“Was the lock broken?” Myra asked me even though she wasn’t looking away fromJean.
I wasn’t looking away from Jeaneither.
“No. Whoever did it had a key to the gate.”Jean had a key to the gate. We all kept keys to the businesses the no-longer-vacationing gods had leftbehind.
“Probably just some high school kids finding some other way into the place.” Jean waved, then dropped back againstHogan.
She threaded her fingers between his hands where they were clasped on herwaist.
I studied their fingers. Dark against creamy white. Their knuckles looked a little abraded. Like maybe they’d been moving heavy concrete statues around in the middle of thenight.
“Oh, for real?” I groaned. “Jean, tell me you were not involved in theft, breaking and entering, and trespassing lastnight.”
“I plead theFifth.”
“Why?” I moaned. “I spent hours looking for that penguin. In the rain. In the cold. On ChristmasEve!”
She shrugged. “They were already there doing their thing. And, no, I’m not going to rat them out. So we just helped them get it all setup.”
“We, babe?” Hogan asked. “I guess it’s the Fifth for me too, Reedladies.”
I shook my head indisappointment.
“They were supposed to take pictures and get the penguin home before dark,” Jean said. “Probably the storm got in theway.”
“I can not believe this. Haven’t you had enough with yard statues? Remember the gnome debacle? Two month ago. Involvingzombies?”
Jean wrinkled her nose at me. “Do not mention the gnome-zombie debacle. Hogan still has Abner’s head on the dash of hiscar.”
“Ew,” Myrasaid.
Hogan ran his fingers through Jean’s red and green hair. “He won’t be alive again until next October. Why not let him see things around town untilthen?”
“Nice,” Rydersaid.
I opened my mouth to get us back on the subject of Jean and Hogan being any part of the penguin kidnapping, but Jean talked right over whatever I was about tosay.
“You know Mrs. Yates loves that penguin being a star, no matter what she says. It makes her feel young and special. All that attention. All those tourists coming by to catch a glimpse of the famous penguin in her yard with the flower beds she likes to fuss over. If someone hadn’t stolen it for a big Christmas photo-op, she would have beendisappointed.”
“Rule breaker,” Ryder noted with ayawn.
“Settle down, Mr. Warden. I didn’t break any actualcontracts.”
“Theft is illegal,” Myra pointedout.
“One, I didn’t steal it, I just found the people who did. Two, Are you going to arrest your sister on Christmas Eve for being a part of a community buildingexercise?”
From the look on Myra’s face, she was thinking pretty seriously aboutit.
“You’ll tell me who did it,” I said. “All the people involved in this little ‘community buildingexercise’.”
Jean sighed noisily. “Fine. Yes,boss.”
“We’re going to talk to them and their parents, if necessary. Make them apologize to Mrs. Yates and pay any damages she asks for. We can’t let something like this slide. That was private property,Jean.”
She made a rude noise. “I was very stern with them as we were arranging the photo shoot. Told them I disapproved of their shenanigans, but that I’d let it pass this once, because it was Christmas and it was going to make an awesome picture. They really did promise to get the penguin homesafely.”
Ryder’s fingers had shifted so that he could brush the side of my shoulder. I didn’t know if he realized he was petting me, but it felt so good, I didn’t tell him tostop.
