Sweet Friend of Mine (A Sweet Cove Mystery Book 8) by J A Whiting Page A

something, even if it seems inconsequential to him, that could shed some light on things.”
    “You’re right, Mr. Finch.” Ellie got up to pour some water into her glass. “We have all been charmed by Darren. Maybe we should be more cautious with him. Maybe we need to ask him some hard questions.”
    Courtney’s eyebrow shot up. “I wasn’t expecting that from you. You usually don’t want to get involved with this stuff.”
    “A young man is missing,” Ellie sniffed. “What in the world has happened to him? It bothers me terribly.”
    The cats looked up, turned their heads to the door, and trilled. Tom’s voice was heard in the hall. “Where is everyone?” The cats flew out of the room to greet the man.
    Jenna stood up and went to the doorway to peek into the hall. Beaming a wide smile, she hugged her fiancé, took his hand and led him to the buffet table in the family room. “I bet you’re hungry.”
    “Smells great.” Tom greeted the family and proceeded to the table to make a plate for himself. “I have good news. The carriage house is on track to be finished by the end of next week. The crew finished up early at another job and those guys are coming here starting tomorrow to help out. So the timeline has changed for the good.”
    “Maybe you and Jenna should move into one of the apartments when they’re done,” Courtney suggested.
    The pretty diamond of her engagement ring sparkled when Jenna put her hand on Tom’s arm. “We’ll have to talk about it.”
    Ellie said, “Well, the price is right. It would be free to live there.” She looked at Tom. “Maybe you could sell your house and then use some of those funds to speed up the renovations on the new house. It might be a financially smart move.”
    The renovations on the house Tom and Jenna had bought were moving at a glacial pace and the two of them were getting impatient for their wedding.
    “I think you might be right about that.” Tom smiled at the lovely brunette sitting next to him. After complimenting the family members for putting together such a delicious dinner, he asked, “Anything new with the case?”
    They took turns filling Tom in on the recent developments.
    “Any thoughts?” Jenna glanced at her sweetie.
    “Well.” Tom put his plate on the snack table and sat back against the sofa cushion. “Is anyone speaking to the former band mates of Vine ?”
    Angie gave a nod. “The police are interviewing some of them. If anything comes up, Chief Martin will ask us to talk to them, too.”
    “What about the friend? Henry.” Tom rubbed his forehead. “Could he know more than he’s saying?”
    “Why do you bring him up?” Courtney cocked her head.
    Tom reached for his plate. “Louisa told Angie that her sister dated Henry and thought he was a pain, kind of controlling, always monitoring her. A person like that seems like he might focus closely on details. Henry might know some details that he thinks nothing of, but could lead to some clues. Maybe you should talk to him again.”
    “Maybe you’re right.” Angie thought over what Tom had said. There was something about Henry that made Angie think that he was holding back on some things. Another chat certainly wouldn’t hurt.
    Angie’s phone buzzed. “It’s Chief Martin. He has the name of the jewelry store where Mrs. Allen bought the ring. It’s in Silver Cove.”
    Jenna gave Angie a wink. “I’ve been wanting to visit that jewelry store in Silver Cove. I’d like to bring them some samples of my designs, see if they might like to carry some of my work.”
    “Maybe we should go there tomorrow?” Angie smiled.
    The cats stood up and trilled.

15
    J enna drove her old bomb of a car north towards Silver Cove with her twin sister sitting in the passenger seat. Angie looked out the window at the frozen landscape. Even though winter had never been her favorite time of year, she had to admire the beauty of the frosted tree limbs and silvery dusted grass sparkling in the