by Nic Saint
“So,” I said, taking a seat at the corner of his desk.
“So,” he said, leaning back in his chair and regarding me curiously.
“Looks like the new era of cooperation has finally been heralded in.”
“Looks like,” he agreed.
“So what do you have for me, Detective Munroe?”
“Yes, what do you have for me, Detective Logan?” Lucien echoed, sounding a little breathless as he aimed his smartphone at the handsome copper.
“Oh, for Christ’s sakes,” Logan said, holding up his hand. “Put the phone away already, will you?”
“I can’t,” said Lucien. “You’re the star of my show. The moon of my delight.”
Logan’s eyebrows twitched up. “’The moon of your delight, huh?”
“Yes, sir. A gorgeous specimen like you—you’re going to put my vlog on the map. You, sir, are going to be the making of me—as a vlogger and a man.”
For a moment, I thought Logan would swat the phone from my brother’s hands, but he made a powerful effort to restrain himself. “What do you want?” he asked instead.
“I want us to share information,” I said. “There are certain things we discovered, and certain things you discovered. I propose a fair exchange.”
Logan directed a tired look at the office of Chief Whitehouse, where the big man was now loudly making clucking sounds and dancing around like a chicken. “All right,” he finally said curtly, then held out his hand. “Truce?”
“Truce,” I said triumphantly, and shook the man’s hand.
Chapter 15
I took a seat across from Logan and told him about the two visits we’d paid, first to the house of Blas Storer, and then to Kandace Slaker’s place.
“There’s a good chance Mr. Storer knows more about what happened to Kandace,” I told him.
He nodded. “I think you’re right. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to track him down so far. The guy seems to have vanished into thin air.”
“He’s the one Kandace was with when she was murdered. It’s imperative we find him and make him talk.”
Logan smiled. “You should have been a cop, Saffron. You’ve got the right bulldog attitude.”
“I don’t know about that. Then again, being an insurance investigator does share some similarities with being a police detective, I guess.”
Lucien, who’d approached Logan so close he was now practically sitting on the man’s lap, was breathing a little stertorously. Being in such close proximity to the object of his desire was obviously affecting him powerfully.
Logan eyed him annoyedly. “Is all this really necessary?”
“Oh, yes, it is,” said Lucien. “I’m going to immortalize you. You’re going to be a star and I’ll be your creator. Together, we’re going to shoot to the top.”
Judging from the groan Logan produced, the prospect of shooting to the top didn’t sit well with him. He turned back to me. “What else have you got?”
“You go first,” I said. “I gave you some invaluable information and so far you’ve given me zilch.”
He eyed me stonily. “You told me that the Slaker kid is into Game of Thrones and his kid sister loves Trolls.”
“I also told you that Kandace Slaker was having an affair with Blas Storer,” I defended myself. “And that the guy was getting a divorce.”
“True,” he admitted. He cracked his knuckles and flipped open his notebook. “All right. First things first. Rycroft Slaker has a solid alibi for when his wife went missing. He was at an accountants’ convention in Vegas, apparently, and several colleagues can vouch for him.”
“When was Kandace murdered, exactly?” I asked.
“Presumably between the hours of eleven and midnight.”
“What was the cause of death?”
“That is a little harder to pin down,” said Logan. “The medical examiner is working on it, but since she doesn’t have all the body parts… Maybe the toxicology report will tell us something, but so far we’ve got nothing.”
“Did you know she was considered the queen of geocaching?”
“That was news to me,” he confessed. “As was the practice of geocaching itself. Though it does seem like a very popular pastime for a lot of people.”
“Kandace’s sister Lorissa told me that Kandace had a rival,” said Lucien, finally putting down his phone and joining the conversation.
Logan picked up a pencil. “Name?”
“Carmina Parra,” said Lucien eagerly. He’d taken a seat at the edge of the detective’s desk and was now inching closer, eyeing the police officer with all the fervor of a lustful lecher. He suddenly reached out and stroked a lock of hair back from Logan’s brow.
