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Chef Stuart sounded a bit like Fiona’s personal publicity agent.
“But how did it get there?” asked the editor fromFood and Wine.
“At this point we can only make suppositions, and they won’t help anyone,” said Fiona.
“Will you keep trying to find out?” asked the editor from the local paper.
“I will,” said Fiona. “The case has always fascinated me and now that I know where she is, I’m afraid I’ll be a bit like a dog with a bone. It was lovely for all of you to come, but I need to get back to my bookstore, Between the Lines. This afternoon I’ll be doing a reading from my new book,Shifted Silence,and Lori Sykes, Jessica Murdoch, and Christie Crofton will also be there to sign books. There will be refreshments, so I hope all of your readers and listeners will come.”
The press, such as they were, was shown out and Fiona and her friends made ready to leave.
“Ladies, I had my staff prepare some food for you to take,” said Chef Stuart. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you helping me with this, and Fiona, I do hope you’ll figure it all out.”
“I’m going to try. Thanks for everything.”
“You ladies need to meet in Angel’s Rise again. Seraphim would love to have you here. Thank you, again.”
Fiona, Christie, Jessica, and Lori left the restaurant, linked arms, and began to walk back to Fiona’s place.
“I’m not sure I fulfilled my mission to find us a cold case to solve,” said Fiona as she led the ladies around to the rear to sneak back into her loft over the bookstore, as readers seemed to be lining up to get in.
Fiona’s phone rang just as they got upstairs. “Fi? It’s Joyce; it looks like people are lining up…”
“I saw that. Any way we can increase the size of my refreshment order?”
Joyce laughed. “We’d been thinking you had underestimated the crowd, especially with people making hotel reservations. Every place to stay in town is sold out. I think you’ve got a blockbuster on your hands. When word gets out about you guys finding Nagisa, I think people will have even more reason to want to meet you. I’ve still got that key to your back door you left with me. Bette and I will bring the food and get set up.”
“That would be fantastic, Joyce. Thanks for all your help.”
“Glad to do it. See? I told you that you’d get back to the top of the bestseller lists. By the way, Bette says when you decide you need to hire someone for Between the Lines, she has a degree in literature and has read every one of your books at least three times.”
Fiona laughed; she had been hoping to hire Bette.
“Seriously, when you gave her the ARC copy ofShifted Silence, she was over the moon.”
“I loved her review. It was so insightful and very flattering.”
“Well deserved.”
Ending the call, she spun around to face her friends, who were all grinning from ear to ear.
“Let’s all take a few minutes to eat,” said Jessica, looking at her watch. “We’re not supposed to open for another hour. I suspect it’s going to get a bit crazy down there, and after this morning’s fun and games, I don’t know about you guys, but I need a chance to sit down and take in that we solved a mystery that is almost a hundred years old.”
“Not really,” said Fiona. “We found Nagisa, and I suppose that’s the most important part…”
“But how did she get there?” finished Christie.
“And more importantly, who put her there?” added Lori.
“I can’t help wondering if whoever sold the building to Chef Stuart knew it was there,” said Fiona.
“It might be interesting to see if we could find out,” said Jessica. Gracefully, she sank into Fiona’s sofa. “I love your sofa. It is so comfy.”
Christie curled up in one of the chairs. “I know. I think Fiona has the best furniture.”
“Facebook Marketplace. I sold just about everything when I had my big crash. I was able to pay everything off. With the settlement from my divorce, I could put a big enough down payment on this place to be able to afford it.”
“It’s just so beautiful and well done,” said Lori. “And you did all the work up here yourself?”
