Curious Minds (Knight and Moon 1)

“But some might argue that,” Werner said.

Hans nodded in agreement. “Some might.”

Riley’s heart was skipping around in her chest. They were setting Günter up, throwing him under the bus.

“How is Emerson’s investigation progressing?” Werner asked Riley. “Has he discovered anything?”

Riley went with her gut reaction to lie. “Nope. Not a thing,” Riley said.

Werner studied her for a long moment, and Riley felt her skin prickle.

He took a step closer. “Just tell us what he did yesterday, Moonbeam.”

“And where he went,” Hans said, closing in on her other side.

These guys aren’t so tough, she told herself. I had law professors that could eat them for breakfast. All I have to do is swallow back the panic so I can think on my feet.

“First of all, we went to see Günter’s wife,” she said. “And then Emerson wanted to talk to Maxine again so we came here, but Maxine was home sick.”

Werner and Hans exchanged glances.

Amateurs, Riley told herself. They probably sucked at poker too.

“So we went to Maxine’s house,” she said.

“And?” Werner asked.

“And she didn’t look sick…or dead. And then we had lunch at Five Guys. That was it. It was pretty much a waste of time. Between you and me, I think Knight’s a little loony.”

Hans nodded. “I see.”

Werner stepped away and opened the door to his office, indicating the meeting was over. “Keep up the good work, Moonbeam,” he said. “And stay in touch.”

The two men stood side by side and watched Riley walk down the hall and disappear into the elevator.

“We have a problem with Moonbeam,” Werner said.

“We’ll fix it,” Hans told him.

Riley hit the porch of Emerson’s mansion running. She barreled through the front door and almost tripped over a woman scrubbing the floor.

“Watch where you’re going!” the woman said. “There’s capybara doody all over. I didn’t even know what a capybara was when I woke up this morning. Now I’m cleaning up after one.”

An animal that looked like a giant guinea pig hurried across the hallway and out the front door. Aunt Myra ran after the animal.

“Emerson’s in the dining room,” Myra yelled over her shoulder to Riley. “Down the hall and turn left. Say hello to Melody. She’s the new housekeeper.”

“Not for long,” Melody said. “I didn’t sign on to work in no zoo.”

Riley found the dining room and thought that “banquet hall” would describe it better. It looked like it belonged in Downton Abbey’s fancier annex. Huge tapestries depicting maidens in flowing white dresses attending to knights in shining armor hung from the walls. Towering stained-glass windows cast multicolored light on the massive mahogany eight-pedestal dining table where Emerson sat hunched with a power tool in his hand, a protective plastic visor covering his face.

The visor distorted his smile as he looked up at her. “Riley, there you are!” He lifted the little Dremel circular saw to reveal the gold bar they’d taken from Günter’s study. It was split down the middle.

“I have to talk to you,” she said, walking around the table.

“First things first. Come and see.”

The bar had a thin veneer of shiny yellow gold, and under the gold the bar was dull gray metal the rest of the way through.