Can't Buy Me Love (Sinclair Sisters 3)

“Mrs. Edwards,” Logan said, all business and polite charm. “Would you mind answering a few questions about your missing ring?”

“Of course not.” She swung the door wide. “Come on in.”

Agnes motioned for him to go ahead of her—that way she could enjoy his reaction to seeing the suite for the first time. Two steps into the living room, he tripped over his own feet, righted himself with a suspicious cough that might have covered a laugh, and motioned for Agnes to join them.

“Isn’t it wonderful?” Mrs. Edwards looked around the room with pride. “Not many hotels would let you decorate for your stay, but Dougal had no problem with me swapping out the drapes and bedding.”

Logan opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before settling on, “Um, that’s a lot of…Josh McInnes.”

He wasn’t wrong.

She’d replaced the curtains with ones printed with massive photos of Josh in his trademark black suit. Cushions with his smiling face were scattered over the sofa, the bedding showed a shirtless Josh lazing at the beach, and on the table were piles of signed photos of the star waiting to be mailed.

“So, um, you’re a fan?” Logan said.

Mrs. Edwards giggled like a schoolgirl. “No, dear, I’m the fan. I just got voted in as head of Josh’s American fan club. That’s why I’m here. Part of the job is to collect signed memorabilia and do special interviews with him, just for the fan club. I only intended to stay a week to get it all done, but I fell in love with Invertary, so I’ve been here a month so far. I can totally understand why Josh moved here. This town is so quaint.”

“I don’t think it was Invertary you fell in love with,” Agnes said. “I think it’s the fact that Josh wanders around town and eats in the pub downstairs.”

“There is that,” the older woman said, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “But I would never bother the man. Unlike some fans, I understand a celebrity needs their space. I only enjoy admiring him from a distance.”

Logan cleared his throat. “Can you tell us where you lost the ring?”

Agnes bit her lip to stop herself from reminding him that there was no ‘us.’ She already knew about the ring. He was the one playing catch-up.

“It was right over here.” Mrs. Edwards wandered over to the dining table, which was covered in bags, merchandise and envelopes. “I was making up packages to send to fan club members. Not all of them, of course. That would take a factory working around the clock. These are only for the fans who won a pack. Even then, it would still have taken forever to bag everything, but Caroline McInnes, Josh’s wife, rounded up a group of teenagers to help me. Caroline’s amazing and very efficient, isn’t she?”

The question was aimed at Agnes, who’d never met the famous Caroline McInnes. But the customer was always right, so she answered, “Oh yes, so efficient.”

“I gather you took off the ring while you were making up the bags,” Logan prodde

d.

“It kept snagging on the gossamer bags, so I put it in my purse at my feet.”

“Who was in the room at the time?”

“Like I said, several teenagers. They kept coming and going, in shifts.” She waved a hand toward the door. “I propped the door open. The hotel sent up snacks too, which the teens loved. You don’t think it was one of the kids, do you? They were such a great bunch.”

“I wish I knew, but we’ll do everything we can to find out.”

“I’m sure you will,” she said as the dog wriggled in her arms.

She bent down and released it, and it ran from the room. No doubt to find another corner to pee in. How long did it take to train one dog?

“I suspect he’s off to find his daddy,” Mrs. Edwards said. “Are we finished here? Because I wouldn’t mind a nap. I’m not as young as I used to be.”

“Of course.” Agnes imagined her pulling her Josh curtains, climbing in between her Josh sheets, and putting on her Josh sleep mask before placing her head on her Josh pillow and falling asleep to one of Josh’s CDs. She supposed there were weirder things to be obsessed with, but none came to mind.

As the door closed behind them, Logan shot her a look. “I feel like I should rush back to the office and open a file on that woman, just in case she snaps and goes full Misery on Josh.”

“She’s harmless.” Agnes headed back down the corridor, expecting him to follow. “Josh knows all about her, and he isn’t worried.”

“Josh doesn’t play with a full deck.”

Logan wasn’t wrong. “Back to the thefts. If half of the kids in town were traipsing through the hotel to help stuff bags for Josh’s fan club, it looks like everyone in Invertary is on the suspect list.”

“Not so clear-cut, eh? Maybe I’ll be of some use after all.”