Page 23 of Honey Mead Murder

“Hear what?”

“Shh.” George strained to hear. He moved towards the door leading down to the brewery, opening it and standing at the top of the stairs. “I swear I heard—”

Despite the darkness in the brewery, George crept down the stairs. He’d definitely heard something coming from either outside or downstairs. It was difficult to tell.

Pausing halfway down the stairs, George listened carefully. He heard Murphy behind him and Bumble’s nails on the wooden floor. It was almost impossible for him to tune them out.

With a sigh of frustration, George continued down the stairs. He’d gotten to the bottom when he heard glass breaking outside. Shite. He rushed towards the door, slamming into a table in the process.

“Bugger.”

“Maybe turn on a light?”

“They’ll see us.” George had no idea who he was talking about. But someone or something had shattered glass outside. “Maybe we should try sneaking up on them? We might catch them before they run off.”

Deciding they were wasting too much time, George crept through the brewery. He was a little more careful moving through the darkened room until he safely reached the door. Murphy had caught up to him; he had Bumble in his arms, obviously having picked him up on the journey down the stairs.

George paused with his hand on the doorknob when he heard more glass breaking. “You heard that? Right? I’m not imagining things.”

“You’re definitely not imagining things. Why don’t you take Bumble? I’ll…”

“Why? Because you’re bigger?” George huffed. “There’s power in numbers. You protect Bumble.”

They tried to open the door as quietly as possible. At the last second, Murphy reached over to switch the outside lights on. The parking area was suddenly bathed in light.

George got the briefest glimpse of someone dressed in black before they bolted down the lane. “Oi.”

“George.” Murphy tried to grab him but missed his arm.

Racing after the person, George had a second to notice the broken windows on both of their vehicles. He picked up speed, trying to catch up with their vandal. They somehow managed to pick up more speed, moving out of view around a corner.

George skidded to a halt at the end of the lane. He couldn’t see anyone running in either direction. It took him a few seconds to catch his breath. “Coward.”

Murphy met him halfway back down the lane. He was struggling to contain Bumble in his arms. He had his phone in his other hand. “Have you lost your mind?”

“No, it seems to still be intact. I lost sight of them.” George rescued Bumble from his grasp, pulling a lead from his pocket and attaching it to his collar before setting him down on the ground. “Did you call the police?”

“They broke windows in both of our vehicles. And I can see where they tried to force their way into the pub.” Murphy crouched down when they were back at the brewery and picked Bumble up. “I don’t want him to risk his little paws getting cut on glass. Make sure not to touch anything.”

“Our fingerprints are already going to be on our vehicles.” George shoved his hands into his pockets to avoid the temptation.

“Not on whatever they used to break all the windows.” Murphy handed Bumble to George. He disappeared into the brewery and then returned with a torch that he shone into the vehicle. “Looks like a stone. Probably picked it up from the broken wall behind the pub.”

“Crime of opportunity? Maybe lost their temper when they couldn’t get into the brewery?” George absently petted Bumble, who panted contentedly in his arms. “Why would they try to get into the pub?”

“Maybe they were looking for the napkin.”

“Shite.” George hadn’t thought about that. “Maybe they figured they could come back to grab it after the police were finished?”

“And I wouldn’t notice?”

“If it is the killer? Maybe they’re so desperate to get rid of the evidence that it was worth the risk?” George stepped over to peer into the back of his vehicle. It seemed like the vandal had simply thrown rocks without any purpose. Nothing was missing from his Range Rover. “It was dark out, but maybe your security cameras caught them?”

“They had their face covered, from the glimpse I got.”

“It wasn’t Natalia.” George knew that for absolute certainty. “The person was too tall and lithe to be her. She couldn’t hide her curves under a hoodie.”

Murphy waved him towards the brewery. “Why don’t we wait inside? I want to check the CCTV system. Maybe they got a better look at them than we did.”

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