Logan slowly looked up. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“You have such lovely hair,” Lucien said fervently. “What brand of shampoo do you use?”
Logan eyed me curiously and I shrugged, pretending all this was perfectly normal. In all honesty I was curious to see how he would react to my brother’s come-ons. He’d been so quick to be scared off by the Chief’s edict that maybe Lucien was right and Logan Munroe was secretly batting for the home team?
“You have the softest skin,” Lucien said. “Do you use a face mask?”
Logan eyed Lucien sternly. “Will you please stop doing that?”
“Doing what?” asked Lucien, almost in a purr.
“Looking at me like I’m a strawberry sundae?”
Lucien barked a pleased laughter, then gently punched Logan’s shoulder. “Oh, Detective Munroe—Logan. You’re such a hoot!”
Logan gave me a pleading look but I staunchly ignored it. “So,” I said. “If there’s nothing more, I think we’ll be off.”
“Off where?” he asked.
“Oh, you know,” I said airily. “Leads to pursue, suspects to interview. We’ve got a murder to solve, you know.”
Logan grimaced. “Keep me informed, will you?”
“Only if you’ll do the same.”
“I will,” he promised. Then, when Lucien had hopped from the desk and was walking away, he whispered, “And can you please get your brother off my back? He’s driving me crazy!”
I eyed him innocently. “Why? Don’t you like being pursued?”
“No, I don’t! Especially not by him!”
“What’s wrong with Lucien? He’s kind, he’s handsome, he’s smart. I think he’s a good catch.”
“I don’t play for that team!” he hissed.
“You don’t?”
“You know I don’t. It’s you I want to date, not your brother!”
“You could have fooled me,” I said, then sashayed off.
When I glanced back, he was looking at me like a lovesick puppy.
Good. That would teach him not to toy with a girl’s heart.
Chapter 16
Walking out of the police station I almost bumped into Lucien, who was standing frozen like a statue on the front steps.
“Will you look at that,” he said, gesturing at a little boy who was helping an old lady cross the street. “Doesn’t that restore your faith in mankind?”
I frowned at the little boy. Something was oddly familiar about him. And then I saw it. It was none other than Rodrick, doing his good deed for the day. Well, his second good deed of the day, as his first good deed had been to set fire to our kitchen.
I glared at the little pest. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!” I shouted.
Rodrick, who’d reached the other side of the street, gave me a jolly wave. “Oh, hey, Saffie,” he said. “I’m just doing my good deed of the day.”
He was still holding on to the old lady next to him. She appeared particularly perturbed for some reason, and then I understood why. “Are you sure Mrs. Garrison wanted to cross the street?” I yelled.
“All old ladies want to cross the street,” he yelled back.
At that moment, Mrs. Garrison, who was utilizing a walker to get around, croaked, “Who are you call
ing an old lady, you snot-nosed little brat? And I told you I wanted to go the police station, not back the way I came!”
“See?” said Rodrick. “You do want to cross the street!”
“Well, now I do,” she said.
On a trot, I crossed the road, and assisted Mrs. Garrison to cross back, Rodrick skipping behind us. “I’m so sorry about this, Mrs. Garrison,” I said. “He’s just trying to be helpful.”
“Can’t he go and be helpful someplace else?” asked the old lady. “I told him I had to go to the police station, but instead he turned me right back!”
The moment we reached the sidewalk, Rodrick said, “Now you undid my good deed for the day. Now I’ll have to go and find another good deed to do.”
“I think you better drop the good deed thing for today,” I told him as I watched Mrs. Garrison enter the police station, shaking her head and muttering all the while. “And why aren’t you in school?”
“I helped Mrs. Rinsky teach her class but she sent me home instead.”
“You helped Mrs. Rinsky? What did you do?”
“I poured water on the floor so she could show us her moves.”
“You did what?”
