amble back to their cars and shake hands before parting. We don’t budge until both have driven off, then return to Damsgard via a circuitous route.
We find Trixie in her bedroom as prearranged, since it’s probably best at this point to keep everything on the QT. Read: keep my mother out of it. Trixie’s skin is still pink from the cold and her hazel eyes still shine with excitement.
“What did you find out?” I whisper.
Trixie takes a deep breath. “Mr. Hubble said he thinks Galena might be doing something illegal.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
“ Might be doing something illegal?” I hope I didn’t shell out three hundred smackers for “might” be. “What’s the illegal thing he thinks Galena’s doing? And how is he going to prove it?”
“He doesn’t know what the illegal thing is,” Trixie says. “Or how he’d prove it.”
I shake my head, visualizing my money swirling down a drain.
“Hear me out,” Trixie says. “Mr. Hubble told me he found out that Galena nearly filed for bankruptcy back in the fall then all of a sudden she had enough money to go on a trip to England to attend some Goth festival.”
“I wonder if she went for Whitby Goth Weekend.” Now that he hasn’t seen a ghost in a while, Mario’s typical self-possession has returned. “I saw something on TV about that. It’s gotten to be a pretty big deal. Thousands of people go, from all over the world. Not just Goths, either. Steampunks, metallers, bikers, whatever.”
“Anyway,” Trixie goes on, “if she’s almost bankrupt, how did Galena get the money to go to Europe? Mr. Hubble says he’s close to finding out more, if Ingrid is interested. I told him she’d let him know.”
“Hubble’s information isn’t good enough to justify another payment,” I say. “Plus he seems too loud and boisterous to be a real P.I.”
“He is one all the same,” Trixie says. “He used to be a policeman but he told me he can make better money this way.”
He sure can. Thanks to me, he’s three hundred dollars richer. “What did he tell you about why Ingrid hired him?”
“All he would say was that Ingrid told him Galena was trouble. That’s the word he said she used. ‘Trouble.’ ”
“When did she hire him?” Shanelle wants to know.
“About a month and a half ago,” Trixie reports.
“So obviously there was bad blood between Galena and Ingrid but we still don’t know the source of it,” I say. “It had to have been pretty serious if Ingrid went to the trouble and expense to hire a P.I.” Now that I’ve seen his business card, I know for sure that Hubble is a private investigator.
“Why didn’t Ingrid just have Mr. Hubble come here to Damsgard for their meetings?” Trixie says. “She lives alone. No one would have been the wiser.”
“Maybe she didn’t want him to see how rich she is,” Shanelle says. “She probably figured his fee would go up if he knew.”
That’s not a problem I’ve ever had.
Trixie grimaces. “I felt bad when Mr. Hubble told me he hoped Ingrid felt better soon. I knew that wasn’t going to happen.”
We’re all silent as we ponder Ingrid’s sad fate. Then I pipe up again. “Hiring Hubble to investigate Galena Lang is another thing Ingrid was keeping secret. There’s a pretty long list now.”
“True,” Shanelle says. “Secret number two: that she worshipped the heathen goddess Freyja. Number three: that she didn’t own Damsgard.”
“Really?” Mario says.
“That’s what Ingrid’s stepson Peter Svendsen claims,” I say. “We don’t know it for a fact yet. We’ll find out tomorrow when the will is read.” I am really looking forward to that. I have high hopes that it will be a revealing moment.
As we say our good nights, I realize I soon may be adding Galena’s name to my suspects list. She might have had a motive for murder. Clearly there was recent conflict between her and Ingrid if Ingrid hired Hubble to investigate Galena just six weeks ago.
I walk Mario
We find Trixie in her bedroom as prearranged, since it’s probably best at this point to keep everything on the QT. Read: keep my mother out of it. Trixie’s skin is still pink from the cold and her hazel eyes still shine with excitement.
“What did you find out?” I whisper.
Trixie takes a deep breath. “Mr. Hubble said he thinks Galena might be doing something illegal.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
“ Might be doing something illegal?” I hope I didn’t shell out three hundred smackers for “might” be. “What’s the illegal thing he thinks Galena’s doing? And how is he going to prove it?”
“He doesn’t know what the illegal thing is,” Trixie says. “Or how he’d prove it.”
I shake my head, visualizing my money swirling down a drain.
“Hear me out,” Trixie says. “Mr. Hubble told me he found out that Galena nearly filed for bankruptcy back in the fall then all of a sudden she had enough money to go on a trip to England to attend some Goth festival.”
“I wonder if she went for Whitby Goth Weekend.” Now that he hasn’t seen a ghost in a while, Mario’s typical self-possession has returned. “I saw something on TV about that. It’s gotten to be a pretty big deal. Thousands of people go, from all over the world. Not just Goths, either. Steampunks, metallers, bikers, whatever.”
“Anyway,” Trixie goes on, “if she’s almost bankrupt, how did Galena get the money to go to Europe? Mr. Hubble says he’s close to finding out more, if Ingrid is interested. I told him she’d let him know.”
“Hubble’s information isn’t good enough to justify another payment,” I say. “Plus he seems too loud and boisterous to be a real P.I.”
“He is one all the same,” Trixie says. “He used to be a policeman but he told me he can make better money this way.”
He sure can. Thanks to me, he’s three hundred dollars richer. “What did he tell you about why Ingrid hired him?”
“All he would say was that Ingrid told him Galena was trouble. That’s the word he said she used. ‘Trouble.’ ”
“When did she hire him?” Shanelle wants to know.
“About a month and a half ago,” Trixie reports.
“So obviously there was bad blood between Galena and Ingrid but we still don’t know the source of it,” I say. “It had to have been pretty serious if Ingrid went to the trouble and expense to hire a P.I.” Now that I’ve seen his business card, I know for sure that Hubble is a private investigator.
“Why didn’t Ingrid just have Mr. Hubble come here to Damsgard for their meetings?” Trixie says. “She lives alone. No one would have been the wiser.”
“Maybe she didn’t want him to see how rich she is,” Shanelle says. “She probably figured his fee would go up if he knew.”
That’s not a problem I’ve ever had.
Trixie grimaces. “I felt bad when Mr. Hubble told me he hoped Ingrid felt better soon. I knew that wasn’t going to happen.”
We’re all silent as we ponder Ingrid’s sad fate. Then I pipe up again. “Hiring Hubble to investigate Galena Lang is another thing Ingrid was keeping secret. There’s a pretty long list now.”
“True,” Shanelle says. “Secret number two: that she worshipped the heathen goddess Freyja. Number three: that she didn’t own Damsgard.”
“Really?” Mario says.
“That’s what Ingrid’s stepson Peter Svendsen claims,” I say. “We don’t know it for a fact yet. We’ll find out tomorrow when the will is read.” I am really looking forward to that. I have high hopes that it will be a revealing moment.
As we say our good nights, I realize I soon may be adding Galena’s name to my suspects list. She might have had a motive for murder. Clearly there was recent conflict between her and Ingrid if Ingrid hired Hubble to investigate Galena just six weeks ago.
I walk Mario
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