“Wouldn’t that be nice?” She sighed. “I really don’t know what’s happening at Rosemoor though.”
“And what do you think is happening?”
“Well, people hate Nan. She was conked on the head with a vase. She’s not safe there. I offered for her to stay here for a few days, but she’d rather be with Richie. She’d rather be there in the middle of Rosemoor and all its secrets. I don’t know.” She raised both hands in frustration. She looked down at her animals and added, “The other thing is, Mugs didn’t bark or didn’t even seem upset when he came into the house today, right after the intruder left. I thought that was odd.”
He looked at her, stared at Mugs, and asked, “And how much of it is because he might have known this person?”
She frowned. “I don’t know. I just don’t know. I didn’t recognize the car,” she admitted honestly. “So …” She shook her head. “It’s just very strange. It’s not like there’s anything to steal here.”
“Maybe they thought that some of the antiques would be back.”
“Why?” she asked. “I’m still waiting to get that stupid catalog, showing me all of Nan’s items.”
“Good,” he nodded. “And, assuming you trust these people, it should be all coming together soon.”
“Assuming I trust these people?” she repeated ever-so-slowly. “Are you saying there’s a chance that they’re not trustworthy?”
He winced. “No, that’s not what I’m saying. All I’m trying to do is keep in mind that an awful lot is going on in your world right now, and, if you focus on the good, the rest should fall into place.”
She frowned suspiciously at him. “You sound an awful lot like Nan, when she’s trying to calm me down.”
“Gee, is it working?”
“No,” she replied, “but I do want to know more about the guy who recently died, Alan.”
“Why is that?”
“Because I still think his death is connected to the poison that we found down at the park.”
“I did talk to the old guy you found at the park, but I found him at his home. As you can imagine, he wasn’t happy to see me and wasn’t all that cooperative. However, he finally showed me where the rat poison was,” he explained, “but the box is missing.”
She stared at him in shock. “So, even after he put it away, somebody came back and took it again?”
He nodded. “That appears to be the case, if we can believe him.”
She frowned at him. “Right. And, of course, if he had anything to do with the poisonings or if he’s trying to protect somebody, he would have lied about even having the poison.”
Mack looked at her, grinned. “You sure you don’t want to go into law enforcement?”
She thought about it and replied, “A part of me would love to go into law enforcement, but I think all those rules would really hamper my style.”
Chapter 13
Friday Morning
The next morning, Doreen thought about the conversation with Mack from the previous night. They’d hashed up a lot of different ideas, but they hadn’t exactly solved anything. And that was the part that would drive her nuts. She wanted to know more about this young man who had been poisoned, but she also wanted to know more about the box of poison that had gone missing from the old guy’s garage yet again.
On that note, she looked down at the animals, with a determined nod. “Let’s go back to Sarsons Beach, guys. Then we’ll hit Nan’s and see how she’s doing.” But she wanted to get to the beach early enough to see if this old guy was there. And, sure enough, when she got there, he toddled toward the beach.
She parked, got out, with her animals racing at her side, as she walked up to him. “Hey.”
He looked at her and frowned. “I don’t want to talk to you.”
“Maybe you don’t want to talk to me, but apparently it’s possible the poison used to kill a man did come from your place.”
“So what? It’s gone anyway.”
“And I wondered who you might be protecting when you say that.”
He stopped, stared at her, and then got really angry.
She winced at how absolutely crass and awkward her accusation had come out. “And you’re right,” she replied. “None of my business and how dare I accuse you of something like that.”
And it’s like she took the words right out of his mouth. He stared at her before speaking. “Are you always like this?”
“Yeah, kind of,” she muttered apologetically. “I do sometimes say things without really thinking about it.”
He nodded. “That is quite a failing.”
She smiled at him. “You could be right, but, at the same time, people are dying.”
“One person’s dead,” he corrected, “and I didn’t have anything to do with it.”
“Maybe not,” she agreed, “but I suspect you know more than you’re telling.”
He just stared at her. “And why is that?” he asked. “Because the poison might have came from my place?” He shrugged. “You know how many times people steal from my garage? I don’t even lock anything anymore because it’s easier than having to replace windows and locks. I just don’t keep anything in there.”
“Right,” she noted, thinking about that. “I had a break-in at my place just yesterday.”
He looked at her in astonishment. “Well, you probably do piss off a lot of people.”
It was her turn to glare at him. “Well, they didn’t take anything, since I interrupted them,” she stated. “I just have no idea why they were there.”
“I guess it depends on how much you piss them off too,” he quipped, with a fat grin.
She sniffed. “And somebody attacked my poor grandmother in the old folks’ home.”
“What?” he asked. “Good Lord, what’s going on?”
“I’m not sure,” she replied quietly. “But if they thought attacking my grandmother would get me off the case, they’re wrong.”
He nodded. “Absolutely, we have to look after our own.”
“And now you know why I’m here again,” she stated. “She was at Rosemoor, just sitting, resting on her patio, and somebody came up and clunked her over the head with a vase.”
He looked at her. “Is your grandmother Willa Anne Montgomery?”
She looked at him in astonishment. “Do you know my nan?”
“Well, maybe,” he replied, “at least if that’s who we’re talking about.”
She nodded. “That’s who we’re talking about, and, yes, she was hit over the head two days ago.”
He shook his head at that. “She’s a lovely lady.” And then he looked at Doreen suspiciously. “And, if somebody hit her over the head, I would have gone looking for her next to kin.”
“That would be me,” she declared, glaring at him. “And I wouldn’t hurt her.”
“Maybe not,” he admitted grudgingly. “I did hear something about you being an interesting character.”