The Chocolate Frog Frame-Up by JoAnna Carl Page A

again. “Didn’t what? Didn’t want me to know about it?”
    “I didn’t want to bother you,” the chief said.
    Frank moved in then. “Patsy . . .” And Patsy turned on him.
    “It’s all my fault, Frank! I talked you into coming back to Warner Pier. I thought I could handle the situation. Now we’ve squandered our money . . . ruined our marriage.”
    Frank grabbed her. I think it was supposed to look like a bear hug, but it looked more like a stranglehold from where I was standing. He crushed her face into his shoulder. “Shhh! Shhh! We’re not going into that now. Just calm down, honey.”
    Patsy pushed him away. “I’m just so tired of it! I try to meet my family responsibilities, but it’s been hard! I thought I could do what Mother asked if we kept Hershel here. I thought the trust could help both of us. But it’s turned into a nightmare. Especially for you, Frank.”
    I stood there helplessly, watching Patsy cry. Then I felt a breath on my neck, and Joe leaned over my shoulder. He whispered. “Get Patsy inside the shop and see if you can calm her down.”
    I wanted to turn around and glare at him. Another case of the menfolks thinking that the womenfolks can take care of an emotional crisis. But I had to admit he had a point. When Frank had tried to act sympathetic, it only seemed to make Patsy worse. Maybe another woman could help matters. And Meg didn’t seem to be ready to offer support. She was hiding behind Trey.
    “Patsy,” I said, “why don’t you come inside with me for a minute. Joe keeps a big box of Kleenex in his office. You and I can sit in there and use it up.”
    I put my arm around Patsy’s shoulder and aimed her at the door to the shop. She didn’t move very fast, but I was able to maneuver her inside.
    Once I had her sitting in Joe’s office chair, with Kleenex in hand, I pulled up a straight chair and sat opposite her. I didn’t say anything.
    Patsy sniffed. “I’m sorry.”
    “You’re entitled to a good cry.”
    “It’s just been really hard.”
    “I can see that it has.”
    “Hershel bothered everybody in town.”
    I smiled. “He didn’t bother TenHuis Chocolade. Aunt Nettie always acted happy to see him, and he never gave me any problem.”
    “You’re lucky! Meg got the idea—I could have smacked her. But she’s that type.”
    “I just met her tonight, but I admit she didn’t make a good impression. What problem did she have with Hershel?”
    “She always thinks all the men are after her. She got the idea Hershel was stalking her! It was crazy.”
    I didn’t speak. Stalking is crazy, true, but I didn’t think that was what Patsy meant.
    “It was Trey he was stalking,” Patsy said.
    “Trey?”
    “Oh, stalking is the wrong word. Hershel got hipped on a new subject. It happened all the time. When Trey was working on our renovation, Hershel would hang around. He lives on the property, after all. Trey was always nice to him.”
    “Trey seems like a pleasant person.”
    “He is. I don’t know how he got mixed up with that Meg. Her name used to be Maggie Mae, you know. And Trey—well, true, his name is Charles Thomas Corbett the Third, but he was known as Chuck until he took up with her. I think it was her idea to rub everybody’s nose in his family connections. But everybody knows he comes from the poor side of the Corbetts. Anyway, Trey explained some things about historic preservation to Hershel—actually treated Hershel like a grown-up. Of course, it backfired. Hershel began going over to their house.”
    “To Gray Gables?”
    “No, to Trey and Meg’s house. On Arbor Street. He was only trying to see Trey, but Meg got all excited.” Patsy subsided into her Kleenex again.
    I thought her outburst was over. If she had told the truth, I had a certain sympathy for Meg. I wouldn’t like Hershel hanging around my house. It wasn’t as if you could really be a friend to Hershel. He wasn’t unintelligent, but he was so unpredictable that he wasn’t