Chapter Eighteen
Mrs B prepared her morning coffee and warmed her bran muffin.
She filled Duck’s water bowl and refilled his kibble dish, then, snuggled up in her robe, she retrieved the morning paper from the front door of her sister’s house.
As Mrs B settled in at the kitchen table, ready to ease herself into the day, she realised that her reading glasses were nowhere to be found.
After a ten-minute search, she surmised that she must have left them sitting on her desk at work.
She looked around for a spare pair that she often kept in the kitchen, but they too seemed to have magically disappeared.
“Damn,” she muttered.
Duck lifted his head from his kibble bowl and looked at her.
She stared at him for a moment. Her routine had been interrupted, but she wasn’t about to let it ruin her day.
She glanced at the clock on the stove. Seven-oh-five.
She sighed. There was only one thing to do.
Mrs B stood and walked to her room to get dressed.
As she put on her jacket, she poked her head into the kitchen.
“Come on, boy. We’re going to work early today. ”
Duck stood, shook himself and walked with her to the front door.
They made their way to the LRT, disembarking from the C-train at the Sunnyside Station, and walked what normally would have been ten minutes to the office.
Duck’s sniffing at every lamp post and garbage bin added at least another ten minutes to the trip, not that Mrs B was in any hurry. It was a beautiful morning.
As she arrived at the street-level door of the office, she noticed Gwen hadn’t opened the café yet.
Perhaps she was still in the back baking.
Mrs. B would pick up a few sweets for the boys after she had read her paper.
She headed up the stairs and opened the main door of the office, punching in the code before the alarm went off.
Declan and Charlie would definitely not be pleased if she woke them this early.
She knew they’d probably been out late the night before celebrating Charlie’s birthday and were likely still asleep in the apartment above the office.
Mrs B dropped the leash, went to her desk and fetched her glasses. As she slipped them onto her face, Duck began snuffling about, dragging his leash behind him. He wove back and forth, his nose glued to the floor. Eventually he stopped in front of the washroom door. He rose up and scratched at it.
“What in heaven’s name are you doing?”
He turned and looked at her, then barked loudly.
“Shush, or you’ll wake up the boys.”
Duck frantically started to scratch at the door, like he was trying to dig his way through it.
“What’s up with you, you crazy dog?”
She got a hold of the leash and pulled him away. He immediately pulled back to the door and barked.
“Fine. I’ll open the door for you.”
As soon as she opened it, she saw the problem.
The glass in the lower window of the washroom was missing.
She dropped Duck’s leash and the dog sniffed around then took off.
She followed him. Duck snuffled around the floor like he was tracking a scent.
He hovered by the entrance to Charlie’s office, sniffing into the room before quickly leaving and heading into Declan’s office.
He continued snuffling toward the door that led to the apartment stairs.
Mrs B felt a strange chill.
She led Duck back to her desk. “Sit! Stay!” she said, and the dog obeyed. After closing the door so he couldn’t sneak back into Declan’s office, she headed to the apartment stair doorway.
Please don’t let anything bad have happened.
She opened the door and called up. “Declan, it’s Joan. Is everything all right?”
She stood for a moment, then heard some rustling. Declan appeared at the top of the stairs in his underwear. He looked particularly bleary-eyed.
“Mrs B. What are you doing in so early?”
From out in the main room Duck barked.
“No time for that right now,” she said. “You’d better put something on and come downstairs.”
She went back to the dog and examined her desk to see if anything was out of place, but everything seemed exactly as she’d left it the day before.
In a few minutes Declan and Charlie stepped out of the office, dressed in jeans and rumpled T-shirts.
“Sorry to bother you, but I forgot my reading glasses here, so I decided to come in early. Duck and I came in to get them and he sensed something was wrong. He kept trying to get into the washroom. When I looked…well, go see for yourself.”
Declan and Charlie disappeared into the washroom for a moment then returned.
“The alarm was on when you came in?” Declan asked Mrs B.
She nodded.
“Well, whoever broke in knew just where to do it,” Declan continued. “The fire escape near that window’s an easy access point, and the contact alarm on the window frame is simple enough to override.”
Mrs B sat on the couch. Duck pressed himself against her legs.
“I checked my desk and it looks fine. Do you want to check your offices and see if anything is missing?” she asked.
Declan and Charlie quickly inspected their offices and returned.
“Nothing really seems out of place in my office,” Charlie said.
Declan added, “Same with me. There’s no money to steal, and my safe hasn’t been touched.”
“Why would someone break in?” Mrs B asked. “Were they looking for something?”
“I don’t know,” Charlie replied, “but whoever it was, they took a big chance on us not having motion detectors.”
Mrs B crossed her arms. “Maybe whoever did this has been in the office before and scoped out the place.”
“Maybe,” Declan said.
