Whack The Mole (Lucy McGuffin, Psychic Amateur Detective 2)

I look for earlier emails in the thread, but I don’t see any.

I pick up my phone and dial Sarah.

“Lucy! I heard about what happened at The Harbor House. Are you okay? What on earth is going on? Do you think these two murders are connected? I mean, they have to be. Right?”

I wish I could tell Sarah the truth. Of all the people I’ve lied to since this started, she’s the one that bothers me the most. The Bistro is half hers. She should know what’s going on. But if I tell her, then I could get in big trouble with the FBI. I envy the fact that she’s completely ignorant of the whole situation. Tomorrow morning when we open up and start serving customers, she’ll be oblivious to what’s going on, while I, on the other hand, will be on the lookout for a ruthless professional hitman capable of taking out anyone who stands in his way. I’m already a nervous wreck.

“It’s crazy, huh? Say, Sarah, when Rocko’s nephew came in the other day to bring us our order, you said you already knew about it from Rocko?”

“Yeah, he emailed to tell me he’d been in the hospital and that his brother would be taking over his route. I meant to keep it, for reference, but I accidentally deleted it. Sorry.”

“Did he give a specific name for this brother?”

“Someone named Jimmy, I think?”

“So you didn’t think it was weird that this Mike guy showed up?”

“I figured he was just filling in. Why? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. I just…wanted to update our supply list, and I want to make sure to email it to the right person. I’m trying out a new muffin recipe and I need pecans.”

“Just email Rocko at the usual address. He’ll take care of it. Isn’t it great that the cops are letting us open tomorrow?”

“Yeah, great,” I say woodenly before we say our goodbyes and hang up.

The wheels in my head begin to spin. This whole thing with Rocko seems off.Before I lose my nerve, I email him back.

Hope you’re feeling better! I want to add pecans to our bi-weekly delivery. See the amount below. And one more thing. Jimmy hasn’t been making the deliveries. Your nephew Mike is doing the route. Should I expect him to continue?

I hit send then wait a few minutes. No reply. I’m sure Rocko has better things to do than sit around his computer waiting to answer my emails.

I pace around the room. Then I take off my flowery dress and get into some comfy jeans and a sweatshirt. Next on my list is a call to my parents to fill them in on what happened at The Harbor House so they don’t flip out. Guess what? They flip out anyway. I do my best to reassure them that despite having found another dead body, I’m doing just fine.

I get off the phone and check my computer again.

Still no reply from Rocko. He probably won’t answer till tomorrow—

A pinging sound tells me that my email server has just refreshed. I have a new message from Rocko!

Thanks, Lucy. I’m getting better every day. I’ll add pecans to your list. Can’t wait to hear what kind of muffins you’ll be making with those. Sorry about the delivery confusion. Mike is Jimmy’s son. He wasn’t scheduled to make deliveries on your route. He can be a little rough. Hope he did okay. I’ll make sure Jimmy takes care of you from now on.

Mmmm…

I scan the email again.

Rocko is trying to be professional, but I can certainly read between the lines. He had no idea that his nephew was making our deliveries.

I’ve caught Mike in two lies now. The first time was when he said Rocko was taking a vacation (ha!) and the second time is when he said he’d never been near a crime scene.

Hey, we all have our secrets.

“You’re not planning to kill anyone, are you?” I tease.

“Not today.”

My heart nearly explodes from my chest.

Holy wow.