“Is Scarlett a hot young bombshell, Max?” asked Dooley.
“I guess in her own mind she is,” I said.
“So you see?” said Laia. “This keeps on happening, and it has got to stop.”
“Yeah, I can see how it might be annoying,” Odelia agreed. “How long has this been going on?”
The young couple shared a look.“About… a month now?” Jay ventured.
“It all started right after I moved in with Jay,” Laia explained. “Which probably is no coincidence. You see, my parents don’t approve of our relationship. And they’ve hired a private detective to keep tabs on me. So it wouldn’t surprise me if they’re behind this terrible business.”
“You don’t know that,” said Jay.
“I wouldn’t put it past them,” said Laia. She turned back to Odelia. “Jay and I recently got engaged, and so I decided to introduce him to my parents and give them the good news. Only they freaked out and more or less threw me out.”
“Talk about a car crash,” Jay said sadly.
“Yeah, they pretty much cut me off,” said Laia. “Which is why I think it might be them. Trying to put pressure on me to dump Jay.” She clasped her fianc?’s arm. “Which I will never, ever do. We’re in love, and they’ll just have to accept it.”
“Okay, so did you talk to your parents about this?” asked Odelia. “The online orders, the flaming paper bag, the, um, gigolo thing?”
“I called Mommy, but she’s blocking my calls, and so is Daddy. So finally I dropped by the house, but they refused to let me in, or even to see me.”
“So you can’t be sure your parents are behind this?”
“No, but who else could it be?”
“We did say it might be Bud,” said Jay quietly.
“Bud wouldn’t do this,” said Laia. “He’s not crazy. Bud is my ex-boyfriend,” she explained. “He took it pretty hard when I broke up with him.” She darted a quick glance at her fianc?. “Or what about Loretta?”
But Jay shook his head determinedly.“Not a chance.”
“Who’s Loretta?” asked Odelia.
“My ex-girlfriend,” said Jay. “But I’m sure she’s got nothing to do with this.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t think we should rule her out,” said Laia. She gave Odelia a hopeful look. “So can you help us, Mrs. Kingsley? Dan said you’re simply the best.”
“He said that, did he?” said Odelia laughingly. “Do you know Dan?”
“He’s a friend of the family.”
“Of course he is,” said Odelia as she tapped a thoughtful pencil against her notebook. Then she tore off a page and placed it before the young woman. “Can you write down the names and information of the people you just mentioned? Your ex-boyfriend, Jay’s ex-girlfriend… and your parents, of course.”
Laia’s face lit up with delight. “So you’ll take the case?”
“I’ll take the case,” said Odelia, and I could tell she was more than a little bit intrigued. As was I, I have to admit. I mean, what’s not to like? Mysterious packages, flaming paper bags containing dog doo-doo, and of course hot young bombshells who turn out to be Gran’s best friend Scarlett Canyon? Bring it on.
Dutifully Laia jotted down the names and contact details of the people she thought might be doing this to her and her fianc?, and handed it to Odelia.
Her only stipulation, when Jay mentioned fees, was that she could turn this into an article for the paper once the culprit was caught. And an interesting article it would be. Human interest and all that. Though it had stirred my feline interest, too.
CHAPTER 5
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Odelia actually felt disproportionally glad that Jay and Laia had walked into the office. Ever since she’d had Grace, her usual workload had slackened to some extent, and to be honest she’d felt a little bored sitting at home and not being able to tackle a really juicy case the way she was used to.
And even though this case wasn’t exactly the biggest case she’d ever handled, it still inspired her to go out there and do her bit for the sake of a young couple’s future happiness. And if she could squeeze a great story out of it, even better.
So it was with a spring in her step that she breezed into the Hampton Cove police precinct and strode up to the reception desk. If it was true what Laia said and the police had given them the runaround, she wanted to know why that was.
Behind her, Max and Dooley had hardly been able to keep up, but they still tried, since it was obvious that they, too, were chomping at the bit to dig their teeth into a nice fat case again.
“Hey, honey,” Dolores rasped. The crusty receptionist wasn’t actually smoking a cigarette at that exact moment, but she had all the hallmarks of a woman who had just smoked one, smoker’s voice and all. “What brings you here?”
“I just had a young couple in my office who claim they’ve filed a complaint and were given the runaround by you,” said Odelia, not beating about the bush.
“Is that a fact?” said Dolores, not impressed. “Who’s the couple?”
“Jay Green and Laia Twine. They’ve been getting parcels sent to them that they didn’t order, and Jay’s name is out there advertising him as a gigolo, when he’s anything but.” She gave Dolores a quizzical look. “Any of that ring a bell?”
“Yeah, now that you mention it, I think it does,” she said, nodding. “Handsome young guy? The artistic type?”
“Yep, that’s him.”
“Honey, they’re yanking your chain. The guy is obviously a gigolo, only he’s afraid to tell his girl, and so he made up this cockamamie story about a stalker being after him or whatever.”
“So what about these shipments that keep arriving? All of it stuff they never ordered but are expected to pay for?”
“Nonsense. Did you take a good look at the guy? I’m sure he’s very successful at what he does, and so the women who pay for his services send him tons of gifts. Nothing wrong with that.”
“What’s wrong is that these companies are expecting him to pay.”
But Dolores didn’t look convinced. “Oh, come on. That’s the story he’s been telling his girl. Of course he can’t admit he’s been getting gifts from his clients, so he made up this cock and bull story about some stalker.” She shrugged her bony shoulders, almost pulling them up to her ears. “Let her figure it out for herself is what I say. If she wants to be hoodwinked by her boyfriend, that’s her business.”
“He also mentioned something about a paper bag of doo-doo on his doorstep.”
Dolores laughed a raspy laugh.“One of his clients must be really unhappy with him, huh! Guess he didn’t give her what she wanted. Happens all the time.” And then she laughed some more, the story obviously having tickled her funny bone. When she saw that Odelia wasn’t joining in the merriment, she finally pulled herself together and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Look, if you want my advice, I’d tell the kid to come clean. The sooner he does, the better. And if this girl really loves him, she’ll forgive him. And if not? Well, he’s only got himself to blame, right?”
Just then, the phone belted out a musical tone, and she held up a finger as she picked up. Looked like the conversation was over.
Odelia turned away and glanced in the direction of the swinging door that led to the heart of the police precinct. Should she bother her uncle with this? Or Chase? But then she decided not to. If what Dolores said was the official police line, they weren’t going to be much help. And besides, this was her case. Her story, and she had to decide if Jay Green was a gigolo and a liar, or if he was for real, and he did indeed have a stalker issue.
So instead of barging into her uncle’s office, she headed back out, two cats hot on her tail.
“What did she say?” asked Dooley. “Why didn’t she take Laia’s story seriously?”
“Dolores thinks that Jay really is a gigolo,” she said as she stood conferring with herself on the sidewalk, figuring out her next course of action.