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"Cally

She was very conscious of Carson, as just outside the front door now talking to ain the back of his truck She did not want the boy to overhear this arguallery a few minutes earlier, she had slipped behind the counter She had deemed it prudent to put a bit of distance between thee, it was clear that he was not thrilled with the idea of having been drafted But the counter did not seeh

"Pay attention I Aator" Nick spaced each word out very carefully and deliberately, as though talking to sorasp of the language "I do not have a license I do not investigate for a living I write fiction for a living And you know that as well as I do Why did you and Virgil agree to go along with AZ's zany scheme?"

"Because we don't have a lot of choice," she said briskly "As you pointed out, there aren't any real investigators here in Eclipse Bay, and I agree with AZ about Sean Valentine He's a good man, and he is no doubt a very competent cop But I' in all the wrong places"

"Don't tell ree with Arizona's conspiracy theory? You really think Valentine should look for the culprit up at the institute?" Nick spread his hands "Give me a break That's nuts and you know it"

"I doubt verywas stolen by someone at the institute," she said coolly "But that still leaves a lot of rocks to turn over and I don't think Sean will do that I've got a hunch he'll concentrate on the Heralds"

Nick was silent

"I knew it," she muttered "He does think it was someone from the Incandescent Body, doesn't he?"

"He intends to do soround checks on soical place to start The Heralds constitute the largest group of newcoe of the painting and where it was stored"

"That's not true There are more newcoe"

"Okay,But it's unlikely thatso soon With a few exceptions, they're considered outsiders here in Eclipse Bay Not full-fledged members of the coossip circuit The Heralds, on the other hand, knew everything about the Upsall almost immediately because Photon and AZ told them"

"Others could have known, too," she insisted "You knoord spreads in this town"

"Coht," he replied curtly "There are a lot of suspects, aren't there?"

She did not like the way he said that "Not a lot Soht where the painting was stashed You even let him take a really close look at it And he's into art Probably knows some underhanded dealers back in Portland or Seattle ould be willing to take a stolen Upsall off his hands, no questions asked"

Shock reverberated through her It took a moment to recover Then she flattened her pal hands and leaned forward so that they were only inches apart

"Don't you dare i," she said softly "That is beneath conteotta expect soht up Jeremy's nah her teeth

"Just trying to be logical That's e investigators are paid to do"

"You know so? When AZ cail and me that there was some merit to the plan After all, ould know Eclipse Bay better than a Harte? And with your family history and clout here in town, you can talk to anyone Get through any door People will take you seriously and open up to you"