Chapter One
Sadie Barnett, the proprietress of Seagrove’s only rare treasures and junk shop, Timeless Treasures, was out very late. It was nearly midnight and she and her diminutive terrier, Mr. Bradshaw, finally were taking their evening stroll. She’d been doing inventory and time had gotten away from her… in fact, if it weren’t for Mr. Bradshaw whining and scratching at the door she’d probably still be hard at work.
Keeping up with inventory at her shop, Timeless Treasures, tended to be a regularly scheduled exercise in controlled chaos. While she and her shop assistant, Betty, tried being diligent about logging in all the items Sadie brought back from her travels, invariably she would find things on her shelves for which she had no record. It happened with startling regularity, and Sadie was beginning to think the shelves were birthing items at night when she wasn’t watching. When they had found another such item at ten o’clock this evening, she’d sent Betty home. There was no point in both of them being exhausted the next day.
Sadie contemplated the number of items she had in her shop and wondered if she shouldn’t have a clearance sale. The best part of owning a business that sold the rare and unusual was going out into the world and finding those things. But she couldn’t do that now because her shop already was bursting at the seams. It was definitely a conundrum.
Mr. Bradshaw trotted along ahead of her, his tail high in the air. She almost never had to restrain him because his manners were impeccable, although normally she kept him on a leash during the day--you never knew who was going to be afraid of a dog. He sniffed along the flowerbeds planted between the edge of the sidewalk and the street. Seagrove was proud of its quaint beauty and even now the town was planted with mums and asters.
Sadie looked in the window of the vintage clothing store and enjoyed the feel of the night’s cool air on her cheeks. Inventory always made her hot and sweaty. She noticed signs for a circus in most of the windows. It was the traditional circus with clowns and trapeze artists, to say nothing of wild animals such as lions and tigers and bears, oh my. She thought she might like to take her fiancé, Zack Woodstone, to see it. Surely even the police chief got an evening off work once in a while.
She had moved on and was looking in the window of the hardware store when Mr. Bradshaw barked once and trotted back to her.
“What's up Mr. B?”
She'd just looked up to see what was upsetting him when a woman came careening around the corner and clutched at Sadie, struggling to stay upright.
Sadie grabbed the woman by the elbows to steady her and wondered if the she had been drinking. She was at least a foot taller than Sadie--not that it was hard to be taller than Sadie–and swayed alarmingly. She stared at Sadie with dark eyes partially hidden by dark waves of hair falling over her face. The woman was speaking, but Sadie had no idea what she was saying. It was a language she never had heard before.
“I'm sorry, I don't understand you," she said.
The woman shook her head, slid from Sadie’s grasp and curled up on the sidewalk. Sadie went to help her up and stopped. She blinked and cursed her brain, she was having trouble processing what she was seeing.
A very huge knife handle was protruding from the woman's back, just under her left shoulder blade. Sadie wondered if it was too much to hope that it was a knife with a very large handle and a very small blade.
“Oh hell,” Sadie said as she dialed 9-1-1.
She knelt down next to the woman and brushed the hair away from her face. Mr. Bradshaw pressed close to Sadie’s side and whined softly. The woman reached out for her. Sadie took the woman’s hand and held it, murmuring words of comfort. She didn’t tell the woman it was going to be okay, that would be a lie. Sadie didn’t think it was going to be
Sadie Barnett, the proprietress of Seagrove’s only rare treasures and junk shop, Timeless Treasures, was out very late. It was nearly midnight and she and her diminutive terrier, Mr. Bradshaw, finally were taking their evening stroll. She’d been doing inventory and time had gotten away from her… in fact, if it weren’t for Mr. Bradshaw whining and scratching at the door she’d probably still be hard at work.
Keeping up with inventory at her shop, Timeless Treasures, tended to be a regularly scheduled exercise in controlled chaos. While she and her shop assistant, Betty, tried being diligent about logging in all the items Sadie brought back from her travels, invariably she would find things on her shelves for which she had no record. It happened with startling regularity, and Sadie was beginning to think the shelves were birthing items at night when she wasn’t watching. When they had found another such item at ten o’clock this evening, she’d sent Betty home. There was no point in both of them being exhausted the next day.
Sadie contemplated the number of items she had in her shop and wondered if she shouldn’t have a clearance sale. The best part of owning a business that sold the rare and unusual was going out into the world and finding those things. But she couldn’t do that now because her shop already was bursting at the seams. It was definitely a conundrum.
Mr. Bradshaw trotted along ahead of her, his tail high in the air. She almost never had to restrain him because his manners were impeccable, although normally she kept him on a leash during the day--you never knew who was going to be afraid of a dog. He sniffed along the flowerbeds planted between the edge of the sidewalk and the street. Seagrove was proud of its quaint beauty and even now the town was planted with mums and asters.
Sadie looked in the window of the vintage clothing store and enjoyed the feel of the night’s cool air on her cheeks. Inventory always made her hot and sweaty. She noticed signs for a circus in most of the windows. It was the traditional circus with clowns and trapeze artists, to say nothing of wild animals such as lions and tigers and bears, oh my. She thought she might like to take her fiancé, Zack Woodstone, to see it. Surely even the police chief got an evening off work once in a while.
She had moved on and was looking in the window of the hardware store when Mr. Bradshaw barked once and trotted back to her.
“What's up Mr. B?”
She'd just looked up to see what was upsetting him when a woman came careening around the corner and clutched at Sadie, struggling to stay upright.
Sadie grabbed the woman by the elbows to steady her and wondered if the she had been drinking. She was at least a foot taller than Sadie--not that it was hard to be taller than Sadie–and swayed alarmingly. She stared at Sadie with dark eyes partially hidden by dark waves of hair falling over her face. The woman was speaking, but Sadie had no idea what she was saying. It was a language she never had heard before.
“I'm sorry, I don't understand you," she said.
The woman shook her head, slid from Sadie’s grasp and curled up on the sidewalk. Sadie went to help her up and stopped. She blinked and cursed her brain, she was having trouble processing what she was seeing.
A very huge knife handle was protruding from the woman's back, just under her left shoulder blade. Sadie wondered if it was too much to hope that it was a knife with a very large handle and a very small blade.
“Oh hell,” Sadie said as she dialed 9-1-1.
She knelt down next to the woman and brushed the hair away from her face. Mr. Bradshaw pressed close to Sadie’s side and whined softly. The woman reached out for her. Sadie took the woman’s hand and held it, murmuring words of comfort. She didn’t tell the woman it was going to be okay, that would be a lie. Sadie didn’t think it was going to be
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