Page 82 of When Fashion Turns Deadly

Cole checked the time on his computer. Peter Wade’s show was long over, and Kyle Adams’s show would begin in less than a half hour. “We don’t have a lot of time on this.”

“Hold on,” Jasmine said as though calming an impatient child.

Cole gritted his teeth. He needed to get over to the Louvre, and he wanted Isabelle and Marit in his sight.

The clicking of a keyboard carried over the line. “Also, I was about to call you. I found an interesting tidbit today.”

“What’s that?”

“Did you know that James used to intern for Kyle Adams?”

“What?”

“Could be that Adams used James to gain access to Molenaar’s designs.”

“That would make sense.”

“Okay, I’ve got the first one. Corbin Butler,” Jasmine said.

“I’ll pull his info if you’ll look up the Air France passengers.”

“You got it.” Jasmine relayed the man’s US passport info.

Cole tapped into the State Department’s database and did a search for Corbin Butler. It took only a minute to retrieve his personal information and five more minutes to retrieve the name of his current employer: Kyle Adams.

“I think we found the designer behind Ralph Molenaar’s design theft,” Cole said. “The man on the KLM flight is one of his employees, and he left the day after James was killed—probably with Molenaar’s muslin patterns. My guess is Kyle went to pick up the designs from James, and either James got greedy, or Adams lost it when he found out James had dropped the flash drive into Marit’s purse.”

“It’s possible, but the fact that his employee flew to the States the next day isn’t concrete evidence he was involved,” Jasmine said.

“But it is suspicious.”

“Yes, it is.”

“If we can find evidence of Adams using Molenaar’s designs, the police will at least be able to tie him to the theft.”

“True.” Jasmine paused. “Okay, I have the other passengers; all four are women in their early twenties.”

“Why would Adams pay so much money to buy last-minute tickets for four women?” Cole asked. “Unless...”

“Unless they’re his models for the new clothes he had made from Molenaar’s designs,” Jasmine finished for him. “I’m looking at their passport photos. All four women are beautiful.”

“I need to get over to the show. It’s starting in a few minutes.”

“Do you want me to call the police for you?”

“That would be great. Call Capitaine Dupont. His phone number should be in my report.”

“I have it,” Jasmine said. “Be careful.”

“I will,” Cole said. “As long as Adams doesn’t know we’re on to him, he isn’t a threat.”

“He may have killed Brinton James,” Jasmine reminded him. “Don’t underestimate what the man is capable of.”

“I won’t.” Cole hung up and secured his laptop. As soon as it was locked away, he rushed out the door. He debated briefly calling Lars, but Jasmine’s last comment carried with him. Adams could very well be capable of murder. Cole couldn’t take a chance that Lars, Isabelle, or Marit might inadvertently alert Adams that he was suspected of both theft and murder.

With expediency in mind, Cole rushed to the elevator and used his phone to summon a taxi.

Chapter 27

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