Chapter 2
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No matter how many times Doreen checked the local news or any of her usual online gossip sites, she found no mention of anything criminal happening in town.
So far, Mack had done everything he could to avoid answering her messages.
Of course he was ignoring her because he knew perfectly well what she wanted to ask him.
She groaned. He was clever; she would give him that.
She could hardly blame him, yet it was frustrating.
She wanted to learn more about this case and to see if she could do anything to help.
Still, she knew it was unlikely that she would be allowed to participate.
That was almost a given, but she could at least hope that somebody might throw her a bone at some point in time.
She went through her day, impatiently wondering about Mack’s new case. An hour after cleaning up the kitchen, not hearing from Mack, she finally had a sandwich for dinner.
He contacted her later, sounding tired and worn out. “I’ll go straight home tonight,” he shared. “I’ll grab a few hours of sleep, then head back into the office.”
“I’m sorry,” she muttered. “One of those, is it?”
“Yeah, it sure is,” he confirmed, “and nothing can be done about it right now. Hopefully we’ll get some more information soon. And, before you ask, no. … I can’t tell you anything about it.”
“Got it,” she noted, understanding. It’s what she had expected, but hearing the fatigue in his voice drained away her frustration.
“If you’re bored already, you can always go back to Solomon’s files,” he suggested, with a note of humor.
“I might just do that.” She chuckled, realizing he was right. “You try to get some rest.”
When he hung up, she sat back and sighed.
All she knew was that something had happened in the underbrush.
Whatever that meant. Still, Mack sounded like the last thing he needed was for her to hound him about it.
So the least she could do was try to stay out of his world and make it a little easier on him.
With that thought, she headed to bed and woke up the next morning, determined to find something else to focus on. She was about to go to Solomon’s files when Nan called her, asking about all of Mathew’s houses down south.
“We did Mathew’s primary home in Vancouver,” she muttered.
“I left Nick and Scott in charge of going through his other homes there, working with the local realtor. That way Mack and I don’t have to spend more time down there.
However, we must go through Robin’s home ourselves.
Yet I’m sure not ready to go back anytime soon. ”
“Do you think it’ll be a showpiece, like Mathew’s style?” Nan asked.
“I have no idea. Robin was a very ambitious lawyer, and appearances might matter to her. Yet I don’t know that they mattered to her in quite the same way as they did for Mathew.”
“I don’t think anything mattered to Mathew quite like showing up everyone else,” Nan declared, followed by a sniff. “I’m so glad you got away from him. That marriage was no good for you. I’m sure revisiting your home with him was not fun for you either. At least you are through with it.”
“I’m not even sure we’ve got it all cleaned out yet.
We did stay a couple extra days and brought in a charity group to get rid of the rest of the furniture and whatnot.
We’ve got professional cleaners going through it afterward as well.
So, other than that, I don’t have an update,” she added, rubbing her temple.
She’d been happy to ignore the remaining stuff, leaving it for Nick and Scott to handle.
“Well, you must be close to being done with that house then.”
“That’s the hope,” she stated. “Still, I have Robin’s house to personally deal with before it can be sold, before I know what to do about it. Then Mathew had other Vancouver properties too, plus another one in France.”
After a moment of silence, Nan asked, her tone a little off, “You won’t move there, will you?”
“Good gosh, no,” she replied. “Yet, like Mathew’s main home, I’ve got to deal with taxes, utilities, furnishings, and whatnot.
” She took a moment and sighed. “Who is paying the annual taxes, the monthly utilities now? Who is looking after these overseas homes? For all I know, squatters have broken in and taken up residence. I mean, it’s a lot to consider. ”
“All good questions,” Nan agreed. “Maybe you should take a trip over there and see them for yourself.”
“What? You’re not afraid that I might stay?” Doreen quipped.
Nan, her voice suddenly sad, admitted, “I would hate to see you move that far away, but I would certainly understand it.”
“Well, I would never,” Doreen declared. “I won’t walk away from you now.”
“Ha,” Nan replied. “If you get a good opportunity to go somewhere, you should take it.”
“It does seem like a good opportunity to take a holiday. However, I’m not committing myself to something like that right now.”
Nan agreed. “A real vacation this time.”
“Well, it’ll be a working holiday, since we’ll have to inspect the property, meet with local lawyers and any realtors involved, and figure out how to liquidate the contents,” she clarified. “I don’t know what to do with all this. Mathew left a huge asset base.”
“Sounds to me like he left a huge headache too,” Nan added, with a chuckle.
“That’s the problem with money,” Doreen noted. “You have to look after it.”
“I know, child,” she muttered.
“I’m sure he’s up there, screaming at me about the lousy job I’m doing right now.”
