Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 96641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
“Hello,” Thelma Mullen answered cheerfully.
I grinned instantly. “Hi, I don’t want to bother you on vacation, but I have a couple of questions if you don’t mind.”
“Good,” she chirped. “I’m so excited to talk to you. How are you? Are you missing us? We can come back if you need us for a case.”
“No,” I said quickly. “You and Georgiana deserve a vacation.”
The two elderly women had pretty much adopted me during an earlier case and had even helped in other cases. However, I knew they’d be trying to track down the Cupid robbers if they were in town, considering they’d started their own detective agency with my grandmother not long ago. It greatly relieved me that they were currently in Cabo at a senior’s retreat.
“Are you getting a lot of sun?” I asked.
“So much, and Georgiana met a man. I think he’s okay, but she likes him a lot, so that’s nice.”
She and Georgiana lived together in the Sunnyside Retirement Community.
“What can we help you with, dear?” she asked.
I took a deep breath. “I was wondering if you know anything about Lenny Kristoff?”
“Yes, I know Lenny. He’s a member of the Elks in town. Nice guy. Probably a couple of weeks away from a heart attack, though. He really does need to join our fitness club. He seems like a decent person.”
Yeah, he could lose some weight. “What do you know about him?”
“Hmm,” she murmured. “He’s been dating Camille Rulegson, who lives a block over from us. She’s a lovely widow from, get this, Vancouver. She’s foreign.”
“Vancouver?” I repeated. “You mean she’s from Canada?”
“Yes. She moved here a while back and is a retired…what was it?” Thelma ticked her tongue for several seconds. “You know, I think she worked with trees. I don’t know, maybe as a landscaper or an arborist or something. Anyway, her garden is just gorgeous, Anna. You really should see it in the spring.”
I made a mental note to see the garden in the spring because I needed to plant flowers around Aiden’s cabin and it’d be nice to get new ideas. “Any chance Lenny is part of a robbery gang?”
Thelma was quiet. “Not that I know of. Is something going on?”
I gave her the lowdown on the Cupids, hoping she didn’t instantly buy a plane ticket home.
“It sounds like you need help,” she said hopefully.
“No, I really don’t. I’m not involved in the case at all,” I said. “I’m just a witness. I can’t have anything to do with it.” No way on Earth would I tell her about Nick’s case. “I just wanted to get the lowdown on Lenny.”
Her disappointment came across the line. “He’s a nice enough guy. I really don’t see him robbing anybody, but I also don’t think he has a lot of money,” she said. “I wish Georgiana was here, but she’s out snorkeling. I’ll ask around and get back to you. I know he lives somewhere in Timber City over by one of the new subdivisions, kind of north, but that’s about it. I don’t even know what he did before he retired,” she said. “I’ll find out.”
“I appreciate it,” I said. “You guys have fun, and no hurry on this. I just wanted to see if you knew anything.” I also wanted to check in and make sure they were safe. I felt like I’d adopted them, as well.
“Sounds good, honey. Bye-bye.” Thelma hung up.
I pushed my phone away and started on my sandwich, pleased that Oliver remembered to add pickles. They were my favorite. I finished and then dialed Aunt Yara.
“Hi, Anna,” she answered.
“Hi, Yara. How’s Violet?”
Yara sighed. “Difficult at the moment. She didn’t want to talk about running from me on the way home, so I didn’t push her. I’m not quite sure what’s going on in her head.”
“Should I talk to her?” I asked.
“She’s at school now,” Yara said. “I feel like we need to give her a little space, then ask her what happened at the courthouse.”
I trusted Yara’s instincts implicitly. “She could always talk to Cousin Wanda.”
“I know. I thought of that,” Yara said.
Cousin Wanda worked in my building as a psychiatrist. She was distantly related to me, but in my world, family was family. “Let’s keep that in mind. What do you think about the basketball game?”
“What basketball game?” Yara asked.
Oh, yeah, I hadn’t talked to her about the plan yet. “The judge suggested that we watch his basketball game on Friday with Violet so she can see him as just a normal person before having to be in a courtroom with him. He also offered to have hot chocolate with us if that would help.”
“That’s excellent. What a nice man. I’ll think about the basketball game Friday after I speak with Violet. I’m just letting her be for the moment.”
“Sounds good. Thanks, Yara.”