Page 35 of The Girl He Crowned

Paige foundherself wondering about the complexities of that social media world again, buther earlier research into Debbie Danton’s social media had drawn a blank. Therehad been no obvious suspect there, or at least, none that stood out from thecrowd. The FBI’s techs hadn’t been back to her with a narrowed down list ofsuspects. No, it was better to stick with the connection shewashere tolook into, the one that she hoped might finally provide a connection betweenall three victims.

“Your sister seemsto have collected a pretty eclectic range of objects,” Paige said.

She saw Eliza nod.“She loved things that made use of found materials, and that were one offs. Sheused to say that there was no reason anyone with money should ever live in someidentikit mansion, with all the same bags and clothes as everyone else. Beingunique was a part of her brand. Sometimes, she would take me out shopping forantiques in these quirky little shops, just to have something new to show onher socials.”

Paige tried toimagine what that life would have been like for Debbie, trying to come up with somethingnew to showcase every day, or every few hours. She suspected, in its way, thatit would have been all the hard work that Eliza suggested it was and more. Rightnow, though, there was only one of Debbie’s potential acquisitions thatinterested her.

“Did your sisterown a grandfather clock?” she asked.

Eliza nodded.“Sure. Would you like to see it?”

Paige wantednothing more than that, right then.

“Yes, please,”Paige said.

She followed Elizaas she led the way through the house, up a flight of stairs to a broad landing.There, in a niche that might have been built just for it, stood a clock, tallerthan Paige was.

It was squaresided and paneled in a bright red exotic wood of some description on threesides, with a bulbous round clock sitting atop the case. That clock’s face hadbrass hands and no numerals, so that it looked strangely modern even thoughPaige guessed that it must have been made some time ago. Its tick cut throughthe air with a precision that was both relentless and loud.

Paige’s attention,though, was on the fourth side of the clock’s case. That side was glass, lettingher look through to the mechanism within. Specifically, it allowed her to seethe clock’s pendulum swinging back and forth with neat efficiency, the clock’swinding mechanism ensuring that it never stopped.

For a moment, Paigefelt nothing but disappointment, because if the clock had a pendulum here, thenit wasn’t relevant in the way that she’d hoped. Then she actuallylookedatthat pendulum.

That pendulum hada brass shaft and a bulbous head that looked as though it might have been madefrom a pre-existing fitting. Paige stared at it with her mouth open because sheknew that pendulum. She’d been looking at a picture of its twin just recently.

It was exactly thesame as the pendulum that had been on the site where Debbie Danton had beenkilled.

“This pendulum,”Paige said. “It’s been in the clock forever?”

She half expectedEliza to say that no, the sheriff’s department had returned it and she’d put itback in place, but instead, Eliza shrugged.

“As far as Iknow.”

Paige had assumedthat the pendulum had been an improvised thing, made from whatever was there atthe site of the murder. It had looked handmade. Instead, it seemed that maybethe murder site had been chosen to match the pendulum, and that changed a lotof her calculations of how this murder might have been achieved. It spoke to aneven greater level of planning than she’d imagined.

It also madefinding out more about the clocks even more important. Paige started to searchthe case for any kind of maker’s mark, and quickly found the words “Hales &Co.” etched onto the clockface.

Paige knew thatname. That was the name that William Smythe had said when Paige asked him if heknew anything about the clock that his wife had bought, and which was currentlyin for repairs.

That match betweenthe clocks seemed too improbable to be a coincidence, but even so, Paige wantedto be certain that this was a link between all three victims, not just two ofthem.

Paige took out herphone, searching for Hales the clockmaker. Paige quickly found a site for acustom clockmaker, which claimed to have been in business more than seventyyears, and which obviously catered to a high-end clientele. Paige was moreinterested in the address that she found on the site’s “About Us” page. It seemedthat the company was based in Eddis.

The more Paigefound out, the more certain she became that she’d found a way into the truth ofthis case. Hales clocks were at the heart of this somehow; Paige just needed tofind out the way in which they were.

First, though, shehad to make sure that she was right about all of this. She’d found evidence ofa connection between two of the victims, but she still needed the third. Shecalled Christopher. He picked up straight away.

“Paige, I was justabout to call you. I’m at Siobhan Maraty’s home.”

“Does she have aclock?” Paige asked, unable to keep the excitement out of her voice at theprospect.

“She does. Acustom longcase clock, designed to look like a tree.” Christopher paused as iftrying to get what he was about to say straight in his head. “Paige, there’ssomething very strange about the pendulum, something I’m not sure you’re goingto believe.”

“Is it the same asthe one found at the crime scene?” Paige guessed. “An exact copy?”

“Yes! How did youknow?”

“Because the onehere is also a match. It looks like it was made of parts of the bridge, but Ithink it was made that way a long time ago. Christopher, who made the clock?”

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