Jonathon came in a few minutes later. “Did you let Darby leave without a second? Or did she sneak out? I wouldn’t put it past her.”
“Hey, I’m right here, okay?” Darby came out of the back room. “Shirley says the casserole’s ready. Do you want me to put a ‘Closed’ sign up?”
“You go eat and I’ll get a plate and come out here.” Rarity nodded toward Jonathon. “And I can tell him about our visitor.”
“Sounds good.” Darby disappeared back into the room.
Rarity looked at Jonathon. “Darby’s doppelganger was just here.” She explained Talia’s stop and how she’d heard about Darby. “So she decided to stop in and meet her.”
“Weird. They could be twins. Or mother and daughter,” Jonathon muttered as he unclicked Killer’s leash and tied Romeo up to the chair again.
“You can leave him untied,” Rarity said. “He should be okay.”
“There’s no way I’m letting him go today. Maybe tomorrow when I bring him back. He gets spooked in new places. He almost ran off at Drew’s. Edith would have killed me. She loves the mutt.”
Chapter 9
The book club started right at seven. They spent thirty minutes talking aboutWhat Happened to the Bennetts?, chose the books for next month, and then took a break. The other two members, Deb and Ginny, bought next month’s books, grabbed a brownie, then took off, wishing the rest of the group good hunting.
At first, Rarity worried that the sleuthing part of the book club would drive away the readers who just wanted to talk about books. But they’d hit a nice flow between talking about the books they’d read and then switching into investigative mode.
Jonathon was already standing by the whiteboard, setting up the discussion points. Rarity noticed he’d divided the board into two sections. One for Darby’s stalker and the other for Mason’s murder. She trusted the process, but every time they set up the process to look into the most recent crime in town, she wondered if they were overstepping. Maybe Drew and his peers were tired of them coming up with off-the-wall solutions. Maybe this time, they wouldn’t see the killer until he struck again.
“Stop thinking so loud,” Jonathon said as he set the pen down. “You’re screaming over here.”
“I was just…” She paused, wondering what to say. Especially to Jonathon, who was a prior member of law enforcement.
“You wonder if we’re in over our heads. It’s not like the idea hasn’t crossed my mind. And Drew’s, for that matter. But the group has brought in some good leads in the past. All I’m here for is to make sure you all don’t go over the rails, chasing suspects.” He studied the board. “ButI have to admit, even with the amazing work we did on the last investigation, I’m worried about this one. It hits too close to home.”
Rarity saw he was tapping Darby’s side of the whiteboard. “I think even if it’s a case of mistaken identity—and after meeting Talia, that’s a logical answer—I feel like Darby’s still in danger.”
Rarity felt a hand on her shoulder. Darby was standing there, watching them. “Look, I know the risk. I’m not being stupid, even if Holly and Malia are tired of living with me.”
“Am not,” Malia chimed in. She’d come from saying good night to Deb and rejoined the group. “It’s just practice for when we start up the new venture. Besides, you’d do it for me.”
“True.” Darby pulled Malia into a side hug. “It’s weird. When I was talking to Talia about not having family, I was thinking about all of you. I feel like you guys are my family.”
“Found family is the best. You don’t have to love us all the time, and you choose to be part of the group,” Holly said as she returned to the group as well.
Shirley followed her into the circle and sat down with her knitting. “I told Kathy the same thing yesterday when she left. If George leaves, well, I guess when he goes on, I still have family here. Not just friends, although I do have those too. You all are my family and there’s nothing any of you can do about it.”
A smile curved Rarity’s mouth. “Well, Sam, if you can pull yourself from the treat table, I guess it’s time for the second part of tonight’s meeting. We’ve all been so scattered, maybe we need to do a round-robin and see what everyone knows.”
“Your new paper inserts for the investigations are on your chair,” Shirley added. Shirley always made new notebook papers for each case they worked on. “Along with a new divider so you can keep the two investigations straight. If you need more notepaper or a new pen, there’s some on the register table over there.”
Shirley was a big part of why they were family. She kept everyone going.
Jonathon started the discussion. “Okay, then. I like Rarity’s idea, but let’s do the two cases separately. First up, what do you know or what have you heard about Darby’s stalker? Darby, since you probably have the most information, you can start. Drew said it was okay to talk about your conversation with him.”
Darby walked them through the problems she’d had in Sedona since she’d arrived. Then she talked about the Scotland stalker.
Rarity raised her hand. “Do you think the two men are the same guy?”
Darby shrugged. “No, it feels different. Roger, the Scotland guy, he was from Detroit. He and I talked about things we missed from home. Then after I realized he was getting too close and broke it off, he was upset. He would call and cry on the phone while he left a message. The guy was a mess. I wouldn’t have called the cops except he’d tried to break into the dorms one night. The RA called for me that time.”
“Your house was broken into. That feels the same,” Rarity pointed out.
“Without any buildup. Unless Roger has turned his pain to over-the-top, calculated anger, it’s not him. And last I heard, he was dating a girl from New Jersey and still in Scotland.”
