Anonymously Yours by Shirley McCann

interest?” he asked. “Did you know her?”
    His question startled me. I pushed back against the seat, contemplating my answer. I wasn’t ready to tell him about that awful day at Michael Black’s. Not until I had some evidence linking him to the murder.
    I took a breath then sipped my soda before answering. “No, I didn’t know her,” I admitted, truthfully. I leaned forward conspiratorially. “But you don’t have any pressing cases right now, do you?” I already knew the answer to that, but I didn’t say anything.
    He stopped chewing and raised an eyebrow. “What are you getting at?”
    “I just thought it might be fun for us to investigate something together.”
    “Why?”
    I leaned forward and placed my elbows on the table. “Uncle Bob,” I said softly. “I know how much you love the idea of me working with you some day. This way you could teach me some of the basic investigative work without any professional involvement.” When he didn’t answer right away, I decided to take my chances and plunge ahead. “So what’s the first thing we should do?”
    He swallowed hard, then started to cough as if something had lodged in his throat. Reaching for his drink, he took several sips, then put up his hands. “Now wait just a minute, young lady,” he said, his voice louder than he’d intended. He glanced around to see if anyone had heard his outburst. Apparently satisfied that no one was paying attention to our conversation, he leaned forward and whispered. “I don’t know if this would be such a good idea,” he said. “I’m sure the police have the whole thing under control by now. Besides, they don’t like it when people insert themselves into an ongoing investigation.”
    I was sure that was true. But then, they weren’t aware that I had suddenly been thrust into this investigation whether I wanted to be or not. For me, this wouldn’t actually be a routine investigation, as I’d led Uncle Bob to believe. For me, it could mean a matter of life or death.
    I refused to give up. “But, Uncle Bob,” I protested, “the police won’t even know we’re doing anything.” At least not yet, I told myself. “Like I said, we’d be doing it strictly as a learning tool for me. It’s almost as if it fell right into our laps.”
    What an understatement, I thought.
    I knew the idea intrigued him, but his pinched face and squinted eyes revealed his doubts. And I knew just what the problem was.
    “Uncle Bob,” I said, reaching over and putting my hand on his. “I promise you Mom and Dad will never know anything about this. It will be our little secret.”
    Of course, I couldn’t be sure of that. Suppose we really did solve the murder of Angelica Belmont? Something like that would be all over the newspapers and television.
    But on the other hand, if we didn’t solve it, and the police didn’t solve it soon, I could be the next woman the police find floating in a river.
    I squeezed his hand. “Come on, Uncle Bob,” I pleaded. “Let’s work on this one as a team. Thomas and Thomas, right?” I said with a hopeful smile. “You’ve got to admit it has a nice ring to it.”
    He took the last bite of his burger, wadded the paper wrapper into a ball, and tossed it onto the tray. His fingers steepled, he seemed to consider my proposal.
    I decided to play my trump card. “You know, Uncle Bob, if we do end up solving this case, it could mean a lot of good publicity and new paying clients for you.”
    His eyebrows raised. I knew I had him in my corner. With a wink, he lifted his drink and made a toast. “Okay,” he said. “You’ve convinced me. But I call the shots. Agreed?”
    I completed the toast with a wide smile, then sipped my drink. “Agreed.”
    He settled against the back of the seat and placed his arms on the table. “In that case, the first thing we should do is check out this woman’s personal life. Maybe we can find out what she did for a living. Find out who saw her last and when. Her