Broken bone china
Childs, Laura
It is Sunday afternoon
and Theodosia and Drayton are catering a formal tea at a hot-air balloon rally. The view aloft is not only stunning
they are also surrounded by a dozen other colorful hot-air balloons. But as the sky turns gray and the clouds start to boil up
a strange object zooms out of nowhere. It is a drone
and it appears to be buzzing around the balloons
checking them out. As Theodosia and Drayton watch
the drone
hovering like some angry
mechanized insect
deliberately crashes into the balloon next to them. An enormous
fiery explosion erupts
and everyone watches in horror as the balloon plummets to the earth
killing all three of its passengers. Sirens scream
first responders arrive
and Theodosia is interviewed by the police. During the interview she learns that one of the downed occupants was Don Kingsley
the CEO of a local software company
SyncSoft. Not only do the police suspect Kingsley as the primary target
they learn that he possessed a rare Revolutionary War Union Jack flag that several people were rabidly bidding on. Intrigued
Theodosia begins her own investigation. Was it the CEO's soon-to-be ex-wife
who is restoring an enormous mansion at no expense? The CEO's personal assistant
who also functioned as curator of his prized collection of Americana? Two rival antiques' dealers known for dirty dealing? Or was the killer the fiancée of one of Theodosia's dear friends
who turns out to be an employee--and whistle-blower--at SyncSoft?
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