Inquiring Minds and Death by Patti Larsen

Author:Patti Larsen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Patti Larsen Books

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Chapter Sixteen

I initiated the search for Martin Aberstock as soon as I sat at my desk, making a few calls, though a glance at the clock told me if I didn’t hurry, I’d miss meeting Alicia and Carrie at the condos. Knowing the people I’d been in touch with specialized in just this sort of task and would do a good job without me hovering over the phone, I harnessed up my pug and headed home, picking up the car for the drive to the edge of town where the new condo development was fully underway.

Of the three lovely buildings Jared designed, two housed thirty-two units a piece in four floors, though the central building was the largest, but with the least number of condos, all oversized and extravagant, twenty-four units with the top floor the current home of Daisy and Emile. I’d drooled over the interior of their penthouse and admired the stone and whitewashed siding with the lovely landscaping and interior courtyard home to a large swimming pool. A small restaurant and café graced the first floor of the main building, along with a gym and a handful of office spaces, an attempt, I suppose, to lure companies to develop a sort of business park and further development in the area. I wondered if the current trend to rent out units like these short-term to tourists would become an issue in Reading, but I was out of that racket, and Mom firmly ensconced as the Queen of The Iris, it didn’t really alter my life one way or another.

I spotted Alicia and Carrie emerging from the second building, only now completed, from what I heard, the third still under construction. Jared’s truck was in the parking lot, but I didn’t bother him, knowing he was hard at work, instead joining the two women as they talked.

Carrie seemed surprised to see me, Alicia nodding to me and fading back out of the way, allowing me to speak to her client alone. It was clear my friend wasn’t entirely happy with the situation, but she gave me the room I needed to work and for that I was grateful.

Petunia, for her part, did her thing, immediately pouncing on Carrie’s toes with that wide load of her read end before requesting attention from someone who had already proven willing to supply such ministrations. As if unable to stop herself, an unconscious act that soothed her visibly as much as it pleased Petunia, Carrie knelt and patted the pug with both hands, as though throwing herself into the dog massage could heal all that ailed her.

Petunia was a magical little thing, so you just never knew what could happen.

“I didn’t properly introduce myself,” I said, going with the firm tone again, keeping it casual and kind but not overly sympathetic. Seemed to work, Carrie willingly extending one hand to take a card, which she took with a flinch, but read it as I spoke. “Fiona Fleming, Fleming Investigations.”

“You found Lance Dustin’s body last night.

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