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“Poor Chase. And poor Grace. What’s going to become of that poor baby?”

“Odelia will get custody, of course. And Chase will get visitation rights. And then Grace will have a billionaire for a daddy. Which maybe isn’t such a bad thing.”

“How can you say that! I thought you loved Chase like a son?”

“I do love Chase like a son, but what can we do? We’ll just have to accept that soon we’ll have Edward Dexter as our son-in-law.”

“It must be one of those things,” said Marge. “A coup de foudre. It happens.”

“And clearly it happened to Odelia.”

And as the disturbing discussion raged on, suddenly Harriet caught sight of an even more upsetting sight: Marcie Trapper stood listening very carefully to the conversation next door, and from the red flush of her cheeks and the sparkle in her eyes, she was enjoying every single moment, and recording it for posterity—or so she could spread the terrible news to the rest of the neighborhood!

CHAPTER 12

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We found Uncle Alec in his office, from where he oversees the law enforcement efforts of his troops. Though when we entered the office, the Chief wasn’t overseeing his troops so much as staring out of the window, idly gazing in the direction of Town Hall, where his girlfriend is mayor of our town.

The moment we walked in, he quickly turned, as if caught doing something he shouldn’t.

“Oh, it’s you,” he said, relaxing again.

“Who did you think it was?” said Odelia as she joined him at the window. “And what are you looking at?”

Her uncle heaved a deep sigh, replete with silent sorrow.“It’s Charlene.”

“Uh-oh. Trouble in paradise?”

He gave his niece a strange look.“Funny you should say that. Charlene wants to go on holiday with me.”

“So? Isn’t that great?”

“It would be our first holiday together. And you know what they say about a couple’s first holiday?”

“That they’re fun? Exciting? Practically like a honeymoon?”

“A minefield. And possibly a death knell for the relationship.”

Odelia laughed.“What are you talking about?”

“Oh, you know how it is. Now we see each other from time to time. Some evenings we spend at my place, some at her place, and some evenings we spend alone, and I like it like that. Things are going well, so why change things up?”

“Okay, but if Charlene wants to go on holiday with you, what’s so bad about that?”

“Everything!” he said, throwing up his arms in a gesture of despair. “We’ll spend every single minute of every single day together, and before you know it the inevitable will happen and we’ll get into a fight, and then it will be all over!”

“Or you could have a great time together and grow closer as a couple.”

“I doubt it,” the Chief grumbled, clasping his hands behind his back and scowling at a passing bird that had done him no harm whatsoever. “Once she gets to know me—the real me—she’ll get tired soon enough. She’ll complain that I snore too much, eat too much, drink too much and that myfeet are too cold.”

“If your feet were cold she’d know it by now. Same thing about the snoring, or the eating and the drinking. You’ve been together how long now?”

“A year,” the Chief grunted unhappily.

“If she didn’t like you, don’t you think she would have left already?”

“I dunno,” he mumbled.

“Look, the fact that she wants to go on holiday together is a big step, Uncle Alec. It means she’s serious about this relationship, and she wants to move forward. Take the next big step.”

He looked up, startled.“You mean… move in together?”

Odelia nodded.“Why not? You like her, she likes you, and you have to admit you’re good together.”

“But I don’t want to move in together!”

“Just take this trip,” Odelia suggested. “And if everything works out and you end up having a great time, which I know you will, you can think about the next step.”

“I don’t want there to be a next step,” he grumbled. “I like this step.”

Odelia smiled, and patted her uncle on the back.“It’s going to be all right,” she assured him. “Just you wait and see.”

He gave her a funny look.“Look, I know you’re a big girl, Odelia, but don’t you think that what you’re doing right now…” He hesitated, then tried again. “I mean, you know I like Chase, don’t you? In fact I love the guy like the son I never had.”

“Of course I know that,” said Odelia. “And I’m sure he does, too.”

“So…” But the Chief shook his head, then grunted, “It’s none of my business.”

Odelia frowned, but didn’t pursue the matter. It was obvious her uncle was working through some personal issues, and needed time to figure things out.

“So what do you want, anyway?” he asked, returning to his desk, where a large portrait of Charlene stood facing us. He took it in one of his big hands, studied it for a moment, sighed deeply, and put it in one of his drawers, shoving it shut.

“I’ve been asked by Edward Dexter to find out what happened to his daughter,” said Odelia, not wasting time getting to the point.

Uncle Alec’s brow furrowed at the mention of the billionaire’s name. “Dexter,” he growled, as if the man had personally insulted him. “Does Chase know about this?”