by Kate Bell
Chapter Twenty
“So, are you ready for this?” Alec asked me. We were standing in front of his new office, holding two buckets of paint and some plastic drop cloths.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I said. The day had come. Time to clean and paint and do whatever else was needed to make the office presentable to clients.
Alec unlocked the door and held it open for me. I was carrying a bucket with brushes and rollers in one hand and another bucket with cleaning supplies and rags. I had bought four packages of rubber gloves. No way was I going to touch anything in that office with my bare hands until we had thoroughly scrubbed everything.
I set my buckets down inside the room. “Oh, the ceiling’s fixed,” I said.
“I came down and cleaned up the mess on the floor and the building manager stopped by with new ceiling tiles. He said he was having a contractor come out and take care of the roof. So at least that’s taken care of.”
“We need to get new blinds and maybe some drapes or something,” I said.
“That would be nice,” he said, putting down the paint and drop cloths on the floor. “I’m going to run downstairs for the ladder.”
I pulled out a package of rubber gloves and opened them. I idly wondered what it would cost to have Jennifer come down here and do this for me. But then I figured Alec would appreciate it more if I stayed and helped him.
I heard footsteps on the stairs. “That was fast,” I called through the open door.
“Fast for what? Who’s there?” a voice said.
I went to the door and looked out. Bob Payne, our small town’s mayor, stood in the lobby.
“What are you doing here?” he said when he saw it was me.
I gave him a smile. “Well, hello, Bob. How are you doing? I haven’t seen you since what, Black Friday?”
Bob scowled at me. “I think it was sometime after that,” Bob said. “You and your boyfriend have a tendency to harass innocent people.”
I snorted. “Oh please, Bob. We had a confession. There was no harassment of innocent people.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “I know what you did. You coerced a confession.”
“Stop it, Bob. You and I both know that isn’t true.”
“We are appealing the case, and when we win it, we’re bringing a lawsuit against you and Detective Blanchard. You just wait and see.” Bob’s voice cracked.
“Well, good luck with the appeal, but I think you’re going to be disappointed,” I said.
We both turned to look at the stairs when we heard someone coming up them. A moment later, Alec appeared with the ladder.
“Oh, hello, Bob,” Alec said. “How are you doing? Long time no see.”
Bob scowled at Alec. “And that’s a good thing.”
“Oh, don’t be that way,” Alec said. “After all, we’re going to be neighbors.”
“What? What do you mean?” Bob asked.
“I’m moving in,” Alec said, and came to stand beside me. He leaned the ladder against the wall.
“Wait, why would you have an office down here? You have one at the police station.”
Alec shook his head, still smiling. “I retired the end of last year and went into business as a PI.”
Bob stood with his mouth open, taking this in. I could almost see the wheels turning in his head.
“I expect you to mind your own business when you’re here,” he said after a few moments of silence.
Alec shrugged. “I don’t know what you mean by that. I’ve always minded my own business and done my job. I can’t help that people commit crimes and I arrested them for it.”
“You two stay on that side of the building and I’ll stay on mine,” he said and turned back toward his office.
Alec winked at me and picked up the ladder, carrying it into the office. I chuckled and followed him in.
“He’s not the forgiving sort,” I whispered.
“No, he isn’t,” he agreed. “We have an awful lot of work to get done here.”
I groaned. “Tell me about it. I think I’ll start by washing the paneling. Are you going to paint it?”
“I’m thinking about it. I think it could only be an improvement. For now, I’ll focus on the bathroom walls.” He headed to the bathroom and opened the door. “Ew. Its kind of nasty in here.”
“Yeah, I saw it when we were here last,” I said. “Say, Valentine’s Day is only a couple of days away. Have you thought much about where you’re taking me?”
“Yes, I have,” he said.
“And that would be?” I asked when he didn’t say anything else.
He chuckled. “A secret.”
I sighed. “Secrets are meant to be told.”
“Not this one,” he said.
I wanted to ask him again, but when Alec makes up his mind, it’s made up. He wasn’t going to tell me. Whining and crying probably wouldn’t get it out of him, but I might give it a shot later. Ever since Lucy and Thad had mentioned Alec possibly asking me to marry him, I couldn’t get it out of my head. Was I even ready to marry him? It would be fun to get to wake up next to him every morning, but I had been on my own for a while. Most of the time I liked it. Other days, it was hard. And I felt like our relationship was going so well the way it was. Did I want to risk changing it?
“You’re awfully quiet in there,” he called from the bathroom after a few minutes. “What are you doing?”
“It’s a secret,” I said, carrying a bucket into the bathroom.
He laughed and turned toward me. “You’re not getting it out of me.”
“I don’t care. I need some water, get out of the way,” I said, elbowing him and trying not to pout.
He stepped out of the way and I turned the hot water on. I used a plastic cup to pour water into the bucket I had already poured bleach into.
“I forgot to tell you. Lucy and I were at the Cup and Bean and Meg Cranston and Jenna Maples came in and they nearly came to blows. Meg accused Jenna of murdering her husband and Jenna claims she didn’t even know him. But Marge Buttons was also there and she said Jenna worked with Spencer at Stanton Industries. It doesn’t make any sense.”
