perspective, to say the least. I thought I had limitations in what I could do before while I was an investigator, but I didn’t fully appreciate your constraints until I started working on this investigation with you.”
“That’s good to know,” I said. “It’s not always easy, but I don’t have to tell you how rewarding it can be when you track down a killer.”
“You don’t. That’s one of the things that gave me the most satisfaction in my former life. Are you ready to hit the ground running this morning?”
“I’m ready if you are,” I said.
“Were you able to come up with anything while you were in the shower? I’m at a loss. I’m going to keep my eye on Alexander Rose, but in the meantime, we need something to do.”
“As a matter of fact, I did have a thought.”
“I want to hear what it is, but first I need to know if it’s legal.”
“It’s fine. It’s well within the law. Probably. At least I’m pretty sure that it is.”
Jake looked at me for a few seconds before he spoke again. “Maybe you’d better tell me about it before we do anything else that we’re going to need to apologize to the police chief for.”
“I was thinking that it might not hurt to get a look at Teresa’s place and see if there’s anything there that might help us,” I said. “Surely the chief is finished with it by now.”
“You never know, but let’s say that he is. We can’t just break into the place.”
“We don’t have to,” I said with a smile. “Nick Williams, one of my customers at Donut Hearts, happens to own the house where she was living.”
“How could you possibly know that?” Jake asked me in amazement.
“Nick mentioned it when Teresa first came to town, and I filed it away in my mind, along with a hundred thousand other useless facts that I picked up working the front counter of my donut shop every week. Why don’t I give him a call?”
“Maybe we should call the chief first and see what he has to say about it,” Jake suggested.
“There might not be any need to bother him. If the place is still off limits, Nick will know, and if Stephen has released it, then we should be free to look around there ourselves.”
“I really wish you wouldn’t call the chief of police by his first name,” Jake said with a hint of a frown.
“Why not? I’ve known him forever, and we’ve done a ton of things with Grace and him socially. I find it’s odd that you keep calling him Chief yourself.”
“It’s a good way to remind myself that he’s the one who’s in charge now,” Jake said.
“Do you regret turning the job over to him?”
“No, not on your life. I don’t ever want to butt heads with you and your mother at the same time about anything ever again,” he said.
“Don’t forget, Grace and George were in the vehicle that night, too.”
“Don’t remind me,” he said. Jake had been in a position of scolding the four of us at the same time because of some unofficial investigating we were doing without his blessing, and he’d made a decision to resign his temporary position on the spot, though I suspected that he’d been giving it some consideration for some time before that. I hadn’t envied him his position, and I’d understood his desire to abdicate it, but it had left a hole in his life, and I was beginning to worry about him. “Just try, for my sake.”
“For you, I will,” I said. “in my defense, I mostly refer to him as the chief as it is, but I’ll refrain from using his name unless it’s a social occasion. So, should I call Nick?”
“Go ahead. You might as well see what he has to say,” Jake said, so I dialed his number before my husband changed his mind.
“Hey, Nick, it’s Suzanne Hart,” I said when he picked up the phone.
“I didn’t know you sold Donut Hearts,” he said unhappily. “When did that happen? If you decide to put the cottage on the market, I’ll give you a good price for it. I at least want a shot at it.”
“What
“That’s good to know,” I said. “It’s not always easy, but I don’t have to tell you how rewarding it can be when you track down a killer.”
“You don’t. That’s one of the things that gave me the most satisfaction in my former life. Are you ready to hit the ground running this morning?”
“I’m ready if you are,” I said.
“Were you able to come up with anything while you were in the shower? I’m at a loss. I’m going to keep my eye on Alexander Rose, but in the meantime, we need something to do.”
“As a matter of fact, I did have a thought.”
“I want to hear what it is, but first I need to know if it’s legal.”
“It’s fine. It’s well within the law. Probably. At least I’m pretty sure that it is.”
Jake looked at me for a few seconds before he spoke again. “Maybe you’d better tell me about it before we do anything else that we’re going to need to apologize to the police chief for.”
“I was thinking that it might not hurt to get a look at Teresa’s place and see if there’s anything there that might help us,” I said. “Surely the chief is finished with it by now.”
“You never know, but let’s say that he is. We can’t just break into the place.”
“We don’t have to,” I said with a smile. “Nick Williams, one of my customers at Donut Hearts, happens to own the house where she was living.”
“How could you possibly know that?” Jake asked me in amazement.
“Nick mentioned it when Teresa first came to town, and I filed it away in my mind, along with a hundred thousand other useless facts that I picked up working the front counter of my donut shop every week. Why don’t I give him a call?”
“Maybe we should call the chief first and see what he has to say about it,” Jake suggested.
“There might not be any need to bother him. If the place is still off limits, Nick will know, and if Stephen has released it, then we should be free to look around there ourselves.”
“I really wish you wouldn’t call the chief of police by his first name,” Jake said with a hint of a frown.
“Why not? I’ve known him forever, and we’ve done a ton of things with Grace and him socially. I find it’s odd that you keep calling him Chief yourself.”
“It’s a good way to remind myself that he’s the one who’s in charge now,” Jake said.
“Do you regret turning the job over to him?”
“No, not on your life. I don’t ever want to butt heads with you and your mother at the same time about anything ever again,” he said.
“Don’t forget, Grace and George were in the vehicle that night, too.”
“Don’t remind me,” he said. Jake had been in a position of scolding the four of us at the same time because of some unofficial investigating we were doing without his blessing, and he’d made a decision to resign his temporary position on the spot, though I suspected that he’d been giving it some consideration for some time before that. I hadn’t envied him his position, and I’d understood his desire to abdicate it, but it had left a hole in his life, and I was beginning to worry about him. “Just try, for my sake.”
“For you, I will,” I said. “in my defense, I mostly refer to him as the chief as it is, but I’ll refrain from using his name unless it’s a social occasion. So, should I call Nick?”
“Go ahead. You might as well see what he has to say,” Jake said, so I dialed his number before my husband changed his mind.
“Hey, Nick, it’s Suzanne Hart,” I said when he picked up the phone.
“I didn’t know you sold Donut Hearts,” he said unhappily. “When did that happen? If you decide to put the cottage on the market, I’ll give you a good price for it. I at least want a shot at it.”
“What
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