“You do realize,” Vera said, “that if everyone paid as much attention to what’s going on in Willow Lake as I do, then this would never have happened in the first place.”
Bill nodded, “But your superior attention to detail can’t be matched.”
Vera grinned happily and took a bite of her hot dog.
I had to give it to Bill for the way he handles Vera, and truthfully, they look happy together.
Stone watched Mo make another hopeful pass around the deck as he walked over by my dad.
Mo paused beside Beau.
Beau looked down at him. “You again?”
Mo wagged his tail politely.
Beau sighed and slipped him a piece of hamburger.
Mo accepted it with dignity and immediately moved on to the next potential donor.
Stone shook his head as he watched him go.
“I’ve worked a lot of cases,” he said to my dad, “but I have to say this is the first one where the hero of the operation weighs almost hundred pounds and sheds.”
“That would be Mo,” Dad said.
“Your daughter has an unusual investigative team, but a good one.”
My dad agreed. “That she does.”
I stepped closer just in time to hear the rest of the conversation.
“The FBI has been aware of a couple pulling scams for a couple of years,” Stone explained. “They were careful. Very careful. Lucas handled the occasional robberies, mostly when they were low on cash. Lola handled the scams. They kept their operations separate enough that we could never connect them in a way that would hold up in court.”
“And now?” Dad asked.
“Now we have them connected,” Stone said. “The robberies, the scams, the whole operation. They’ll both be going away for a very long time.”
Thomas had wandered closer and heard the last part.
Stone turned to him. “I do want to caution you that you may not recover all of the money you lost.”
Thomas nodded as if resigned. “I figured as much.” He glanced toward Amy. “But thanks to her, it could have been a lot worse.”
“Sometimes a little caution goes a long way,” Stone said.
Mo reappeared at Thomas’s feet just then, clearly hoping caution did not apply to barbecue leftovers.
Thomas gave him a piece of hot dog.
Mo accepted it with enthusiasm.
He made one more pass around the deck, collecting a shrimp from Mom, a sliver of burger from Dad, and he scooped up a sausage that fell off Bill’s plate.
Once satisfied he had sampled everything worth sampling, Mo finally circled twice near the steps and dropped down on the deck boards where the breeze was the best, and napped.
The case, apparently, was officially closed.
I slipped inside the kitchen to grab another bowl of salsa and a fresh bag of tortilla chips.
