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“I won’t write a word. I promise,” she said quickly. And she wouldn’t. She was a reporter with a strict ethical code of conduct, as was her boss Dan.

“Yes, Gail has cancer. Ovarian cancer. She’s fighting hard, but the prospects are not good. Not good at all. We’re taking her to Switzerland next week, for an experimental treatment. So you see, my mind is not on movies right now. And as luck would have it, I have made enough money over the past thirty years that I can afford to retire and devote this time to my beloved wife.” He stared into the distance for a moment, where old men were still hitting little white balls then chasing after them. He heaved a deep sigh. “At any rate, it’s very good of you to take Jeb’s case to heart. Even though I’ve been extremely upset with him, he doesn’t deserve to be punished for a crime he didn’t commit.”

“Why don’t you tell him so yourself?” she suggested. “Maybe now is a good time to make your peace with each other.”

He gave her a weak smile.“Reporter, sleuth and confessor. You are a special lady, Miss Poole.”

She would have added cat lady, but didn’t. There were certain secrets the world had no business knowing. She certainly agreed with the director on that. And as she took her leave, she placed a hand on his shoulder and he gave her a nod of appreciation. She now realized all his bluster was simply a front to hide the pain he was experiencing. Pain he couldn’t share with anyone because of his position in the industry and his fame.

“Poor man,” she said as she returned to her barstool.

Gran didn’t respond. She’d fallen asleep where she sat.

She gently shook her and finally Gran stirred, licking her lips.“It wasn’t me, Dr. Franklin. Nurse Jackson stole that diamond.” She blinked when she realized where she was. “Weird,” she said. “I must have dozed off.”

“We need to get you home,” said Odelia. “Come on. Let’s go.”

“I’m not going home,” said Gran. “I’m going to interview more suspects and solve this mystery.”

But as Odelia put her grandmother in the car and buckled her up, the old lady promptly fell asleep again.

Ecstasy, thought Odelia. They should probably change the name to misery instead.

She drove back to the entrance, and then through it and out. And as she did, she happened to glance in her rearview mirror and who should she see there but Max and Dooley, fast asleep atop two lions!

Chapter 27

We were driving through town, Grandma asleep next to Odelia, and Dooley asleep next to me. The only ones still standing—so to speak—were Odelia and me.

“Where are we going?” I asked, yawning.

“My dad’s,” Odelia said, looking grim. She cut a quick glance to her grandmother, who was out like a light. “I don’t like this, Max. Maybe we should take her to a hospital.”

“Tex will know what to do.”

Just then, Gran suddenly sprang to life again.“Yes, your highness, I’m just a lonely virgin from Iowa lost in the woods!” She glanced around. “Where am I?”

“In my car. I’m taking you to see my dad.”

“Oh, do I have to?” asked Gran in a whiny voice. “You know I hate doctors.”

“You work for one.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t hate them,” she said reasonably.

“You promised you wouldn’t fight me on this, remember?”

“Oh, all right. Have it your way,” said Gran, slumping down in her seat again. “But he won’t find a thing. I’m as fit as a baby kangaroo.” Just then she spotted something through the windshield. “There! It’s Conrad!”

“Your drug dealer?”

“My vitamin supplier,” Gran corrected her. “Pull over. I’m going to ask him a straight question and he’s going to give me a straight answer and you’ll see that he’s an honest vitamin salesman and not a nasty drug dealer as you keep implying.”

“Deal,” said Odelia, and pulled the car over to the side of the road.

We were on the outskirts of Hampton Cove, in one of the more residential areas. Mostly families with kids lived there, and I wondered what a drug dealer would be doing in a nice neighborhood like this. Unless he really was a vitamin salesman, of course. We can all use some extra vitamins from time to time.

“Hey, you!” Odelia bellowed the moment she’d cut the engine and cranked down the window. “Conrad, right?”

The guy grinned broadly at the mention of his name and came walking over. He’d been leaning against his own vehicle, a spiffy new Toyota Land Cruiser, and was dressed in cowboy boots, skinny jeans, a fringed red cowboy shirt and a wide-brimmed cowboy hat. In Texas, he would have fit right in. In Hampton Cove he stuck out like a sore thumb.

“Howdy,” he said, tipping his hat. “What can I do you for, little lady?”

“Howdy!” Gran yelled from the other side of the car, and dipped her head down to show her face to the man.

His smile widened.“Mrs. Muffin! My best customer! Don’t tell me you ran out already!”

“My granddaughter here confiscated my stash, that’s what the problem is. She won’t believe me when I tell her you’ve been selling me vitamins and nothing but vitamins. She claims you’ve sold me ecstasy—whatever the hell that is—and she doesn’t like it.”