The Secret of Seaside by Agatha Ball

Author:Agatha Ball
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: mystery, cozy mysteries, seashore, cozy mystery, island town, beach, chick lit, women sleuths, funny, sweet, clean romance, clean mystery, clean cozy mystery, Beach reads, beach mysteries, beach mystery, small town mystery, culinary cozy, bakery cozy, bookshop cozy, book store cozy, seaside
Publisher: Katherine Danley
Published: 2017-03-24T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Nate walked me home and, fortunately, there were no creepy people lurking in the tall grass. Still, I appreciated it, and there was a sweetness in the way he said goodnight that kept me smiling till I drifted off to sleep.

He was at the coffee shop first thing in the morning, and a few minutes later Johnny wandered in looking for his breakfast.

"Hey, Johnny!" I said as I put together a bag of goodies for him. "Got a minute?"

"Always. What's up?"

"We're gonna catch a criminal. You in?"

He considered for a moment. "Can I wear a fedora?"

"You got one?"

"Maybe."

"If you can find it, you can wear it."

"I'm in."

I motioned to Nate. "Have the two of you met?"

Johnny jerked his chin in friendly greeting. "Whaddup?"

"Thank you for trying to rescue my uncle," Nate said, reaching out to shake Johnny's hand.

Johnny's arm was sort of noodly, like he didn't exactly know how the shaking hands thing worked. "It's all good," he replied.

As they talked, I walked to the front door and flipped the sign to "Closed." After that sailor somehow knew Nate and I were planning on doing a little sleuthing, I was completely paranoid. We only needed five uninterrupted minutes, so hopefully we could squeeze in our conversation before the caffeine addicts showed up, jonesing for their morning hit.

I walked over to the counter and pulled out a paper map of the main street. It was one of those touristy things we handed out to folks just off the ferry. It was hand drawn and was all about the shops and what they offered.

"So, we know that your uncle was buying up land under all of these shops." I pointed to all of the buildings on the side of the street opposite to the beach.

"And I stayed up late going through his paperwork and saw that he had only gotten as far as this corner." Nate circled the buildings on the right-hand side.

I gave a low whistle. "He was one building away from owning the land under Granny's bookshop."

Johnny let out a breath. "That would have like... seriously sucked. Like. For serious."

"Totally," I agreed. I turned to Nate. "I guess first up, we need to decide if people were mad at him for buying up the land, or mad at him because he was thinking about buying up the land." I stared at the door to Granny's upstairs apartment. "I'll start with Granny and see if she had any idea that your uncle was after this place. She'll be able to let us know if it was general knowledge or something folks found out after the fact."

"And I'll start talking to people on this side of the ferry dock," said Nate.

"Which means I can ask people on this side..." Johnny looked at the map and then squinted at it. He flipped it upside down and then looked outside. "Wait. Which side am I talking to?"

"Anyone you can talk to, Johnny," I offered. "If you run across any of your friends, anyone you know, just chat them up and find out if they heard anything.

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