Maxi was on the phone when Kate walked into the flower shop.
“It has been crazy since you left,” she said, hanging up the phone. “Cra-zy. The word is spreading about Muriel. About the police investigating her death now. So we’ve lost a few people from the painting crew.”
“But they don’t even have any results yet. It’s just a theory. One of many.”
“I know. But a couple of the parents, they don’t want to take any chances. So they told their boys to come home. Or go to the beach. The good part is that most of the crew is still here.”
“That is good news, I guess.”
“And there is other good news. I talked to Carl. The kitchen is in super good shape. But the storerooms upstairs need fresh paint. He’s got some stuff that has no smell. No gassing? And they’re gonna get those rooms done tonight. He left a chart, in case you want to pick the colors.”
Maxi handed Kate a brochure.
“No VOC? This is perfect for the bakery.”
“It’s also pet-safe, so it’ll be better for you-know-who.”
“Oh, these are beautiful,” Kate said, studying the chart. “I like this one. The butter yellow.”
“That was my pick, too,” Maxi confessed. “But I thought maybe that very light blue for el baño? It’s almost white with just a tiny bit of blue. Super relaxing.”
“Oh, that would be pretty. Should we ask Sam? It’s his place, after all.”
“Nah, Sam wants to delegate. So we let him delegate. Besides, after cleaning up the mess made by the bobo this is the fun stuff.”
“Speaking of fun stuff, I think I bought a bike.”
“You think? Did someone take your wallet and say, ‘Oh, by the way, here’s a bike for you’?”
“Pretty much. I ducked into a bike shop to call the cops after I spotted Ball Cap Man again.”
“No! Are you OK? What happened?”
“I interrupted Ben’s lunch. They didn’t catch the guy. The pub is serving chicken pot pie and strawberry shortcake. And I bought a bike. Well, I’m renting it for a week. With an option to buy, if I can come up with the payments.”
“Claire’s place?”
“Yeah. I thought I could use it for deliveries around town. For the bakery. She’s going to deliver it here tomorrow.”
“Oooh, bike deliveries are a great idea. Cookies on Wheels. Cookies to Go. Cookies on the Go. The Cookie House Express. Well, we can come up with a name later. And Claire will give you a good price. Not like those places near resort town. So I’m dying to know. What happened with Harp?”
“He was a perfect gentleman. But he could be our burglar.”
“What? No! Harp would never burgle. Harp would hire someone to burgle. And he’d make the guy wear white gloves.”
“He loves anise. He wears hard shoes. Granted, some first-class hard shoes. And he smokes.”
“I never knew Harp smoked. Caroline hates smoking.”
“Old habit, it sounds like. And with all the stress lately, he started in again. But he just quit. He’s on the patch. And, by my calculations, he quit just after the break-in.”
“What about his aftershave?” Maxi asked. “Was it the same one?”
“Totally different. His is, well, nice. The other one really wasn’t. That’s what I meant when I said it could be him.”
“Ay, but why would he do it?”
“That doesn’t make sense, either. Harp is thinking about selling the shop. But he seems torn, so he really hasn’t put it on the market yet. Lord heard about the situation with Caroline and made one of his famous lowball offers. When Harp turned him down, he went through the same song and dance he did with Sam. Promised him that no one else would ever want the place.”
“He was a horrible man,” Maxi said. “Squeezing people when they’re hurting.”
“But everything we’ve heard about Lord was that he was a very sharp businessman. Telling someone they won’t get a better offer? That’s pretty standard. Mild, even. But Lord seemed to believe that getting his hands on their property at a rock-bottom price was a sure thing. Almost like it was his right. And when he came into the bakery, he acted like he already owned the place. Why?”
“Because he was awful?”
“No. I mean, yes, he was awful. But I think there was more to it than that. You said he had plans for redeveloping Coral Cay?”
“That was the rumor. More resorts and some very expensive condominiums. And a casino. Maybe a golf course. Peter even heard he was asking questions about putting in an airport. For those little planes the rich guys fly.”
“A private airport?”
Maxi nodded.
“That’s a lot of trouble and planning if you’ve only made a few halfhearted, lowball offers on a couple of pieces of property.”
“So what do you think?”
“Lord’s specialty was getting land for next to nothing. After the hurricanes. And remember what Amos Tully said at the book club meeting? When that wasn’t enough, rumor has it he cut a deal with some of the insurance companies to delay payouts? If that’s true, it means Lord stepped up his game and learned how to get even more land for next to nothing.”
“You think he learned a new trick?” Maxi asked.
“I do,” Kate replied. “I suspect Stewart Lord had a plan. Something big. Something that would have let him scoop up Coral Cay for a song.”