“Let’s try and make this quick, Noah. I know you’re not feeling your best. I’m sympathetic to that, believe it or not.”

“Thank you.”

“But you have to admit, the circumstances about what happened last Friday ... are a bit of a jumble.”

“Just like my brain.”

“You were working the Medusa opening.”

“I was.”

“Yet you ended up at the Historical Society. And not in a good way. Found knocked out on the floor, blood and glass around you. I was the one who called an ambulance.”

Noah shivered at the image, like he was seeing himself through a cracked mirror. “I thank you for that.”

“As you know, I was at the Medusa. But I got pulled away from the party. Dispatch called me about the alarm. The break-in. As you can imagine, given what’s happened the last couple of months in Cane’s Inlet, my suspicions were raised when I heard the museum had been broken into. Finding you there, it only exacerbated fears already churning inside me.”

“About what?”

“Why don’t we leave the questions to me. If I learn something from you, maybe I’ll share.”

Noah closed his eyes again, trying to refocus and lessen the growing ache he felt. He was getting tired. “Ask away.”

“You were at the party, playing host, wearing your new fancy clothes and all. Hours later, I find you dressed in casual clothes, back on the peninsula, the victim of a crime. What I’d like to know is what happened between the former and the latter. Weren’t you supposed to be working all night? You clearly left the celebration early.”

“It was a personal issue. Something happened and I ... I don’t know, I just freaked. I had to leave.”

“Is that all you can tell me? What was it, a lover’s spat? It’s okay, I know you and Demetri are an item. And I could care less, you know, about the gay thing.”

“Well, thanks. But Demetri and I, we’re no longer together.”

“A development that occurred that night?”

“Chief, I’m not sure my personal life has anything to do with what happened. Okay?”

“Fair enough. So, let’s shift gears. What were you doing at the museum?”

“I’d gone back to the Breeze. I needed to retrieve something there ... and then I was driving past the Historical Society when I heard the alarm. I saw someone ... a figure running in the dark. You know, briefly, under a streetlamp.”

“You saw your assailant?”

“I ... I don’t know. It might have just been someone innocently walking along the street.”

“But you doubted that, because you went inside the museum.”

“Stupidly, yes, I realize now. But yeah, I went inside, and that’s where I found the Medusa room had been ransacked. The alarm going off was coming from that room ...”

“That much we know. Amanda Tennyson has already been of assistance about what’s gone missing, what’s been damaged. She’s provided a full inventory.”

“The Star Diamond, that’s what’s gone missing,” Noah said. “Though why someone would steal it now, after all these years of it being on display, is a mystery.”

“There are a lot of mysteries wrapped into this case, Noah.”

No kidding. “Do you think it has anything to do with what happened to those two women?”

“I’d rather not comment on ongoing investigations. Let’s concentrate on what you know.”

“I wish I had more information for you, Chief Hatcher. And right now, the only thing all your questions has accomplished is making my head pound. Do you mind, if you have no further questions, that we finish up here?”

He nodded, getting up from his chairs. His knees cracked, his face locked in a grimace. “Don’t get old, Noah,” he said, a rare smile hitting his weathered face.

“I’m lucky I made it this far,” Noah said, rubbing at the back of his head.

“Lucky you are, indeed. Unfortunately, Donna Eldreth and Cassie Lancaster cannot say the same. Be careful walking around, Noah, because someone in town attacked you, and they may not be happy that you survived. I’ll do my best to find the truth.” Then he gazed around at the luxury surrounding them. “Though I suppose you’ll be safe here. For whatever reason, Ginny has taken a liking to you.”

“She’s just looking out for one of her employees.”

He let out a sharp chuckle. “That’s not it, it’s something else. You’re an interesting person, Noah Sanders. Which makes me a curious one. That’s what makes a good investigator, never being satisfied that you’ve heard the truth. While I do enjoy solving mystery, only when I solve them do I find sleep. Speaking of, you need your rest.” He paused, extending a hand. Noah shook it, the grip tight with understanding. “Feel better, Noah. To be continued. This isn’t over.”