Page 33 of The Girl He Crowned

“You can tell fromthe attachments at the top of the pendulum. Obviously nothing antique, becauseof the strange nature of the pendulum, but definitely all the same make. Peoplecan be pretty particular about these things.”

It seemed that thekiller had been, and Paige felt a surge of excitement at that thought. Thisconnection was far too much to just be a coincidence, but Paige felt as thoughthe connection had to run deeper than that. She just had to check.

“Thank you,” shesaid. “Can I call you again if I need more? I need to check something.”

Paige hung up andthen rang William Smythe. It was early, but she had to try.

He picked up aftera few rings. “Yes?”

“Mr. Smythe? Thisis Agent King, from last night.” Had it only been last night? “In your house,we couldn’t find a longcase, but I wanted to check. Do you have one? Have youever had one? A grandfather clock?”

“You’re calling mefor that?” William Smythe said.

Even as he saidit, Paige saw Christopher coming downstairs. He looked serious, but there was adetermination to his expression too.

“Yes,” Paige said.“I know it’s strange, but it could be vitally important. Can you remember ifyou had a longcase clock?”

“Yes… yes, I thinkwe did, but it’s in for repairs.”

“Do you know whereyou got it, or who made it?” Paige asked.

“That was moreMelody than me,” William said. “I’m sorry, I don’t know. It’s in for repair withHales clockmakers at the moment, but beyond that…”

“That’s allright,” Paige said. “Thank you for your help.”

Her eyes were onChristopher as he came up to her. He looked very serious and determined, butPaige had the feeling that he was trying to hide whatever hurt he felt rightthen.

“Are you allright?” Paige asked him.

He seemed toconsider the question for a second or two. “Not really. All of this still… ithurts, even though I was half expecting it. But it won’t interfere with my job.You haven’t told Sauer, have you?”

Paige shook herhead. “Your personal life is your personal life, Christopher. I trust you to beable to do this, and I want you working here with me.”

He lookedincredibly relieved by that. “Thank you. That means a lot, Paige.”

He seemed tocollect himself for a moment.

“You look excited.I know that look. You have something, don’t you?”

Paige nodded. “Ithink so. An expert just confirmed that the pendulums at the scenes would allhave been from the same type of custom made clock. I just called William Smytheand he confirmed that Melody Smythe owned such a clock.”

“So what next?”Christopher asked.

For Paige, theanswer seemed obvious. “I want us to go over to Siobhan Maraty and DebbieDanton’s homes, and I want to check whether they had clocks like that as well.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Paige headed overto Debbie Danton’s house, leaving Christopher to take Siobhan Maraty’s home. Itfelt strange splitting up from him like this when they worked so well as a team,especially when Paige still wasn’t entirely sure how the news of his split fromhis wife was affecting Christopher, but this was the fastest way to get theinformation they needed.

Paige hoped thatthere wouldn’t be any problems, at her end, or his. There shouldn’t be,especially with Christopher. He was still a good agent, and still more thancapable of dealing with situations alone. If anything, Paige should be worryingmore about the fact that she had to keep going in this part of theinvestigation without Christopher’s steadying hand and experience to help her.

Paige was stillhoping that everything would be ok when she arrived at her destination. DebbieDanton’s home was large and slightly old-fashioned looking, as if there hadbeen a mansion on that spot for a hundred years or more. It looked as though ithad been renovated relatively recently, though, with a new facade added thatwas designed to make it look like it was halfway to being a castle.

There were still afew reporters crowded around the entrance, even though it had been a couple ofdays now.

Paige recognizedone of them, because it was the same reporter who had been asking her questionssince the start of this. How had she gotten ahead of Paige yet again when she’dbeen at the Smythe house?

“Lucille Bale,EddisGazette.”

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