“Did you like it?”
“I thought I did, but it was lonely. Probably because there were no water balloons.”
He looked at her then.
“What am I going to do with you?”
“I’m sure you’ll think of something more permanent than coming over for dinner or movies now and then.”
He messed her hair and tickled her to shrieking. A brief couch cushion fight ensued.
Then, since they hadn’t found a good movie yet, they talked about the items in the envelope her father left her. Connor spoke first.
“We know the root beer lollipop means someone at the medical center is involved in the conspiracy. Just not who, and there are lots of people there, but at least we know the organization. The Rolls Royce Silver Shadow means someone very wealthy is involved. Since we don’t know what town we’re looking in, and it might not be Raging Ford or Mapleton, we’re stuck on that one. We’ve narrowed the small, furry animals down to the elementary school. The stick that isn’t a baseball bat is still the unknown.”
“Remember the timing part,” Laura reminded him. “Has to be someone my father knew about before he was killed. So that puts it around twelve years ago. Or it could even be longer. We don’t know when exactly he put those items in the box he gave your dad to hold.”
“That should help narrow things a little. We’ll look at that, too.”
“Someone very smart recently told me that criminals always make mistakes.”
“That’s generally true,” Connor agreed.
“So maybe we should also be looking for anomalies.”
“I thought you always were.”
Laura smiled as she continued to flip through the channels and stopped at a Keystone Kops black-and-white silent film that was just starting. She paused it.
“How’s Nolan doing on finding the roots of the people in this town?” she asked.
“He hasn’t shared. I asked, and he said the work isn’t done yet. He told me to be patient.”
Laura laughed.
“You must remember my theory on levels of patience.”
“I do. I’m in the impatient category because of where the first letter of my last name falls in the alphabet.”
“It’s true! If you’re in the beginning third, you’ve never had to wait for anything. Your bills show up at the beginning of the month, you always got called up to get your report card in the first group, you were first in line everywhere. The middle third are the most patient people of all because we know we’ll get our turn before too long. That’s me.”
“Yeah, but I never really understood your explanation of the final third of the alphabet.”
“Those poor people have always had to wait so long to do or get anything, they actually become impatient but in a different way than you. They’re the ones who cut you off in traffic, pull into the parking space you were aiming for with your turn signal on, don’t care to hear what you want to say, skim through things they’re supposed to read, and things like that.”
“My mother is patient. How do you explain that?”
“What’s her maiden name, the one she grew up with?”
“Mulaney.”
“There you have it. She’s in the most patient group. By the way, she’s the saint in your family, dealing with all of you impatient Fitzpatricks.”
Connor just shook his head.
Laura started the short film about the wacky Keystone Kops and their antics. The silliness soon had them both laughing as they watched the Kops wildly waving their batons at people and bopping them on their heads.
She suddenly paused the film and ran to get the envelope of four objects from her father out of the safe and spread them on the coffee table in front of them, pointing to each one.
“The lolly—someone at the medical center. The Silver Shadow—someone very rich. The stuffed animal—someone at the school. Now look at the stick that isn’t a baseball bat and tell me what you see on the TV screen.”
Both hearts beat faster as they finally recognized what the stick represented.
A police baton.
They looked at each other in shock and spoke in the same, quiet breath.
“It’s a cop.”
Second Treasures Mysteries
Twice Sold Murder, Vol. 1
Priced to Kill, Vol. 2
Hanging By a Thread, Vol. 3
A Dress to Die For, Vol. 4
Deadly Cost of Goods, Vol. 5
All Sales Final, Vol. 6
Deadly Cost of Goods Page 24