gray

Author:Shelley Shepard Gray
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2015-10-01T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

A steady pounding on the stairs jarred Sebastian from the page he’d been rereading for the last twenty minutes. As authoritative voices joined the din, along with brisk knocks on doors, Sebastian strode to his office door, barely checking on the sleeping Lydia before grasping the handle. He intended to chew out the employees responsible for letting the revelers make their way into the club’s private spaces.

But before he could throw open the door and take care of the problem, three sharp, staccato raps pounded against the wood.

The jarring noise woke Lydia, who sat upright with a cry of alarm. “Sebastian?”

He had no time to calm her.

He opened the door to two men in suits and one very agitated Vincent Hunt. Luckily, he’d had a lifetime of concealing his emotions. “Hunt, what is going on?”

“The police are here, sir. They have discovered a body.” He looked the complete opposite of his normal, unflappable self.

With effort, he tamped down his shock. “I see,” he said. Though, of course, he really didn’t see anything at all.

One of the men, his brown eyes perceptive and his blond hair expertly groomed, spoke. “Sir, I’m Lieutenant Detective Owen Howard. I regret to inform you that a man has just been discovered murdered outside your club.”

Some of the tension in his shoulders eased. “That is sad news, indeed, though not exactly a surprise. This area is a rather violent one.”

“Yes, it is. We were investigating another report only two blocks over when we heard screams coming from the direction of the Grotto. The dead man looks to be a gentleman, sir. And his murder looks to have been a particularly violent one as well. In addition, he seems to have received a recent beating.”

Behind him, Lydia gasped.

Inwardly, Sebastian winced. Never would he have wanted her to be in the midst of this. Gripping the door’s handle, he said, “Thank you for letting me know, Detective. I’ll be downstairs shortly.”

Howard reached out and gripped the side of the door. “Not so fast, sir. I have some questions for you.”

“Which I will answer presently.”

The second man, who until that moment had been simply standing and observing, pushed his way to face Sebastian. “Our business would be best taken care of now. And out of the hall. If we may come in, sir?”

The man’s hazel eyes were piercing, his dark hair far more clumsily cut than Lieutenant Howard’s. His voice held the faint suggestion of an Irish accent. Sebastian was fairly sure who he was looking at: Sean Ryan, the luckiest cop on the face of the earth. The new husband of the elusive, beautiful Eloisa Carstairs.

“I’d rather you did not. I have company.”

“I’m afraid I must insist that we enter, sir. Immediately.”

Sebastian glanced Vincent’s way. His assistant had a bit of color back in his cheeks but otherwise appeared flummoxed. It was now becoming evident that they weren’t here to go through the motions of investigating another poor sod who’d faced his end in Camp Creek Alley. No, this death seemed to matter.

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