house,” she said.
Sherlock and Watson were quite curious about the visiting stranger.
“Are these the dogs who found the body?” she asked.
“They are,” Chris said . “The smaller Lab is Watson, and Sherlock is the big one.”
“Nice dogs . Did you know labs are sometimes used for rescue?”
“I know,” Chris replied . “As a matter of fact, they saved a man’s life when our old restaurant burned down.” I detected a note of pride in his voice, which was not misplaced.
“Come on, kids,” I said to the Labs. “Let’s go outside.”
“You can leave them here, if you like,” Detective Riley said . “I have a female chocolate Lab myself. I like the breed. And I guess we have something in common. I named her Friday, after Sergeant Joe Friday of TV fame.”
I smiled and immediately began to take a liking to this woman.
“I’ve done some checking on the driver’s license,” she said, getting down to business. “If it does belong to the body we found, then his name is Charles Blakely. We’re searching for family or anyone who might remember him. Needless to say, we don’t have much to go on yet.”
I was surprised that she was sharing her information with us.
“Honestly, I don’t think this investigation is going very far. I’ll do what I can, but there are too many current cases to deal with and this one may go into the cold files for now. We’ve gone over the house, but nothing turned up.”
“What about the work we want to do? You didn’t tear out any walls or anything, did you?” I asked.
“ No, the house in intact. I’ll let you know when you can begin construction,” the detective replied. “Just give me a little time. I’ve talked to the coroner and she’s going to fit this case into her schedule so we can move on to more current cases. In the meantime, relax and make your plans for your little restaurant.”
That sounded condescending, but I ignored it because I sincerely wanted to like this woman. I liked the way she was sharing information with us. I glanced at Chris and felt confident that he was feeling the same way.
“Well,” she said, standing up, “I’d better get busy . Too much to do and not enough hours in the day.”
“May I ask your first name, Detective Riley?” I asked.
“Janet,” she replied. “Janet Riley.”
My husband walked outside with Detective Janet Riley. Sherlock and Watson accompanied them. I watched out the window and saw Janet talk to the dogs and pat their heads before she left. Chris waved as she pulled away from the curb.
“Did you find out anything else?” I asked when he brought the dogs into the house.
“The department isn’t going to give this case a high priority. She said they’re going to have to take care of the basics and then the file basically gets stuck in a drawer. Maybe someday when time allows, it will be pulled out and looked at again. And then she said that I look familiar. I wonder how long it will take her to figure me out.”
“Do you think we’ll actually see her again? She probably won’t have any more business with us. We don’t have anything to do with this case.”
Chris appeared thoughtful . “I can’t explain it, but I think we’ll see her again. If for no other reason than because she’s curious about me, and she seems to like you.”
I thought his reasoning was skewed, but I kept my trap shut.
“I’m kind of surprised they didn’t find anything under that other slab yesterday,” I said.
“I asked her about that . She said there were scratches on the concrete that made it look like someone had used it to set things on. Like maybe they were heavy and dragged off when they were moved.”
“Huh . Could have been furniture or something. The second slab did seem bigger than the first one.”
“Are we still going to have some breakfast?” Chris asked.
“I’ll bet you’re starving by now. I’ll go put something together.”
“Never mind,” he said . “It’s getting late.
Sherlock and Watson were quite curious about the visiting stranger.
“Are these the dogs who found the body?” she asked.
“They are,” Chris said . “The smaller Lab is Watson, and Sherlock is the big one.”
“Nice dogs . Did you know labs are sometimes used for rescue?”
“I know,” Chris replied . “As a matter of fact, they saved a man’s life when our old restaurant burned down.” I detected a note of pride in his voice, which was not misplaced.
“Come on, kids,” I said to the Labs. “Let’s go outside.”
“You can leave them here, if you like,” Detective Riley said . “I have a female chocolate Lab myself. I like the breed. And I guess we have something in common. I named her Friday, after Sergeant Joe Friday of TV fame.”
I smiled and immediately began to take a liking to this woman.
“I’ve done some checking on the driver’s license,” she said, getting down to business. “If it does belong to the body we found, then his name is Charles Blakely. We’re searching for family or anyone who might remember him. Needless to say, we don’t have much to go on yet.”
I was surprised that she was sharing her information with us.
“Honestly, I don’t think this investigation is going very far. I’ll do what I can, but there are too many current cases to deal with and this one may go into the cold files for now. We’ve gone over the house, but nothing turned up.”
“What about the work we want to do? You didn’t tear out any walls or anything, did you?” I asked.
“ No, the house in intact. I’ll let you know when you can begin construction,” the detective replied. “Just give me a little time. I’ve talked to the coroner and she’s going to fit this case into her schedule so we can move on to more current cases. In the meantime, relax and make your plans for your little restaurant.”
That sounded condescending, but I ignored it because I sincerely wanted to like this woman. I liked the way she was sharing information with us. I glanced at Chris and felt confident that he was feeling the same way.
“Well,” she said, standing up, “I’d better get busy . Too much to do and not enough hours in the day.”
“May I ask your first name, Detective Riley?” I asked.
“Janet,” she replied. “Janet Riley.”
My husband walked outside with Detective Janet Riley. Sherlock and Watson accompanied them. I watched out the window and saw Janet talk to the dogs and pat their heads before she left. Chris waved as she pulled away from the curb.
“Did you find out anything else?” I asked when he brought the dogs into the house.
“The department isn’t going to give this case a high priority. She said they’re going to have to take care of the basics and then the file basically gets stuck in a drawer. Maybe someday when time allows, it will be pulled out and looked at again. And then she said that I look familiar. I wonder how long it will take her to figure me out.”
“Do you think we’ll actually see her again? She probably won’t have any more business with us. We don’t have anything to do with this case.”
Chris appeared thoughtful . “I can’t explain it, but I think we’ll see her again. If for no other reason than because she’s curious about me, and she seems to like you.”
I thought his reasoning was skewed, but I kept my trap shut.
“I’m kind of surprised they didn’t find anything under that other slab yesterday,” I said.
“I asked her about that . She said there were scratches on the concrete that made it look like someone had used it to set things on. Like maybe they were heavy and dragged off when they were moved.”
“Huh . Could have been furniture or something. The second slab did seem bigger than the first one.”
“Are we still going to have some breakfast?” Chris asked.
“I’ll bet you’re starving by now. I’ll go put something together.”
“Never mind,” he said . “It’s getting late.
Similar Books