“She told us how much she likes ice skating—how she always wanted to be an ice skating champion. Like Ice Princess? So I wanted to make her happy by giving her a chance to show off her moves. I was going to use ice cream but when I tried to take the ice cream from the fridge Grandma told me ice cream costs too much. So I decided to use water instead. Water’s cheap, right?”
I shook my head. “Tell me what happened.”
“Well, just before she came in I dumped a bucket of water on the floor. It made the floor really slippery, especially since I put some soap in the water.” His cheeks were glowing red at the recollection. “I thought Mrs. Rinsky would be so happy! I was making her dream come true! Only she didn’t tell us that she’s a lousy skater. The moment she set foot in the classroom she slipped and fell.” He rolled his eyes. “I think Mrs. Rinsky was lying when she said she wanted to become a champion.” He held up his hands. “Can you believe it?”
Unfortunately, I could. Poor Mrs. Rinsky. “Rodrick, please tell me she didn’t break anything.”
“Oh, no. But she was very angry with me, even when I told her this was my good deed for the day. And then she sent me home to think about what I’d done.” I closed my eyes for a moment, then opened them again and found him studying me. “Is there something I can do for you, Saffie?” he asked.
“No. Please don’t. Don’t do anything for me. Absolutely not.”
He turned to Lucien, who’d been filming the whole scene with a smile on his face. “Is there something I can do for you, Lucien?”
Lucien held up his hand. “No, I’m good, buddy.” Then an idea seemed to occur to him. “Though I might ask you for a favor later.”
I gave Lucien a warning glance. “Don’t encourage him. Who knows what he’s capable of next.”
Lucien shrugged. “I think it’s pretty cool that he’s trying to be a good boy for once.”
I shook my head, then told Rodrick, “You better run on home now. And no more good deeds, you hear?”
“But I still haven’t done my good deed for the day!”
“Well, maybe today will be a good-deed-less day.”
I watched him stalk off, looking unhappy. His backpack was hanging from one strap, his shirt was untucked and one sock was down while the other one was up. All in all, he looked like a regular rascal, which he was. I suddenly felt sorry for the brat. “Hey, Rodrick. Wanna have lunch with Lucien and me?”
He came running over and threw himself into my arms. I gave him a hug.
At least I had done my good deed for the day.
Chapter 17
We entered The Pillow’s Rest, the diner across the street from the police station. I was famished, and so, it turned out, were Lucien and Rodrick.
Rodrick’s eyes were searching around, probably looking for his next victim of his good deed streak. I just hoped I wouldn’t regret this.
We took a seat in a booth by the window, and I’d already grabbed the menu card when Rodrick cried, “Calvin!” and scurried away. I looked up and lo and behold: my older brother was seated in the next booth, enjoying a cup of coffee and a lemon meringue pie with a woman I’d never seen before.
Joining him, it was clear that he wasn’t all that pleased with our company.
“I thought you were fixing the roof,” said Lucien, who’d already taken out his phone, no doubt to capture footage of Calvin’s date.
“Yes, well, I needed a break,” said Calvin, none too friendly.
I held out my hand to the mystery woman. “Saffron. Calvin’s sister.”
“Oh, hi,” she said. She was the bookish type, with a pair of stylish blue-framed glasses and long blond hair. She was pretty, though, and I wondered when Calvin had met her. I decided not to ask. It was bad enough we were crashing Calvin’s lunch date—better not to pepper him with questions.
“So where did you guys meet?” asked Lucien, who had no such qualms.
“At a conference,” she said. “I’m in the insurance trade, just like you guys. Isn’t that right, Calvin?”
Calvin grumbled something under his breath, giving Lucien the evil eye.
“My name is Rosa,” the woman said, when Calvin failed to make the proper introductions. “Rosa Nappe. I work for Long Life Insurance.”
“Nice to meet you, Rosa,” I said. I noticed she was throwing nervous glances at Lucien and his smartphone. “Don’t mind him. He’s trying to become a famous vlogger.”
“Oh. Is that still a thing? I thought blogs and vlogs were all ancient history. It’s all about social media now, right? Instagram and Twitter and stuff?”
