Саманта Сильвер - The Purr-fect Crime

He studied the photos. “Something about these guys looks familiar though. You’re right that they don’t look like they’re from around here. Look at those suits! Thanks for showing me these, Angela,” he told me, forwarding them on to his own phone.

“No problem. I heard Tony Nyman’s house got broken into too, the other day,” I added casually, hoping to get out any information Chief Gary might have about Sophie and I being in the area that day.

“Yeah. His study was totally ransacked. I don’t know what they were after. The best guess is a will, we haven’t been able to find one yet.”

That piqued my interest. “Really?”

“Yeah. We spoke to all the lawyers in the area, and the county offices. There’s never been a will filed in his name, so we have to assume he didn’t have one.”

“Well then what happens to all his stuff?”

“After thirty days his property all gets transferred to the state, unless we find one among his possessions, which we haven’t done yet.”

“Weird, it didn’t seem to me like Tony Nyman was one of those secretly super rich dudes, and even if he was, it wasn’t like taking his will benefits anyone except the state, and I doubt the Governor is out there killing residents of Willow Bay for their 50s two-bedrooms.”

Chief Gary snorted. “Yeah, I think we can rule out the Governor as a suspect in this murder,” he replied. “You’re right though. Nyman had the house, a tiny bit of cash, and a few other properties in the area here and there, scattered around. None of them were developed or anything. He just seemed to spend his money buying up random parcels of land. Maybe to sell to condo developers in the future. Who knew? Either way, in 27 days it’s going to belong to the State of Oregon, unless we find a will somewhere.”

“Hmmm,” I replied.

“Oh no,” Chief Gary told me.

“Oh no what?” I asked, looking innocent.

“Absolutely not. Do not get involved. I don’t want you, your sister or Sophie anywhere near this case.”

“What? Why would you think we’re doing anything?” I asked, trying to look shocked he’d even ask something like that.

“Because I know you. I know you, and I know your sister. And I know your sister is a much more reasonable person than you, and I know you and Sophie especially would absolutely be the types to try and decide to solve a murder on your own. And I’m telling you, it’s a bad idea.”

“I promise you, Chief, we’re not doing that,” I reassured him, crossing my fingers behind my back. Yeah, I’m pretty much still twelve years old.

“Good. You girls are too smart for that sort of thing.”

I smiled at Chief Gary. “We wouldn’t even dream of it.”

“Excellent. Now, thanks again for the pictures of the men at the funeral.”

“No problem. I hope they help, and I hope you find whoever killed Tony.”

“Me too, Angela. Me too.”

I left Chief Gary to his work, leaving the police station with more answers, but also more questions than ever. This whole murder thing was starting to give me a headache.

Chapter 14

I decided to go back to Betty’s for a chocolate milkshake, figuring I’d deserved one, thinking that I’d beat the lunch rush and maybe actually get to relax at a table to myself for a little while.

Little did I know how wrong I was. As soon as I walked into Betty’s I knew something new had happened in town. All the local town gossips were huddled together, but this time it seemed different. Rather than one big group of people all sharing news and information, it was like people were split up into packs. I had a feeling this had something to do with that resort they were building.

“Hey, Betty,” I greeted her. “How are things?”

“Busy busy busy!” Betty answered, rushing out to the till. “What can I getcha today Angie?”

“Ummm, a chocolate milkshake, please,” I asked. “Maybe make it to go.”

Betty laughed. “Sure thing. I don’t blame you. If you came here today for peace and relaxation, well, for once you’re not going to find it in Willow Bay.”

“Why not? What’s going on?” I asked.

“Zoe Wright, that terrible woman heading up the Ocean Mist project, was here. She drank coffee with a bunch of supporters and then let slip that they plan on opening the whole resort in under a year. Can you believe that? I personally don’t think it’s even possible, what with everything they have to build. Apparently they’re expecting to break ground on the site in just under six weeks. So soon!”

“Wow,” I breathed. I’d completely forgotten about the huge monster resort they were building south of town, what with all of the hub bub surrounding Tony Nyman’s death.

“Yeah. Completely ridiculous. There’s no way they’ll get it done in time, but they’re just looking for a way to get some extra free publicity.”

“Well, it seems to be working,” I said, motioning around. It was obvious every person in the coffee shop was talking about Zoe Wright’s visit. Betty shook her head.

“It’s a damned shame, that’s what it is, pardon my language. I’ve lived in this town my whole life, and I’ve never seen a single thing come so close to ruining our way of life. This is a small community. We’ve always been a small community. We attract enough tourists, and I say that as a woman who runs a company that relies heavily on them. We don’t need to double, triple, quadruple the number of people coming to visit here every year.”

“You say that, Betty, but you aren’t employed by a restaurant that gets 70 percent of its business from tourists,” Annie Perkins said from the other side of the room. I recognized her as a waitress from the Seaside Diner, a cute little restaurant down the street from the vet clinic, along the waterfront.

“My café gets a large portion of its business from tourists,” Betty said. “I understand exactly how important they are for the local economy. But I’m not ready to completely abandon the small-town charm of this place by bringing in three, four times more people than are already here. It will ruin the town for everyone.”

“If by ruin you mean make it easier to put food on the table for little Sammy, sure,” Annie replied.

“You can’t just think about yourself in these things,” someone else shouted from another table. Uh oh. This was getting really ugly, really quickly.

“I’m not! I’m thinking about the town. I think bringing more tourists here is a good thing. More people get to appreciate the town this way.” Annie was definitely ready to defend her position.

“Well, I don’t think it’s reasonable,” Betty announced.

“Luckily for the rest of us who understand how economics work, the state government agrees with us,” Annie retorted.

“Please,” came Antonia deLucca’s voice from another table. I didn’t normally like the woman, but I did agree with her on this issue. “Economics had nothing to do with it. All it means is Ocean Mist paid the right people enough money.”

“Hear, hear!” came the shout from the opposition table. Oh boy. Being stuck in the middle of a giant small-town argument was so not something I was into right now. Town hall meetings were bad enough. Here it looked like people were ready to start throwing chairs and tables around.

“Thanks for the milkshake, Betty,” I told her, giving her a smile as I practically ran out the door to get away from the still-arguing mob inside.

I was halfway down the street before I realized that Betty had even added whipped cream and a chocolate drizzle on top for me. The woman truly was a saint.

But right now, I knew I had to think. What I really wanted to do was talk things over with Sophie and Charlotte. I had learned a lot from Chief Gary, but this resort stuff really had me bothered.