Dead Between the Lines by Denise Swanson Read Free Book Online Page B

silence, and my anxiety lessened with every step. I didn’t see any evidence of theft or vandalism. Next, we checked out the back room, and I let out an audible sigh of relief when I saw that the safe was undisturbed. Still, I opened it and verified that the contents hadn’t been stolen.
    Once I confirmed that nothing appeared to have been touched, the chief asked, “Who, besides you, has a key to the building?”
    “No one.” I hadn’t felt the need to give one to any of my employees.
    “How many sets do you have?” Eldridge paced the length of the storage area.
    “Three.” I counted off on my fingers. “The one in my purse. The one at home in my desk. And the one that I keep in the safe here.”
    “Have you lost one at any time or had your pocketbook stolen?”
    I shook my head. “And I’ve never misplaced a set or been mugged.”
    “The key was in there just now?” Eldridge pointed toward the safe.
    “Right here.” I reached inside, grabbed the vintage Coca-Cola bottle cap key chain, and dangled it in front of the chief’s face.
    “I’ll need you to allow the officer to see the key at your home when you show her your sweatshirts.” Eldridge continued to pace.
    “Okay,” I agreed, willing to help the police in any way I could.
    “You are absolutely, positively sure you locked the back door?” Eldridge stopped in front of me and stared at me until I squirmed.
    “Yes.” I did a quick mental rewind of the evening. “I’m sure.”
    “Then someone had to have hidden in the store and unlocked the door from the inside.” Eldridge crossed his arms. “But from the trail of blood, the murder took place outside. We looked earlier and there was no sign of blood in here.”
    “Will you have to dust the store for prints?” I asked, cringing at the thought of the mess the fingerprint powder would leave behind.
    “There’s no point.” Eldridge ground his teeth. “In a public place like this there are thousands of prints, and we’d expect to find evidence here of everyone who was at the meeting.”
    “True,” I quickly agreed, happy that they were leaving my store alone.
    “The question is, Was the person who hid inside and then unlocked the door Quistgaard?” Eldridge refocused the conversation. “Maybe when he walked out of the meeting, he didn’t leave the store. Or could it have been someone else in attendance?”
    “He’s one possibility.” I leaned against a file cabinet and closed my eyes to help remember everything that had happened that evening. “But Addie left the meeting early, too, and I didn’t see him leave the store, either.”
    “Who do you recall leaving when the meeting was over?” Chief Kincaid continued to stare at me as if he could force my memory to improve.
    “Uh.” With the chief glaring at me, I suddenly wasn’t sure who I’d seen and who I hadn’t. “I just don’t remember.” I nibbled on my thumbnail. “I was in the storeroom most of the time, stacking the chairs and tables as the members brought them back there.”
    “You must at least remember the last person, since you said you locked the door after him or her.” Eldridge’s mouth was a white line of frustration. “Who was the final one? The lingerer?”
    Had it been Mrs. Zeigler? No. In fact, she and I had both forgotten about the basket she’d said she wanted to order. I’d have to call her and get the information. How about Xylia? No, definitely not my clerk. I would have remembered her, because I’d wanted to ask her if she could work a couple of extra days this coming week, since I had a lot of basket orders to fill. So who had it been?
    “The newspaper guy,” I blurted out, having finally realized the identity of the man who had looked so familiar. “I can’t think of his name.”
    “Grant Edwyn?” Eldridge asked. “The
Shadow Bend Banner
’s editor?”
    “That’s the one. I kept trying to figure out how I knew him, and it just popped into my head a couple of seconds ago.” I