Cheddar Late Than Dead by Linda Reilly

Author:Linda Reilly
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2022-11-18T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Once Carly was seated in her car with Havarti buckled safely in the back seat, she checked her phone for messages. She was dismayed to see she’d missed two text messages from Penny Harper, the second more urgent than the first.

Carly started her engine and called her.

“Carly, thank heaven you called!” Penny sounded tearful, almost frantic. “I…I have a problem. A dilemma, really, and I need your advice. I know you’re busy, but is there a chance you can stop over at my office?”

“I just picked up Havarti from the groomer. Let me bring him home first, and I’ll be right over.”

Penny sighed with relief and thanked her. “See you soon.”

After she disconnected, Carly grimaced. How was she going to justify her absence, yet again, from the restaurant?

On the other hand, she was the owner, the boss. And now that Valerie was on board, Carly’s occasional treks out of the office shouldn’t create a hardship. It was one of the reasons she’d hired an assistant manager—that, and to help with the workload.

She called Valerie and explained her plan.

“You go right ahead,” Valerie told her, a smile in her voice. “The lunch crush is dwindling, and we’re keeping up just fine.”

“Thanks, Val. I’ll try not to be too long. Maybe you and I can have a chat later?”

“Absolutely. Let’s make it a plan. Oh, and wait till you see the poster Gina made for the raffle tickets! It’s rad!”

Carly smiled to herself. Gina had come through for her again.

After bringing Havarti home, Carly headed to the town hall. Penny was pacing in front of Gretel’s office, waiting for her. Her eyes were puffy and her cheeks pale. She looked as if she’d gotten zero sleep the night before. When she saw Carly, she opened Gretel’s door quickly and nearly shoved her inside.

Without a word, Carly followed Penny across Gretel’s office and through the side door into Penny’s.

“I didn’t mean to alarm you,” Penny fretted, closing her office door, “but now that the police declared Gretel officially missing, I can’t keep quiet any longer.”

Carly sat down and loosened her scarf. For Penny to be this agitated, it had to be big.

Penny sat down and opened her lower desk drawer—the same one where she’d stored the raffle tickets. This time she pulled out a clear plastic bag. It was the same bag Carly had seen before.

Penny plopped the bag onto her desk and tore open the seal. “When Gretel first went missing,” she explained, “I searched through her desk. I was looking for something, anything that might have her mom’s address on it. Instead, I…found these.” Her face reflected her misery as she pushed the bag toward Carly.

Carly held up one finger. “Hold on.” She reached into her tote and dug out the vinyl gloves she always carried. They’d come in handy on more than one occasion, and she didn’t want to risk leaving fingerprints. She slipped them on and reached inside the plastic bag, pulling out all the envelopes at once.

The envelopes, which were identical, were about the size of a greeting card.

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