Page 14 of A Lady’s Guide to Mystery and Mischief

“Indeed,” Farah agreed, shaking her head at the mess that surrounded them. “Whatever shall we do about it?”

“We?” he echoed. “Who’s we?”

“You and I, of course.”

The muscle in his jaw resumed its ticking. “You and I.”

Farah smiled at him.

“As you can see, Miss Rafiq, I’m in a bit of a situation,” he ground out. “I need to discover what was taken.”

“I can help with that,” she offered. If she could only convince him to like her, then perhaps he would be more concerned with his standing in the way of her happiness.

“You will disturb the scene,” he said, turning away from her to walk toward an open cabinet. A hush fell over them as he studied it, his stormy eyes seeming to take in every inch with remarkable precision.

Thorough. And detail-oriented.

The thought sent an inexplicable shiver tripping up her spine.

She stepped over a pile of scattered papers. “What did you keep in there?”

“For the love of God,” he grumbled.

Peering into the cabinet, Farah saw that the inside was composed of rows of small, compact drawers. All of them had been torn open, their broken locks strewn on the floor.

“Did they take anything?”

“I daresay they found what they were looking for,” was his toneless response.

“Which was?”

“One thousand pounds.”

Farah’s heart dropped into her boots. “Isn’t that the amount you meant to use to settle Francis’s inheritance?”

He ran a hand over his face. “Yes, it was.”

“Are the other drawers still full?”

“Nothing of value in them,” he explained somewhat impatiently. “Why are you still here?”

“I feel as though I’m slightly involved now,” she said, countering with patience.

A frown marred his handsome features. “Are you involved, Miss Rafiq?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Yesterday, you came here begging me to release Francis’s inheritance to him. Today, I find it has been spirited away. A bit odd, don’t you think?”

“How do you know nothing else was taken?” she demanded.

“I don’t,” he said. “But there is nothing else of value in this office. Nothing anyone would want, at least.”

“I assure you, Mr. Montgomery, that I played no part in this. What reason would I have to linger at the scene of the crime?”

He stared at her for a heated moment, and she felt as though he were drinking in every part of her face. “Well, I—”

“And besides, a lump sum of one thousand pounds wouldn’t help me in the slightest. My family would never approve of my marrying someone without a steady income, which I am counting on you to release.”