And now all of a sudden, and quite out of the blue, Clive had sent him a message and suggested they meet in town. It so happened that Clive’s family owned a house in Hampton Cove, and he must have heard that Jeff’s in-laws owned the well-known Stewart Winery.
“I think he wants to call a truce,” said Jeff as he kissed his wife gently on the lips. “He must have finally seen the error of his ways.”
“Or maybe someone at the bank told him this nonsense has to stop.”
“Yeah, that’s also a possibility,” Jeff admitted.
After enduring Clive’s pestering for a year, Jeff had finally mentioned his annoyance with the man’s behavior during his quarterly performance review. Chances were that Jeff’s boss had talked to Clive, and told him enough was enough. And so now Clive was ready to offer his colleague an olive branch.
“I think it’ll be great for both of us,” said Jeff. “Especially with me leaving soon, it will be nice to depart as friends, and not this weird enmity that has sprung up.”
“You’re right,” said Steph. “Of course you’re right. But if he starts accusing you of all kinds of stuff, make sure you record the conversation, you hear?”
“I will,” said Jeff as he pressed a kiss to Zoe’s little head. “See you later.”
And as she watched him leave, suddenly she got a strange sort of premonition. For a moment she wondered if she shouldn’t tell him not to go. But then she dismissed the thought. She was just being silly. This business with the road rage and the broken window was threatening to make her paranoid. And she couldn’t have that. She wouldn’t allow this man Crowley to affect her like that. It would mean he had won, and she wasn’t going to let the little creep do that to her.
CHAPTER 15
[Êàðòèíêà: img_2]
It was late afternoon when the call came. Steph had just been updating her resume and looking at the website of one of the big Paris fashion houses for job openings, when her phone chimed. As she glanced at the display, she saw that Odelia Kingsley was trying to reach her. Having grown fond of the soft-spoken and kind-hearted reporter, she picked up with a pleasant,“Hey, Odelia. What’s up?”
But as she listened, terror gripped her heart.“It’s Jeff. Something has happened.”
“What?” she said, her voice sounding strained to her own ears. And even before Odelia spoke the words, she knew what she was going to say. “I’m afraid he’s dead.”
[Êàðòèíêà: img_4]
Dooley and I had planned to accompany Harriet and Brutus on their house-to-house in search of clues to what had happened to Shanille, but as we got ready to move out, Odelia’s car suddenly swerved and came screeching to a halt right in front of the General Store. She opened the passenger door and yelled, “Max and Dooley! Get in the car now!”
So of course we did as we were told.
“I hope we’re not in any trouble,” said Dooley nervously. “Did you raid the fridge, Max?”
“No, I did not,” I said. “And I resent the accusation, Dooley.”
“Oh, but I didn’t mean it like that,” said my friend. “It’s just that you get hungry, and when your bowl is empty, and so are all the other bowls, you get cranky. It’s because you have low blood sugar, Max. And when you have low blood sugar you need to eat at regular intervals otherwiseyou get cranky. Like you are right now.”
“I’m not cranky!” I said, though of course then I understood that I actually was cranky. I guess I’m not used to being kidnapped by my own human in broad daylight! But then she proceeded to explain what was actually going on.
“There’s been a murder,” she said curtly. “It’s Jeff Felfan.”
“Steph’s Jeff?” said Dooley. “Oh, no!”
“Oh, yes. And what’s even worse—”
“How can anything be worse than murder!” Dooley cried.
“He was found next to a prostitute, who’s also been murdered.”
“A prostitute? Jeff?” I said with a frown. “That doesn’t sound like him.”
“No, it doesn’t, does it?” said Odelia. “Which is why I didn’t tell Steph when I called her just now.” She shook her head. “I liked Jeff, I really did. Steph is going to be devastated.”
We rode on in silence, though I could tell that Dooley was bursting at the seams to talk. Finally he couldn’t hold it in anymore. “But Jeff was so nice!”
“Nice people get murdered, too, Dooley,” said Odelia as she gripped the wheel a little tighter. “Unfortunately.”
“It must be Edmundo. First he tried to drive Jeff’s car off the road, then he threw those rocks through the window, and now he’s gone and murdered the poor man!”
“Let’s just wait and see what actually happened before we jump to any conclusions,” I suggested.
The flat where Jeff’s body had been discovered was located near the canal lock on McMillan Street. It wasn’t a pleasant neighborhood, but not all that unpleasant either, since Hampton Cove doesn’t really have bad neighborhoods. Not anymore, that is.
The street had been temporarily cordoned off, and plenty of police officers were present, talking to neighbors and doing a house-to-house, just like the one Harriet and Brutus were presently engaged in.