Kit’s cheeks turned pink. “Oh, a fisherman was in here.”
“Did he witness it?” Maybe then she could learn who had attacked her and the man would be caught, her bag returned, and she would feel safe again.
“No. He listens to the police scanner.”
“And you knew it was me?” Cressida approached the counter, edging closer to where she’d seen Kit store her things.
“I do now.”
Whatever. “My duffel and laptop case. I left them here earlier.”
“Everything’s here.” Kit showed Cressida her large duffel, wedged into a narrow closet.
Cressida lifted it.
“Wait—” Cressida’s chest tightened. “Where’s my laptop case?”
Kit’s brown eyes grew wide. She whirled around to check the shelves with boxes behind her, and then she bent down to look under the counter. “Here it is!”
Relief welled inside as Cressida grabbed onto it. She opened it to look inside. Empty. “My laptop. Where is it?”
Kit frowned. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know.”
Cressida forced her knees to lock or she might have collapsed. At least her cell phone had survived tucked away inside her pocket, wrapped in the rugged waterproof phone case. She’d already lost a phone earlier on this sea-faring adventure when she’d stumbled, and her cell had plopped onto the sand and a wave rushed forward and washed it away. She’d retrieved it but she wasn’t able to revive it, so she’d learned her lesson.
A commanding older woman stepped through a door behind Kit and lifted her shoulders. She took Cressida in with a quick glance, then focused on the law officer.
“Detective, please find whoever did this. I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but we’re getting ready for the Hidden Bay Pirates’ Bash this weekend. It brings in the tourists, and that’s how we keep this place running. News of an assault...” She pursed her lips as she looked at Cressida, then lowered her gaze as if ashamed. “Could do us in. I’m sorry, Ms....”
“Valentine. Cressida Valentine,” she said. “Um, Pirates’ Bash?” The name gave her the gist of it.
In fact, the poster to her right caught her attention, proclaiming an adventure-filled day with landlubbers and salty dogs dressed in their best pirate attire offering up swashbuckling fun and maritime mischief.Whether ye be a salty sea dog or a landlubber,there’s treasure to be found for all!The post included the details, and on any other day she would be excited to attend. This was just the kind of thing to help her sink into the local culture and gather information.
But today she felt violated, and Mavis cared more about the bash. Cressida wasn’t sure how she should react, but she couldn’t afford to make enemies.
The doorbell signaled another customer, and a stocky middle-aged man stepped inside. “I hear someone needs a ride. What’s the ... Oh.” He stared at the group. “What did I miss?”
“Hayes,” Mavis said, “can you give Ms. Valentine a ride up to the Cedar Trails Lodge after we settle things? It seems that someone stole her stuff right out from under our noses.”
They’d done more than that.
“So you’re the one. I’m sorry for what happened to you.” Hayes approached, his compassionate expression sincere.
“You have security cameras, I assume,” Cressida said.
“Outside.” Mavis placed her hands on her hips.
“We can see who comes and goes and watch the boats, but it’s not the best quality.” Kit shrugged.
The detective’s gaze flicked to Cressida. Oh, was she stepping on his toes?
“I’ll need that footage,” he said to Mavis, then zeroed in on Cressida. “Before we can find your property, I need information. I’d like to get a full statement from you before anything else. I’ll take you to the lodge myself.” Then he looked at Hayes and handed off a folded bill. “This is for your trouble.”
Cressida should have thought of that, but she wasn’t exactly thinking clearly.
Detective Sanders gestured toward the back of the shop. “Let’s sit down and you tell me everything.”
He grabbed her duffel and empty laptop case and carried them for her as she headed toward the tables. At the back she spotted a blackboard with a few items scratched on it in white chalk—today’s soup, clam chowder. Well, one item. And that was it. Nobody was in the back. Were they closed? Now that she thought about it, she was famished. But who could eat at a time like this? Maybe they justweren’t officially open yet. After all, it was barely nine in the morning.
