Emily thanked us for coming over and we all stood up.
“Do you want the afghan back?” I offered. I certainly didn’t want to be caught in the middle of their problems. I’d seen it when I came over with a package I’d taken in for them. Emily was cleaning out drawers and had left it sitting on the dining room table. I’d been enchanted with it at first glance. She, on the other hand, had no use for the green afghan with the scattered flowers. It reminded me of a meadow, but all she said was that it didn’t go with their decor. I explained it was crocheted and asked if I could take it home to examine out how it had been made. When I couldn’t figure out how the three-dimensional flowers were done, I had passed it on to Adele to figure out. I was going to tell Emily that Adele had it, but I realized she didn’t care.
She shook her head and her mouth was set in anger. “I’m sure he could care less about it. He was just upset with everything I did. You said you wanted to figure out the pattern. Keep it until you’re done and then give it to some charity. I never liked it, and after the way Bradley acted about it, I don’t ever want to see it again.”
As she walked us to the door, Emily gritted her teeth. “At first I was worried about Bradley being gone—that something might have happened to him. Now, I’m just angry. How childish to run off because we had a fight. Why couldn’t he just have told me straight out what was bothering him?”
I only had a shrug for an answer. I told her to let me know if I could do anything. For a second her anger returned to worry. “I know the officer said just to be patient and let Bradley show up on his own, but it would be great if you could find him.”
“Branching off into locating missing persons?” Dinah asked as we crossed the lawn toward my place.
“All I said was that I would keep it in mind.” A thought occurred to me and I stopped just before we got to my driveway.
“Don’t you think it’s odd that she told me to give away Bradley’s afghan. It’s as if she knows he’s not coming back.”
“And maybe she just reported him missing as a cover-up,” Dinah said.
“And asking me to look for him is some kind of setup,” I said, my voice rising in excitement. Then we both looked at each other and rolled our eyes. “Or maybe he really did just take off and we have crime on the brain.”
We finally got to the greenmobile and I drove Dinah back to her car and then went on to the bookstore. It was only when I was walking into Shedd & Royal that I realized Dinah had never told me her news.
CHAPTER 2
WALKING INTO SHEDD & ROYAL BOOKS AND More was like going to my second home. The smell of books and coffee was comforting. Riding over the top was the scent of something chocolate, and I guessed Bob, our main barista and cookie baker, must have just taken some cookies out of the oven. As I crossed the front of the store, I looked in the café. A plate of brownies was sitting on the counter and the scent had drawn in some customers. One of the other counter people was waiting on them, while Bob sat at a table with his computer open. Whenever he had a break, he pulled out the computer and worked on his screenplay. He was secretive about the story. All any of us knew was that it was some kind of science-fiction piece. I stopped by Mrs. Shedd’s office. She used to come in to do her work mostly when the bookstore was closed. But lately she’d been spending more and more time there when the store was open. And now that it was our busiest time of year, it was all hands on deck. Particularly since Adele and I had been gone for two days, checking out the yarn store in San Diego. I laughed at the framed poster on the wall. It said I and then had a big red valentine-shaped heart before the word Vampires. The poster was a hot item among readers since vampire books were white-hot. It had a different meaning for Mrs. Shedd. She wasn’t a vampire lover. She loved what vampire books did for sales. We had a whole display set up for vampire books by different authors. They all did well, but for now the Anthony books were the star sellers and had their own table in the front.
Even though Mrs. Shedd had told me I could call her Pamela, it felt too strange. Kind of like calling your doctor by their first name. So, mostly I avoided calling her anything, but when I had to say something, it always came out as Mrs. Shedd. She was just clearing off her desk and shutting off her computer when I walked in.
I guessed she was somewhere in her late sixties, but her dark blond hair didn’t have even a strand of gray, and I was sure it was natural. Something about the pageboy style seemed timeless. I was a little on the breathless side from rushing. My tote brushed her desk and the knitting needles clanged together. Mrs. Shedd wasn’t into crafting, but she recognized the needles and chuckled.
“I’m glad you don’t share Adele’s obsession. She reacts to knitting needles like a vampire does to a stake.” Mrs. Shedd glanced up at my face and looked suddenly concerned. “Molly, are you okay? You look a little frazzled.”
In my rush to get to the bookstore, I’d forgotten to stop and check my appearance. Instinctively I reached up and touched my hair. I could tell by feel that it wasn’t laying flat. I was still wearing the clothes I’d put on in the hotel in San Diego. The khaki slacks were wrinkle proof, but the white shirt was a little worse for wear from the car ride and the animal pick up. I pulled a vest out of my tote bag and put it over the shirt and tried to pat my hair into order while I detailed my arrival home.
Mrs. Shedd’s eyes widened when I got to the part about the broken front door. “Molly, you certainly lead an interesting life.” When I got to the real story, she listened with interest. “This neighbor that disappeared—is it anyone I know?”
“You might have seen him in the bookstore. His name is Bradley Perkins. He’s on the tall side, reddish brown hair with a friendly smile,” I said, expecting a dismissive nod.
“What do you mean Bradley Perkins disappeared?” Mrs. Shedd said abruptly.
“You know him?” I said, surprised.
“Yes, I do,” she said. I waited for more details about how she knew him, but none came. I repeated what Emily had said about how he’d gone to work and just not come home.
Mrs. Shedd’s placid expression had changed to agitated. “That’s hardly a full story. Did she call his office to see if he showed up there? Was he there all day, or did he leave early?” I shrugged, realizing I didn’t know. She seemed so concerned, I tried to calm her by telling her that it seemed most likely it was what the cop had said—he and his wife had had some kind of argument and he’d gone off to cool down. “I’d appreciate it if you’d keep me posted,” Mrs. Shedd said as she gathered up her things. Mr. Royal stopped in the doorway and looked in.
“Ready, Pamela?” he said. I thought of Mr. Royal as the world’s most interesting man. He’d been away for several years, and in that time, he seemed to have gone everywhere and done everything. Trekking through the Himalayas, driving a snowplow in Minnesota and training dolphins were only a few of the many adventures he’d had. He wore his charcoal gray hair long and I’d heard he cut it himself. I guessed he was close to Mrs. Shedd in age, but he moved with the agility of a young man. And now that he was back, he was lighting up Mrs. Shedd’s life. It seemed funny now, but before his return, I had wondered if he really existed. I started to say I’d let her know if I heard any more about Bradley, but she gave her head a fast shake with a quick glance toward Mr. Royal. I didn’t have to be a genius to figure out whatever connection she had with Bradley, she didn’t want Joshua Royal to know about it.
“We’re off to get a tree for the store. I was going to pull the artificial one out of the storeroom but Joshua convinced me we ought to have a live one. I was worried about it drying out and being a hazard, but leave it to Joshua to come up with a solution. We’re going out to a Christmas-tree farm to get a truly fresh one.”