Read Online Kilt at the Highland Games by Kaitlyn Dunnett - Free Book Online Page B

name?”
    â€œI don’t think so.” Liss racked her brain, trying to remember exactly what Angie had said. It had been a casual remark made several years earlier. “Angie just said her sister-in-law was taking care of the shop and babysitting Bradley so Angie wouldn’t have to be in two places at once. It was the weekend of that mystery convention you just mentioned. Angie was at the hotel, set up to sell books in the dealer room. The Moosetookalook Scottish Emporium’s tables were right next to hers, and we were spelling each other for bathroom breaks. She took over so I could attend a couple of the panels, too, and I held the fort while she went back to the bookstore to host a signing by the guest of honor.”
    â€œYou never met the sister-in-law?”
    Liss shook her head. “Never even caught a glimpse of her, but someone must have been working at Angie’s Books that weekend, as well as keeping an eye on young Bradley.”
    â€œI’ll check into it, but knowing what we do now, it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that Angie invented her.”
    â€œWhat would be the point of leading me to believe she had family?”
    â€œWhat was the point in creating a new identity for herself?”
    â€œI suppose,” Liss mused, “that the bookstore might have been closed. I’d have had no way of knowing, since I was at The Spruces. But someone still had to look after Angie’s son.”
    â€œBeth?”
    â€œBeth was in the dealer room with us, helping her mother.”
    â€œBradley could have been at a friend’s house,” Sherri suggested. “Maybe Angie asked Patsy to look after him. Or Gloria Weir. I’ll ask around.”
    â€œI hate this!” Liss exclaimed. “This suspicion. I like Angie.”
    â€œCheer up. Maybe the sister-in-law will turn out to be real, after all. If so, she’ll know where to find Angie and the children. You’re certain Angie didn’t mention a name?”
    â€œPositive.” She sent Sherri a rueful look. “And the more I think about it, the more I realize that Angie never talked about her past.”
    Sherri heaved herself to her feet. “I’ve got to get going. Now that it’s almost certain we’re dealing with a case of arson, I need to talk to everyone who showed up to watch the bookstore burn. Some sickos who set fires for kicks like to witness the results of their handiwork. With luck, I may be able to locate a witness who saw someone acting suspiciously during the fire.”
    â€œEveryone I noticed looked appalled.” Liss rose to follow her friend to the door.
    â€œDid you spot anyone you didn’t know?”
    Liss frowned. “There were a couple of men I had never seen before, but one of them turned out to be a guest at the hotel. He came into the Emporium yesterday with his wife.” She shrugged. “You can hear the fire siren as far away as The Spruces. I wouldn’t be surprised if several guests decided to come down and take a look at the action.”
    â€œI’ve never understood why people do that,” Sherri grumbled as she opened the door, setting the bells above it jangling. “They’re a damned nuisance. If they’re in cars, they slow down to gawk at traffic accidents. On foot, they crowd in at fires and crime scenes. Sometimes they even try to sneak in past the police tape to get a closer look.”
    â€œThere was one of those.”
    Sherri swung around in the doorway. “One what?”
    â€œA gawker trying to get closer. Ask Mike Jennings. He yelled at the guy.”
    â€œThanks,” Sherri said as she finally made it onto the Emporium’s front porch. “I’ll do that. It probably won’t amount to anything, but at this stage I can’t leave any stone unturned.
    * * *
    â€œJust who do you think you are?” Dolores Mayfield shouted.
    The librarian’s loud, strident voice reached