The Missing Party-Girl: A Rags-to-Riches Cozy Mystery Romance

by Nhys Glover

  Could he find the information on the cloud? She didn’t think so. Hugo said he was the only other person with a copy of Minerva’s files, other than Cage. She’d bet he wouldn’t save them to the cloud.

  “What are these mysteries, if you don’t mind me asking?” Sadie said, looking concerned.

  Her white hair was cut stylishly short and she ran her fingers through it, as if the length annoyed her. Big grey eyes, as clear as Adie’s own, stared up at her from behind the plexiglass.

  “Just mysteries from her past that Minerva had never found answers to. I don’t know exactly what they all are yet. I’ve solved the first, and I’ll be starting on the second shortly. It was my aunt’s way of giving me a new purpose in life, I think. A game to play. And the money was supposed to be the prize. I don’t think she expected her nephew to intentionally try to get in my way.”

  Why Adie had told the woman as much as she had, she had no idea. The gossip mill would know of it as soon as Adie walked out the door. But she’d said nothing that would aid Winsley. And if she gave the locals just enough to keep them satisfied she might not have to keep dealing with the less-than-discrete probing for more information. And anyway, she rather liked Sadie. She was a completely different kind of person to Ms. Greggs.

  “A game? That sounds like Minerva Reynolds for you. Did you solve the first mystery? I’d hate to think that dog killer got his hands on any of those crumbs. If you need help solving them, all you have to do is ask. We’re more than happy to help. The people of Stratherby, I mean.”

  “Yes, the first one was fairly easy. And I may take you up on your offer, if I get stuck. But I won’t know what help I’ll need until I get deeper into the mysteries.”

  Why was this woman’s curiosity more acceptable than Phillipa Greggs’? The more she thought about her odd reaction to the other woman, the more she picked out the elements that upset her. Like the gleam in the tiny woman’s eyes that spoke of both resentment and greed for news. Or the way her thin nose had lifted just a little, as if it was her habit to look down her nose at people, even when others were likely far taller than she was. Greggs was just the sort of woman who would join a holier-than-thou church so she had yet another way to feel superior to others.

  How had she made up her mind so strongly about the woman? It wasn’t fair to draw such damning conclusions when the woman had been nothing but friendly. In her odd, overly chatty way. But still, friendly.

  Sadie, on the other hand, had a soft, benign gaze, even when she was trying to remember information she hoped would be helpful.

  Those grey eyes were smiling at Sadie now, as she nodded. “That’s good. I’m glad they’re not as hard as Sudoku. I’d be no use to you at all, in that case. I do watch my share of detective programs on TV, though, so if they’re that kind of mystery I might be useful.”

  Sadie laughed. “They seem to concern the fate of people she knew. Or that’s what the first two are about. I expect I’ll be doing most of my sleuthing on the internet.”

  “Which is maybe why that awful man has a hacker working for him. Maybe you could hire someone… a private detective who specializes in finding people.”

  “Possibly. But I think my aunt wanted me to do as much of the searching myself as I could. It wouldn’t be a game to entertain me, otherwise.”

  The old lady’s head bobbed a few times, her gaze turning skyward. “Of course, of course. I’m not suggesting you’re not capable. No one in the village thinks of you as an ‘ignorant Yank’, I can assure you. I only told you that part so you knew the kind of things he was saying about you. Not that they were true.”

  Adie wanted to pat the other woman’s shoulder to ease her anxiety. The plexiglass prevented her from doing any such thing.

  “You’re just trying to help, I get that. And I thank you. I’m starting to realize Dave was right about the people in this village. It’s good to have people watching my back.”

  The smile was back, relieved and sunny. “We do have your back. You’re one of ours now. And we’re glad to have you and that very good looking man of yours.”

  Adie laughed. “Cage isn’t mine. Not romantically speaking. He was hired by Minerva to help me and keep me safe.”

  The look of disappointment was comical. Maybe Sadie liked her Romances as much as her detective shows.

