The Stranger In Room 205 (Hot off the Press! 1)

“No, thanks.” Dan made a rueful face as he patted his stomach. “My pants seem to be shrinking a bit lately. Guess I’d better start cutting back on the sweets before I end up with a belly like my dad’s.”

“Your father’s not fat—he’s just robust,” Marjorie assured him kindly.

Dan laughed. “Well, I’d like to be just a little less robust than Dad. Sam,” he added as Sam carried two glasses of tea toward him, “let’s take that booth in the back, shall we?”

It was obvious that Dan wanted to talk in private. Sam suspected the chief wasn’t going to invite him fishing this time. As always, he wondered exactly what Dan had discovered since the last time they’d talked. Did Dan know more about him than Sam knew himself?

“What is it, Chief?” he asked when they were seated in the relatively isolated booth, out of hearing of the other diner employees who were preparing to leave for the day.

Dan took a sip of the tea, then set the glass on the table. “You called me Dan when we went fishing.”

“You weren’t on duty then. I get the feeling you are now.”

Dan grimaced. “I’m afraid so. I guess you heard about the candy store.”

Sam lifted an eyebrow. This was a topic he hadn’t expected. “Yeah, sure. Everyone was talking about it this morning. Why?”

“I got an anonymous tip that you were seen loitering on Main Street at about two this morning. That’s about the time we figure the candy store was hit.”

Scowling, Sam shook his head. “Your informant was mistaken. I was in bed at two. I didn’t leave the guest house until Marjorie drove me to work this morning.”

“I don’t suppose you have anyone who can verify that.”

“I was in bed alone,” Sam said flatly. “C’mon, Dan, what’s this all about? You know I didn’t knock over the candy store.”

Dan pushed a hand through his brown hair, leaving it standing in disheveled spikes. “Hell, Sam, I didn’t say I believed it. But when I get a call like that, I have to follow up on it.”

“The caller specified me by name?”

“Actually, he called you ‘that stranger who’s been mooching off the Schaffer women.’”

This time it was Sam’s turn to wince. A curse escaped him before he could bite it back.

Dan’s shrug was faintly apologetic. “You asked.”

“Who would—” For some reason, Sam thought of the eccentric-acting stranger he’d spotted twice during the Independence Day celebration. And then he thought of the way that celebration had ended. “Oh, hell.”

Dan seemed to follow his line of thinking. “Yeah. It was probably Delbert Farley—or one of his pals. But whoever it was called from a pay phone and refused to give a name.”

“So, do you think Farley broke into the candy store and blamed me for it?”

“I dropped by their place this morning. He and Rita both swear they never left their trailer last night. A neighbor confirmed that he saw Delbert’s truck in the driveway when he got home from a seven-to-three shift at the plant. If it was Delbert who called me, he might well have just heard about the break-in and decided to cause trouble for you in return for you causing trouble for him at the stadium.”

“So what are you going to do now? Arrest me?”

“Not on the basis of one anonymous phone call. Give me a little credit, will you, Sam?”

And now Sam was feeling guilty again. Dan was showing him a trust that Sam wasn’t giving in return. Dan had been nothing but honest with Sam, while Sam had lied to Dan from the start. “Uh, Dan—”

A shrill ring interrupted him. Dan answered his wireless phone, said a few words, then pushed his empty tea glass away. “I’ve got to go. I just thought I should give you a heads-up that you’ve made yourself an enemy around here.”

Funny. Sam thought of himself as a decent enough guy, despite his lack of memory about his past. Yet someone had beaten him to a pulp three weeks ago, and now someone else was trying to have him arrested. Heck of a track record.

“I’ll see you around, Sam,” Dan said over his shoulder as he moved toward the door.

“Yeah. See you, Dan.” Thoughtfully, Sam watched the chief leave.

He’d been on the verge of telling Dan everything, he realized. Which he needed to do—but maybe he should tell Serena first.