Scandal at the Salty Dog: An MM Cozy Mystery (Secrets and Scrabble Book 4) by Josh Lanyon

Author:Josh Lanyon [Lanyon, Josh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: JustJoshin Publishing, Inc.
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

“Thank heavens you’re all right!” Nora exclaimed when Ellery walked into the Crow’s Nest a little after six.

“A funny thing happened on the way to get Miss Blackwell her books.”

Watson practically fell over his feet in his rush to get to Ellery. His whimpers sounded strangled as he braced his front paws on Ellery’s legs, begging to be picked up.

“Hey, what’s all this about?” Ellery picked Watson up and cuddled him. “Did you think I’d abandoned you?”

Watson frantically licked Ellery’s chin and face, so the answer seemed to be yes.

“Thanks for sending Jack,” Ellery told Nora. “If he hadn’t shown up, I’d still be sitting in Miss Blackwell’s haunted basement, counting the spiders.”

“Haunted?”

“Well, atmospheric.”

“What on earth happened?”

Ellery told her the entire story from start to finish.

At the end of his recital, Nora, predictably, seemed more intrigued than concerned.

“Miss Blackwell’s intruder doesn’t seem to have been in any hurry.”

“No. He didn’t. He was definitely surprised to see me. Which means he knew Miss Blackwell is in the hospital. He wasn’t expecting any interruptions.”

“I don’t suppose you could tell what was missing from the house?”

Ellery thought back, tried to visualize walking through the front hall of the Black House. “I wasn’t there—or at least wasn’t upstairs—long enough to be sure. But I don’t know that anything was missing.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, for example, when the Barbys were being burgled, it was obvious. There were signs of staging inside the house. The burglars had gathered everything they were taking in the front room. They had a vehicle to move the heavier items, like televisions and safes and electronics. They had boxes to put wine in. Paintings were stacked together. Here, it didn’t seem like anything was out of place, and there wasn’t so much as a backpack in sight.”

“Maybe he’d just arrived.”

“That’s possible. He knew he had plenty of time, and so he decided to have a snack before he got to work. I didn’t see any car or bike or any kind of transportation, but maybe he didn’t have far to travel.”

“And it seems he works alone.”

“Yes. It does seem that way.”

“That raises a number of possibilities,” Nora said thoughtfully. “By the way, I rescheduled the interviews you missed.”

Ellery groaned. “Blowing off an interview. That’s bound to impress any prospective employee.”

Nora brushed that off. “It’s an employer’s market on this island.” She gathered her belongings. “Have a good evening, dearie.”

“Thanks for staying late, Nora.”

Her smile was unexpectedly affectionate. “So long as you’re all right. That’s the main thing.”

* * * * *

Since he still had to stop by the grocery store to pick up dinner, Ellery decided Miss Blackwell would have to wait one more evening for her books.

He made a quick trip to the market to pick up beer, chicken, tomatoes, fresh parsley and other herbs, as well as Jack’s favorite ice cream for dessert. By now he knew Jack well enough to know what Jack liked to eat. He was not as health conscious as Ellery, but he did appreciate simple, good food and home-cooked meals, which was kind of Ellery’s specialty.

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