I shivered and rubbed my arms. The café was warm enough, but a chill now crept through my soul. I had a bad feeling this death wouldn’t be the first we’d discover.

I did my best to ignore the premonition and said, “How the hell did they know he was going to be here? We only made the arrangements a few hours ago.”

“Someone had to be following him. Maybe they overheard our conversation.” Lugh scrubbed a hand through his short, unruly hair. “Or maybe Sgott’s people missed a bug in the tavern.”

“That’s highly unlikely.” Especially when they’d only been removed twenty-four hours ago, and there’d been no opportunity for anyone to replace them. “It’s possible Jacques lied to you. Maybe we weren’t the only ones who called about Jules.”

“He has no reason to lie.”

“If these people are capable of murder, they’re capable of dropping a threat or two to force compliance from someone.”

“Jacques isn’t the type who’d take any sort of threat lightly, but I guess it’s possible. It still begs the question, if they wanted Jules dead, why do so now, just before he was due to meet us? They could have done it at any time since Nialle’s murder and been less obvious about it.”

“Maybe this was their only opportunity.” I half shrugged. “Do you want to call it in while I go talk to the waitress? Maybe she saw something that could help.”

“We need to search him for the information he was carrying first.”

My gaze swept the table. “There’s no folder, so surely that means whoever did this has taken it?”

“Yes, but it’s possible the folder wasn’t all he had. Historians like to keep a notebook handy just in case they need to jot down information. Keep an eye on the waitress and let me know if she approaches.”

As he slipped into the bench seat next to Jules, I stepped into the gap between the tables to block anyone’s view and watched him while keeping half an eye on the waitress’s movements.

He quickly but efficiently went through Jules’s overcoat then moved onto his blazer and eventually pulled a small notebook free from an inside pocket.

He slipped it into his jacket, then nodded and rose. I moved back to the other side of the table just as the waitress headed our way.

“Everything okay?” she asked in a breezy and unconcerned way.

“I’m afraid not.” I lightly touched her arm. As my power surged, I added, “Please don’t panic, but it appears our friend has passed. My brother is calling in help, but I need to know, did anyone approach this table before we did?”

She licked her lips, her expression horrified as she stared at Jules. “A woman did. She ordered them both a coffee but left without finishing hers.”

Thankfully, she didn’t seem aware that I was compelling her to answer. Or maybe she was just the naturally chatty type and saw no reason not to. “How long were they talking?”