AllFreeNovel
Share Us
?He hesitated as if to consider all the ramifications. “I shall…think about it.”
?Without another word, I turned on my heels and left the room.
?I opened my event magazine again and quickly located Winsley Cunningham, who was about to start a panel on Was Conan Doyle Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe?
?It was just down the hall from Charles and the room had filled up for her lecture. She saw me walk in and a look appeared on her face as if she’d just tasted something unpleasant.
?I walked toward her and stopped.
?There on her lapel was the green Sherlock cameo!
?I quickly put it out of my mind and approached.
?“Mr. Watkins,” she said politely as I drew near. “My panel is about to begin.”
?I gently turned her away from the room.
?“Yes, but Sheryl Homes asked me to have you meet us in the Regent Room at 5:00 PM.”
?“Why on earth would I do that?” she snorted.
?“Well, for one thing,” I explained, as I decid
ed to brazen my way through this, “the police might be interested to know that you own more than one of those cameos and where the other one was discovered.”
?Her eyes grew wide. Apparently, I’d guessed correctly.
?For once.
?“That will not be necessary,” she replied. “I will meet you there. However, I should state vehemently that I will not be a party to blackmail.”
?“Nothing of the kind,” I soothed. “We just need your insights to get this all figured out.”
?Her brows lowered and she looked at me suspiciously. “What do you mean?”
?“I mean, we will find all the answers then,” I conceded. “See you there.”
?She glared at me as I walked out the door, but didn’t follow. I heard her call the panel to order as I walked toward the Marketplace.
?My next stop was the jewelry booth of Norm Blake. They were busy with customers as plenty of people bought jewelry and cameos from Cliff as Norm continued to sit and work on his latest creation. He looked tired but happy, and I had to wait for a few patrons to finish before I could approach.
?“Hey there, Mr. Watkins,” Cliff greeted. “Did you hear about Mr. Kane? Wow, this is the only mystery conference I’ve ever been to with a real mystery.”
?I gave him a wan smile. “Guess so. Can I speak to Norm?”
?I had to raise my voice above the din.
?Cliff nodded and he gently tapped Norm on the shoulder. Norm stood, gave a stretch, took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, and walked over.
?“Norm,” I said, “I need your help.”
?His glasses went back to his face. “Sure, what is it?”
?“The police may have figured out who killed those people.”
?His eyebrows shot up. “Really? Well…that’s good.”
?“But we need an expert to take a look at a cameo they found at the murder scene.”
