A Continental Murder (A Sleuthing Starlet Mystery Book 4) by Camilla Blythe

Author:Camilla Blythe [Blythe, Camilla]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Camilla Blythe
Published: 2019-10-14T21:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CORA REQUIRED ACTUAL facts.

Mrs. Thompson’s gossip was not without use, but she needed more.

Cora had never considered herself to have any tendencies toward theft. If only she’d had the sense to play a pickpocket on the silver screen. If she had, perhaps she could determine how to best borrow the leather bound guest book.

Instead, she would just have to do her best. She unwound her scarf, quickened her pace, draped her scarf casually over the book and swept it up.

She didn’t make eye contact with the receptionists.

She hoped they had not noticed her.

Fear soared through her, but nobody followed her.

She hurried to her room, and for a moment she simply stared at the book, as if the process of opening it might make her get into more trouble. Still, she’d already taken it. Her hands trembled, but she flicked through the pages.

She needed to see who’d been at the hotel when her father had been here, and who had also been here yesterday afternoon. She grabbed a notepad and scribbled the names of the relevant guests who had access to the courtyard when the pianist was killed and who had been here two weeks earlier.

And then she stopped.

Most of the guests did not overlap, but Cora read the names of Princess Zsofia and her entourage, Major Higgins, and Mr. and Mrs. Thompson. She sighed. The exercise had been less helpful than she’d expected.

She sighed. The major had been near the stairs to the courtyard. He’d known about them. Perhaps she could find him. He had a confident air about him, even though his white mustache that curled and his habit of wearing brown tweed suits were not traditional things that imbued a man with confidence. He was not in his prime and he was not particularly handsome, but his eyes crinkled when he smiled. A sour taste invaded Cora’s mouth. Perhaps the man was not as nice as he seemed.

Cora closed the guest book, tucked it inside a basket and marched downstairs. For some reason she’d imagined it would be easier to return the book than it had been to steal it in the first place.

Randolph was on the landing, and her heart soared.

“Cora!” Randolph grinned. He looked around quickly, then pulled her behind a curtain. “How are you? Being safe, I hope?”

“N-naturally.” Cora’s heart always thumped more often in Randolph’s presence, and her voice developed a preference for a higher octave. “Actually... I’m glad to see you.”

“I should hope so.”

She smiled. “I mean, of course, I’m glad to see you. But I was thinking about your investigation. You obviously suspect the princess’s uncle of nefarious business practices.”

Randolph’s eyes widened. “Hush. You’re not supposed to know that.”

“Well, I figured it out,” Cora shrugged. “That’s why you sit at their table. I thought you were interested in the princess. But now I realize—”

Randolph nodded. “Yes. I’m not interested in her.”

Cora swallowed hard. “I imagine the person you’re looking for is involved in some shady, criminal activity.”

“Yes, we had information that it was coming from this hotel.

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