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“This system is so hard to work.” She sighs, peering through her glasses at the iPad.

“May I?”

“He’s a computer wiz,” I tell her. “He sold his company to Svensson PharmaTech for big bucks.”

“Oh! And now you’re making him pay you back for a nice wedding after he worked all those long hours away from home, aren’t you?” She winks.

“He’s definitely going to pay, all right.” I grind my teeth.

“Got the list.” Hughes hits a button, and the list prints on the receipt paper.

“Well, aren’t you clever?” She claps her hands.

“Not clever enough to wear a warm coat,” I mutter.

“Well, I think you look very handsome.” The jeweler smooths down the lapels.

“Thank you, ma’am.” He tips his fedora and everything.

“Seriously?” I hiss at him when we’re out of sight of the stall. “Your fiancée?”

“Hey, who got you that list?”

“I could have gotten it.”

“No, you couldn’t.” A smile plays around his soft, dumb mouth. “You needed a man to get that information for you. She wasn’t going to hand it over. You don’t look trustworthy.”

“I’m trustworthy!”

He points at one of Taylor Grace’s signs.

I tear it down and stuff it into an elf-shaped trash can.

It shrieks, “Merry Christmas!” at me.

“So, should I throw out the list…?” He waves it in my direction.

“No!” I snatch it from him.

He peers over my shoulder.

I expect him to smell like stale coffee and cigarettes for some reason, but instead, he smells crisp and fresh, like walking through an abandoned Christmas tree farm on a winter afternoon.

“I don’t see anyone I recognize on our suspect list.”

“I don’t know most of these people. Gran probably will.” I pocket the list and turn, but he’s right there. I look up at him. “You can go now.”

He stares down at me. “You can’t kick me out when the investigation’s getting good.”

“It’s not getting anywhere. I have to go buy some stuff for Gran’s party.”

“I’ll come too. I can help you carry it. I have to go back to Juniper Avenue in a little bit anyway. Nana’s expecting a delivery.”

I’m not taking him up on that offer, right? I grab the lapels of his trench coat. “Hopefully, you’ll get a real coat while you’re there. The temperature is supposed to drop.”

He briefly wraps his arms around me. “Or maybe I can just keep you to warm me up.”

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