It was
excellent, as always.”
“Are you certain you won’t have another sip?
There’s plenty, Alex.”
“I’d love to, but I’ve got work to do.”
Evans shook his head slowly. “The harried
life of the innkeeper, Alex, leaves little time for
reflection.”
Alex patted the man’s shoulder gently as he
stood. “You’re preaching to the choir, Evans, but the work has to
be done.”
Alex went back to his office to retrieve the
copies he’d made of the note he’d found in Jefferson Lee’s
room.
With a sinking feeling in the pit of his
stomach, Alex realized the copies were gone!
Alex knew he’d left them on his desk by the
copier in his rush to return the postcard to Jefferson’s room. Why
hadn’t he tucked them safely away before he’d gone to return the
original? It would have only taken a second or two.
Someone had to have real brass to slip into
his office and take the copies. That meant that whoever had done it
had most likely spotted Alex going into Jefferson Lee’s room
earlier.
Someone at the inn was watching him, and Alex
didn’t like it one bit.
Alex was just about to look for Elise when he
suddenly realized something. He’d ruined the first copy he’d made,
and he’d tossed the skewed sheet into the trash can beside the
copier. Alex hurried to the trash and saw that the thief had missed
one copy after all. The block letters, at least most of them, were
printed firmly on the discarded sheet.
Alex smiled grimly to himself. He still had a
copy of the note after all, one the killer didn’t realize he
had.
Now how in the world was he going to figure
out who had written it? Alex folded the paper carefully in half and
walked out to rejoin Evans Graile.
“Evans, did you happen to see anybody going
into my office in the last twenty minutes?”
“Why, is something missing?” the older man
asked eagerly.
Alex shook his head. “No, I just wanted to
know if anybody was looking for me.”
“Not that I saw, Alex, but I must admit I was
busily brewing my tea until just a few moments before you joined
me.”
“Thanks, anyway,” Alex said as he moved over
to the front desk. He spun the guest book around and studied the
names of everyone who had signed in recently to see if he could
spot any similarities to the handwriting on the note in his hands.
A slight chill swept over him when he saw Jefferson Lee’s name
written in flowing script. Could the man have printed the letter
himself?” Alex just couldn’t bring himself to believe that. As he
studied the sign-in book, it was impossible to match the block
print on his copy with any of the guests’ signatures.
He was just about to give up when a voice
nearby caught him by surprise.
“What are you doing, Alex?”
Chapter 7
“It’s just one of my lists,” Alex said as he
quickly tucked the folded copy under his arm. “Running an inn, you
have to keep lists of all kinds of things to do. Jenny, shouldn’t
you be at the fair?” When he saw the expression on her face, he
added, “Is something wrong?”
Jenny admitted, “I just can’t believe
Jefferson’s gone. It’s finally hitting home. I just had to get away
for a few minutes.”
“I’ve heard you two were close.” He watched
her carefully for some kind of reaction.
Jenny frowned, her nose crinkling just like
he remembered. She said, “That’s not what I mean. Life is truly
short, isn’t it? Jefferson and I went out once or twice, but do you
want to know the truth, Alex? I never really got over you.” She
moved a step closer, and Alex found himself backing into the
registration desk.
“I seem to recall you were awfully glad to
get rid of me at the time.”
She wasn’t about to let him off that easily.
“I was a fool, Alex, and I’m not afraid to admit it.”
Alex couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“How come you never said a word about all this when I went back to
Sandra? That didn’t seem to bother you at all.”
Jenny looked him straight in the eye.