he actually knew where they belonged. He attached the front cover of the unit and flipped the switch to
on
. When nothing happened Percy gave the unit a smart whack with the flat of his hand and the unit hummed to life, sounding better than ever. He grinned like a kid at Christmas. “I still have the touch.”
“What do you know about mixers?” I asked, a plot brewing in my desperate brain, the fear of no customers gnawing at my insides.
“Uncle Chicken says I have the Damon Gift. I’m the Superman of the motor world. But right now I have a case to work on.” He looked back at Chantilly and lowered his voice. “She’s counting on me, she truly is. I have to come through for her. I know she’s innocent, I just have to prove it.”
I whispered back. “GracieAnn over at Cakery Bakery was involved with Simon. He was a loan shark and GracieAnn sent him business.”
“No.” Percy gasped, his eyes wide.
“Yes,” I gasped back, hoping to add a bit of drama and excitement to my plan. I pulled Percy to the corner. “And if we can find the other people GracieAnn sent to Simon to borrow money, we can maybe pin the murder on one of them.”
“Others?”
“Chantilly borrowed money from Simon, and GracieAnn won’t talk to anyone like me who is trying to get Chantilly off. She believes Chantilly stole Simon from her and she’s out for revenge. Nothing would make her happier than Chantilly behind bars permanently. What we need is to watch GracieAnn, listen in on her conversations, and see who she meets with. What we need is for someone to go undercover.” I draped my arm around Percy and drew his head close to mine. “The mixer and the oven at the Cakery Bakery conked out; you can fix them like you did my AC and keep your eyes and ears open. You can be our undercover guy.”
“They know I’m Chantilly’s lawyer. Won’t they recognize me and wonder what I’m doing as a repairman?”
“Put on a brown uniform. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my UPS days, it’s that no one pays attention to who you are if you have on a brown uniform. Bring your toolbox and you’re in.”
“But I have to prepare Chantilly’s defense.”
I grabbed the front of Percy’s shirt and ground out, “Right now we have no defense. We have Chantilly the sobbing, jilted ex-fiancée who rode a horse naked, borrowed money from the murdered guy, and ate his wedding cake when he was marrying someone else. Things aren’t looking good here.”
“And if I find someone suspicious at the bakery, I follow them and get the goods on the killer like they do on
Law and Order
?”
Good God in heaven, I created a monster!
“No getting the goods. Undercover means you keep your mouth shut and ears open.” I looked Percy straight in the eyes to add some stern to my words. “This is not a TV show; there’s a real killer out there. He murdered once and wouldn’t blink at doing it again.”
Especially if you’re humming show tunes.
The last thing I wanted to do was put Percy in harm’s way. I just wanted him out of
my
way. If he stumbled onto some information we could use, so much the better. “If anything looks suspicious, bring it to me and we’ll talk it over.”
Percy nodded with a smile. “This is a really good plan, but I just can’t walk into the bakery with my uniform and toolbox, they’ll think I’m up to something. Everyone knows there’s not a repairman to be had in Savannah in August with all the old AC units on the fritz.”
“Delta’s the owner and my bet is she’s called so many people to fix the mixer and oven she’s lost count. Tell her you had a cancellation. She’ll be tickled to see you and won’t think about asking questions. Hey, you’ll get free doughnuts.”
Percy rubbed his hands together, a little grin playing at the corners of his mouth. “I do have a brown work uniform from Chicken-On-The-Run. That’s Uncle Chicken’s shop. I love cinnamon doughnuts. I do believe I could make this
on
. When nothing happened Percy gave the unit a smart whack with the flat of his hand and the unit hummed to life, sounding better than ever. He grinned like a kid at Christmas. “I still have the touch.”
“What do you know about mixers?” I asked, a plot brewing in my desperate brain, the fear of no customers gnawing at my insides.
“Uncle Chicken says I have the Damon Gift. I’m the Superman of the motor world. But right now I have a case to work on.” He looked back at Chantilly and lowered his voice. “She’s counting on me, she truly is. I have to come through for her. I know she’s innocent, I just have to prove it.”
I whispered back. “GracieAnn over at Cakery Bakery was involved with Simon. He was a loan shark and GracieAnn sent him business.”
“No.” Percy gasped, his eyes wide.
“Yes,” I gasped back, hoping to add a bit of drama and excitement to my plan. I pulled Percy to the corner. “And if we can find the other people GracieAnn sent to Simon to borrow money, we can maybe pin the murder on one of them.”
“Others?”
“Chantilly borrowed money from Simon, and GracieAnn won’t talk to anyone like me who is trying to get Chantilly off. She believes Chantilly stole Simon from her and she’s out for revenge. Nothing would make her happier than Chantilly behind bars permanently. What we need is to watch GracieAnn, listen in on her conversations, and see who she meets with. What we need is for someone to go undercover.” I draped my arm around Percy and drew his head close to mine. “The mixer and the oven at the Cakery Bakery conked out; you can fix them like you did my AC and keep your eyes and ears open. You can be our undercover guy.”
“They know I’m Chantilly’s lawyer. Won’t they recognize me and wonder what I’m doing as a repairman?”
“Put on a brown uniform. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my UPS days, it’s that no one pays attention to who you are if you have on a brown uniform. Bring your toolbox and you’re in.”
“But I have to prepare Chantilly’s defense.”
I grabbed the front of Percy’s shirt and ground out, “Right now we have no defense. We have Chantilly the sobbing, jilted ex-fiancée who rode a horse naked, borrowed money from the murdered guy, and ate his wedding cake when he was marrying someone else. Things aren’t looking good here.”
“And if I find someone suspicious at the bakery, I follow them and get the goods on the killer like they do on
Law and Order
?”
Good God in heaven, I created a monster!
“No getting the goods. Undercover means you keep your mouth shut and ears open.” I looked Percy straight in the eyes to add some stern to my words. “This is not a TV show; there’s a real killer out there. He murdered once and wouldn’t blink at doing it again.”
Especially if you’re humming show tunes.
The last thing I wanted to do was put Percy in harm’s way. I just wanted him out of
my
way. If he stumbled onto some information we could use, so much the better. “If anything looks suspicious, bring it to me and we’ll talk it over.”
Percy nodded with a smile. “This is a really good plan, but I just can’t walk into the bakery with my uniform and toolbox, they’ll think I’m up to something. Everyone knows there’s not a repairman to be had in Savannah in August with all the old AC units on the fritz.”
“Delta’s the owner and my bet is she’s called so many people to fix the mixer and oven she’s lost count. Tell her you had a cancellation. She’ll be tickled to see you and won’t think about asking questions. Hey, you’ll get free doughnuts.”
Percy rubbed his hands together, a little grin playing at the corners of his mouth. “I do have a brown work uniform from Chicken-On-The-Run. That’s Uncle Chicken’s shop. I love cinnamon doughnuts. I do believe I could make this
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