Duck whined and went to the door of Declan’s office, looking back anxiously.
“Earlier, Duck seemed to be on the trail of a scent that led to your apartment,” Mrs B said. “Weren’t you, boy?”
She walked over and led the dog to the washroom, then tapped at the floor until he put his nose to the ground.
He sniffed a bit at what must have been a strange scent and started to track it.
Mrs B took the leash off him, and the three followed through Declan’s office and up the stairs to the apartment.
Duck looked around, then wandered about sniffing. Whoever had left the scent had moved around the room—to the kitchen cupboards, the armoire, and the dresser.
Duck pawed at the dresser drawer, which was not completely closed.
“You smell something there, boy?” Declan asked.
He reached to open it, but Charlie stopped him. He passed him a nitrile glove.
“Do you always carry one of those?” Declan asked before taking it.
Declan carefully started to slide the drawer open. It let out a screech and Mrs B jumped.
“If we were here and they did go into that drawer, we would have heard it,” Charlie said.
Declan pulled the drawer fully open. Mrs B peered over their shoulders. The drawer was filled with cufflinks, tie pins, and miscellaneous items, including an unopened pack of cards.
Declan frowned. “I don’t get it. There’s nothing of value in here worth stealing.”
Duck nosed his way in and stuffed his snout into the drawer. He let out a sharp bark.
“I’m sorry, boy,” Declan said. “I’m not sure what you’re smelling but I don’t think anyone would take anything from here.”
Declan paused. “Doesn’t this look like another break-in we looked into recently?”
“Do you think it’s the same person that broke into Michael’s?” Charlie asked.
“That’s what I’m worried about.”
Mrs B had seen that look on Declan’s face before. He was concerned. She put the leash back on Duck, then stroked his head. “Good boy.”
Declan rubbed his temple. “I’m a little foggy from last night. Why don’t we get some coffee and a few pastries to clear our heads. Mrs B, do you want anything?”
“Just a coffee. I’ll go back down to the office with Duck and see if he sniffs out anything else.”
* * * *
When Declan tried the door to Gwen’s café it was still locked. He moved to the front window and looked in. Gwen was standing behind the counter, crying. She was being held by Sam.
Declan gently knocked on the window. Sam and Gwen looked at him, then Sam headed to the door and let him in.
“We were just going to call you. Someone broke in here last night.”
“Is Gwen all right?” Charlie asked.
“She’s pretty shaken. We’re just waiting for the police to show up.”
“You might want to send them upstairs when they’re done,” Declan said. “We just found out we were broken into as well.”
Sam scowled. “What the fuck?”
Declan turned to Gwen. “Are you okay?”
She shook her head. “I can’t understand it. I got in this morning ready to bake and that’s when I noticed…”
“Noticed what?” Declan asked.
“Little pebbles of rat…shit on my front counter,” she said with a look of disgust on her face.
“I’ve never seen a rat in my place. Ever.
I was almost sick. I scoured the counters and bleached them just to be sure.
Then I wanted to just get to work, so I opened the flour bin.
You know the one I keep sealed next to the fridge?
I opened it, and it was sprinkled with rat droppings! ”
She began to breathe harder.
“Everything will have to go in the garbage. I can’t trust anything. That’s when I called your father. I didn’t know what else to do.”
Declan gently put his hand on her shoulder. “You did the right thing.”
“But it gets weirder. I decided to make a coffee, so I went to the grinder and turned it on and…it made the most horrible sound. When I looked inside the grinding chamber…it was filled with bits of ribbon and metal. Someone ruined my grinder. Why? Why would they do that? Does someone have something against me?”
Charlie said, “I don’t think this is personal. It’s probably just some random act of vandalism. Was there any money stolen?”
“No. I don’t keep money on the premises at night. It’s all just so weird.”
Sam said, “Take a look at this. This is what Gwen found in the grinder chamber.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out his handkerchief and unfolded it. Inside, was what was left of a medallion.
Declan took it from him. He examined it, turned it over and looked at the back. He looked at Charlie.
“No…” Charlie said under his breath.
The medal had been twisted by the force of the grinder, but Declan recognised it immediately.
It was the Vriend medal he had been awarded last year.
It was distinctive, because the name had been improperly inscribed with the name of Councillor Frasniak on the back.
Declan had put it in a drawer with other miscellaneous items—the drawer that Duck had been sniffing at.
“Gwen,” Declan said, “this medal came from our place upstairs.”
Sam interjected. “There’s something else I think you should see.”
He led Declan and Charlie to an area of the rear counter on the other side of the grinder. There was a message neatly spelled out in rat droppings. It read ‘Come for me.’
Gwen asked, “What do you think it means?”
Declan shook his head. “I’m not sure, but I don’t think any of this is about you. I think this message is meant for me.”