“Yes. We’ve got an interesting development. Olivia LeClair walked into my shop a few minutes ago. She was not alone. She had an insurance investigator with her.”

“An insurance investigator?”

“I know. I didn’t see that coming, either. His name is John Reynolds. Said he was chasing a stolen camera that was similar to the one I sold to Olivia.”

“Shit.”

“That’s certainly the word that came to my mind, too. He wanted the name of the previous owner.”

“What did you tell him?”

“The truth, more or less. If he buys the story, he won’t bother to drive to Cedric Valley to find Sefton’s house. But if he does head there, we’ll know he’s a problem.”

Eloisa was quiet for a moment. “If he insists on checking out the house, we have to assume he’s not who he claims to be.”

“Exactly. There’s only one reason why he would want to look at the empty house of an eccentric collector who once owned an odd camera.”

“He’s hunting for the same thing we are looking for.”

“Exactly,” Gwendolyn said.

“Could you see anything in his aura?”

“It looked perfectly normal. I didn’t pick up any strong vibes. But I’m just average when it comes to reading auras. It’s obvious Reynolds has convinced Olivia LeClair that he’s the real deal. Under the circumstances, I don’t think we can afford to take any chances. If he convinces LeClair to hand over the camera on the grounds that it’s stolen, we’re going to have a serious problem on our hands.”

“And if he’s chasing what we’re chasing, he’s an even bigger problem. There’s enough competition out there as it is.”

“Either way, we need to get him out of the picture as quickly as possible.”

“Getting rid of Reynolds has to look good,” Eloisa said.

“I agree. But it also occurs to me that if he does go to Cedric Valley, we may have a golden opportunity to kill a couple of birds with one stone.”

“We don’t kill birds. That’s a job for a professional.”

“I’ll make the call.”

CHAPTER 17

If you want my opinion, I don’t think Swan bought our story,” Olivia said. “Your camouflage trick looked good, but her aura was sparking like crazy. She was tense and agitated.”

They were sitting in a coffee shop on First Avenue, drinking Americanos. Harlan had his back to the wall, positioned so that he could watch the door. The exit to the alley was only steps away. He had ordered a double shot and was on his phone again. She wondered somewhat idly how long it had been since he’d had a polite conversation with another human being.