The condescension in the tone made my teeth ache. “I know my job, Detective. Thank you for your help, and I hope you have a fantastic day.” It wasn’t a ‘bless your heart,’ but for northern Idaho, it meant the same thing. When all else fails, fall back on manners, which was a lesson I’d learned from every woman in my family. Even so, I hung up before he could say anything else. I thought it over. Nick was already on Aiden’s case. It didn’t surprise me. Nick wasn’t in the office, so he must be working from home. I needed to get my hands on that information.
For now, I grabbed my purse and headed for the door. It was time to get to work.
* * *
Summer hintedon the Chokecherry breeze as I drove through the retirement community. The flowering trees would only last a couple of weeks, but they were a welcome sight after months of grey sky and winter. Even so, in a northern Idaho spring, clouds could come rushing in any second to settle in for the week. For now, I lifted my face to the meager sun and enjoyed the drive.
Beyond a brick monument declaring the place ‘Sunnyside Retirement Community,’ perfectly tended lawns spread from single homes to duplexes, all green and bordered by flowering shrubs. The houses ranged from white to purple to an electric blue. Did older people go color blind? Or did they just have better senses of humor than the rest of us?
Double checking the address on my phone, I pulled into the driveway of a white duplex. The left side had wild pink trim along the edges and windowpanes, while the right had a muted tan.
I went for the pink side. Thelma opened the door before I could knock, wearing a short orange jumpsuit with lime green polka dots. “Anna. Oh, my. Come in out of the cold.” Her bony fingers wrapped around my arm to tug me inside to the small tiled area next to contractor grade beige carpet.
“It’s seventy degrees,” I protested. The woman might be skin and bones, but she had a heck of a lot of strength.
“Exactly.” She shut the door. “Would you like some hot chocolate?” She squinted up at me through bottle thick glasses, her brown eyes huge and concerned.
Everything in me softened, and I concentrated just on her for a moment. “I’m fine. But I wanted to ask you some questions about Melvin, if that would be okay.”
Delight lifted the wrinkles across her pink dusted cheeks. “Oh. How lovely. Am I a witness?”
I stumbled. “Um, more like a source.”
She clapped her hands together, the smell of her vanilla lotion wafting up. “Like an informant?”
“Sure.”
She gestured toward the adjacent living room and its matching floral sofa and chair set. “Well. Then please have a seat.”
I grinned. “Thanks.” The carpet was sturdy beneath my tennis shoes—definitely not soft. I took a seat on one of the chairs. “Where’s Georgiana?”
Thelma perched on the edge of the other chair, her little body vibrating like a Chihuahua seeing a treat. “She and a couple members of the bridge playing group drove over to Spokane for the day. When we couldn’t get the pot from Melvin, we found out where the best dispensaries are—”
I held up my hand. “I think it’d be better if you didn’t tell me about any crimes you ladies might want to commit.” If they brought the marijuana over the state line, they were breaking the law. Again.
“Oh.” She straightened her knobby shoulders. “Of course. It’s just that it helps with the cataracts, you know?”
I didn’t know, but I nodded anyway. “So. Let’s just start at the beginning. Tell me about Melvin. What do you know about him?” I could use her thoughts to supplement whatever the Lugi brothers found.
“Well.” She fluttered her hands together. “Melvin is quite handsome and probably the youngest single male in the community. He’s in his sixties, I think.”
That was young for the area. “Okay.” I smiled, letting her talk.
She leaned toward me. “He works across the border at Greenley Seed Company.”
I frowned. The seed company owned acres and acres across the prairie and researched, grew, and sold grass seed—the kind you put on your lawn but did not smoke—countrywide. Were they growing pot now, too? The industry was closely regulated, so those records should be easy to find, if so. But if Melvin was bringing his work home with him, into Idaho, he was breaking several laws. “What does Melvin do?”
She shrugged. “I think he said something about research and development. Once in a while, he’s still wearing a white lab coat when he gets home.” Her penciled eyebrows wiggled. “He’s quite handsome in the coat. Have you ever played doctor?”
I jerked at the question and then coughed. “Not since I was a kid.” I grinned. “With one of the McDonnell brothers from St. Regis.” Up camping on a good weekend, actually.
Her eyes twinkled. “Yes, well, it’s a good pastime.”
I shook myself back to the present. “How do you know that Melvin keeps pot at his home?”
She snorted. “He smokes it out back, and a lot of people drop by to visit him, you know?”
As if on cue, a car pulled up outside. We both turned and moved in unison for the sofa to peer through the thick chintz curtains and spy. I’d love to get a visual on Melvin.
