Page 56 of Artful Deceit

Fine,she wrote in the end. A definite twist of the truth, but compared to some people’s day it might seem all right. Though she’d certainly feel sorry for those poor people.

Busy?he asked.

Yeah.

Me too. Talk to you later.

She sent him a row of kisses and shoved her phone back into her pocket, wincing at the movement.

The phone vibrated again immediately, and she groaned as she pulled it out. Len’s name flashed on the screen.

“Just wanted to check in,” he said when she answered. “Any new developments in the case?”

“I keep hitting dead ends,” she said, relieved at being able to talk about it.

“What have you found out?”

“I’ve ruled out all the guests at the retreat.”

“Oh.” He sounded disappointed. “Where do we go from here then?”

She smiled at his use of ‘we’ – as though they were in it together.

“I don’t know. It seems I’ve probably been looking in the wrong place all along. Anyone could have dropped that pencil at Hilary’s place.”

“It seems odd, though. Even if lots of people have the pencils, most people wouldn’t carry them around, would they? Not unless they’d only just been given it.”

“What should I do, ask Gideon for a list of everyone he’s given them out to?”

“Good luck with that. The man is utterly chaotic. I can’t imagine he remembers who he’s given them to.”

“What do you mean he’s chaotic?”

“He’s a bit of a wool gatherer sometimes. Also, if you saw the state of his place, you’d know exactly what I mean by chaotic. Not that I’m one to talk.”

“I’ve seen it, actually.”

He gave a surprised grunt. “He doesn’t usually let anyone in.”

“I kind of barged in. I wanted to look for the stolen goods, but I didn’t get further than the hallway before he marched me out again. That’s actually the only part of the retreat I haven’t searched.” She paused. “Does he let you in there?”

“No. I just see in through the windows when I’m cleaning.”

“Oh.” She hadn’t thought about him doing the windows at that side of the house.

As she struggled to get off the floor, she let out an involuntary whimper.

“Are you okay?” Len asked.

“Yeah.” She breathed deeply through her nose until the pain subsided.

“Are you sure? It sounded as though you were crying.”

“I just… I have a slight injury but I’m fine.” She half walked, half staggered around the back of the house. “The window is open,” she stated.

“What did you say?”

“Gideon left a window open at the back.”