Page 10 of A Jingle of Justice
To hear Glinda tell it, her ancestors were daring yet kind-hearted pirates. Nary a one hurt another soul. None of them pillaged. I thought of the history Lissa had shared earlier about the Tillburys. Did she know how they’d made their fortune?
“I must see the treasure when it’s exhumed.” Horace pressed his hands together.
I said, “It won’t be?—”
“I can be of help.”
“Of help?” Brady echoed.
“Be warned. If it is destroyed, time will cease ticking.” Horace once again attempted to unlock the front door. When he was successful, he slipped inside without another word.
Brady said, “That was strange.”
Fiona said, “Stranger than strange.”
It was, but I couldn’t focus on Horace’s odd behavior because I’d just remembered I’d promised to make a Christmas-themed fairy garden for Glinda’s niece. I explained my mission to Brady. “Do you mind going with me to the shop to gather a few figurines?”
“Lead the way.”
We strolled through the multilevel courtyard in the direction toward Lincoln Avenue and 8thStreet.
“I’ll just be a sec.” I pecked him on the cheek, unlocked the door, switched off the security system using the panel to the right of the door, and with only the cabinet lights on to guide me, cut through the main showroom to the patio.
Fiona kept pace, wings flapping.
I flicked two switches. Fairy lights illuminated the ficus. Two sconces on the walls flanking the bakers’ racks illuminated. I paused. “How odd,” I murmured.
“What?” Fiona asked.
“The rack on the right. It’s almost covering the sconce.” I strode to it and gasped when I saw scratches on the travertine tile. “It’s been moved.”
“Joss couldn’t have done it,” Fiona said. “She left before you did to visit her mother.”
“Maybe a customer dropped something at the end of the day, and it rolled beneath the rack so they nudged it aside. But why not move it back?” I started to push it but paused when I glimpsed dirt. A lot of it. I crouched to peek beneath. “Brady!”
He came running. “What’s wrong?”
“Someone has been digging under this rack. The tiles and grout have been removed. Help me shove this out of the way so we can get a better view.” I motioned.
“Hold on. Everything will fall off.”
In a flash we transferred items to the leftmost rack, crowding figurines with environmental pieces. Then he grabbed the right end of the rack and I gripped the left. We edged it away from the wall, exposing a large hole at least three tiles wide and two feet deep.
I stood up and brushed my hands on my capris. “How? Why?”
“When?” Fiona asked. “The alarm was set.”
“And the old entrance is boarded up,” I said.
A long time ago, another shopkeeper in the courtyard had found a secret passageway into this area and used it to gain entrance. I didn’t know why he thought accessing it would make it possible for him to take over my lease, and I never would. I’d found him dead by the fountain.
“Who could’ve gotten in to the shop?” I asked. “Only Joss and I and a few others know the—” I screeched. “Brady!” I dashed toward the teaching table at the far end of the patio.
A body lie still beyond it. And not just any body. Tianna Thistle.
CHAPTER FOUR
First, rehearse your song by rote,
