“Riley, I brought you some breakfast.”
I peeled my eyes open. Dad sat next to my bed, Rocky serene in his lap. There was a tray with a teapot, a glass of orange juice, and golden brown toast on the bureau. I sniffed. “Is that Paulette’s cranberry walnut bread?”
He set Rocky down and got the tray. “You bet.”
Yellow sunlight streamed through the window. I sat up and he settled the tray on my lap.
“What time is it?” I yawned. “Did I pass out?”
He sat again and Rocky blinked up at him. Dad took Rocky back into his lap. “It’s ten o’clock. You were wiped out when Darwin and Pru took you back here and put you to bed. Caroline called me this morning. She had to go to Boston for meetings. She wanted me to tell you that Pru was running things at the ice cream shop and you’re not to get out of bed until you feel ready.” He squeezed my hand. “I wanted to check in on my hero daughter.”
I gulped some tea. “Hero?”
He put Rocky on the bed with me and turned his phone so I could see the screen. The heading on the Penniman Post website read “Fire Ravages Farm Lane Home” and under that “Hero Ice Cream Shop Manager Rescues Dog from Flames.”
I shook my head, sorting through disjointed memories. “Darwin pulled me away from the house. He’s the hero.” I rubbed my eyes and noticed my bandaged finger. “Aaron saved his dog. All I did was catch McGillicuddy and look what I got for my trouble.”
Dad chuckled, but his eyes were serious as he patted my arm.
“Aaron put his dog’s life before his own,” I said. “Is he okay?”
“He’s being treated at the hospital and Donna Danforth is watching McGillicuddy.” Dad frowned. “People are wondering if the fire was started by whoever’s been camping around here.”
Had the camper escalated to arson? Stretch’s face materialized in my mind. Was Cadillac Ranch unknowingly hanging out with an arsonist? It didn’t feel right. “The camper’s only made cooking fires, and tidy ones at that.” Or had a cooking fire simply gotten out of control? I recalled the ring of fire circling Aaron’s house, the pungent smell of gasoline. That was no accidental fire.
Dad nodded toward a plastic bin next to the closet. “Paulette thought you’d like another box of your things.” It was my turn to chuckle. Forget the hero business, Paulette was determined to move the rest of my stuff out of the house. Dad and I chatted for a few more minutes, then he gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Off to the bookshop. Glad you’re okay, honey. Check in when you can.”
Dad went downstairs, trailed by Rocky.
After I finished Paulette’s delicious toasted bread, I showered, the warm water soothing my tense muscles and releasing the smoky smell from my hair. I dressed in shorts and a pale blue linen shirt. Now what?
Answers. I wanted answers. First, I’d see how McGillicuddy was doing and then check out the scene of the fire.
The driveway to Aaron’s house was blocked by the Fire Chief’s SUV. Two vans with state police decals parked along the street and I could see the investigators conferring in the clearing in front of Aaron’s house. Smoke seeped from the singed lawn and weeds that ringed the foundation of the structure. The exterior was charred, the windows gaped open, and part of the roof had collapsed.
I kept walking, my mind reeling. Faint barks came from inside Dandy’s house as I opened the front gate into her rose-filled yard. I knocked at the door but there was no answer.
Her van wasn’t in her driveway. I walked down her driveway to the sagging garage. Beige curtains covered its front windows but through a side window I saw old lawn furniture, bicycles, and a kayak. No van.
She must have gone out. I couldn’t believe she’d left McGillicuddy alone. I wondered if he was tearing her house apart.
I walked up the lane and saw Gerri leaving her house. “Riley!” she called as she rushed toward me. She power walked, doing a little hop every few feet, as her scarves trailed her. I almost laughed when I realized Gerri was running.
“Riley, what an ordeal you’ve been through!” She gave me a quick hug and I melted at her concern.
“It was nothing anyone else wouldn’t have done,” I said.
“Hardly,” she scoffed. “You wouldn’t catch me risking my life for Aaron.” She arranged her scarf around her shoulders and jutted her chin toward my bandaged hand. “I’m glad you’re unscathed—except for where that ungrateful dog bit you.”
