Unlucky Charms by Linda O. Johnston Read Free Book Online Page B

managed hadn’t been trashed, too—had it?
    Apparently the detectives were on the same wavelength. “Rory, Gemma, this is Detective Lura Fidelio,” Choye said. “She’ll be working with me while we figure out what happened here. Detective Fidelio, why don’t you accompany Gemma next door to the Broken Mirror to make sure everything is all right there.”
    â€œCertainly.” The other detective lowered her head so she could look more directly into Gemma’s face. “Let’s go,” she said, and it sounded like a command.
    I hadn’t been wild about Detective Choye, but he was better than the counterparts of his I’d met previously. And I already had a feeling I’d like him better than his new associate.
    But given the current circumstances, maybe it would be a good thing for Lura to be a take-charge personality—especially if there were problems at the bookstore, too. My fingers crossed behind my back in the hopes that everything there would be fine. Unlike at my shop.
    Gemma and Detective Fidelio headed out the front door. I pulled Pluckie’s leash out of my pocket where I’d stuffed it and attached it to her collar, to make sure she didn’t attempt to follow them.
    I almost wanted to do that myself rather then deal with the chaos here. Fortunately, since I’d been in retail for a long time, I kept a pretty accurate inventory of all the items we sold, so once I got things back on their appropriate shelves I’d be able to tell what was missing.
    I still didn’t see my tote-on-wheels. Nor did I see any of the other items I’d designed. Had they been the target of the theft for some reason? If so, that would suggest that whoever had done this had been at my talk the day before. Otherwise, how would they know what to take?
    Unless, of course, they’d opened the bag and removed from the shelves everything that matched what the duffle contained.
    Yes, I was already attempting to think of ways to solve this crime. Was the detective with me doing the same thing? He was no longer standing beside me but had moved a few steps away, surveying the store with his dark eyes beneath thin, worried brows.
    â€œSo, Detective Choye,” I began, “how have you been investigating similar break-ins?”
    I realized I was goading him, in a way. I wasn’t supposed to know about those other break-ins, and presumably he wasn’t supposed to talk about them.
    â€œThe Destiny Police Department has a standard procedure for investigating thefts of various kinds,” he began pompously. At the same time, I heard a noise at the front door and turned.
    Justin was outside.
    I hurried toward him as he opened the door, stepping over and around the thick piles of items cast over the floor. I was glad I hadn’t locked up after Gemma and Detective Fidelio left. That made me remember that I had locked the door behind us earlier, when Gemma, Pluckie, and I first entered, and I recognized in retrospect that this might have been a bad move. What if the thief had been here and we’d needed to escape?
    Fortunately, that hadn’t been the case. Or, if the person had still been here, he or she apparently went out the back door before I’d checked the storeroom. Unless that person was still hiding under a counter somewhere.
    But even if Detectives Choye and Fidelio hadn’t made sure the room was clear, I felt fairly confident the thief wasn’t there. If anyone was still around, Pluckie would have let me know, and she’d been fairly calm since we’d come back downstairs.
    Right now, though, she was pulling on her leash in her attempt to greet Justin.
    He, in turn, was working his way through the piles of stuffed animals and blankets and other mixed-up items toward me. Well, toward us, since Detective Choye remained at my side.
    Which was a shame. I’d have liked to have thrown myself into Justin’s arms to extract whatever