Page 61 of The Rainbow Recipe
The twins came running, shutting off any discussion of how one went about uncovering artifact theft, much less murder and arson. Pris held the platter out of the children’s reach. “What do you say?”
They looked briefly perplexed, consulted each other with looks, then Alex extended his small palm. “Cookie?”
“Brownie,” Pris corrected. “What else do you say when you would like something?”
“I want a brownie.” Nan stuck out her little chin.
Evie chuckled. “May I have a brownie, please, Pris?” She held out her hand and was rewarded with chocolaty goodness.
The twins brightened, repeated the magic phrase, and ran off with their reward.
“One needs to be a mind reader to bring up children?” Jax suggested, accepting the decadent dessert.
“Worried?” Pris taunted.
Evie shivered as she considered potential children. Men tended to flee once faced with kids who sometimes knew too much—or acted too weird. She’d like to have kids someday, but she didn’t want to lose Jax.
He finished chewing his mouthful of chocolate and shrugged. “Kids are just another challenge.”
Evie almost melted like the chocolate.
Dante limped out to join them. “Leo has to be the thief,” he declared, taking one of the porch chairs. “The photograph of KK with the necklace doesn’t tell me enough. It could be a museum replica. But if Bella is receiving stolen artifacts in their oil shipments, Leo has to be involved.”
“Evidence,” Evie said at the same time as Jax. They elbowed each other, just like an old married couple, and her already melting insides were reduced to hot bubbling liquid.
Pris set the half empty pan on the porch rail and perched beside it. “Let the police handle it.”
“I’ve set some of my London relations on the Bella warehouses.” Dante helped himself to a brownie. “They’ll notify the police if they discover anything. I’ve talked to colleagues familiar with the black market for Italian artifacts, and they’re working that end. But Leo—”
“Is your friend and neighbor,” Evie commiserated.
“And Lucia’s cousin and potential heir if we find evidence that she’s no longer alive.” Dante looked miserable. “I knew he was hiding something, but I just cannot fathom...”
“I looked into it. In Italy, it takestwentyyears to have someone declared dead, and no one has even reported Lucia missing. As next of kin, Leo would have to make the report. Stay out of it, Dante,” Jax advised.
Dante watched his children playing in the twilight and shook his head. “I can’t. If there is any chance that Lucia was murdered...”
“You still can’t do anything,” Pris told him. “Let’s stick with what we have here first.”
Evie reached for another brownie. “R&R dug through the sheriff’s records for KK’s list of possessions. It includes a necklace. We’ll ask Sheriff Troy in the morning if you can see it—and touch it.”
“I don’t suppose they’d let him touch the limoncello bottle?” Pris asked.
“Troy knows we’re weird. If we can give him directions that solve the case, he won’t argue.” Evie rocked the love seat with her toe. “I’m just now realizing that psychic crime solving means we never have evidence and always need confessions.”
Jax squeezed her warningly. “A good interrogator can work with knowledge. Let Troy do his job.”
Evie kissed his jaw soothingly. “You are so trusting.”
And her family had learned not to be, which was why they resorted to underhanded methods of which Jax did not approve. Usually. Maybe he was coming around?
“We need to question Matt and Rhonda,” Pris said. “What will it take to get them in one place?”
“A weapon?” Jax suggested darkly. “Letting a ghost terrorize suspects didn’t work so well last time.”
Dante looked puzzled.
Evie wrinkled her nose at mention of her last case. “It didn’t work as intended because we had the wrong suspects, but we drove the crazy ladies into crawling out of the woodwork anyway. I don’t think we have crazies here, unless we count Jane.”
