Page 93 of The Mystery of the Moving Image
“I’m certain you’ll tell me.”
“Lee Straus.”
“What’re you talking about?” Calvin tucked the phone into his pocket.
“When he came to the Emporium yesterday, I noticed a lanyard around his neck. The logo is the same.”
“Lee said he was an adjunct professor.” Calvin picked up his utensils and cut into the omelet.
“Yeah, so?”
“I don’t think these academies haveprofessors,” he continued.
“So Lee’s got an ego.”
Calvin gave me a look.
“He does,” I replied. “I’m not trying to be a jerk about it.”
“Seb.”
“Do you still have the business card he gave you the other day?” I asked.
Calvin looked a bit surprised as he took a bite of food. He set his fork down, reached for his wallet, and sifted through a few cards. He plucked one, stared at it, then set it on the tabletop.
I put a finger on it and dragged the card closer.
Sunrise Film Academy
Lee Straus, Instructor
East 28th Street, New York, New York
“He might know these teens,” I stated.
“And he might not,” Calvin replied. He took another bite.
I frowned and poured syrup onto my waffles. “I think it’s more than coincidence,” I mumbled. “Especially seeing how it’d be hard for him to walk by the Emporium on his lunch break when I’m twenty blocks away from the academy.” I looked up and stuffed a hunk of waffle in my mouth.
Calvin set his fork down again and stared at me. “What do you expect me to say to that? Lee is now a suspect because he teaches at the school Casey attended and he made the mistake of visiting your shop?”
I held up a finger, taking a longer-than-intended moment to chew the huge piece of waffle. “No,” I said around the last bits. “Unless you have reason to think—”
“I don’t have reason to think Lee is a suspect,” Calvin said firmly.
We grew silent.
I wasn’t trying to accuse Lee of anything. I didn’t think. I only wanted to point out that… that… maybe we were both wrong about Mr. Robert.
Fuck.
Because while James Robert was definitely many things, a liar justhadn’tstruck me as being one of them. I’d believed him when he said his grandson Casey was trying to rob him. Probably with the help of this friend I’d unfortunately met a few times. And no matter how much I tried to convince myself to the contrary, Iabsolutelybelieved unlocking the mystery of the Dickson footage would reveal the reason for the thefts.
Logically, thefts equated to money.
But the movies themselves were simply not worth all this trouble. And Mr. Robert’s brownstone had been full of so many other gorgeous and rare items that would have fetched a far prettier penny and been less of a pain in the ass to obtain.
It was what wasonthe film that was worth it in someone’s mind to lie, steal, and kill.
