Free Gemini Rising (Mischievous Malamute Mystery Series, Book 1) by Harley Christensen

Abe suggested.
    “That’s easy,” Switzer said as he escorted them into the dealership. They nodded at the receptionist at the entrance of the showroom—who must have been Bonnie—before moving into a spacious glass office behind her desk. Nice, if you were into the whole fishbowl theme.
    “We were in here until I left to deal with the service issue.”
    “Did anyone stop by during that time?” Elijah asked.
    “No, no one. All the sales people were with customers.”
    “What about the service people? You said there was an issue?” Abe added.
    “The service manager called me from his office. He didn’t stop by.”
    “What about when you left?” Anna asked.
    “I checked with Bonnie, and she said, no, there was no one. And as you can see, from the position of her desk”—it was literally at the entrance of the dealership—“nobody’s getting by her without her seeing them. And before you ask, she didn’t go on break that entire time.
    “Also, not that she was being nosy or anything, but Bonnie didn’t see her take any phone calls. In fact, she said she never saw her pull out a cell, even to check text messages.”
    “That definitely sounds like Victoria,” Elijah commented. “She wasn’t one to obsessively check for messages. And she never sent texts.”
    He turned to his brother and Anna, who were both looking intently at the wall outside Switzer’s office.
    “What is that?” he asked Switzer as he joined them.
    “Oh, that’s our employee bulletin board. We post employee accolades, upcoming activities and contests, photos from holiday parties, stuff like that. In fact, you two are looking at the photos from last year’s Christmas party. Pretty random stuff, but a fun time for friends and family.”
    Random was right—there were photos of adults and children of all shapes and sizes eating, dancing, singing or playing games.
    “What was here?” Anna asked, pointing to a section in the collage where the construction paper backing peeked through, exposing a small piece of transparent tape.
    “Wow, I don’t know. Looks like someone pulled one of the photos down.” Switzer squinted, then turned to his receptionist and asked her to join them. The young petite blonde shuffled over, wringing her hands, clearly fearing the worst.
    “Bonnie, can you tell me if something was here?” Switzer asked her as he pointed at the empty section.
    “I can’t tell you what that picture was of or who was in it, but I’m sure there used to be one there.” She looked at us earnestly, wringing her hands even more feverishly, before adding, “That girl, Victoria, was looking at them right before she left, though I can’t say if she took anything with her.”
    Abe, Elijah and Anna quickly looked at one another. It wasn’t much, but it was something.
    Anna gently touched the girl on the shoulder. “Hi Bonnie, I’m Anna. We appreciate your help and your honesty. I was wondering, do you happen to know who shot the photographs for the party?” Relief filled the girl’s eyes as she realized she wasn’t in trouble.
    Bonnie nodded. “Well, we all did. It’s the same way we do it at all the parties, Mr. Switzer. There are tables with disposable cameras everywhere so anybody can take pictures any time they want.”
    “Are there negative of these pictures somewhere, Bonnie?” Switzer asked.
    “Negatives, sir?” She blinked. “I don’t know about that. I’m pretty sure everything is digital. You know, like on a CD?”
    Bonnie wasn’t trying to offend her boss, she was way too sweet to be rude like that, and young. Abe and Elijah tried to keep from grinning while Anna elbowed them both in the ribs, mouthing for them to stop.
    “Um, Bonnie, how many of these cameras would you estimate there were at the party?” Abe asked.
    “Five hundred,” she replied promptly, “with twenty-seven pictures each. I know because I’m the one who ordered them.”
    “Wow, that’s over 13,000 photos, assuming they all