To Catch A Thief (Saved By Desire 2) by Rebecca King

hide. It didn’t help him identify who might be the thief because now they all looked shifty.
    All except for Sophia, that is. She was the only one who appeared anywhere near normal, although she was still uneasy about something. That could be down to nothing more than being in the company of veritable strangers, or being the subject of his own somewhat earnest gaze.
    “Is everything alright?” Algernon murmured as he came to join him in the hallway.
    “Nothing missing as yet,” Jeb replied quietly.
    “That’s good, isn’t it?”
    “For now.” Jeb nodded toward the dining room. “Anything unusual about them tonight?”
    Algernon coughed. It was on the tip of his tongue to declare that his son had been the only one behaving out of character, but he didn’t wish to put a stop to Jeb’s quite obvious interest in the delightful young lady who was like a breath of fresh air at the dinner tonight. As far as Algernon was concerned, she was the only guest who could stay as long as she liked, and it had nothing to do with her innocence of all of the thefts.
    Oblivious to his father’s thoughts, Jeb turned his attention to the guests, partly in a desperate attempt to keep his mind off the wondrous temptation of Sophia.
    Did the Vicar have something to hide? Vicars were usually the blemish free stalwarts of society; weren’t they? That being the case, he couldn’t possibly be the thief. That led him to Mavis Arbuthnot, who seemed to have made it her personal mission to chastise anyone who didn’t make it to church last week. However, given she was a devout Christian who seemed to consider everything but attending church a sin, she was probably not likely to stray so far from the moral path by stealing anything. That led him onto Delilah Carney, whose tendency to be as loud as she is brash made her a startling contrast to her niece. The marked difference between the women was odd, mostly because there was something quite false about Delilah. Her behaviour wasn’t entirely supported by the somewhat cynical gleam in her eye. Did that make her a thief though? Jeb couldn’t be sure. With that in mind, he left her very firmly on his list of suspects, although hoped she wasn’t guilty of anything because of her association with Sophia.
    Now, the Harvells both seemed to know an inordinate amount of gossip for women who couldn’t afford to socialise much. If they couldn’t socialise, they couldn’t shop – right? Were they impoverished enough to steal what they couldn’t afford? Although they appeared innocent enough, Jeb wasn’t about to be fooled by anybody. With that in mind, he had to leave them on his list of suspects too.
    Then there was Algernon’s man of business whom Jeb had yet to hear two consecutive words from. His occasional grunts proved that he was still alive. However, once or twice Jeb had actually wondered whether he should jab the man with a knife to see if he was still breathing. How on earth Algernon got Philip to do anything for him was beyond Jeb, who had yet to succeed in eliciting anything more than a grunt. But that didn’t mean he was a thief. Especially when he didn’t attend all of the locations the items were stolen from.
    Mrs Banks was the only other relatively normal guest at the table, although she had a tendency to snort when she laughed, and was incredibly loud. However, that wasn’t enough to condemn her as a thief, even if he ignored the way she gazed around the room longingly, studying the portraits and noting the few ornaments that remained.
    “Don’t you dare think about leaving me in there with them,” Algernon suddenly announced when Jeb remained motionless in the centre of the hallway.
    Jeb jerked and threw his father a rueful look. “I should throw them all in a bag and shake them up and down. How on earth did they get together?”
    Algernon shook his head. “Damned if I know. I am going to have a word with cook and ask the woman to get a move on with the food. The