Page 15 of When Fashion Turns Deadly

Marit walked outside with another model, who had dark, curly hair. Marit started toward him but stopped when a well-dressed older woman joined them. Marit greeted the woman, who appeared to be in her early fifties, before continuing forward.

Cole met Marit halfway. “Are you ready?”

Marit nodded. “Cole, this is Nadia, and this is our agent, Esmee.”

“Good to meet you both.” Cole shook hands with each of them before speaking to Marit once more. “Where are we off to?”

“I’m sorry, but outsiders aren’t allowed at the fittings,” Esmee said.

“It might be best if we let Cole come along,” Marit said.

Nadia nodded in agreement.

Esmee looked from Nadia to Marit. “What’s going on?”

“Maybe we should talk about this on our way.” Marit lifted her arm in the air and flicked her wrist. A moment later, a cab pulled to the curb.

Cole opened the door and waited for the women to slide in.

Esmee looked up at him from the center seat. “We won’t all fit.”

“We can squeeze,” Marit insisted. She climbed in and scooted over to make room for Cole.

Cole sat beside her, barely able to close the door.

Esmee offered a disgruntled shake of her head before giving the driver their destination. “Why must he come with us?” she then asked.

“Because Nadia and I think someone broke into our room yesterday evening,” Marit said.

“What?” Esmee and Cole asked in unison.

“Our stuff was everywhere,” Nadia said. “Whoever came in went through everything.”

“Was anything taken?” Cole asked.

Nadia shook her head. “Not that we could tell.”

“Have you reported the break-in to the police?” he asked.

“No,” Marit said. “We only realized there was a problem a few minutes ago.”

“We need to do that now.” Cole motioned toward the building entrance. “The building supervisor needs to know about it too.”

Esmee looked at her watch. “We don’t have time. If Nadia and Marit miss this fitting, they’ll lose the opportunity to walk in one of the biggest shows of Fashion Week.”

Cole sighed.Models.“Tell me everything you know, and I’ll call the police after I drop you off.”

With a surprisingly calm voice, Marit said, “It happened after the police arrived at four and before Nadia got back at eight.”

“The police?” Esmee shifted her body so she could see Marit more clearly. “What were the police doing at your flat?”

“They had some questions about a recent crime,” Marit said. “They thought I might have seen something.”

“What crime?” Esmee grasped Marit’s hand. “What happened?”

“I’m not really supposed to talk about what the police told me, but Cole came to help me get everything sorted out.”

“You should have called me right away,” Esmee said, clearly affronted.

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