“Where’s Mrs. Danforth?” I asked as we walked past Dandy’s rose-filled yard. “It looks like she left McGillicuddy alone in her house.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t something she wanted to do. She does like things just so.” Gerri looked at the garage and sighed. “Except for that garage. What an eyesore. It ruins the view from my pergola. Well, we all have our blind spots. Here, she left a note for you—I was bringing it down just now. She had a golf match in Providence this morning and had to leave early. That’s probably why she couldn’t make other accommodation for McGillicuddy.” She pulled a note from a pocket in her tunic top. “She left this before Flo or I woke up. It has the number of the vet on McGillicuddy’s dog tag. She said you should make sure he doesn’t have rabies.”
“Rabies!” I couldn’t imagine Aaron’s well-loved pet wasn’t vaccinated, but still I reeled as she handed me the note.
“It’s the same vet Flo uses for Mr. Cuddlesworth.” I glanced at the note and the name Liam Pryce jumped out at me.
A silver lining. I stuck the note in my pocket. “Mrs., ah, Gerri, Aaron told me that some neighbors were planning on selling. You haven’t changed your mind?”
“Aaron?” She snorted. “You can’t trust a word he says. I’ll never leave the homestead. You’d have to take me out—what is that vulgar saying?—feet first. No matter what that hussy in the pink car offers.”
“I guess he meant Mrs. Danforth?”
She reared back. “If Donna’s moving, that’s a big surprise to me. A very big surprise indeed. But,” Gerri paused, “she is retiring next year and things are very different from when you were in school, Riley. The things students do now. They just broke up a drug ring in the high school last week.”
We stopped at the driveway into Aaron’s property. Gerri sniffed. “I didn’t think it was possible, but Aaron’s place is now even more of an eyesore.”
“Did you notice anything unusual last night?” I asked.
Gerri’s dark eyebrows knit. “I did notice, well, it’s nothing unusual really. We’re all women of a certain age here on the lane. We all have trouble sleeping. Donna must’ve been quite upset by all the goings-on. I noticed the light on in her shed very late. Sometimes she goes there when she can’t sleep.”
“Before the fire?”
“No, I was sleeping like a log until I heard the fire engines. This was after we all went back home and most of the emergency vehicles left, very early in the morning. Three or four a.m.?” She adjusted her scarf. “Your actions really were quite heroic, Riley.”
I watched the investigators inspect the foundation by the charred front door. “Darwin’s the hero. He pulled me away from the house.”
“Darwin’s a good man.” Gerri waved and called out to the investigators but my mind drifted.
Darwin hasn’t been himself, Pru had said. Darwin was behind Aaron’s house last night. I’d run up and he’d been there before me.
I pushed the uncomfortable thoughts away as the fire chief obeyed Gerri’s summons. He didn’t tell us anything we didn’t know from watching the previous night. “I smelled gasoline,” Gerri said, as if accusing him. He shook his head. Even if he’d learned anything, I’m sure he couldn’t divulge any information.
When we entered the shop, everyone dropped what they were doing and surrounded me. “Are you okay?” “How’s your finger?”
I was overwhelmed by everyone’s concern. As Pru hugged me, I felt tears well. “I’m fine really.” I blinked them back and said, “I have to make a phone call and then it’s back to work for me.”
I went into Buzzy’s office and read the note from Dandy. “I don’t want to disturb Riley. Please give her this number from McGillicuddy’s collar. It’s for Dr. Liam Pryce. She must make sure McGillicuddy’s rabies vaccination is up to date.”
Well, that was one good thing about the morning: I had an excuse to see Dr. Pryce. But no time. A phone call would have to do.
After I told the receptionist what I needed, she put me on hold. To my surprise, Dr. Pryce’s warm voice came on the line. “Riley, I wanted to reassure you. McGillicuddy has been well cared for and is up to date on all his vaccinations.”
My heart rate picked up at the sound of his voice.
“I want to commend you for your bravery. Not everyone would’ve run toward a fire to help like that.”
