“Sleeping pills? Jesse?” He shook his head vigorously. “I don’t believe it.”
“Jane and I don’t believe it, either. And there wasn’t a prescription bottle of pills anywhere in his house.” I didn’t even feel guilty about revealing the secret this time. This was my dad. Eric had to allow an exception for my dad, didn’t he? “So how did he OD? Somebody must’ve helped him along.”
“Aw, jeez.” He dropped his fork and slumped back in his chair. “You’re tangled up in another murder?”
“I found his body, Dad.”
He grimaced, leaned forward, and squeezed my hand. “I know that part, sweetie. I’m sorry. Sounds like it’s still tough for you.”
Dad had made it to Jesse’s funeral service but had been out at Uncle Pete’s ever since then. I had told him about finding the body, but not much else. There hadn’t been enough time for a sit-down talk at the service.
“It’s been pretty awful,” I admitted. “Here’s the thing, Dad. Somebody had been inside Jesse’s house, searching the rooms and making a real mess. There’s a hole punched in the wall and one of his floorboards was pulled up. Stuff was thrown on the floor. I don’t think Jesse would do that to his own home, do you?”
“Absolutely not.” He shook his head. “He was darn proud of that place. And neat as a pin most of the time.”
“Exactly. So it had to be someone else.”
Dad’s face twisted as he thought. “And whoever it was probably killed Jesse. What were they looking for? It can’t be money. Jesse didn’t have much worth stealing.”
“Remember that antique necklace he used to brag about finding?”
“Oh, yeah, that time he went scuba diving. I thought he finally admitted that was a fib.”
“He did, but it turns out there really was a necklace. I’ve seen it. And it really is priceless.”
Dad’s eyes went wide.
“And I know he showed it to at least one person in town.”
“Do you know who?” he asked.
“Cuckoo Clemens.”
“Ah.” He nodded. “That figures. He and Jesse were buddies at one point, but they had a falling-out a few years back. Might’ve been over this necklace.” He picked up his fork, swirled a bit of pancake in the syrup, and took a bite. He palmed a small piece of bacon and slipped it to Robbie, who almost melted in gratitude. Dad was always doing that and I always pretended not to notice. Robbie was his granddog, after all. “Sounds like Jesse got in over his head. Damn it, the man might have made a foolish mistake, but he didn’t deserve to die for it. You think Cuckoo was in there searching for the necklace?”
“He’s our best guess. It’s worth asking him about it anyway.”
Dad shook his head and got his I’m-worried-about-Shannon expression again. “Not a good plan, sweetheart. He’s a hard man to talk to. I don’t think he’s got all the brain cells clicking in unison, if you know what I mean.”
“Tell me about it,” I muttered.
“Hey,” he said, pointing his fork at me. “You’re not actually trying to track down this guy, are you? I know you’ve got your theories, honey, but leave it to the police to find the answers. I don’t like the idea of you getting tangled up in another murder mystery.”
Eric Jensen had said something similar. It was too late to worry about it, I told myself. I was already thoroughly tangled up.
“I just think that the longer the police take to investigate, the more Jane is in danger. If someone believes she has the necklace, they could attack her like they did Jesse.”
“Does she have the necklace?”
“No, we put it in a safe-deposit box.”
“But the thief doesn’t know that.”
“No,” I said. There was no way for the thief or anyone else to know that the necklace was no longer in Jesse’s house.
“That does it,” Dad said, setting down his fork. “If you don’t call the police, I will.”
“You don’t have to,” I said quickly. “The police are on top of this.”
“They’d better be.”
Oh boy. I mentally rolled my eyes, knowing that Eric would not appreciate an irate phone call from my father, telling him to stop allowing me to do the job the police should be doing. Eric would probably throw me in jail just to teach me another lesson.
It was time to change the subject. “So, how’s your love life, Dad?”
He chuckled. “Doing just fine. Maybe better than yours. Which reminds me, how’s Mac? When’s his next book coming out?”
“He’s great and the book will be out in the fall. We haven’t started rehab on the lighthouse mansion yet because he’s been too busy. But we have an appointment with the Planning Commission next week.”
“Good. If you have any problems there, you know who to call.”
“Ghostbusters?”
“Ha. Very funny. Let me know if they give you a hassle.”
“I will, but they won’t.”
“I don’t know. People get itchy when you start talking about refurbishing a beloved landmark.”