Summer in Eclipse Bay

to go along with A.Z.'s zany scheme?"
    "Because we don't have a lot of choice," she said briskly. "As you pointed out, there aren't any real investigators here in Eclipse Bay, and I agree with A.Z. about Sean Valentine. He's a good man, and he is no doubt a very competent cop. But I'm pretty sure that he intends to waste a lot of time looking in all the wrong places."
    "Don't tell me you agree with Arizona's conspiracy theory? You really think Valentine should look for the culprit up at the institute?" Nick spread his hands. "Give me a break. That's nuts and you know it."
    "I doubt very much that the painting was stolen by someone at the institute," she said coolly. "But that still leaves a lot of rocks to turn over and I don't think Sean will do that. I've got a hunch he'll concentrate on the Heralds."
    Nick was silent.
    "I knew it," she muttered. "He
does
think it was someone from the Incandescent Body, doesn't he?"
    "He intends to do some background checks on some of them," Nick admitted. "It's a logical place to start. The Heralds constitute the largest group of newcomers and unknowns in town who would have had knowledge of the painting and where it was stored."
    "That's not true. There are more newcomers and unknowns up at the institute and Chamberlain College."
    "Okay, maybe. Technically speaking. But it's unlikely that many of them would have heard about the painting so soon. With a few exceptions, they're considered outsiders here in Eclipse Bay. Not full-fledged members of the community. Most of them are not hardwired into the gossip circuit. The Heralds, on the other hand, knew everything about the Upsall almost immediately because Photon and A.Z. told them."
    "Others could have known, too," she insisted. "You know how word spreads in this town."
    "Come to think of it, you're right," he replied curtly. "There are a lot of suspects, aren't there?"
    She did not like the way he said that. "Not a lot. Some."
    "Jeremy Seaton, for instance. Heck, you showed him right where the painting was stashed. You even let him take a really close look at it. And he's into art. Probably knows some underhanded dealers back in Portland or Seattle who would be willing to take a stolen Upsall off his hands, no questions asked."
    Shock reverberated through her. It took a moment to recover. Then she flattened her palms on the counter very close to his own big hands and leaned forward so that they were only inches apart.
    "Don't you dare imply that Jeremy took the painting," she said softly. "That is beneath contempt."
    "You want a private investigator on the case? You gotta expect some uncomfortable speculation."
    "You brought up Jeremy's name only because you don't like him very much," she said through her teeth.
    "Just trying to be logical. That's what we investigators are paid to do."
    "You know something? When A.Z. came up with the idea to hire you, it struck Virgil and me that there was some merit to the plan. After all, who would know Eclipse Bay better than a Harte? And with your family history and clout here in town, you can talk to anyone. Get through any door. People will take you seriously and open up to you."
    He took his hands off the counter. "Because I'm considered one of the locals?"
    "Yes. You've got access in a way that Sean Valentine does not." She moved one hand slightly. "And that's why I went along with A.Z.'s scheme. But now I'm having second thoughts."
    "Good."
    "I agree with you," she went on smoothly. "I think that with your poor attitude, it is highly unlikely that you will be of any use to us."
    "Yes, he will," Carson said very earnestly from the doorway. "I'll help him."
    "That's very nice of you, Carson, but your father is not interested in working for me, so I'll just have to investigate without him."
    "Do you know how to be an investigator?" Carson asked, intrigued.
    "I've read all your father's books about John True. How hard can it be?"
    Nick's eyes went very narrow. "What's this about investigating on your own?"
    She raised one shoulder in a deliberately careless shrug. "I don't see that I have much option."
    His mouth thinned. "You're serious, aren't you?"
    "Oh, yeah."
    "This is a really, really dumb idea, Octavia. Stay out of it. Let Sean Valentine do his job."
    She watched him just as steadily as he watched her. Damned if she would let him intimidate her, she thought. She was Claudia Banner's great-niece. She could handle a Harte.
    "That Upsall was in my custody," she said. "I feel responsible