and the best coffee on the Door Peninsula. The coffee-slash-fudge shop sat
on the edge of the Harbor View Park, which lived up to its name. Even in cold
mid-October, the harbor gave a great view of the bay and near-empty harbor.
As we stood in line at the Chocolate Cow,
I asked Lizzy, “So, what’s your idea? What did you want to dis-?” I stopped as
Lizzy made the universal “STOP NOW!” sign of pretending to slash her throat.
She mouthed “not here” to me. Then, I think she mouthed “wait till the moose
slides,” but that didn’t make any sense. I figured I’d ask her again, outside.
Once we ordered our coffees, we trooped
back out in the cold. Wishing I had brought my gloves, I held on to my hot
coffee cup for warmth. I could see my breath. It was only mid-October and
already morning temps were below freezing!
“So, what’s this about ‘wait till the
moose slides’?” I asked, scrunching up my nose in confusion.
“Why would we wait till the moose
slides? I don’t even think we have moose up here.”
“That’s what I want to know.”
“Why?”
“Why did you say that?”
“When did I say that?”
I could see we were getting nowhere with
this circular conversation. I stopped walking, and enunciated, “when we were in
the coffee shop, you mouthed ‘wait till the moo-’...”
Lizzy’s laughter interrupted me, then
she said, “Oh, I’m sorry. I mouthed, ‘wait till we’re outside.’” I started
laughing too. We laughed so hard, before we knew it; we had walked about a
block from the Harbor View Park. We continued north, heading away from the park
and the Lighthouse Inn, and drank our coffees.
Once she calmed down a bit, Lizzy
explained, “I think we should find Harry’s killer ourselves!”
I turned to her in surprise, “Oh my
gosh, I was thinking the exact same thing! And I was worried you’d think I was
crazy!” The caffeine had started to kick in, and Lizzy’s announcement made me
feel better than I had in days (well, not counting my meetings with Donovan,
although those didn’t make me feel good as much as they made me feel alive). “But
I was afraid to ask, I didn’t want to impose. I mean, you, Kitty, Janie, and
Don-...” I felt a blush creep up my cheeks.
Lizzy pounced on my comment, “And
Donovan?” At my wordless nod, she smiled. “Yeah, the way he looks at you. Wow!”
I was so tongue-tied, I couldn’t even
speak for several minutes. Lizzy and I walked along in thought for a full
block.
Finally, I said, “Do you know how we go
about this?”
“About what? Oh, the investigation?
Sure, how hard can it be, right? We just tail a couple people, ask some nosy
questions, and show up that dope Chadwick. Easy-peasy!” Lizzy made a “Voila!”
gesture with her hands, forgetting she was holding a cup of coffee. The coffee
cup and contents went sailing through the air.
We both turned around and watched in
horror as it landed with a splat on a nearby jogger. The woman, who had been
gaining on us from behind, was dripping in coffee and whipping cream. Oh, and
she gave us a big scowl. Fortunately, the coffee she wore had cooled off enough
to not scald her, and Lizzy had drunk about half of it. But spilled coffee is
spilled coffee, and the cold air didn’t help matters.
Lizzy gasped and raced up to the irate
runner, “Oh my! I’m so so sorry!” Towering over the petite jogger at her full
five feet ten inches, Lizzy nearly knocked her over in her rush to help. The
jogger stayed silent and continued to scowl.
Looking up momentarily after pulling
some tissues from her pocket, Lizzy realized that the jogger was Cindy Devlin.
Cindy was a waitress and the newest member of Kitty’s staff. Kitty had hired
her in August when one of the servers quit, partly as a favor to Millicent the
Unpleasant, Cindy’s aunt. Because of Cindy’s connection to Millicent, Kitty
hadn’t let her go at the end of the tourist season.
“Hey, Cindy, I didn’t recognize you with
that
on the edge of the Harbor View Park, which lived up to its name. Even in cold
mid-October, the harbor gave a great view of the bay and near-empty harbor.
As we stood in line at the Chocolate Cow,
I asked Lizzy, “So, what’s your idea? What did you want to dis-?” I stopped as
Lizzy made the universal “STOP NOW!” sign of pretending to slash her throat.
She mouthed “not here” to me. Then, I think she mouthed “wait till the moose
slides,” but that didn’t make any sense. I figured I’d ask her again, outside.
Once we ordered our coffees, we trooped
back out in the cold. Wishing I had brought my gloves, I held on to my hot
coffee cup for warmth. I could see my breath. It was only mid-October and
already morning temps were below freezing!
“So, what’s this about ‘wait till the
moose slides’?” I asked, scrunching up my nose in confusion.
“Why would we wait till the moose
slides? I don’t even think we have moose up here.”
“That’s what I want to know.”
“Why?”
“Why did you say that?”
“When did I say that?”
I could see we were getting nowhere with
this circular conversation. I stopped walking, and enunciated, “when we were in
the coffee shop, you mouthed ‘wait till the moo-’...”
Lizzy’s laughter interrupted me, then
she said, “Oh, I’m sorry. I mouthed, ‘wait till we’re outside.’” I started
laughing too. We laughed so hard, before we knew it; we had walked about a
block from the Harbor View Park. We continued north, heading away from the park
and the Lighthouse Inn, and drank our coffees.
Once she calmed down a bit, Lizzy
explained, “I think we should find Harry’s killer ourselves!”
I turned to her in surprise, “Oh my
gosh, I was thinking the exact same thing! And I was worried you’d think I was
crazy!” The caffeine had started to kick in, and Lizzy’s announcement made me
feel better than I had in days (well, not counting my meetings with Donovan,
although those didn’t make me feel good as much as they made me feel alive). “But
I was afraid to ask, I didn’t want to impose. I mean, you, Kitty, Janie, and
Don-...” I felt a blush creep up my cheeks.
Lizzy pounced on my comment, “And
Donovan?” At my wordless nod, she smiled. “Yeah, the way he looks at you. Wow!”
I was so tongue-tied, I couldn’t even
speak for several minutes. Lizzy and I walked along in thought for a full
block.
Finally, I said, “Do you know how we go
about this?”
“About what? Oh, the investigation?
Sure, how hard can it be, right? We just tail a couple people, ask some nosy
questions, and show up that dope Chadwick. Easy-peasy!” Lizzy made a “Voila!”
gesture with her hands, forgetting she was holding a cup of coffee. The coffee
cup and contents went sailing through the air.
We both turned around and watched in
horror as it landed with a splat on a nearby jogger. The woman, who had been
gaining on us from behind, was dripping in coffee and whipping cream. Oh, and
she gave us a big scowl. Fortunately, the coffee she wore had cooled off enough
to not scald her, and Lizzy had drunk about half of it. But spilled coffee is
spilled coffee, and the cold air didn’t help matters.
Lizzy gasped and raced up to the irate
runner, “Oh my! I’m so so sorry!” Towering over the petite jogger at her full
five feet ten inches, Lizzy nearly knocked her over in her rush to help. The
jogger stayed silent and continued to scowl.
Looking up momentarily after pulling
some tissues from her pocket, Lizzy realized that the jogger was Cindy Devlin.
Cindy was a waitress and the newest member of Kitty’s staff. Kitty had hired
her in August when one of the servers quit, partly as a favor to Millicent the
Unpleasant, Cindy’s aunt. Because of Cindy’s connection to Millicent, Kitty
hadn’t let her go at the end of the tourist season.
“Hey, Cindy, I didn’t recognize you with
that
Similar Books