He looked at me. “It sounds like Jenna knew Spencer, at the very least,” he said.
“Marge said Jenna left the company right after the company moved them here and no one would say why.”
“That’s odd. You would think there would be the usual office gossip going around. Someone always knows something,” Alec said.
“That’s exactly what I thought. If you ask me, there’s something fishy about that company and everyone involved with it,” I said. “And if Jenna worked with Spencer, why does she act like she doesn’t know him?”
The bathroom sink was disgusting. I had brought along an assortment of scrubbing pads, but I was beginning to think I might need some acid to eat the nasty crust off of it. I didn’t even want to look at the toilet.
“I think you may be right,” he finally said.
“I think we need to check into that company closer. What exactly could they be working on and why is it so top secret?” I asked. “And we still haven’t found that laptop.”
“We do have our work cut out for us,” Alec said. “When we’re done here, we need to ask Jenna why she never mentioned to us that she worked with the victim at Stanton Industries.”
“And did Phil ever find Frito?” I asked.
“Not that I’ve heard. I suppose we ought to check with him, too.”
Chapter Twenty-one
We heard someone on the stairs and I poked my head outside the bathroom door. We had left the office door open to air the room out. After a moment, Phil Jones came into view in the lobby. Speak of the devil. He headed over to Cade without stopping at the doorway.
“Mr. Blanchard, I want to hire you,” he said. His face was angry and he looked like he meant business.
“Certainly, Mr. Jones. What did you want to hire me for?” Alec asked, putting his paintbrush down.
I joined them so I wouldn’t miss a thing.
“To find my Frito. I’ve called the police and they said it was a matter for the animal shelter, but I know Frito didn’t run away. I already told you, it’s that woman next door to me. She stole him. If I can’t get the police to look for him, I’ll hire you.”
“Mr. Jones, I’m not sure there’s sufficient evidence to say that Jenna stole your dog,” Alec said.
“Nonsense! There’s plenty of evidence. She doesn’t like me and she’s trying to get at me. I shudder to think what Frito must be going through. I’m sure he misses his bed and his toys,” Phil said, tearing up.
I felt bad for the guy. But I was with Alec on this one. There didn’t appear to be any way Frito could have escaped his yard, and I doubted Jenna could have scaled a six-foot solid wood fence, either. I had a hunch Phil hadn’t been paying attention and the dog escaped through the open front door. Frito was an excitable dog, after all, and had probably taken the first opportunity to escape. And I still wondered where Phil had gotten off to the other night and whether he had known Lucy and I followed him.
“I understand,” Alec said. “But have you at least checked with the animal shelter?” Alec asked.
Phil sighed. “Yes, I did. And as expected, they did not have him. Are you going to take my case?”
Alec looked undecided. “I tell you what. I’ll take the case on and look for him for a few days. But if I don’t find him by then, I won’t be able to help you. If I can’t find him, you don’t have to pay me.”
Phil brightened. “Okay, that’s a deal. But please, do all you can to find my Frito.”
“I will certainly try,” Alec said.
With that, Phil turned and left.
“Do you think you can find him? It’s been a couple of days,” I said when I was sure Phil was out of earshot.
“No, I don’t. That’s why I don’t want to charge him. If the dog’s out wandering, chances are good he won’t have survived long in the snow. He’s used to a warm bed and food being provided. He already said the shelter doesn’t have him.”
“Well, it’s sweet of you not to charge him if you don’t find him,” I said.
“And if I do find him, it’s a paying case,” he pointed out.
“Did Meg Cranston pay you anything for spying on her husband?” I asked.
“I didn’t get to do much spying, but she did offer to pay me for the effort. I refused though. I couldn’t see taking money from a woman that just lost her husband.”
“I don’t blame you,” I said. “I still think it was weird the way Phil disappeared down that alley the other night, and the fact that he was in Mr. Winter’s alley the morning of the murder. What do you think he was doing?”
Alec shrugged. “Some people make trash digging a hobby.”
“Ew,” I said, wrinkling up my nose. “That’s gross. Think of all the germs.”
He chuckled. “Maybe he had legitimate business back there. You never know,” he teased.
“Well, I better get back to cleaning. Or we could go get something to eat,” I suggested. “That does sound like a better plan, now that I think of it.”
“We just started. I think we should get something done before taking a break.”
I sighed. “I hate cleaning bathrooms, especially bathrooms that are not my own. There’s no telling what germs are in there,” I complained. I shouldn’t have been whining. After all, Alec had helped me with my baking on more than one occasion, but I really didn’t want to do this.
“Just use the time spent scrubbing to meditate on ways you can improve your business. I know you can beat the competition if you put your mind to it,” he said.
“Speaking of the competition. I got kicked out of their restaurant,” I confessed, as we headed back to the bathroom. “Can you believe that? I have never been so mortified.”
“What? What do you mean kicked out? They forcibly made you leave?” he asked incredulously.