  “Oh, good. That’s good that he’s looking out for you.”

  Adie couldn’t help but agree.

  2

  “He thinks the digital files are in the farmhouse, that’s why he’s trying to break in?” Cage checked, once Adie had finished reporting her discoveries at the post office.

  They both sat at the kitchen table drinking their mid-morning coffee. Adie wished she’d bought a sugary treat at the Co-Op. It was always her go-to when stressed. But Cage’s disappointment in her would have made it taste like sawdust in her mouth. It just wasn’t worth it.

  “As far as Sadie is concerned, yes,” she answered, sipping at her black coffee. “So he doesn’t know anything specific about the mysteries yet. Or he didn’t. The fact there was no attempt to break in while Jig was at the vet seems worrying, though,” Adie said.

  “It is. Although maybe finding out I gave the cops the security footage showing him leaving the bait might have stopped him. I was fairly vocal about passing that tidbit on and naming names,” Cage said with a gleam of vindictive pleasure in his eyes.

  “I suppose he can’t be sure his face didn’t turn up on any of the cameras well enough to identify him,” Ade said thoughtfully.

  “He wasn’t arrested, so he must realize we have nothing concrete on him. But maybe the cops knocked on his door and scared him a bit. Or maybe he was waiting to see if the cops did come knocking on his door before taking further action. Then again, knowing the cameras are there might be enough to make him wary.”

  Adie grimaced. “I doubt it will stop him for long. I hope Hugo is taking pains to secure his copy of the files.”

  “He is. And not on the cloud. And I’ve hidden mine as well. Even the most thorough search won’t unearth them.”

  “Not in your underwear draw then?” she snarked, trying to lighten the increasingly somber mood.

  “Nope. Do you want me to tell you?” he asked, wanting to show his trust in her.

  She shook her head, smiling cheekily. “No. Who knows what I might confess under torture.”

  Cage’s expression hardened. “Don’t joke about it. He may know he can’t kill you, but he could kidnap you.”

  “And go to prison for it? Hugo won’t pay up if anything happens to me. Winsley knows that,” she assured him.

  It was Cage’s greatest fear that he wouldn’t be able to keep her safe.

  “I can’t live in fear,” she told him. “Been there, done that, and won’t do it again. I have you and Jig and a village of nosy people keeping me safe. Worrying solves nothing.”

  “He could have an accident of his own,” Cage suggested, his tone only half-joking.

  Or I hoped it was a joke. Nearly losing Jig had Cage out for blood. Who knew what extremes he might go to for those under his protection?

  “And who would be the cops’ prime suspect? No, we keep our heads down and get on with our lives. He’ll give up sooner or later.”

  Cage nodded reluctantly. “In the meantime, you need to get started on this second mystery. Hugo has arranged for us to meet up with a detective at New Scotland Yard. Detective Chief Inspector Adams. He has the Missing Person’s file on Georgie and we can go down to see it when it suits us. Normally, the records need to be a hundred years old before the public can access them, but my credentials and Hugo’s contacts have eased our way a little.”

  Adie’s eyes opened wide with excitement. Getting to see the original police report on Georgie’s disappearance was more than she could have hoped for. Hugo must have some really good contacts. Some kind of Old Boys Club arrangement?

  “Do we have to fly down?” Adie moaned, even though the idea of seeing Londo
n was tempting.

  “No, we can take the train. We can do it in one day if we want to. But having a wander around the city, taking in your aunt’s flat, and any other locations Georgie may have frequented, would be a good idea. There won’t be many people who’ll remember that time, but you never know. Someone in their seventies or eighties might remember something.”

  Adie rubbed Jig’s big blocky head, smiling at the adoring gaze he sent her way. The idea of leaving him unprotected, even for a day, didn’t appeal to her. Yet the mysteries had to be solved, and the sooner she got to them the better.

  “What about feeding Jig while we’re gone?” she asked.

  “I’ve been putting food out for him to see if the training is working, and so far it is. He hasn’t touched anything left out for him. I could get Dave or someone more dog-friendly to come over, get Jig familiar with them and teach the person the command that will allow Jig to eat.”

