Read Online After Dark by Jayne Castle - Free Book Online Page B

cabinet.”
    She stared at him, understanding dawning in her eyes. “Are you talking about Chester? Was he the dealer who bought the cabinet from Quinn?”
    â€œYes.” He watched her face. “His shop was closed when I arrived. I went in anyway, to have a look around.”
    â€œYou broke into his shop?”
    â€œI didn’t want to waste any time.”
    â€œGood grief!”
    He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket. “I didn’t find the cabinet or any clue to who might have bought it off Brady, but I did find this.”
    He removed the photo he had found on the wall behind Brady’s shop counter and placed it on the table in front of Lydia.
    The picture showed a woman with brilliant red hair seated in a booth in what looked like a seedy nightclub. She was smiling ruefully into the camera. Next to her sat an oily little man with slicked-back hair and a cheap, flashy sport coat. The man was grinning from ear to ear.
    Lydia glanced down at the photo and then looked up swiftly, her eyes darkening. “That’s a picture of Chester and me at the Surreal Lounge. We were celebrating my last birthday. He was always asking someone to take pictures of the two of us together there. It was his home away from home.”
    â€œWhen I couldn’t locate Brady, I decided to look for you instead.” Emmett picked up the picture and tucked it back into his jacket. “You weren’t hard to find. But right after I located you, Brady turned up dead in that sarcophagus.”
    Anger flushed her cheeks. “My God, it was all a sham, right from the start, wasn’t it? You came looking for me because you thought I was involved with Chester. You pretended to be a genuine client, but all along you thought I could give you a lead on your missing cabinet and your missing nephew.”
    â€œI didn’t have much else to go on,” he said quietly.
    â€œI knew it.”
    â€œKnew what?”
    Her hand tightened into a small fist on the white tablecloth. “You really were too good to be true.”
    He shrugged and said nothing.
    â€œWhat made you decide to end the charade tonight?” she demanded fiercely.
    â€œThe scorch marks that ghost burned into your bedroom wall.”
    Confusion defused some of her outrage. “What in the world does that have to do—”
    She broke off as the waiter returned to the table with the appetizers. Emmett looked at the dish that was set in front of him. The menu had listed it as Prawns in Three-Part Harmony.
    None of the three perfectly cooked prawns sitting atop the bed of thin-sliced radishes appeared to be singing, in three-part harmony or otherwise, but he decided not to make an issue of it. New Wave cuisine was a state of mind, he reminded himself.
    Lydia leaned forward impatiently as soon as the waiter had vanished. “All right, explain yourself, London. What did you mean about my scorched wall changing things?”
    â€œThe mark that ghost left on your wall was not a random design, Lydia. If you looked at it closely, you could make out three wavy lines. It was a sloppy job. The hunter obviously didn’t have complete control of the ghost, but I’m sure about the lines.”
    â€œSo?”
    â€œI think someone may have tried to leave you a message.”
    She looked wary now. “You’re saying that you recognized these three wavy lines?”
    â€œYeah.” He took a bite of one of the prawns. “I’ve seen them before.”
    â€œWhere?” Her voice was very tight.
    He put down his fork, opened his jacket, and removed the scrap of notepaper he had found on Quinn’s desk. Without a word he handed it to Lydia.
    She snapped it out of his fingers and glanced at the three wavy lines. She raised her eyes. “I don’t get it.”
    â€œI found that mark on a pad of paper next to the phone in Quinn’s room. I think he made the notation after taking a phone call