ex-lawyer. Come to think of it, Mack hadn’t mentioned his brother at all when she’d seen him. But then he appeared to be quite distracted with this new case.
Who would have thought Kelowna would have been this busy little city of criminals? But, as she thought about it, over 140,000 people lived here within the city limits, and some of these crimes had been spread over multiple decades, so it wasn’t such a high crime rate. But still, Doreen seemed to be the one finding them all.
Maybe she did have a knack for it. Or maybe she was just a nosy busybody, like some people thought.
She was no sooner around the corner when she saw Nan waiting for them. She lifted a hand and waved and realized for the first time she wouldn’t have to argue with the gardener. She walked across the stepping stones, feeling as if something were lost. “Nan, whatever happened to Fred?”
Nan shrugged. “Seems he lost his job. At least in the interim until the trial.”
“I’m so sorry for all that,” Doreen said.
“Of course you are,” Nan said with a beaming smile. “That’s because you have a good heart.”
“It’s possible he might get off with a much lighter sentence,” Doreen said. She hated to admit maybe she was okay with that too.
“Maybe,” Nan said, “but the law has to run its course now.”
“If only he hadn’t had a part in all of it.”
“Well, he did,” Nan said, “so don’t you worry about it.”
Doreen laughed. “It’s not like I can’t worry about it.”
“Sure you can. You have to learn to manage what it is you’ll worry about. If I worried about getting old, I’d expend all my energy on something I couldn’t stop. So I’d rather spend my time making each day lovely.” She smiled. “Come sit down. The tea is almost ready.” And in a voice a little more commanding than usual, Nan said, “Now!”
Surprised, Doreen grabbed her chair and sat.
Chapter 9
Saturday Late Afternoon …
“What’s the matter, Nan?”
Nan grumped a little bit, as she puttered around, bringing out teacups and a plate of what appeared to be the walnut bread she’d spoken of earlier.
Doreen wasn’t sure what had happened, but Nan was obviously upset. “Nan?”
Nan turned and shook her finger. “I don’t want you involved with that Aretha person.”
Surprised, touched, and a little upset, Doreen settled back and asked, “Why not?”
“She’s the poisonous kind,” Nan announced.
“Maybe she was,” Doreen said quietly. “She looked very unhappy.”
Nan glared at her.
“So, you want her to still be a bad person?” Doreen asked gently, as she poured the two cups of tea. “Or is it that you’re upset at the idea maybe she’s not who you thought she was?”
“She was very mean to some friends of mine,” Nan said. “They didn’t deserve being talked down to like she did.”
“Did she ever talk to you like that?”
Nan shook her head. “She tried a couple times, but I have more backbone than to allow it.”
“And some to spare,” Doreen said with a smile. “But the thing is, I’ve met lots of women like her. And they’re very unhappy on the inside. I also think she’s lonely.”
“Maybe so,” Nan said, “but I’m warning you. She’s poison, and that’s all I’ll say on the matter.” She gave a quick nod, as if to add punctuation to her comment.
Doreen kept her smile hidden. “I highly doubt she’ll have anything to do with me anyway.”
“Good,” Nan replied. “Surely you have another case you’re working on by now.”
“Do you know anything about missing jewels?” Doreen asked in a bright tone.
“Missing jewels?”
She nodded. “Yes. Jewels that are missing.”
“I don’t know why I would,” Nan said.
“Oh, I’m just wondering if you know of any case where somebody lost a little jeweler’s bag full of cut but unset gems.”
Nan frowned as Doreen pulled out her phone and brought up the pictures she’d taken. “Oh, goodness, aren’t they lovely?” Nan said with a bright smile. “They really are beautiful.”
“They are, indeed. But we also don’t know who they belong to.”
Nan just stared at her. “That’s hardly something you’d lose.”
“It’s certainly possible,” Doreen said.
“I don’t know how.” Nan looked at the bag. “Do you know anything about the jewelry bag?”
“Johnson and Abelman,” Doreen said without hesitation.
“Right, you mentioned the store earlier. Those are truly beautiful. Seems like, if it was a theft or from when the store burned down, there would be records.”
“Wait. The store burned down?” Doreen asked, staring at Nan over the rim of her teacup. Her grandmother was in