  Adie knew that Essen was the command Cage had been using. It meant Eat in German. She understood that if the command had been in English anyone trying to trick the dog could accidently give the correct command.

  She smiled. “Dave isn’t particularly dog-friendly, is he? But he was as up in arms as everyone else when Jig got poisoned.”

  “We can’t be tied to the farmhouse forever. Jig will have to be left. The sooner we have someone who can keep an eye on him while we’re away the better.”

  “We could take him with us,” Adie suggested, even though she wasn’t sure how.

  “He’s a guard dog, Adie. He has to be allowed to do his job,” Cage said with annoyance.

  “You see him that way, but I see him as my pet. I don’t want him giving up his life to keep some bastard out of the house. I’d give everything away before I’d let Jig get hurt again,” she argued.

  Cage sighed heavily, his expression suddenly tortured. “Do you think I want him to suffer any more than he has already?”

  Adie’s guilt ate at her. “Of course not. I just don’t place things ahead of life.”

  He reached across to take her hand. She was very close to bursting into tears yet again.

  “I know. But it isn’t about things versus life; it’s about one man believing he has the right to take what he wants and do what he wants. You give in to people like that and they just keep coming, wanting more and more. I know you don’t think you deserve, or even need, everything Minerva has given you. And maybe you’re right. Maybe when the dust settles you can give most of what you have away to worthy charities. But you can’t give it away to that scumbag. Not for any reason!”

  “Any reason? That’s…I’m not sure I go along with that extreme stand,” she muttered.

  Cage stroked the back of her hand with his fingertips, as if enjoying the sensation. For all her physically demanding work schedule, her fingernails had begun to grow enough that she no longer missed the fake nails that had come off, one after another, over the last weeks. She couldn’t say her hands were beautiful, but they were certainly not ugly anymore.

  “Bullies have to be stopped,” he whispered in his growly voice. “Do you think giving in to Hitler did any good? He just kept coming for more and more. And he’s not the last crazy who wanted world domination.

  “I fought for my country because I believed that giving my life to keep the enemy from our doorstep was the only way. And maybe the War on Terror hasn’t gone to plan. Maybe we’ve become the bad guys to the rest of the world at times. But Islamic fanatics would destroy our way of life, if they got the chance. I know it. I’ve seen what they’ve done to their own people.”

  Adie knew all about fanaticism. She’d dressed in drab, shapeless dresses and worn her hair in a granny bun for most of her life because her mother’s fanatical fundamentalist church told her that was the only way to get to heaven. She knew all about the bullies in that church who wanted more and more from her, until she could barely keep food on the table and a roof over their heads, all while she watched her mother die slowly and painfully because, supposedly, it was God’s Will.

  “Okay. I get it. We don’t let the bastard get a penny. We don’t give an inch. Whatever it takes,” she agreed, lifting her chin and meeting Cage’s dark gaze.

  “That’s my girl!” he said, sitting back as if satisfied with her answer. “Have you started reading Minerva’s journals for the period yet?”

  “I don’t want to start there,” she said thoughtfully. “I think it’s better to find out what the police report says first, so that I know what to look for when I start into the journals. Even a brief mention of someone in the journal might have significance, if I have background on them from the report.”

  “Then I’ll see who I can get to feed Jig while we’re gone, and then make an appointment to see this detective at New Scotland Yard the day after tomorrow. I have to admit, the idea of visiting Scotland Yard is appealing. Maybe I could buy a pipe and magnifying glass.”

  The silliness had its desired affect and Adie laughed.

  “It’s Elementary, my dear Donovan!” Adie said in her best fake English accent.

  Cage laughed too. “Actually, Holmes never said that in any of Conan Doyle’s books.”

  Adie batted her eyelashes in surprise at that. Not that she was much of a Sherlock Holmes fan. Mysteries—oddly enough, given her present situation—had never interested her.

