Page 21 of The Summer Inn on Plum Island
“What benefit comes from trying to pawn smoothie or ice-crushing machines?” Dawn glanced around the bar. “You have some expensive bottles of alcohol, yet none of it was touched.”
Liam saw something move out of the corner of his eye next to Dawn. His instincts kicked in as he rushed at Dawn, pulling her out of the bar as the one glass shelf suddenly cracked and dropped its contents. They’d barely cleared the area when the sound of smashing glass echoed through the bar area.
“What the…” Liam breathed, his arms still wrapped around Dawn. They both turned and looked into the bar where four glass shelves of alcohol and glasses had smashed onto the floor.
“Okay, so maybe wearedealing with a ghost,“ Dawn breathed, her eyes wide with shock as she stared at the mess.
“Liam!” Mary hurried toward them. “Come quick, you have to…” She stopped, her eyes widening in disbelief when she saw the wrecked bar. “What the heck happened?” She looked at Liam.
Liam told her, and Mary’s eyes widened some more. “You’re going to want to see this.” She glanced at the bar. “I’ll get that cleaned up.”
“Thank you, Mary,” Liam said.
He unraveled his arms from Dawn, and hers fell away from him, making him feel cold for a few seconds. Liam shook it off, and they followed Mary to a store room in the back of the hotel’s large kitchen.
They stepped into the room where Liam’s head chef, Pierre, was standing scratching his head. They stepped closer, and Dawn gasped when their eyes fell on a stash of kitchen items and a pile of jewelry laid on an old velvet cloak.
“Hey, boss,” Piere turned at Dawn’s gasp. “I found the door to the old store open and came in to find this.” He pointed at the items. “That cloak was pulled into a sack-type shape and looked a bit heavy, so I opened it.”
“My watch and Lila’s locket could be in there,” Dawn said. She was about to rush toward it, but a hand from behind her stopped her.
A tall man dressed in a neat black suit stepped into the room. “Sorry, Miss Vanderbilt, but it might be another trap.”
“You must be Barry?” Dawn asked.
“No, Barry is shadowing Miss Harper and Miss Lila,” the man told her before introducing himself. “I’m Carl. Head of Miss Harper’s security detail.”
“Have you been following me?” Dawn looked at him accusingly.
“No, Miss Vanderbilt,” Carl said. “I’ve been investigating the theft from Barry’s room, and when I found out you, Miss Lila, and some other guests had been victims of theft, I took it upon myself to investigate.”
“Then how did you end up here?” Dawn asked him, still suspicious of Carl’s motives.
“I was following, Mary,” Carl told them.
“Me?” Mary looked at him in shock. “Why me?”
“Because you were the one trying to organize the guests and sent to investigate the missing items from the hotel,” Carl told her. “I was trying to find out what else had gone missing to try and figure out the thieves’ pattern.”
“Thieves?” Liam frowned. “As in plural?”
“Yes,” Carl said with a nod. “Given that these items are from multiple rooms and the amount of items taken, there must’ve been more than one person doing this.”
“Sorry to interrupt,” Pierre said. “But I have to get back to the restaurant. Can I take my kitchen items?”
“I’m afraid not,” Carl told him. “The police need to see this first.”
“I need my kitchen items,” Peirre growled.
“You’re going to have to work around them until we can give them back to you.” Liam stepped in and looked at Mary. “Could you figure out what Pierre needs and see if you can borrow them from the Beach Hut?” Mary nodded. “I know they have alot of spare gadgets, as Finn likes to be prepared for equipment failure.”
Mary and Pierre left the room.
“I’ll call the police for you, Mr. Gains,” Carl offered.
“Thank you, Carl, I’d appreciate that,” Liam said, turning toward the stash of items.
“Why would the thieves just leave the stuff here?” Dawn asked.
