Sam untied Dooley and gave him half a treat.
“I still got it, boy.” Sam chuckled. “Did you see how I got Claire to tell me the name of that woman?”
Dooley looked up at him, and Sam imagined he was nodding his agreement.
Sam had used an old trick he’d employed as a detective. When he was on the force and wanted to know someone’s identity, he would pretend he’d forgotten their name. It worked every time. Of course, a bakery in a small seaside town was a bit easier than in the city, but it accomplished the same thing. It probably worked even better now that he was older. People seemed to just assume folks his age were forgetful, even though his memory was as sharp as ever.
A pang of guilt bubbled up over tricking Claire. It felt a bit like lying, and Sam didn’t like that, but it was for a good cause. He liked Claire, and it had warmed his heart that she’d invited him to the book club. He wouldn’t join it, of course. He preferred sitting at home and… and what? Watching television with Dooley? Doing crossword puzzles? Maybe he should consider joining. He did love to read.
But the thought of getting out there and socializing without Jean made a heavy pit form in his stomach. Maybe he’d consider it later on. For now, he had some work to do. He needed to figure out where Bunny Howard lived so he could set up a little surveillance. Not like a stalker or anything, more like what he used to do back in his police days. He still knew how to follow someone without being noticed. At least he thought he still did.
Sam picked up the pace to his car. He couldn’t wait to get home. For once, he had something to look forward to.
CHAPTERTEN
Jane practically ran Maxi over on her way to double check that they’d cleaned up all the crumbs and polished off the coffee mug rings from their book club meeting the other night.
“Oh! Sorry!” Maxi had a sketchbook open in her hand and was busy drawing in it, which wasn’t that unusual. What was unusual was that she was standing in the middle of the hallway while doing it.
“What are you drawing?” Jane craned her neck to peek into the book, and Maxi snapped it shut.
“I was just putting the finishing touches on a drawing. You know how I get lost in them.”
“Standing in the hall?”
“I started outside.”
Andie came down the hallway. “What’s going on?”
“Oh, nothing. We just bumped into each other,” Maxi said.
“I was on my way to the back room to make sure we’d cleaned everything up after the book club meeting,” Jane said, wondering why she suddenly felt like she had to explain herself.
Andie held up a cleaning cloth in one hand and some crumpled napkins and a bookmark in another. “No need. I just cleaned it. But I do have something to talk to you about. Let’s go to the kitchen.”
Andie breezed toward the kitchen, and Jane turned and followed with Maxi behind her.
When they passed the foyer, Maxi headed for the door. “I gotta get back to my cottage and finish this up.” She tapped on the sketch pad. “See you guys later.”
“Why was she sketching from here? She has her own cottage on the beach,” Jane said as she and Andie continued to the kitchen.
“Different vantage point. From here, you can see part of the Marginal Way. Can’t see that from her cottage.” Andie turned to look at her. “You’re awfully suspicious. I think those mystery books are getting to you.”
Andie might have a point. Maxi had painted from their deck before, so it wasn’t exactly unusual.
Liz was in the kitchen with a trash bag open in front of her. She looked startled when she heard them come in. “Oh, hi. I emptied the trash from the rooms. Well, our one room.”
Emptied?To Jane, it looked like she was going through the trash, not emptying it. But maybe she was being too suspicious, as Andie had just pointed out.
“Perfect. I have some trash to throw in from the book club meeting.” Andie shoved the trash in her hand into the bag, and Liz tied up the bag and headed to the kitchen door to the small dumpster that sat just outside.
“I’ll just toss this out and then head home, unless you guys need something else?”
“No, we’re good. See you in a few days.” Andie opened the door for Liz and then turned to Jane. “I’m glad I caught you. I have a proposition.”
“You do?”
“Yes, I was hoping you could come to the New England Antique Inns and Furnishings Conference with me in a couple of days. It’s in Bar Harbor.”