He said something else about watching for redness or other signs of infection, but I only heard the end. “And if you have further questions, please call me anytime, or stop in.” Oh, how I wished I could think of some further questions.
Brandon knocked on the open door.
I managed to say, “Thank you, Dr. Pryce.”
I floated for a moment then turned to Brandon. “Yes, Brandon.”
“We’re out of mocha almond fudge?”
I tried to focus on my work, but so many customers asked about the fire or congratulated me for saving McGillicuddy. Their concern felt good, but I couldn’t shake the unsettling memory of Darwin running from the back of Aaron’s house.
At one o’clock Pru handed me a covered dish. “I made you lunch. You’ve been through something very stressful, young lady, and you need to rest. We’ll close tonight.”
I felt fine but I needed answers. “I’ll head up to the house. Thanks, Pru.”
As I headed out the door, I saw Darwin in Pru’s kitchen garden.
He ran over to me. “Riley, how are you?”
I gave him a hug. “Darwin, you may well have saved my life and McGillicuddy’s.”
He laughed softly as he rocked back on his heels and jingled the change in his pockets. “McGillicuddy. Take my advice, Riley, next time don’t risk your life for a spoiled little dachshund. That’s not a good trade for the rest of us.”
“You were up there before I was.” I watched him intently, my stomach churning. “How did you get there so quickly?”
Darwin ran a hand along his short white beard. “I wasn’t able to sleep, so I took a walk. I walked up to Town Road, then turned and came back. That’s when I saw the flames. Had my phone, thank goodness, and called it in. When I saw the front door was blocked by fire, I ran to the back because I thought I could get in that way. But whoever set the fires blocked the back door too.” He shook his head. “Who could do such a thing?”
I hated that my first thought was it would be easy enough to check if Darwin called in the fire. I’d ask Tillie. But I’d never met a man who looked so honest.
Darwin seemed more relaxed than I’d seen him in a while. “The fire helped me put some things in perspective, Riley. I know Pru told you that Emily and Kyle offered us scholarship money for Willow. But I made a decision last night. Their scholarship was just another name for bribe. I have faith that things’ll work out in the end.”
Detective Voelker pulled his Penniman Police SUV up to Buzzy’s kitchen door. If he turned his head, he’d see me. He turned his head.
Sigh. “I’d better go.”
“Good luck, Riley. Before I forget, peaches are in. Time to make peach ice cream?”
“Yes, absolutely.” How will I get all those peaches peeled with my hand bandaged?
I walked up the hill. “Detective Voelker!” He waited by the steps. I remembered last night, how he’d stood close to Caroline, his posture protective, concerned. Was he married, I wondered? I threw a careful look at his left hand—no ring—but I knew several married guys who didn’t wear a wedding band. I felt my wariness warm into something close to friendliness.
“Would you like some lunch?” I peeled back the cover on the dish. Pru had made a beautiful grain bowl, full of veggies and cheese, enough to feed a family of four.
“No, thanks,” he cleared his throat. “How are you?”
My approach had thrown him off. I waved my bandaged finger. “Just a scratch.”
“I need to take your statement about last night.”
“Do you mind if I eat this while I talk to you? I’m starving.”
We went inside and I asked him to sit down at the kitchen table.
“Coffee?” I said.
“No, thank you.” He pulled out a pen and notepad. Without Caroline here, he was all business. Sprinkles and Rocky sauntered into the kitchen. Sprinkles yawned and settled into a patch of sunlight. Rocky watched us, his eyes hardly blinking, tail swishing. He was sizing up Voelker. So was I. As I related my experience the previous night, I wondered: How much did I share of my own investigations? Could I get any information from him?
Voelker glanced down the hall.
“Looking for someone?” I took a bite of Pru’s delicious salad.
His neck reddened and he scratched his throat. Ah, his tell. “I’m aware that Miss Spooner has gone back to work in Boston. I asked her to keep me apprised of her whereabouts.”
“She’ll be back this weekend,” I said.
