Page 75 of Secret Weapon

Mental note: ask Darya to speak with Luca.Nobody, least of all her, could afford to arouse his suspicions.

“She seemed a little shaken up afterwards.Maybe she had a sleepless night?”

“Brooke said you lent a hand with the clean-up at the store?”

“It seemed like the least we could do, and my personal assistant adores crafts.He was about to buy half the stock before yesterday’s emergency, but I’m sure he’ll make good before we leave.”

“How much longer will you be in town?”

“Depends when we can get a flight.Can’t say I’d be heartbroken to stay an extra day or two—the spa here is pretty good.”

“Well, I’ll try not to take up too much more of your time.Could we just go through the events in the forest one more time?”

“Sure.”

“You say you saw no sign of Ms.Marquette’s assailant whatsoever?”

“He’d gone by the time we arrived.Perhaps the dog scared him off?Or bit him?Did you check with the local hospitals for dog-bite victims?”

“That’s on my to-do list.”

“My assistant said Shauna thought a cougar attacked her dog, so maybe the guy was wearing a beige coat?Or brown?What colour fur do cougars have, anyway?”

“Beigey-brown would be about right, ma’am.”

“Emmy, please.Do you get many cougars around here?”

And so it went on…

Luca asked questions and I deflected for what I considered to be a reasonable amount of time, and then my phone rang.

Saved by the bell.

Or not…

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