Read Online Smoke in Mirrors by Jayne Ann Krentz - Free Book Online Page A

had studied it a dozen times, trying to see whatever it was that might make it important.
    The antique looking glass was an eight-sided, convexmirror, typical of a style that her research showed had been popular in the early 1800s. The frame was fashioned of heavy silver worked in a design that featured a variety of mythical creatures. Griffins, dragons and sphinxes cavorted around the edges of the dark reflective surface. A phoenix was perched on top, wings raised.
    Deke shook his head. “No. But I never paid much attention to those old mirrors in the mansion. I’m not into antiques.”
    “Neither was Bethany,” Thomas said. “I can’t see her marking one of those illustrations.”
    “I suppose it’s possible that Meredith drew the circle around the picture,” Leonora said hesitantly. “But why?”
    Thomas’s jaw hardened. “A lot of those old mirrors are very valuable. Maybe she planned to steal one or two on her way out the door.”
    Leonora shot him a disgusted glare. “That’s ridiculous. Meredith wasn’t into the antiques market.” She paused and then exhaled slowly. “Besides, her attention was focused on that endowment fund money. She wasn’t the type to let herself be distracted.”
    “I haven’t heard that any of the mirrors are missing,” Deke said absently.
    “How would we know if Meredith or anyone else had ripped off a couple of looking glasses?” Thomas asked bluntly. “Every room and corridor in that old house is covered with antique mirrors. I doubt if anyone would notice if a half dozen disappeared. Especially if they were removed from some of the unused chambers upstairs on the third floor or the attic.”
    “True.” Deke adjusted his glasses a little and slowly paged through the book. “We’d have to conduct a complete inventory to see if one of the mirrors has been stolen. That wouldn’t be easy.”
    “It would also be a waste of time,” Thomas said. “Itwould take days, maybe weeks to organize and carry out a thorough inventory, always assuming we could talk the Alumni Council into it. And what would it prove if a couple of old mirrors did turn up missing? It’s been forty years since that catalog was put together. The theft could have occurred at any time since it was published.”
    “Motive.” Deke yanked his glasses off his nose and jabbed at the book with his forefinger. “As you just pointed out, some of those mirrors are very valuable.”
    “Take it easy,” Thomas said. “We’re talking about murder here. People don’t get killed over old looking glasses.”
    “People get killed for all kinds of stupid reasons,” Deke growled.
    Leonora waited a beat.
    “Like drugs,” she said quietly.
    Both men looked at her.
    She spread her fingertips on the desk. “That’s one of the connections between Meredith and Bethany, remember? Rumors of drug use.”
    “Bullshit,” Deke said. “Bethany would never have used crap.”
    “Meredith didn’t use it, either. I’d swear to that.” She looked at Thomas and Deke in turn. “Do you have a source for those rumors you said circulated after Bethany and Meredith died?”
    Thomas sank deeper into his chair. “Ed Stovall mentioned them. When I pinned him down about Bethany, demanding details, he said he’d heard the story from a kid he picked up for possession of pot. Stovall said the kid knew nothing solid. Just mentioned some gossip that was going around the local scene about a designer drug, a new hallucinogen that had appeared from time to time in the past couple of years.”
    “Hallucinogen?” Leonora repeated.
    “Something the drug crowd has labeled S and M, apparently,” Thomas said.
    She frowned. “As in sadomasochism?”
    “No. As in Smoke and Mirrors. Ed said that’s what the kid called it. There was no way to confirm the talk.”
    “Because Bethany never used drugs,” Deke said fiercely.
    “Take it easy, Deke,” Thomas said quietly. “No one’s arguing that point. Not even Stovall.”
    “Ed