“Are you alright?” I asked, studying his clenched jaw and lowered brows.
“Can I see you inside?”
He evaded my question and then disappeared inside before I could respond. As soon as he walked away, I realized how much I missed his touch. I trailed after him, eager to know what was going on.
We went into the house far enough to be out of sight and earshot. It should have been my first warning sign - whatever he wanted to talk about; he did not want the others to see or hear it. He paced in the living room for a moment, not saying a word, leaving me tucked against the wall watching him wrestle to find the right things to say.
"I don't know how to tell you this," he finally said. "I think it might be challenging for you, so I want you to listen first, and then we can talk it through."
I nodded and waited for him to continue. It took him a few more moments before he sucked in a deep breath and spoke again.
"I talked to my sister, Nori, today, and she gave me good advice on how to solve the missing snuff boxes. I found clues that point us to a particular person."
My heart pounded harder and harder as he spoke. I knew I needed to tell him what I thought as well. I had just thought I had more time.
“Alex, I -”
“No, please. Let me get through this first.”
I nodded again, swallowing hard. I could see the tension knotted in his neck, and from the barely concealed anger, I knew he was more upset than he was letting on.
“I looked again at the envelope from the museum; the clue was so small that I didn’t notice it at first. It wasn’t until I found the letter opener that it all clicked. Here, see for yourself.”
He handed me the envelope and the letter opener. A fingerprint had stained the handle of the letter opener in paint: The evidence I had been looking for, and from the look on Alex's face, he knew who was behind this too.
“I know he is your friend and Asta’s nephew. That was the whole reason I even hired him in the first place. But he was the only person allowed into the library before the snuff boxes went missing. And he is the person who painted the library."
I stared harder at the thumbprint left behind on the letter opener. A part of me wished I had brought up my suspicions to Alex sooner, that I had told him what I thought last night. I knew why I didn't, but I was less sure it was the right decision as I stood before him. The other part of me was relieved that he had been the one to bring it up. I no longer had to convince myself every hour that not telling Alex was the best course of action.
“Are you okay?” Alex asked gently. My stomach turned. He was concerned about how I would handle the news when I had known the past two days.
I lifted my eyes to find his; they must have clued Alex.
“You knew.”
All hints of concern and compassion disappeared in those two words.
“Alex, let me explain,” I pleaded, but he was already backing away.
“I have been such a fool.” He tugged at his hair as he spoke, anger and betrayal in his expression. “I don’t know how I didn’t see this before. Of course, you two were in on it together. It all makes sense now.”
“No, I didn’t -”
"He was always so possessive over you. I thought it was just some unrequited crush, but it was not. You have been working with Lucas this entire time, and my feelings so blinded me for you that I couldn't see it."
“What?”
His admission of how he felt made my heart pound for a different reason, but he didn’t seem to hear my question as he continued with his rant.
"It has all been too convenient. You both move back to Voss simultaneously and struggle to make ends meet. He cannot find consistent work, and you have all those bills from your father and the farm. Then Lucas finds out some rich guy is moving into town from his aunt, and you two hatch a plot to finance your deficit."
“I didn’t take anything,” I argued, desperate for Alex to hear me.
“Oh, don’t play innocent now. That is why you were snooping around in the library the other night - you were looking for anything that might have pointed me back to you and Lucas, only you didn’t look hard enough.”
“Alex, please -”
"I cannot believe I thought you were different. I can't believe I almost let myself fall for you. You are no better than the other women. And worst of all, Asta is going to be heartbroken. I will recover from this, but she will lose her only family because of you. And the sad part is, she really likes you. I mean, she considers you one of her own too."
