couldn’t be bothered with us. We clicked, and we’ve been friends ever since.”
“And yet you worked for him?” I asked. I was friends with all of the employees at The Charming Moose. As a matter of fact, I was related to most of them, but that didn’t mean that they didn’t know who was boss when they were at the diner, and that included my grandfather. I couldn’t imagine having my own best friend, Rebecca Davis, working for me.
“I took the position with some reluctance, but he needed my help, and I couldn’t say no. I’m sure that you understand.”
I was sure that I didn’t, but I decided not to get into that at the moment. “How did you two get along towards end?” Moose asked him.
“The same as always,” Crane said lightly. “Curtis and I had no problem mixing business with pleasure, and I’m pleased to be able to say that I was able to make his life easier, especially at the end.”
“Why at the end in particular?” I asked him. There was more to this story than he was giving us. “You can be candid with us, Crane. You need to tell us everything out of respect to your friendship with Curtis. It’s what he wanted, remember?” I hoped that Curtis’s spirit would forgive me for taking the liberties that I was taking, but he’d asked us to solve his murder, so I hoped that he wouldn’t have minded me stretching the truth a little.
“I’m surprised that he didn’t share that with you, if you were as close as you’ve claimed,” Crane said. “His entire family was unhappy with him. They didn’t accept Curtis’s plan to get rid of his money, and I’ve got a suspicion that one of them had something to do with what happened to him.”
Chapter 6
“What!” Moose said, doing a credible job of feigning ignorance. “You actually think that one of them might have killed him?”
“The man certainly didn’t stab himself,” Crane said. “It’s not as outrageous as you might think. He was just about to sign the new will when someone killed him. I understand people commit murder for a great deal less than a hundred million dollars.”
Wow, Curtis really did have money.
Moose whistled. “That offers a great many incentives, doesn’t it?”
“It used to be quite a bit more than that, but Curtis was dispensing it quietly for quite a while before anyone caught on to what he was doing. He set up a dummy account in order to give his money away, and it took them some time to see what he was doing.”
“How long did it take you ?” I asked him softly.
“Not all that long, but since I didn’t have a stake in it, I kept the information to myself. I worked for Curtis—no one else.”
That was odd. Jeffrey had said basically the same thing earlier. “Was he truly that good a boss?”
“He was indeed, and a good friend, as well. I’ll miss him.”
“What will happen to you now?” I asked.
“I’ll see this through, and then I’ll most likely take the modest retirement I’ve been promising myself for years. I’ve managed to save up a nice little nest egg, and I’ve got an acre in the mountains near Asheville that I spend much too little time enjoying. I’m not afraid to admit that seeing what happened to Curtis has been a wake-up call for me. I’m not going to spend the rest of my life working for someone else.”
“I can respect that,” Moose said. “Since I retired, I’ve never been so busy.”
I decided to let that one slide, since one of the things Moose did these days was help me in my murder investigations, as well as pitching in at the diner’s grill whenever I needed him.
“If you were to pick one of them out as a cold-blooded killer, which one would it be?” I asked him.
Crane frowned. “That’s an odd topic for a tribute to him, isn’t it?”
“Think about how dramatic it will be if we supply Curtis’s killer in the closing chapter,” I said, making it up as I went
“And yet you worked for him?” I asked. I was friends with all of the employees at The Charming Moose. As a matter of fact, I was related to most of them, but that didn’t mean that they didn’t know who was boss when they were at the diner, and that included my grandfather. I couldn’t imagine having my own best friend, Rebecca Davis, working for me.
“I took the position with some reluctance, but he needed my help, and I couldn’t say no. I’m sure that you understand.”
I was sure that I didn’t, but I decided not to get into that at the moment. “How did you two get along towards end?” Moose asked him.
“The same as always,” Crane said lightly. “Curtis and I had no problem mixing business with pleasure, and I’m pleased to be able to say that I was able to make his life easier, especially at the end.”
“Why at the end in particular?” I asked him. There was more to this story than he was giving us. “You can be candid with us, Crane. You need to tell us everything out of respect to your friendship with Curtis. It’s what he wanted, remember?” I hoped that Curtis’s spirit would forgive me for taking the liberties that I was taking, but he’d asked us to solve his murder, so I hoped that he wouldn’t have minded me stretching the truth a little.
“I’m surprised that he didn’t share that with you, if you were as close as you’ve claimed,” Crane said. “His entire family was unhappy with him. They didn’t accept Curtis’s plan to get rid of his money, and I’ve got a suspicion that one of them had something to do with what happened to him.”
Chapter 6
“What!” Moose said, doing a credible job of feigning ignorance. “You actually think that one of them might have killed him?”
“The man certainly didn’t stab himself,” Crane said. “It’s not as outrageous as you might think. He was just about to sign the new will when someone killed him. I understand people commit murder for a great deal less than a hundred million dollars.”
Wow, Curtis really did have money.
Moose whistled. “That offers a great many incentives, doesn’t it?”
“It used to be quite a bit more than that, but Curtis was dispensing it quietly for quite a while before anyone caught on to what he was doing. He set up a dummy account in order to give his money away, and it took them some time to see what he was doing.”
“How long did it take you ?” I asked him softly.
“Not all that long, but since I didn’t have a stake in it, I kept the information to myself. I worked for Curtis—no one else.”
That was odd. Jeffrey had said basically the same thing earlier. “Was he truly that good a boss?”
“He was indeed, and a good friend, as well. I’ll miss him.”
“What will happen to you now?” I asked.
“I’ll see this through, and then I’ll most likely take the modest retirement I’ve been promising myself for years. I’ve managed to save up a nice little nest egg, and I’ve got an acre in the mountains near Asheville that I spend much too little time enjoying. I’m not afraid to admit that seeing what happened to Curtis has been a wake-up call for me. I’m not going to spend the rest of my life working for someone else.”
“I can respect that,” Moose said. “Since I retired, I’ve never been so busy.”
I decided to let that one slide, since one of the things Moose did these days was help me in my murder investigations, as well as pitching in at the diner’s grill whenever I needed him.
“If you were to pick one of them out as a cold-blooded killer, which one would it be?” I asked him.
Crane frowned. “That’s an odd topic for a tribute to him, isn’t it?”
“Think about how dramatic it will be if we supply Curtis’s killer in the closing chapter,” I said, making it up as I went
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