I leaned forward, casually trying to catch a glimpse of what he was writing. But he tilted his notebook up, hiding the page from me.
A family of four meandered their way toward us, viewing each exhibit with mild interest.
“Mommy, what’s supposed to be in there?” the little girl squeaked.
“I think it’s supposed to be a doll,” the mother answered.
That caught my immediate attention. I looked over to see the mother pressing her face close to the inscription on the case.
“She must be somewhere else. Or maybe it’s tea time for the dolls.”
The little girl giggled and hugged her Cabbage Patch doll tight in her arms. Her family moved on to the next exhibit, a set of silver bowls enchanted to poison anyone stupid enough to eat from them.
I cursed inwardly. Roni was gone again. That doll would be the end of me and this museum. I’d gotten that very same feeling the day Mr. Jones brought her here from New Hampshire.
“Will you excuse me, I have to take care of this,” I told Gideon.
After a moment’s hesitation, he nodded and stepped aside. “I’ll wait up front. I have a few more questions for you.”
“Can’t wait,” I sniped back. “Angel! Can you come help me?”
She glided toward me from the front counter. “Well, have you hit it off with Mr. Sexy Investigator? When is he taking you out?”
I let out a disgusted sigh. “Uh, no, not any time soon. Unless it’s taking me to jail, under arrest. He thinks I had something to do with the kidnapping of a family from my building.”
“What? That’s crazy.” She tapped the front of her teeth with her long manicured nail as she often did when lost in thought.
I waved my hand in front of her face until she smiled and came out of it.
“Well, then, I guess that means he’s up for grabs.”
Cocking my head to the side, I gave her my best eye roll. “You’re going to date the man that might arrest one of your best friends for kidnapping? That’s great.”
“Well, if I waited around for Mr. Right, I’d never have a date.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. Angel certainly wasn’t lacking in dates. She scheduled them for every other night of the week, a new guy almost every time.
Angel was one of those free-love type of people. She adored men. But, she was never going to settle down. That wasn’t her. Instead, she felt determined to date as many men as she could find. In her words, love was infinite. She believed that you could fall in love hundreds of times during a lifetime and never run out of it. I had to admit that sometimes I was jealous of her casual attitude towards the whole romance thing.
“What do you think he is, anyway?” I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.
Angel was better at this kind of thing. She knew how to spot the supernatural, although she dated plenty of human men, too.
“Oh, that’s easy. He’s a Child of Moros.” She twirled her turquoise ring around her finger. “I got that whole doom-vibe the moment he walked his sexy glutes in here. Total bad boy, if you know what I mean.”
“Yikes.”
Children of Moros were descended from spirits that led people to their fate. Real big in ancient Greek times. Not exactly cheery stuff.
“No wonder he’s so unlikeable.”
“To each his own,” Angel said, licking her lips.
“He’s all yours. But before you snatch him up, would you mind helping me find Roni?”
I pointed at the empty glass box sitting in the middle of the room. It was the case that’d caught Gideon’s eye as he was pestering me. Not five minutes ago, a large china doll had been perched inside it, her frilly white dress splayed around her chair.
“She’s gone. Again.”