Lucien gave her an indignant look, and was so shocked that he put down his phone.
“So, um, how are things going with the investigation?” Calvin asked, changing the subject.
“We’re getting there,” I said. I decided not to share any details of the gruesome case we were working on. I wasn’t sure how Rosa would react.
“I did a good deed just now,” said Rodrick proudly, “but then Saffron and Lucien showed up and undid my good deed. So now I have to do another good deed before the day is done.”
Rosa smiled. “Aren’t you the most precious little boy,” she gushed.
Rodrick beamed at her. He was at an age when he wasn’t annoyed yet at being called a precious little boy.
Just then, the door swung open and another Diffley entered. This time it was Dalton. When he caught sight of us, he ambled over. “Hey, you guys. What a coincidence.”
“What are you doing here?” Calvin snapped. He now was squished between Dalton and Lucien, while Rodrick and I bookended Rosa.
“I’m looking for that missing person, remember?” asked Dalton.
“Any luck so far?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Nope. I talked to his wife, but she says he’s gone missing. Apparently he murdered some woman and then skedaddled.”
I frowned at him. “Don’t tell me your missing person is Blas Storer?”
His face lit up. “How did you know?”
“Because we’re also looking for him.”
“You can’t do that. This is my case. I’m the one out looking for him.”
“Well, maybe we can join forces,” I said. “Blas is the prime suspect in the murder of Kandace Slaker.”
“Cool,” said Dalton. “But I don’t really need your help. I can find this dude all by myself.”
Rosa smiled. “Diffley Insurance seems to be an exciting company. At Long Life Insurance we never look for missing persons or hunt down killers.”
“We don’t really hunt down killers,” Calvin hastened to say. “We’re just trying to figure out whether the death of our client was self-inflicted or not.”
“But isn’t that a job for the police, Calvin?”
Calvin laughed a careless laugh that came a
cross as a little forced. “Of course it is. And that’s why Saffron and Lucien are working with the police. Isn’t that right, sis?”
“Sure,” I said. “The police are handling the investigation and we’re simply trying to keep abreast.”
Rodrick laughed at this. “Keep a breast. That’s funny! Maybe keep two breasts!” he told Rosa. Then he skipped off, and started wandering around the dining room, no doubt looking for more opportunities to do his good deed for the day.
The door opened again and this time Brice wandered in, looking a little grimy. When he caught sight of Calvin, he came over. “Oh, there you are. I’ve been trying to get a hold of you. Why did you suddenly split?” Then his gaze drifted to Rosa and he grinned. “Oh, I see what’s going on here.” He held out a greasy hand. “I’m Brice. Calvin’s big brother.”
“Rosa Nappe,” she said, deftly shaking Brice’s hand. “Calvin told me he had a big family, but he didn’t tell me all his brothers were as handsome as him.”
Just then, there was a loud crashing sound next to us. When I looked over in alarm, I saw that a heavyset man had dropped down to the floor, dragging down a plate of French fries, spare ribs and ketchup, which had landed on his chest.
He directed a seething gaze at Rodrick. “Why did you steal my chair?!”
Rodrick, who was busy dragging a chair over to our table, said, “This isn’t your chair, mister. This is my brother’s chair. He needs this chair.” He shoved the chair in Brice’s direction, who gratefully took it and plunked himself down.
“That was my chair!” cried the irate man.
“No, it wasn’t. You weren’t sitting in it!”
“I was about to!”
“That doesn’t count!” Rodrick said, then hopped onto his own seat again, right next to Rosa.
I leaned over and whispered, “What did I tell you about the good deeds, Rodrick?”
He frowned. “Um… to try harder?”
“No—to quit while you’re ahead.”
“But what if I can’t do my good deed tomorrow either? I have to save up.”
Rosa laughed at this, and tousled Rodrick’s hair. “You’re such a sweetheart! C’mere.” She pulled the boy close and hugged him to her chest. “I wish I had a little brother like you.”