Page 63 of Chosen Path

“It was a theory,” Bodhi told her. “We confirmed that she had been injected with something. And so had Nikolas Lundgren, as it happens. But the placement of the injection site suggested another possibility.”

“Somebody else injected them?”

“Yes.”

“Murder. I can’t believe it,” Hope breathed.

“We don’t know for sure,” Molly cautioned. Then she reached out and took Kimberly’s used glass from Hope’s hand. “Here. I’ll put that in the kitchen. You’re a better woman than me to get her a drink of water.”

“I didn’t. When she breezed into your office, I was so worried she’d see what I was working on. I started scooping up all my notes in a frenzy. She helped herself to a glass of water from the kitchen while I put everything out of sight of her prying eyes.

“Good thinking,” Officer Booth told her.

“What were you working on?” Molly asked.

“Come on, I’ll show you.”

Molly returned the glass to the coaster, and they all trailed Hope into the library.

* * *

Hope seemed to vibrate with excitement as she led them back to Molly’s office. She walked behind the desk and pressed a notch on the left side of the hand-me-down desk. A wide shallow drawer popped out.

“How’d you do that?” Molly asked.

“Are you kidding me? You don’t know about the secret compartments?”

Molly raised both eyebrows. “What are you talking about?”

Hope laughed. “Nikolas Lundgren was a furniture maker, you know that, right?”

“I did. He sold his pieces out of the old barn near that orchard that makes the cider donuts.”

“Right, well, judging by the looks of it, most of your furniture was made by Nik—or his dad.”

Molly eyed the old desk with new appreciation. “I had no idea.”

“Lundgren furniture is famous around here, and not just because it’s well made. Almost every piece has at least one secret compartment.”

“Are you serious right now?” Officer Booth asked.

“I’m completely serious. I can’t believe you didn’t know either. We really do need a local history center.”

“But if everyone knows about the secret compartments, then they aren’t really secret, are they?” Bodhi posited.

Hope’s smile broadened. “Apparently not everybody does know, and the really delightful thing is Nik didn’t tell you where it was when you bought it. You had to discover it on your own. Like an Easter egg in a video game.”

Molly said, “That’s so wild.”

“Yeah. Some time you and I are totally going through this house and opening all the secret compartments. But, right now, I really want to show you what I found.”

“Deal,” Molly told her.

Hope reached into the drawer and removed a notepad, a pile of files, and a very large sheet of thin white paper that had been folded into fourths.

“Is that tracing paper?” Molly asked as Hope unfolded the sheet.

Hope gave her a sheepish look. “No, it’s the stuff you use to cover your examination table.”