Seaview Cottages Cozy Mystery Box Set by Anna Celeste Burke

Author:Anna Celeste Burke [Burke, Anna Celeste]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, cosy, Box set, cozy, seaview cottages cozy mysteries, mystery series
Publisher: Anna Celeste Burke
Published: 2020-04-30T22:00:00+00:00

10 Doth Protest Too Much

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” – Hamlet

∞

“You’d better hurry up and help yourself to lunch before I make my way back to the appetizer. Marty did not exaggerate when she praised your cooking.”

“Thank you,” I replied as I put food on a plate. “I’m glad the trouble here hasn’t spoiled your appetite. It must be more than an inconvenience for a man as busy as you are. Marty says you manage rental properties all over the area—including properties at the Blue Haven Resort.”

Marty glanced at me sideways since she hadn’t said anything about him managing resort properties. I was fishing for any connection he might have to the nearby resort, and it worked. I paid careful attention to every word he said as I ate heartily.

“Marty thinks I work too hard. She could be right. I’m thinking about scaling back and maybe even taking a little time off to travel. I don’t let the job get to me, and I’ve managed properties where the guests have done lots worse damage than the intruders did here. The Blue Haven realty folks know better than to blame me for it, although they do expect a quick turnaround t0 get the property back into rentable condition. I have almost zero contact with the homeowners there since most of the properties are timeshares rather than private residences like this one.”

“George is being polite, Miriam. The members of the De Voss family aren’t always the easiest people to work for. They want the work done fast, just like at the resort, but they call the shots about who can do the repair work.”

“Hey, no sweat! Why not hire people who are already familiar with the property? Who wants to worry about some lowlife taking unauthorized photos of the interior or selling stories to the tabloids about cleaning up after a ghost? The family has always been high profile. They’ve learned to take precautions. I do careful screening before accepting someone as a tenant. Why wouldn’t they do the same with the maintenance personnel they hire?”

“I can’t imagine all the properties you manage have errant ghosts as troublemakers, do they?” I asked. He laughed and swigged down the wine in his glass. The wine was excellent, but I’d almost done a spit take when I saw the label. At sixty dollars a bottle, George Pierson’s good taste costs a pretty penny.

“Fortunately, no! One haunted house is more than enough.” He said as he filled his glass and then paused to gaze at me. “You’re not serious, are you? I’m afraid I set off the ghost thing when Robyn first called me insisting that someone had been in the cottage even though nothing had been taken. She wanted to call the police, but to report what crime? Eventually, she tried, and they scoffed at her.”

“When was that?” Marty asked.

“I’m not sure, but it came up before she renewed her lease almost a year ago. Who renews a lease on a house if they seriously believe someone’s breaking in and going through their stuff?” He shrugged.

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