Her Christmas Detective - Laura Ann Page 0,4

“Bill said that as well. Antony’s apparently quite the bread baker, as well as being an award-winning cake decorator.”

Bella’s eyebrows shot up. “Wow. I didn’t know that.” She pulled out her phone. “Okay. We really need to swap notes, because you’ve done more research than I have.”

Henry’s eyes narrowed. “What exactly is your plan here, Ms. Woods?”

She gave him a look. “I keep ignoring it, but you calling me Ms. Woods drives me crazy. I’m Bella. Or Isabella if you want to be formal, but definitely not Ms. Woods.”

Henry leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest. “Okay...Bella. But I ask again, what is your plan?”

“I’m not sure I follow.”

He tilted his head. “Are you trying to write an article about this? Trying to hit a headline in this sleepy town? Why are you so set on getting to the bottom of this situation?”

The tiny amount of jealousy that Bella had been feeling was gone in a flash. In its place was the anger from earlier. She copied his stance, leaning back and folding her arms. “I don’t really see why I need to defend my interest to you.”

“And I don’t see why I should be swapping information with a civilian.”

Bella rolled her eyes and leaned her elbows onto the table. “Okay...look. Anything that involves my family involves me. This place is my grandmother’s pride and joy, and something funky is going on here. We’ve had tools moved. Garden tools left on the lawn. Food is missing. Like full-on pies,” she said, raising her eyebrows for emphasis. “Although I don’t know that that bothered Emory as much as the stolen French candy did.”

“Bill told me most of those things,” Henry said, still watching her carefully. “Although, it’s clear he doesn’t even know the half of it.”

“You want to know the worst part?” Bella pursed her lips. “On top of all the strange stuff, we’ve got a cousin, one that Emory, Hope, and I didn’t even know about, and his family is trying to sue for the inn. He simply showed up on the doorstep and declared that Grandma was incompetent.” Bella blew out a raspberry. “It’s ridiculous. We didn’t even know we had cousins...” she frowned, “second cousins?” Bella shook her head. “Whatever they are, we didn’t even know they existed. And now they’re trying to take away our inheritance.”

Hank sighed and pushed a hand through his hair. “Yeah...Bill mentioned that too, but I set it aside. The reason I was brought in was because a ring was stolen. Everything else has some kind of logical explanation.” He held up his hand when Bella tried to interrupt and she snapped her mouth shut. “Let me rephrase that. Everything else could have a logical explanation. A stolen ring is a little more serious.”

“If it was stolen,” Bella pointed out. “I mean...it could have been misplaced. So there’s a possible explanation for that as well, if you want to get technical.”

Henry nodded. “I’ll give you that, though the chances of it are less.”

Bella shrugged. “Maybe.”

“You still think Mrs. Harrison is lying?”

Bella shrugged again. “Not necessarily. But the woman obviously loves to make a scene. You should have seen the wailing that went on when she found it gone.”

Henry chuckled. “That bad?”

“Like Biblical proportions bad,” Bella said in a serious tone. She was enjoying this. Maybe not as much as she had hoped, but Hank was proving to be down to earth and intelligent, if not a little stubborn. Now she just needed to convince him that she had a right to be here just as much as he did.

Henry’s smile grew. “Let’s hope no one posts it on social media.”

Bella snapped her fingers. “I knew I forgot something.”

He laughed again. “Okay... Your explanation is good, but you’re forgetting one thing.”

“What’s that?”

Henry gave her a serious look. “It’s wonderful that you want to help your family and clear your cousin’s name. But you’re not trained for this sort of thing. In fact,” he leaned onto the table, “you’re more likely to be a hindrance than an asset. Don’t you think you should let the professionals handle this?”

Oh no, he didn’t... Bella sat up straight and gave him her best fake smile. “How nice. Your opinion has been noted.” She stood up. “Thank you for the time, Detective Gordon. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around.”

CRAP. CRAP. CRAP. Hank watched the upset woman walk out of the dining room. Now the question was whether or not he should go after