Page 48 of End Game

She added a generous splash of cream to her cup, then used a set of tiny silver tongs to extract two cubes of sugar from a matching floral bowl and dropped them into her cream.

Hot tea flowed from the teapot into an empty cup that she placed in front of him, complete with a matching paper-thin saucer, before pouring the liquid into her doctored cup. Using a dainty spoon, she swirled the concoction together.

Ash picked up his drink by the rim and took a sip. More out of politeness than any need to quench his thirst. He ignored his hostess’s look of horror over his lack of pinky-up etiquette.

Social niceties done, he got started. “I understand you overheard a disturbing conversation between the lobbyist Kayla Krowne and fellow board member Dee Rhodes.”

Ms. Carlson folded her hands in her lap. “That’s correct.”

He drew a small notebook and pen from an inner pocket of the jacket he kept in his vehicle for unexpected meetings such as this.

After leaving Kayla’s house, he’d called Detective Morgan to get an update on the forensics for the earring he found at the scene, but his call had gone to voicemail. Still wound up from his confrontation with Kayla, he found himself driving west, toward Maggie Valley.

The compulsion to get to the bottom of this Celtic gift issue was strong. As was his regret.

He shouldn’t have raised his voice and accused Kayla of mindfucking him. But something about her attitude, the way she seemed to be amused by the entire situation, amused by him, had burrowed beneath his skin like a tainted sliver that refused to be tweezed out. Which pissed him off.

He was a seasoned special agent with the FBI, trained in the art of interview tactics. And he’d allowed the lobbyist to manipulate his feelings.

With a damned smile.

“Walk me through what you heard, Ms. Carlson.”

“Well now, this goes back a few days. The county held an arts and crafts competition last weekend at the fairgrounds. There were ten categories—mixed media, ceramics, jewelry?—”

“I’ll take your word for it, Ms. Carlson.” He sat forward, arms resting on his knees, pen and paper at the ready. “Where does Ms. Krowne come in?”

She frowned. “I was about to get to that before you interrupted me.”

“My apologies.” He forced the words between his teeth. “Please go on.”

“As I was saying.” She lifted her teacup to her lips, her pinky extended, sipped, and returned the brew to its saucer. She squared her bony shoulders. “Ms. Krowne is a great patron to the school library. Has been for years, so the events committee chair asked her to be one of the competition judges.” She paused, assessing his reaction.

“Very generous of her.”

The board member sniffed. “Dee decided Miss Krowne needed an escort while she went from booth to booth. Like the woman couldn’t walk down the street by herself.” She seemed to shake herself. “Anyways, it was at this time, I heard the two conspiring.”

Finally, they got to the meat of the issue. “Tell me what you can recall of their conversation.”

“My memory is excellent, Agent Blackwell. I remember every word.”

He gave her an encouraging smile—he hoped. “Proceed when you’re ready.”

“I heard Dee mention the grand opening of her son, Lyle’s, natural history museum.” The corners of her mouth turned down. “I’m sure you’ve heard of it. The billboards on I-40, between here and Asheville, are littered with advertisements about the new museum.”

Ash recalled seeing one tasteful advertisement on the drive here. But maybe the “litter” was on the eastbound side.

When he didn’t respond, the board member’s pinched expression deepened. “Dee complained about the fact that one of the museum’s donors had pulled their Celtic piece and her son was scrambling to find a replacement.” She leaned forward, her eyes narrowing to angry slits. “That’s when Kayla told Dee she might be able to help her son out of his predicament.”

A cold blast of foreboding blew across the back of Ash’s neck. “Did the conversation end there?”

“Of course not.” She looked at him as if half his brain was oozing out of his ear.

Maybe it was.

“Dee said she would be indebted to Kayla if she could get her son a new showcase piece.”

“Did you hear Miss Krowne say she would loan her artifact to the museum in exchange for her vote?”

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