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But Jefferson had passed away, and his son Vince was now in charge, and it seemed as if a new wind was blowing through the place. And since Mandi was in charge of the books, she had a front-row seat to the revival of the Gusta Garage, an established name in town.

So it was with a song on her lips that she closed up the shop and decided to head home. She still had some shopping to do, and pick up some dry-cleaning in town. And she was walking to her car, parked behind the shop, when the smell of acrid smoke irritated her nostrils and she frowned in confusion. Who had lit a fire on such a nice day?

And then she saw it: behind the garage, Vince was burning something in a metal vat that had stood there rusting for ages. As she approached, he walked away, though. He was so lost in thought that he hadn’t even noticed her. And since curiosity was her middle name, she decided to take a look at what her husband was so very eager to burn.

A bunch of old notebooks, she saw. And since she was the Gusta Garage bookkeeper, she decided it was her business to see what could possibly be in those notebooks.

Vince had once told her that his dad kept two accounts: an official one, and one for customers who preferred to pay him under the table. Nowadays the practice had been banned, but back in the day it had been standard for a lot of small business owners.

So she took a branch, and fished out one of the notebooks. It was leather-bound, and the fire hadn’t yet had the chance to consume it. She opened it and started reading.

Chapter 10

That evening, dinner time at the Poole family soon turned into sleuth-night, as the only topic of conversation was the spectacular crime that had taken place at the mall.

The Pooles weren’t the only family discussing the case, since the murder of Jona Morro had clearly gripped people’s imagination. After all, it isn’t every day that a murder takes place at the mall. And it isn’t every day that people are killed with their own car.

“I think it must have been the Careens,” said Gran. “They had the motive, the opportunity, and the means—and frankly speaking, I think they had the right, too!”

“Oh, Ma, for crying out loud,” said Uncle Alec. “Nobody should be allowed to take the law into their own hands. If they think a crime has been committed—they should tell us!”

“They did tell you, and you screwed up, didn’t you?”

“Anyone more sausages?” asked Tex, who loved the treat almost as much as I did. I know, I know. Sausages are more often associated with dogs, but why should they be the only ones who enjoy a nice sausage? Unfortunately, Tex ignored me completely. That’s what you get for being overexcited about something. You set yourself up to be disappointed.

We were in Marge and Tex’s backyard, which is well-equipped to cater to so many people: Odelia’s parents were there, of course, but also Uncle Alec and his girlfriend Charlene, and Gran and her friend Scarlett.

“I don’t think the Careens would ever do such a thing,” said Charlene.

“You know them?” asked Odelia.

“Of course. Poor woman,” said the Mayor. “Hasn’t left that house in years. Let’s hope that now that the murderer of her little girl is dead, she’ll be able to overcome her ordeal.”

“Her son told us that she doesn’t have more than three months to live,” said Odelia.

“Oh, no!” said Charlene, clasping her hands to her face. “Poor family!”

“Which is another reason for you not to bother them anymore, Mister,” said Gran, waving a big knife in her son’s face. “That family has suffered enough already.”

“Ma, if they committed a crime, they have to do the time,” the Chief said solemnly.

“All they did was mete out some much-needed justice!”

“We don’t know that, do we? Jona Morro may be innocent of the crime they think he committed. All they had to go on was some gossip from some of his so-called friends.”

“Well, I think you should leave well enough alone now, Alec Lip,” Gran spoke sternly. “There’s plenty of real criminals out there. Just leave the Careens be.”

“What’s all the fuss about?” asked Harriet, who was stretched out on the grass, right next to her mate Brutus.

And since it didn’t look like that sausage was coming in my direction any time soon, I wandered over and plunked myself down next to them. And in a few short words I related the entire history to my two friends.

“Sad business,” Harriet determined. “Though now that justice has been served, maybe the woman will feel better and won’t succumb to the disease.”

“Yeah, let’s hope so,” I said.

“I think she will be just fine,” said Dooley, who had also joined us.

“So what’s this business with the bitcoin?” asked Brutus.

“Yeah, that’s what I’d like to know,” said Harriet.

“Well, apparently Morro& Wissinski invest in bitcoin on behalf of their clients,” I said. “Though the man we saw today didn’t seem very happy about the investment.”

“I looked into this bitcoin,” said Harriet. “And it looks very promising. Did you know that an investment of a hundred dollars today can turn into millions tomorrow?”