Page 36 of By the Book

Stepping into the doorway, I lean against the frame and smile at the sight before me. “Funny seeing you here, Ms. Taylor,” I say, voice thick with amusement.

Ivy whirls around, her eyes widening as they fall on me. “Sheriff,” she murmurs.

Barney looks between us in confusion before offering, “She was asking about keys, sir.”

“Thanks, Barn. I’ll take it from here.” I never take my attention off Ivy, motioning for her to step outside with me.

We move a few paces away from the office, and when I feel confident that we have some privacy, I take her in my arms and hold her against my chest. “What brings you to the harbor?”

“I was just curious about something…”

“How did you get in here?”

“Stevie’s dad has a dock.”

I smile up at the sky in frustration. She is making it impossible to keep her a safe distance from things.

“Ah, then it was Stevie that recognized the key, I’m guessing. But I thought we agreed you were done involving yourself.”

“I’m following a hunch in a public area,” she counters, motioning around us.

“Sherlock. You had to borrow—actually you probably stole a key from Stevie’s dad to get in here. That is the opposite of public.” I slide my hands up to her jaw and sigh.

“Public as in, out in the open. And don’t you want to know what I learned from Barney?” She’s looking up at me with hopeful, sparkling eyes. I don’t stand a chance.

“Let’s grab a bite at Rusty’s. Then we can walk over to the town meeting. I’m assuming you’re going to that?”

She smiles at me in response. “Perfect.”

“Alright,” I start, plucking a fried jumbo shrimp from the white and red checkered tray between us. “What did you learn from Barney?”

She sits forward, resting her forearms on the thickly epoxied wooden table and curling her hands into the sleeves of her oversized sweater. Grinning triumphantly, she says, “I’m sure you learned that no keys have been reported missing. But do you know how many keys were issued to each family?”

“I didn’t ask that…”

She reaches into her bag beside her and withdraws a printed list. “I gave him my mom’s guest list and he pulled any name that had a dock and then how many keys they each had. For example, you have one, but Fitzy has two.”

“This is good. Any chance it’s the only copy and you’re willing to give it to me and drop this?”

“Why would I drop it if I’m helping?”

The server appears, depositing two cod sandwiches before us. I take a bite, waiting for him to be out of ear shot before replying.

“Let’s say the perp has more than one key. What if he was there when you were poking around?”

“I would have stopped asking questions if anyone else came into the office.”

“And if I wasn’t here today. Would you have told me about this outing?”

“Of course, I haven’t kept any of it from you.”

“You didn’t tell me that one of the keys was for the harbor,” I counter.

“I found outafterI gave you the keys. And once I did, I already knew you had one, so you’d know what it is. Besides, I didn’t think this would count as something worth worrying about,” she replies assuredly.

Nudging her food basket closer to her, I let out a sigh. “Just please, tell me that you won’t try to talk to anyone on this list.”

“I won’t try to talk to anyone on this list,” she vows.

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