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“In New York I don’t have a job that involves moving around bags of fertilizer and cattle feed,” I muttered. I glanced over at Owen, and he looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel from trying to hold back his amusement. I rolled my eyes at him, and he went into a coughing fit that sounded suspiciously like laughter.

When we were safely out of the house with a picnic basket that could have fed an entire scout troop, I said, “It was so much easier at your folks’ house.”Advertisement

“For you, maybe.”

“Oh, don’t start that. Yeah, you got a lecture or two, and they’re not exactly cuddly, but they weren’t that bad. At least we didn’t have to try to hide or cover up anything.”

“That’s because they already know everything, and I do mean everything. There’s no point in hiding anything from them.”

“Well, compared to my family, they’re sane.”

“I’ll give you that one.” This time, it was my turn to fight a smile. He was thawing ever so slightly, getting back to his old self in his more relaxed moments.

We went straight to the courthouse square, with the pretense of taking that tour we’d mentioned. The local police department must have used up every piece of crime scene tape they had to seal off most of the storefronts on the square. All the windows were back in place, and a crowd had gathered around the perimeter of the taped-off area.

I led Owen through the crowd to where one of the local deputies was trying to keep the crowd back.

I’d gone to high school with him and had seen him around town since I’d been back. “Hey, Jason!” I called out. “What happened here?”

He grinned as he pushed back his hat and wiped the sweat off his forehead. “Damnedest thing—oh, sorry, didn’t mean to curse in front of you. Anyway, most of these stores were robbed overnight, very select things taken, no sign of forced entry.”

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“Really? What kind of stuff was stolen?”

“Oh, the kind of stuff you’d take if you had five free minutes in a store—and a criminal mind, of course. Some jewelry from the jewelry store. Not the really good stuff, because that was locked up, but a few of the pieces they had on display. Some of their china. A few of the more expensive knickknacks from the pharmacy’s gift shop, that kind of thing. They didn’t seem to be after drugs, and they didn’t even take the over-the-counter stuff that can be made into crystal meth, which is what we see in most drugstore robberies these days.”

“Wow, that’s amazing,” I said. “Thanks for the scoop.”

He tipped his hat to me. “Any time, Katie.”

“So, there we are,” I said as Owen and I wove our way back out of the crowd. “It’s almost like this whole correspondence course is on how to use magic to get rich quick.”

He scanned the crowd. “I bet our culprit is here right now. They say a criminal always returns to the scene of the crime. Someone who’s pleased with himself for doing something so clever wouldn’t be able to resist watching the aftermath.”

“There’s one problem with that: Everyone in the whole town is here. I already see at least two of my brothers and every single one of our suspects.”

In fact, Gene was walking right toward us, though his attention was elsewhere, so I doubted he was really aiming at us. The clock in the courthouse tower chimed, and he frowned and glanced at his watch. “The clock is five minutes slow,” he announced to no one in particular. “Someone should do something about that.” He changed course and headed off, apparently to do just that.

Teddy came up to us in Gene’s wake. “This is something else, isn’t it?” he said. “Who’d have thought this town would have its own criminal genius?” Then he frowned and looked at Owen. “Do I know you?”

“Teddy, this is my friend Owen, who’s here from New York. He was in the store yesterday when you were running around talking about your formula.”

The light dawned in Teddy’s eyes. “Oh yeah, I thought you looked familiar.” He shook Owen’s hand.

“Welcome. So, you’re friends with my little sister, huh? I’m glad to hear she has friends up in New York.”

“Teddy,” I groaned.

Dean then joined us. “Hey, it’s practically a family reunion,” he said, draping his arms around Teddy and me. “My favorite sister and my second-favorite brother.”

“Second-favorite?” Teddy knew the routine well enough to act affronted. Then he turned to Owen and asked, “Do you believe this guy?” pqdm.com