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Agnes bugged her eyes at him. That was the best he could do?
Judging by the look on Dougal’s face, he was about as impressed as she was with Logan’s explanation. But there was nothing she could do now but go with it.
“Yes.” She nodded solemnly. “It means the thief has to be someone who has access to the place during the day. I think we can rule out guests because, as Logan pointed out, they would be better off stealing at night.” Holy crap, that sounded worse. “Also, I noticed all of the stolen jewelry was shiny. And small. So that means we’re looking for someone who likes small shiny things.” Damn, she was dying here. She shot Logan a desperate look, but he just stared at her in bewilderment. “Isn’t that right, Logan?” she prodded.
“Aye, that’s right.” He cleared his throat. “And didn’t you mention that you thought the thief must be keeping everything because nothing had turned up in any pawnshops or online sales sites?”
“Yes!” She pointed at him. “That too.”
“That’s it?” Dougal sounded incredulous. “This is why you called Logan all the way down here? I have to say that I’d expect more from my manager.” He looked like he was gearing up to give a lecture on how to run a hotel properly, possibly including how she wasn’t cut out for management. Yeah, he had the look of a man who was wondering why he’d hired his staff.
She had to salvage this situation. And fast. “Of course, that isn’t everything. I could have told him that in an email. There’s also the…”
The what? What was there? A missing plastic bracelet? Still no sign of the diamond ring?
Her eyes came to rest on the screens, and her shoulders slumped. It was a dumb idea, but she’d run out of options. “There’s also the new security cameras I’ve installed.”
“Cameras?” Dougal shouted, his head turning red with outrage.
“Fantastic idea.” Logan slapped Dougal on his back. “Don’t you agree? I told Agnes the best way to deal with this situation was to set up cameras. Of course, she wasn’t keen on the idea, kept going on about guest privacy, but you and I both know that guest security is also important.”
Dougal didn’t look convinced, but he’d stopped blustering.
“I know you don’t want a permanent system,” Agnes said. “I just got the cheapest stick-up cameras. That way, we can take them down as soon as we’ve found the thief. Also, I only put up half a dozen and, to ensure guest privacy isn’t invaded by anyone else on the staff, I plan to monitor them myself.”
“That’s going above and beyond,” Logan said. “When do you sleep? Dougal was just telling me that he thought you worked too hard. Isn’t that right, Dougal?”
“Well, aye, but I didn’t think she’d be watching cameras all night long.”
Logan clapped him on the shoulder. “It’s hard to find staff this dedicated. You’re a lucky man.”
It was all Agnes could do not to roll her eyes. At least now it was clear where Darcy got her gift for acting, because her father was seriously bad at it too.
Dougal opened and shut his mouth a few times before he spoke. “I agree. The cameras are a good idea in this instance, but, rather than having my manager watch them, maybe Benson Se
curity could take that on board. It would free up Agnes’ time for more important things.”
“That’s a fantastic idea,” Logan said.
“Why didn’t I think of that?” Agnes said.
They both smiled at Dougal.
“What I still don’t understand—” Dougal started to say.
But desperate to head off any other lines of inquiry she didn’t have answers for, Agnes cut him off. “Wait, let me show you the camera feeds.” She switched on all the monitors. And there, in the hallway outside the kitchen door, was Dougal’s pup peeing on the skirting board.
“Arnold!” Dougal shouted. As though the dog could hear him from the second floor.
Agnes had never loved a dog more in her life than she loved that peeing, farting ball of fur right then.
“I need to deal with this,” Dougal said. “I’ve talked to him about doing his toilet outside. This is not on. Not on at all. Good work, Agnes. I expect we’ll get to the bottom of these thefts in no time. Come on, Logan. I’ll walk you out.”
As Dougal strode toward the door, Logan held up his hands and shrugged.
Agnes dug in her pocket, grabbed her room key with its security fob for the main door, and thrust out her hand to Logan. “Thank you for coming out so late. I appreciate it.”
He took her hand in his, palming the key as he did so. Shivers went right through her body as his eyes darkened. “It’s no trouble at all. Call me tomorrow if you find anything.”
