Mardi Gras Masquerade by Carolyn Keene

Author:Carolyn Keene
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

7

Sightings

I was a little surprised by her passion. George often comes up with good ideas and theories during cases, but she’s not usually quite so emphatic about them. Still, I had to admit she had a good point. Jackson did have a pretty strong motive for snatching that tiara.

“Maybe you’re right,” I said. “Come to think of it, he said something sort of funny to Patricia earlier.”

“Funny ha-ha, or funny suspicious?” George asked.

“Suspicious.” I chewed my lip, trying to remember exactly what he’d said. “It was something about how after tonight, none of them would have to worry about money anymore. At the time I assumed he was referring to the fund-raiser, but maybe there was more to it than that.” I took a step toward the main rooms. “I think maybe I will go have a chat with him.”

“Great.” George grinned at me. “I’ll go take a look outside and meet up with you in a few.”

We parted ways, and I headed back to the party area. When I entered, I spotted Jackson right away. He was standing near the fireplace talking with Patricia and Maureen.

A-ha! I thought. Three birds with one stone!

But I’d barely taken three steps when I noticed Deirdre and Adam making a beeline for me. “Nancy!” Deirdre called out. “There you are.” She grabbed me and hustled me back out to the relative privacy of the stairwell. Adam followed. “So what’s happening?” Deirdre demanded. “Did you figure out who took the tiara?”

“I’m working on it, Deirdre,” I said, trying to sound patient. “It’s not going to happen instantly, especially since nobody is supposed to know about this. But don’t worry, we’re making progress.”

Deirdre rolled her eyes and blew out an impatient sigh. “I don’t even know why I bothered to tell you about this,” she complained.

Beside her, Adam cleared his throat. “Hey, I just thought of something,” he said uncertainly. “Um, I don’t know if it’s important or not, but I guess it might be.”

“What is it?” I asked, though considering his earlier vague “theory” I didn’t have much hope.

“When Deirdre went to the bathroom, I went outside, remember?” he said. “While I was out on the porch, something dripped on my shoulder from overhead.”

“Ew!” Deirdre looked horrified.

“Don’t worry, it was just water,” Adam told her quickly. “I guess it was rain dripping from the gutters or something.” He turned back to me. “Anyway, I headed inside to the kitchen to see if I could find a towel. On my way there, I saw someone running through the solarium. I only noticed because I’d heard it was off-limits.” He shrugged. “But I just realized that must have been right around the same time as the theft. Do you think it might mean something?”

If Adam has his details right, this was huge! I couldn’t believe he hadn’t mentioned it until now.

Seeming to guess at least some of what I was thinking, Adam smiled apologetically. “I’m really sorry I didn’t remember sooner.” He reached over and took Deirdre by the arm.

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