  “You’re a font of knowledge. No wonder you’re a PI. I assume you meant he never said Watson, right?”

  “Yeah, not Donovan. And yeah, I’ve picked up a lot of trivia over the years. The guys in my unit used to compete with each other to come up with stuff like that. Like Captain Kirk never said, “Beam me up, Scotty!’”

  That one meant nothing to her. Her expression must have given her away because Cage groaned.

  “I forget you never watched TV or went to the movies. Seriously, woman, how did you survive? Ever heard of Star Trek? Or Star Wars? Or The Terminator?”

  She scowled. “Of course I’ve heard of them. I just never… you know, watched any of them.”

  Cage rubbed his hands in mock relish, a devilish expression on his handsome face. “Okay, we’re beginning your education as soon as we get back from London. A Netflix subscription is our next purchase. We might even watch Elementary, which is a modern day take on Sherlock.”

  Adie looked skyward. She could hardly wait!

  Chapter 2

  Adie stared at the curving glass that formed the entrance to the latest iteration of Scotland Yard. This one, which looked a lot like a five-star hotel from the exterior—if you ignored the rotating New Scotland Yard sign out front—sat across the road from the Thames, amidst the iconic landmarks of Westminster and the Victoria Embankment.

  It had taken a little over three hours of train-travel to get them there, and Adie had actually enjoyed the journey, for all her worries for Jig left at home to guard the farmhouse. Sadie’s granddaughter Kristen had offered to come over morning and evening to check on the dog and feed him, and she was very impressed by how well trained he was about eating. Until he was given the order, ‘Essen’, Jig refused to accept any food that was offered to him, no matter how delicious.

  “I can see Big Ben from here,” Adie exclaimed, doing a full circle as she admired her surroundings. “This feels like a vacation. For the first time all this… this whatever is happening to me… feels like a real vacation.”

  “Think of it as a very sophisticated version of one of those Whodunit dinner parties people seem to love. Nothing but fun, fun, fun!” Cage said with a slight edge to his tone.

  “I wouldn’t exactly call this fun. But I’m enjoying seeing more of England, I have to admit,” Adie replied, not sure if he was annoyed with her or Minerva right now.

  “Come on, let’s get this over with,” he grumbled.

  Cage led the way up the stairs and into the glass atrium. Within minutes, they were riding an elevator up to the floor that housed Detective Chief Inspector Adams.

  “Please come in,�
�� DCI Adams said some minutes later, directing Adie and Cage into a glassed-in office.

  Adie took the seat directly across from the detective’s, while Cage placed his chair at the corner of the desk, leaving barely enough room for the other man to squeeze past to get to his side of the unimposing desk.

  Part of Adie had expected the office to be all wood paneling and old-fashioned, bulky furniture right out of the Victorian era. Instead, it was modern and utilitarian to the point of ugliness.

  The Formica and metal desk, which occupied most of the glass enclosed space, was covered with neat piles of files, which was another surprise. She’d expected everything to be done electronically these days.

  Adams took his seat and stayed quiet for several long moments. He was a very unremarkable man. If Adie had seen him walking down the street she wouldn’t have looked twice at him. Medium height, medium age, medium good looks, and medium build. Even his hair was an unremarkable salt-and-pepper brown, which had probably matched his unremarkable brown eyes once upon a time.

  What was remarkable about the man in front of them was the intelligence shining out of those brown eyes. It was as if he could see far more than the average person. Maybe it was all that talk of Sherlock Holmes, but Adie had the distinct impression that Adams had already taken in her burgundy designer pantsuit, her carefully made-up face, her imperfect nails and her long, loose braid she had brought forward over one shoulder so it didn’t get caught between her back and the seat.

  The detective leaned across the narrow desk and extended his hand to her. She leaned forward to take it, even though she felt decidedly uncomfortable doing it.

  “I’m DCI Adams, and I assume you must be Adeline Reynolds,” he growled out, his accent broad but impossible to place. It certainly didn’t sound like the accent spoken around her new home.