His face shut down, the professional cop back, but not before I saw his lips curve. Maybe he was human.
As I answered his questions about the fire I struggled with my decision to keep my thoughts about Darwin to myself. Darwin’s explanation made sense, right? Why would Darwin want to harm Aaron?
A thought chilled me. Maybe it was because Aaron had Darwin on surveillance tape the night of the murder?
“Do you believe him?” The words were out before I could stop them.
Voelker’s eyes leveled a keen look. “Him, who?”
“Aaron said he didn’t have his security cameras on the night of Mike’s murder.” Why would Aaron say that if it wasn’t true? Was Aaron protecting someone? A thought sprang to mind: Was Aaron blackmailing someone?
Blackmail? Aaron had mentioned “the real estate gal”—Emily again. She’d admitted being at the Love Nest the night of the murder. Did his security tapes capture evidence that she’d killed Mike? Would Aaron protect Emily—for a price?
I wondered if those tapes were ashes now.
Voelker was silent as he gathered his papers. “That’s all for now. Thank you.”
We went to the door. Some interviewer I was—I hadn’t learned anything from him. Even Rocky and Sprinkles shot me disdainful looks as they stalked away.
I decided to throw caution to the wind. “When did you start working here in Penniman?”
Voelker pulled up short, and gave me a puzzled, but good-humored look. “Last summer.”
“Are you married?” Asking for a friend.
He laughed, shaking his head. “Goodbye, Ms. Rhodes.”
I ran upstairs and rustled through the box of clothes Paulette had sent over. I slipped into a blue dress made of one of those no-wrinkle wonder fabrics. It fit! It was a miracle. I tied a scarf around my neck and put on lipstick. I was the hero of Farm Lane. I hoped the hospital would let me talk to Aaron.
But when I asked at the hospital Information Desk, the receptionist told me that he was in ICU. Her desk was ringed with photos of a German shepherd. “Come back tomorrow. I’m sure he’ll talk to you. You’re the girl who saved him and his dog, right?”
“Just his dog,” I said.
She patted my hand. “His most precious possession.”
I headed back to the shop where crates of peaches were stacked by the back door. Buzzy’s voice rang in my ears: “Fresh fruit must go into the ice cream within twenty-four hours.”
Flo greeted me. “Riley, you’re supposed to be resting.”
“While you have all the fun?” I tied on an apron, fumbling the strings with my bandaged hand. Flo took the strings and tied them for me. “I have to get going on the peaches.”
She pursed her lips. “With your finger bandaged?”
McGillicuddy had to bite me on my right hand. Could I still use a knife? “No worries.”
Gerri called my name from the front of the shop. Flo and I went to the counter, where Cadillac Ranch was taking a massive double-scoop cone from Gerri’s hand.
He touched the brim of his hat. “Ladies. I have a proposition.”
Three heart rates ticked up simultaneously.
“Word is that you have a lot of peaches. Peach ice cream’s my favorite. I’d like to offer an exchange. I’ve been getting a little rusty and playing would help me keep my fingers and voice in shape. Singing here the other night was a pleasure. If you’d let me play again, you could pay me in peach ice cream.”
“That’s a deal,” I said. “I’ll do my best to get the ice cream ready but I’m a bit slow right now.” I raised my bandaged hand.
His deep brown eyes radiated concern. “What happened?”
Flo launched into a highly embellished description of my rescue of McGillicuddy.
“My buddy Stretch knows his way around a kitchen. I have it on good authority that he’s free this evening,” Jasper said. “If you like, I could bring him to help.”
Stretch? My stomach fell. Stretch, the strange guy who I thought was the firebug? But … this was an opportunity to question him. We wouldn’t be alone in the shop. Plus, Jasper vouched for him. “Can I pay him in ice cream too?”
“I think he’d like that. We’ll be back around seven.” He touched his hat and went outside.
“Stretch the vagabond used to work in a kitchen?” Gerri sniffed. “It must’ve been before whatever misfortune befell him and sent him onto the streets.”
I shrugged. “If he can make ice cream, I’m happy to have the help.”