Page 23 of Last Date
Mom and June joined us.
“You did it,” Mom said, rubbing my back. “I was so worried.”
I smiled. “We weren’t fighting dragons.”
“It was creepy down there though.” Merrick ruffled his dark hair, shuddering. “I don’t have spiderweb in my hair still, right?”
Without thinking, I brushed my hand over his hair. His hair was surprisingly soft, and as it slid against my fingers, I shivered. I pulled my hand away quickly and said, “Nope. All clear.”
A commotion up near the stage caught our attention. I followed Merrick as he made his way to a group of women who seemed upset. As we neared, I recognized Mrs. Glen from earlier.
When she saw Merrick, she wailed, “Chief Dawson, thank goodness you’re here! Someone’s stolen all the money!”
Chapter Five
Merrick’s demeanor immediately changed from regular citizen to police chief before my eyes. He straightened his shoulders and zeroed in on her like a laser. “When did you notice the money was gone, Mrs. Glen?”
“When the lights came back on. I had the box here on the table, and then everything went dark.” Mrs. Glen wrung her hands, looking pale. “I went looking for my granddaughter, Susanna, because I was worried she’d be scared. I was only gone for a few minutes, but when I came back, the whole box was gone.”
“Did you see anyone nearby before the lights went out?”
She wrinkled her brow. “There were a few people, but I don’t remember exactly who they were. What do we do?”
“Maybe you should search everyone, Chief Dawson,” Mrs. McGillivray suggested.
“We certainly need to question them.” Merrick turned to me. “Don’t let anyone leave the building.”
“Me?” Had he mistaken me for one of his officers?
“Yes, you. I need someone I can trust.”
“Oh, uh… okay.” I grimaced. “There are two exits. Which one should I cover?”
“The back. I’ll watch this one.” He pulled his phone out as he spoke. “Go. Quickly.”
“Right.” I took off toward the back door, feeling uncertain of exactly what I was doing. It wasn’t like I had any authority to keep people from leaving. Would it be enough to tell people Merrick wanted them to stay?
There was a trickle of people exiting the building out of the back door. I hurried to get in front of them, feeling foolish. “Uh, folks, Police Chief Dawson wants everyone to stay inside for now.”
“But there might be a criminal in there,” exclaimed a tall thin woman, her eyes wide. She tugged her gray sweater tight, glancing around nervously. “I don’t want to stay inside.”
“Yeah.” A balding man grimaced. “I don’t want to stay inside either. I want to go home.”
Shivering, a woman wearing a scarf on her head nodded. “How can you keep us here? We’re law-abiding citizens.”
Gritting my teeth, I said, “I’m sure Chief Dawson will let us all go as soon as he’s satisfied the thief isn’t among us.”
“We’resuspects?” the first woman screeched. “But I’m not a thief.”
I held up my hands as the group started muttering indignantly. “Of course not, but if you all leave, the person who stole the money might slip out with you.”
“Oh.” The bald guy scowled.
They all started talking at once, proclaiming their innocence. As their angry voices washed over me, I realized I had two choices: let them leave and admit defeat, or try to project some kind of authority to keep them here. Sucking in a deep breath, I growled, “If you leave, you’re going to have a visit from the police. Is that what you want? Do you want your neighbors seeing the police arriving at your house?”
“What?” a petite Hispanic woman mumbled. “But we didn’t do anything.”
“Which is why you should stay put.” I took a step toward them, trying to pressure them back into the building simply by crowding them. I was relieved when they gave way and slowly retreated back over the threshold.
