“If you mean because of my animals”—she pointed to them, even now staring up at him—“I’m getting a lot of criticism over that.”
“I didn’t say criticism,” he argued. “Could be all kinds of reasons why people look at you as different.”
“Sure,” she noted. “And criticism is usually the first.”
He looked at her and nodded. “That could be.” He hesitated. “Are you the one who does all that detective work?”
“Yep, that’s me,” she said. “And that’s another reason I’m back. I don’t know if this is connected to my grandmother’s attack or to something else.”
He frowned. “It shouldn’t be, but I don’t know anymore.” He fretted for a moment and then added, “I didn’t tell that big detective anything.”
“Well, this is your chance to tell him, without actually telling him,” she offered. He looked at her. She shrugged. “I work with him all the time.”
And then he chuckled. “I wonder if he would agree with that.”
“No, he sure wouldn’t.” She laughed, giving him full points for having sorted that one out. “But it doesn’t change the fact that I do often work with him, and I often get told off by him.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I think you’d be quite irritating.”
“Thanks.”
He shrugged. “What do you expect? People like you, who get in our faces? Like, who wants that?”
“Maybe I see your point,” she murmured, “but, at the same time, I am trying to solve several cases.”
He thought about it for a long moment. “I don’t know who it was for sure, but I thought I saw one of my neighbors’ kids in my garage.”
She looked at him, a whisper of instinct prodding her. “And you know which one?”
“Well, that’s the thing,” he explained. “I couldn’t testify to it, so that would be out.”
“No, I understand that. Yet I wonder why he would have been in your garage.”
“I figured he was after something quick and easy to sell.”
“But you’ve said that you don’t keep anything in there.”
“No, I sure don’t,” he confirmed, “but I’m not sure he knew that.”
She thought about it. “And do you know what his name is?”
“Why?” he asked. “So you’ll go talk to him?”
“Maybe. Do you know anything about him?”
He shrugged. “I know he works in Rutland.”
She stared at him. “And how do you know that?”
He looked at her before deciding to share more. “Because, at one point in time, I heard his mom yelling at him to bring groceries home, and he said that he worked at the store, but he didn’t own it. So, if she wanted groceries, she needed to give him some money for it. Besides, the gas to Rutland was killing him.”
“Aah,” she replied, with such a wealth of understanding that he looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because the guy who was poisoned,” she said, “worked at a grocery store in Rutland.” And watched as all the color fled from the old man’s face.
He hid his face from her, bending to visit with Mugs for a minute.
Her phone was in her car. She needed to call Mack and turned to head that way, although Mugs wasn’t too thrilled about the idea right now.
When the old man finally straightened up, she still saw the fear in his expression.
She shook her head at him. “Let me talk to Mack first. And we’ll see where we go from here.”
He looked like he wanted to say something, but then he pinched his lips together and just nodded.
She smiled gently. “I don’t think you’d be in any trouble.”
He looked at her hopefully.
“Again, let me talk to Mack.” And, with that, she raced back to the car with her animals, and, once inside, she phoned Mack.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
He thought it was yet another emergency. She sighed. “You probably won’t like this,” she began, and then she told him what the old guy had figured out.
Mack swore on the phone. “Good God. I can’t leave you alone for five minutes without you getting in trouble.”
She stared down at her phone. “It’s been longer than five minutes,” she snapped. “And you’re welcome.” With that, she hung up.
When the phone rang a few minutes later, she ignored it. She was already heading to a whole new location. She was looking for Riverview Manor. And the man who had somehow convinced Chrissy to fall in love with him. As she reached the address, it looked like just another retirement home, although not quite as nice as the Rosemoor seniors’ center, yet quite respectable. She got out, walked up to the front reception desk, and asked to see this Xavier person.
The woman looked at her. “He doesn’t get visitors,” she noted. “Not sure there’s been any since he moved here.”
“Maybe I’ll be his first,” she noted.
“And who you are?”
“I’m a friend,” she replied.
The woman looked doubtful but shrugged and made a phone call, while just out of her hearing. A few minutes later she sat back down at her desk again. “He’ll meet you outside in the back garden,” she said, with a bright smile.
“Oh, good.” Doreen turned back to the woman and asked, “Am I allowed to take the animals?”
“Because you’ll be in the garden, yes,” she explained, “but please don’t go through the building with them.”
“No, of course not.” Following the woman’s instructions, Doreen headed outside to meet up with Xavier. As she reached the gardens, she didn’t see anybody, so she stopped and looked around. She wasn’t even sure what this guy looked like. Seeing somebody approach who looked like they worked here, she asked, “Can you tell me where Xavier is?”
The orderly pointed to a resident, sitting off at a small table. “That’s Xavier.”
“Oh, thank you,” Doreen replied. “I’m supposed to meet him out here for a visit.”
The woman looked at her and then shrugged. “Whatever, he’s harmless enough.”
Doreen frowned. Maybe things here were a little bit different than at Rosemoor. “So are the members, the patients, the residents here,” she asked, quickly cycling through the terms to find one that was less offensive than the other, “are they harmless?”
“Oh, yes.” The orderly chuckled. “But you know, like every group of people, each one has their own little idiosyncrasies.”
“Right.” Doreen looked over to where Xavier waited. “Hopefully he’s friendly.”
“He’s friendly all right.” The woman laughed. “Probably too friendly.”
And, with that, the orderly took off, leaving Doreen to approach the man, sitting all alone on the far side. When she got closer, he looked up at her and stared. She asked, “Are you Xavier?”
He nodded slowly. “And who are you?” He frowned, not recognizing her, but then he stared at the dog, the cat, and the bird with her.