“Wait. Does Blake have heterochromia?”
“What?”
“One eye is light blue, but the other is a dark brown.”
“No. His eyes are both brown.”
Further proof I hadn’t been flirting shamelessly with a married man. “What about the cousin?”
She stood and began to pace. “I don’t know. I told you I’ve never met him.”
“It doesn’t matter. If the man across the breezeway isn’t your husband, then the next task is to find him.”
“No.”
“No?”
“I don’t know.” Her voice came out as a whisper. “I need to call my lawyer.”
“I can help you find—”
“No, no.”
I took a deep breath. “Then I’ll refund your money.”
“Just keep what I’ve already paid you,” she said. “But if you wouldn’t mind showing yourself to the door, there’s a lot I have to do before the children get home.”
“Can I help?”
Already on her feet, she shook her head.
I had been dismissed. Only now I had more questions than before.
My first stop was a petty project. One of my clients knew that her neighbor was stealing her packages off her porch. With a little help fromthe kitten, I had a package that would hopefully make them swear off porch piracy.
I walked to my client’s door with a brisk efficiency and put down a box, one that my client already knew not to open. Then I took a picture, both as proof I’d done my part and as an Amazon delivery person might do. Since my client didn’t have a doorbell cam, the next step would be to repeat the process until the porch piracy ceased.
When I got back into my car, my mind returned to my newest quandary: Who was that mysterious man with the mismatched eyes?
I could definitely try some new searches, but why not go straight to the source if I wanted to know who was impersonating my quarry?
Former quarry.
Once I arrived home, I knocked on Malone’s door. He wasn’t there. Neither was the Lexus.
If Finnegan’s were open, I’d go ask Havisham and Salcedo their opinions on the whole mess, but it wasn’t even noon. Calling or texting Havisham would be a very bad idea because she would either be waking up or busy running errands.
As for Salcedo? I couldn’t be completely sure she wasn’t in class.
Instead, I spent the rest of the day on paralegal homework and jury research for Attorney Lawless. The kitten took a nap in my lap most of that time. We were playing with the laser pointer when I heard Malone’s voice in the breezeway.
I’d already opened the door before I realized my folly: Mrs. Q had brought down the casserole.
“Stella!” she said. “I was just telling Mr. Malone here that this wasyouridea.”
Ho boy.
“Very thoughtful of you,” Malone said. I couldn’t see his eyes behind the aviators, but I knew they were dancing. “If you don’t mind sharing your apartment, we could all eat together.”