“Not forcibly, but this little French tart of a woman said she knew who I was and that I was there to spy on her and her desserts,” I said sadly.
“And were you doing that?” he asked with one eyebrow cocked.
“Sort of,” I said. “I really just wanted to taste some more of their desserts is all.”
Alec laughed. “Only you could get thrown out of a restaurant for wanting to order dessert.”
“I won in the end though. I had Jennifer buy me some of the desserts and bring them to me.”
“You, my love, are just too much.” He gave me a kiss.
He was probably right.
***
The fact that Jenna had lied about knowing Spencer Cranston was bugging Alec, so we stopped by Jenna’s house on our way home. I hoped I didn’t smell too strongly of bleach.
“Oh, hello. You two do get around, don’t you?” Jenna said with a laugh when she opened her front door.
Alec smiled at her. “We do. We had a couple of questions for you. May we come in?”
“Sure, come on in.” She led us to her living room. If it bothered her that we were asking her about a murder she had repeatedly sworn she knew nothing about, she didn’t let it show. There were several boxes sitting on the living room floor, half filled with various items.
“Please excuse the way we look,” I said. “Alec got a new office and we were down there painting and cleaning.”
“Well that sounds like fun,” Jenna said, chuckling and offering us a seat. “Now, what can I do for you?”
“Jenna, we heard that you worked for Stanton Industries, but you’ve said you didn’t know Spencer Cranston nor his wife. Spencer was your co-worker, though,” Alec said.
“Well, technically, yes. Stanton Industries brought us all in from different parts of the country. We worked in different offices and I had never met Spencer. I had a disagreement with my new manager, Bart Hicks. I knew when I met him that I couldn’t work for him, and I quit after being here two days. That probably wasn’t the smartest move of my career, but hey, it is what it is,” she said. “If you’ve ever met Bart Hicks, you probably know what I’m talking about. I can’t remember if Spencer Cranston was even there the two days I worked there. Everyone hadn’t made it in yet.”
“Why did you stay in Sandy Harbor this long?” I asked. “Do you have family here?” If I had just moved to a new city and then quit my job, I would have high tailed it home again if I didn’t know anyone in that new city.
She shook her head. “No, but Sandy Harbor is a charming little New England town, and I thought it would be fun to stay a while and experience a New England Fall. I did that and also got to experience a New England Christmas, and I think it’s time to head home now. I thought I might be able to find work here, but I just couldn’t find anything.”
Every time we talked to Jenna, she made me want to believe her. She was either very innocent, or a good actress and I couldn’t decide which it was.
We spent a few more minutes making small talk and then excused ourselves. I was tired and felt dirty from cleaning Alec’s office and I just wanted to go home and put my feet up.
“What do you think?” I asked Alec on the drive home.
“I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to work for Bart Hicks and I’d probably quit, too. And Meg Cranston doesn’t have any hard evidence that her husband was cheating on her with Jenna or anyone else.”
“So, back to the drawing board?”
He nodded. “Back to the drawing board.”
Chapter Twenty-two
On Valentine’s Day, I wore a new red dress I had bought from a cute dress shop that just opened downtown. I figured that if Alec did ask me to marry him, I was going to be dressed for the occasion. I knew I shouldn’t even be thinking about Alec asking me to marry him since I wasn’t sure if he had the same thing in mind or not, but I couldn’t help it. I was crazy in love with him.
I had dropped off four chocolate raspberry layer cakes at Henry’s earlier in the day. There were three layers of rich cho
colate cake, and they were filled with fresh raspberry filling. The cakes were frosted with chocolate ganache. I hoped Henry’s would be busy and that I wouldn’t have to bring any of the cakes home again. Every restaurant in town should be packed on Valentine’s Day.
I looked at my reflection in the mirror and smiled. I looked good in this dress. I had finally lost the extra five pounds I had gained from overindulging at Christmas time and the dress draped nicely on me. I topped off my look with a dark red lipstick and I was ready for my date.
Alec showed up right on time. He was dressed in a black suit and was holding a bouquet of red roses and the biggest box of chocolates I had ever seen. “You look beautiful. I hope you don’t mind me being traditional, but I got you the red roses and chocolate.”
“You know I love traditional,” I said, taking the roses and candy from him. The roses were in a pretty crystal vase and the chocolates were in a gigantic heart-shaped box.
I set the flowers and candy on the coffee table in the living room and that’s when I heard it. There was a shuffling and a snorting sound coming from outside.
“What was that?” I asked turning around.
He smiled and shrugged. “Your surprise.”
I hurried back to the front door and out front were two white horses pulling a white carriage. I gasped and looked at him.
“Really?”
He laughed. “Really.”
I giggled and he helped me into my coat and we headed to the carriage. I had seen this carriage in the annual Christmas parade on several occasions as well as decorated in red, white, and blue for 4th of July celebrations.
“How wonderful,” I said and Alec helped me into the carriage. There was a thick white faux fur throw to bundle up in and we pulled it up around ourselves. My stomach was doing flip-flops. Was he really going to propose to me? “I can’t believe you did this. It’s wonderful.”
“You’re wonderful, too,” he said.