“Well, he can scream all he wants, but I bet Scott’s a very happy camper.”
At that, Doreen burst out laughing. “Oh, I think he’s ecstatic,” she said.
“I’m still not 100 percent sure we found all the hidey-holes in Mathew’s primary home, but I think we got most of them.
After we had settled everything else, we did a good walk-through, and I know Nick plans to take another trip next week to confirm that everything looks good.
So, at least that’s taken care of. Hopefully it will hit the market sooner rather than later, and I, for one, won’t be upset when it sells. ”
“Of course,” Nan muttered. “Some memories are better left alone.”
“Exactly, and the fact that such a valuable collection was there was enough to make me cringe.”
Nan laughed. “Of course. When you think about it, that’s a lot of money for most people, particularly in today’s world.
… I mean, not everybody has the means to even put food on the table, and there Mathew was, with millions of dollars just sitting in that one house.
” Nan snickered. “I’m sure all the local criminals are completely devastated that you’ve taken it all away.
… So, did you get any more information?”
Doreen didn’t even pretend to misunderstand her question. “No, Mack went straight to his place last night, exhausted, planning to get up early again. He also made a point of telling me that he couldn’t say anything.”
“Of course not,” Nan muttered in a gloomy tone. “It really sucks though. Something is going on, and we don’t know anything about it.”
“He suggested I get into Solomon’s files if I was bored, though I’m not sure that bored is the right word,” she noted, while sounding exhausted herself.
“Having just come back home, I’m still kind of tired myself, but anything happening locally is fascinating.
So, I can’t help but wonder what’s going on. ”
“Of course,” Nan agreed, “but reviewing Solomon’s files is not a bad idea either. Did you set up a file of the ones that you’ve solved?”
“Hmm. No, I hadn’t considered doing that,” she admitted, as she glanced over at the boxes full of Solomon’s paperwork. “There’s just so much of it.”
“I know,” Nan replied, “and that’s one of the reasons I think it might be good for you to focus on that. I’m not saying that you’ll be able to solve all these, even in your lifetime, but everything that you’ve solved so far is amazing. I’m sure Solomon is looking down on you, smiling.”
“It must not be very busy up there if Solomon is watching me,” she teased.
“When my time comes,” Nan stated, “I’ll be looking over your shoulder too.”
Doreen smiled at the thought. “It makes me very happy to think such a thing is even a possibility, since I’m really not looking forward to the day you decide to cross over.”
“Cross over,” Nan repeated, chuckling, “such an interesting phrase.”
“I’ve heard the term transition, but that sounds odd too.”
“It all sounds odd. I mean, I know that life isn’t over when I die,” Nan pointed out, “so it doesn’t matter what we call it. I’m just happy to know that I have the chance to keep watch over you regardless, because you do get into a lot of trouble, child.”
“But not on purpose, and, if you can watch over me … afterward, I would love that,” she murmured.
“At least maybe then I can watch the wedding,” she added, with a heavy pause, “in case it doesn’t happen before then.”
Doreen rolled her eyes and braced herself as Nan continued.
“Because, child, it’s a perfect time right now to plan your wedding while you don’t have a case.”
“And yet it’s still so far in the future that I don’t find it necessary just yet.” She could almost see Nan’s shoulders slump at that comment. “I need to take the animals out for a long walk. The trip down south was pretty stressful for them, and they aren’t exactly back to normal yet.”
“Of course not,” Nan agreed. “Where are you going on your walk?”
“I was thinking maybe we would walk in the cemetery. Maybe visit Big Guy. I feel like I need to do something to cheer up Thaddeus.”
“He does love doing that,” Nan stated, with a chuckle. “Too bad Big Guy doesn’t talk back.”
“And yet he seems to communicate with Thaddeus just fine.”
“The walk and the visit will be good for all of you. I mean, you worked pretty hard on Mathew’s house.”
“I still feel worn out,” she admitted, “but, more than that, I’m frustrated that there’s a case, and I don’t know anything about it.”
“You will soon enough,” Nan stated comfortably. “And maybe this one will be something they can close pretty fast, so they can do it without you.”
“We all know they can do it without me, Nan.” Doreen chuckled. “I’m not arrogant to the point of thinking that these cases can’t be closed without me. They did just fine before I came to town, after all.”
“I don’t know how fine they did before you got here,” Nan muttered, with a huff. “They certainly had a lot of cold cases, but I hear what you’re saying. I think you need a bit of a break.”
“Maybe,” she muttered.
After she hung up with Nan, Doreen looked over at the animals. “What do you think, guys? Should we go for a walk?”
They all responded instantly and in complete agreement.