Look Always Forward (Bellingwood Book 11) by Diane Greenwood Muir

waved from their cars or smiled and said hello. She enjoyed being out on summer evenings. Next week the stores would stay open in the evenings as people prepared for the start of school. Then she had one more community band concert over Labor Day weekend. It was hard to believe they were coming up on three years in Sycamore House. So much had happened and she'd gotten to know more people than she could have ever imagined.
    This was her home now. Story City was her dad's home and Boston was just a place where she used to live. Bellingwood was home. She no longer relied on Henry to tell her who people were in town. There were a few that she didn't immediately recognize. For the most part, though, even if she didn't know people well, she was familiar with who they were.
    "What's that about?" Henry asked, startling Polly out of her thoughts.
    "What's what?"
    "Is tomorrow a big day at the coffee shop?"
    "I don't think so. Why?" Polly asked.
    "Lights are on. Do you have your keys?"
    Polly patted her pockets. "No. You don't?"
    "I dumped all the keys in the tray before we left for dinner."
    She gave a one shoulder shrug. "Maybe it's Camille."
    They crossed the street and stopped in front of the door to the coffee shop. Henry tugged on it and both of them were surprised when it opened.
    "What in the heck?" he asked.
    Polly put her hand on his arm. "I don't want to go in."
    "How bad do you not want to go in?"
    She looked down at the dogs. "Bad enough that I want Obiwan with me."
    "Fine." Henry took her elbow. "Let's see what's going on."
    He pulled the door open and Polly stepped in first, calling out "Camille? Are you here?"
    The light coming from the bakery showed a mess in the main room. Books had been pulled off the shelves, tables and chairs were overturned and mugs that had been neatly stacked on the counter were broken on the floor.
    "Damn it," she said. "What happened?"
    "I'll call Ken," Henry responded.
    "Let's see what the rest of the place looks like first," she said. "I don't want to tell Sal about this. She's going to freak out."
    Henry flipped the main lights on. The damage wasn't awful, but it was apparent that someone had gone through the place.
    "I can't believe no one saw this," Polly said. She strode across the floor and looked behind the bar. Everything was still in place.
    Henry used his phone to capture pictures of the damage and she went down the back hallway to the kitchen, terrified of what she might find. Obiwan followed along quietly and stopped beside her in the doorway. She breathed a sigh of relief. Nothing there. It still looked as fresh and new as it had when she'd been here earlier. At least she didn't have to give bad news to Sylvie. One friend in distress at a time was plenty.
    The back door was open and Polly crossed the room to pull it shut. Who left things like this? They'd have to find out who had been the last person in and out of this place. Yes, Bellingwood was a small town, but obviously there needed to be some security.
    When she got to the back door, Obiwan tugged on the leash. He pulled her outside to the back dock, filled with empty cardboard boxes and pallets.
    "You aren't giving me a lot of confidence, Obiwan," she whispered as she let him pull her. She went down the steps to the alley and the dog walked to the end of their building. He sniffed at a stack of pallets and looked up at her.
    "What's there?" she asked.
    "Polly, are you out here?" Henry called from the back door.
    "Just a second," she said and walked in front of Obiwan. It was pretty dark in this corner, so she took out her phone and turned the flashlight on. "Crap," she said, then bent down to rub Obiwan's neck. " You are the good dog. Thanks for finding her."
    Polly called back to Henry. "Don't bother with Ken. I'm calling Aaron."
    "Wh..." he started, then walked along the dock to where she was standing. "I shouldn't even ask, should I? What did you find?"
    She pointed at the body of Julie Smith, one of the new employees,