Page 136 of Cross & Crown

“Understood.” Julian pulled a knife from somewhere

inside his jacket and slit the tape along the edge. When he

tried the door, though, it was locked. He pulled a lockpick set out of another pocket, and knelt to work on it.

“How many pockets do you have in that thing?” Kelly

asked.

Julian chuckled grimly. “You have no idea.” The door

popped open, and Julian replaced his tools and stepped inside.

It was dim and dusty, and the smell of old paper and leather

was overwhelming. Kelly headed to the car and rummaged

through the back for a flashlight. He found a heavy Maglite,

along with other supplies that might come in handy in the

next few days if this led to a treasure hunt like he expected. He rejoined Julian, and clicked the flashlight on.

It played over the mess that was left of the shop. “Jesus.

Why’d they tear it apart?”

“I suspect they didn’t actually find what they were looking

for and this was either anger or desperation. Perhaps even a

brawl. At this point, with little to no success, the rats may be turning on each other.” Julian made his way carefully to the

display case that seemed to have taken the brunt of the attack.

“How many of them are there?”

“Two to five. I’m not sure of their exact number,” Julian

answered, but he was distracted by the case. “Bring that torch

here.”“Torch,” Kelly echoed. “Oh, I miss the English.”

“I’m not English, I’m Irish.”

137

“Same thing,” Kelly teased. He stepped over a pile of

scattered books and shone the light on the display case.

Julian placed his palm over what looked like a handprint

in the dust. Then he swept his hand through the air, curling

his fingers into a fist as he did so, hovering over another hinted outline of a print. The action seemed to mimic perfectly what

someone had done to the display case.

---