“Mew.” Pandora must have really liked that box because she had hopped inside and was pawing around at the books.

“Hey, don’t mess those up.” I pulled the box closer to me and peeked inside. The books looked interesting and I needed something to take my mind off the murder investigation.

I reached in and pulled out a book, turning it to look at the cover. Gone With the Wind. I opened it eagerly looking for the publication information. Most copies of the book weren’t worth much, but if it was a first edition, it could be worth a lot. Just my luck, it wasn’t.

I put it on the table and reached back down into the box. Pandora tried to slow me down by jumping in and out of the box while I was trying to pick a book out.

I grabbed one book that was longer than the others were, making a face when I realized what it was. A photo album. They were virtually worthless—no one wanted to buy someone else’s photos, but they were kind of fun to look at.

Pandora must have liked it because she rubbed her face on the edge as I flipped it open. I turned to the first page and my heart skipped. Staring me in the face was a younger version of Idris Bates.

I flipped through the book, which must have been twenty years old. There were pictures of a smiling Felicity and Gardner Bates—Derek and Carson’s father—in happier times. There were pictures of Derek and Carson in their twenties, and a nice picture of Idris, Gardner, Carson and Derek all with their hands on a plaque. I squinted at the picture … it looked like a family crest. Something about the picture niggled at my mind, but before I had too much time to think about it, Pandora distracted me by jumping into my lap and pawing at the book.

“Hey, don’t rip the pages.” I pushed her away and she jumped back to the ground with an angry meow, then resumed her box sniffing routine. I remembered Derek had come by the bookstore looking for family scrapbooks and albums his mother might have sold by mistake at their yard sale—this must have been one of them.

I’d have to take a trip up to the Bates mansion and return it. Maybe this time and I could talk to Idris about the bronzes. My natural curiosity was piqued about Felicity and the big crash that had made Derek rush me out of the house. Maybe I could find out what, exactly, she’d been practicing.

I put the photo album on the table and looked through the rest of the box to see if there were any more Bates scrapbooks or albums. I didn’t find any, but I did see some interesting books that looked to be very early editions.