“Yes, I had heard that.” Harriet gave me the once-over, and narrowed her eyes in disapproval. “Well, as you can see, she’s with a client right now.”
I glanced over to see an elderly woman taking the chair in front of Tish. The man she’d been arguing with was just going out the door. My breath caught, and my mind raced—it was the same guy who had stopped to pet Baxter in the street yesterday.
“Okay, I’d better go, then. Nice seeing you, Mrs. Munson,” I said, and hurried out the door after the mystery man before she could stop me.
I wanted to catch up to him and—do what? Accuse him of petting Tish’s dog? I raced out the door while glancing back at Tish and ran straight into Mac.
He gripped my arms to keep me from falling over.
Mac smelled really good. Like pine trees and fresh breezes off the lake. I tried to get my footing while he held me for a moment too long. Long enough to remember how much I liked being this close to him. From the way his eyes got soft, he was remembering, too.
“Hey, what’s the rush?” he said, and set me back onto my feet.
“Oh, um, no rush. I came to talk to Tish and she’s busy, so I’ll just come back later,” I said.
“I heard Andrews made his arrest on your front porch.” Mac had dropped his cane during our collision. He bent to pick it up.
“Yeah, it was a bit dramatic. Gary was at the house picking up his dog.” I rubbed my arms where his hands had been, still feeling the heat.
“Andrews could have picked him up earlier, but I think he wanted to impress you.” Mac was standing too close. I had to look up to see his eyes.
“Impress me?” I stepped back and wondered where this was going.
“You mean you haven’t noticed how he gets weak in the knees whenever you’re around? You’re slipping, Clyde.”
We had to move aside to let a group out the door. Mac took my arm, and we stood in the grass off to the side of the walkway.
“Don’t be ridiculous. We’re just old family friends.”
“Uh-huh. Well, I’m glad to have it over and done with. I wasn’t looking forward to a long investigation in this town.”
“Are you sure it was Gary?”
“I wouldn’t have had him arrested if I wasn’t sure. He lied about his alibi. He had a motive and opportunity.”
“So? People lie all the time. It doesn’t make them murderers.”
“Just leave it alone, Clyde.”
The air around us had become much cooler. Mac stepped past me and went into the Reading Room without another word.
*
With Mac out of his office, it seemed like a good time to visit the police station and see what I could learn.
Lisa smiled when I entered the station.
“Mac’s not here right now,” she said.
I sighed. “I’m looking for Officer Andrews.”
Lisa flushed. “He’s out, too. He’s checking on a report of digging near Message Circle.”
“Again?”
She nodded. “The crazy thing is, whoever is doing it is trying to fill in all the holes when they’re done. I thought it was kids playing treasure hunt or something, but now it’s been going on for long enough that I doubt it’s a couple of eight-year-olds pretending to be pirates,” she said.
“Where is it happening?” I said.
“Well, kind of all over in the park. Some of it is on private land, but not much. Sara complained that her land had some areas dug up about a month ago. But I shouldn’t be talking about it. Charla always says I don’t know when to keep quiet.” She turned to her computer and pretended to be busy. Charla was right. Lisa never could keep a secret, which was bad for those trying to keep a secret but great for those trying to get information.
I decided to bluff. “My Mom told me about that—I think it’s near my Dad’s cabin. . . .”
Lisa was already shaking her head. “I don’t think so. Isn’t his place on the west side of Singapore Highway? She owned a lot that her father bought from the city back in the nineties when they consolidated some of the park on the south side of Greer’s Woods.” Lisa was drawing a crude map on a scrap piece of paper. “She and Gary split it in the divorce settlement. That’s what they were always fighting about. He wanted to sell and she didn’t, but the developers wouldn’t take his land without hers.”
“And that’s the area that’s being vandalized?” I indicated the area south of Greer’s Woods.
“Not the only one. Also over here.” She pointed with her pencil to a section that was adjacent to Greer’s Woods. “You know the city council is not going to put up with trouble anywhere near Message Circle.”
“They’ll have Tom out there guarding it on his off hours next.”