“Why would he check up on you?”
“I’ll give you three guesses,” I told her, and then I took a sip of sweet tea. It was cold, rich, and sugary enough to put me in a diabetic coma; in other words, it was perfect.
“Jake called him?” Grace asked.
“You got it in one,” I said.
She studied me for a few seconds. “You don’t look all that upset by it.”
“He’s just looking out for me. What can I say? I must be lovable.”
Grace pretended to look me up and down. “I don’t know. I don’t see it myself.”
I gave her a playful shove. “That’s because you’re not looking hard enough. So, which man should we tackle first?”
“Suzanne, I hate to go against your instincts, but if George thinks that we should look hard at Reggie, I for one would like to know why. We can talk to Frank after we grill Reggie.”
“I have no problem with that at all,” I said as Trish suddenly appeared carrying two heavily laden plates our way. “Looks like lunch is on the way.”
“Excellent,” Grace said with a smile. “I’m so hungry I could eat both orders.”
“But you’d never do that to me, would you?” I asked her.
“No.”
“And why exactly is that?”
She grinned before answering. “Because I know that if I tried, I’d probably lose a hand.”
“I’m not that harsh. It might just be a finger.”
She pretended to think it over before she answered. “I still don’t think I want to take the chance.”
“Wise, my friend; very wise.”
“Dig in and enjoy,” Trish said as she put the plates down.
Grace and I did exactly as we were told, enjoying the sheer decadence of Trish’s food. I’d have to cut back on something soon or I’d never fit into my jeans again, but it would have to be something besides the Boxcar’s food.
It was just too good.
We were up front paying when my cellphone rang.
“It’s Jake,” I told Grace as I handed my bill and my money to her, and then I ducked outside.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey yourself. Well, I made it.”
“Is it beautiful?” I asked.
“Suzanne, I just left the terminal and I’m standing out here waiting for a squad car to take me into Anchorage, but yeah, it’s all pretty breathtaking. Flying in was really something.”
“What’s the temperature like?”
I could hear the hint of a shiver in his voice. “Colder than I like,” he said. “This winter is going to be brutal. I can tell already.”
“You’ll have to get some long underwear,” I said.
“I’m going to need more than that. Oops, it appears that my ride is here. I’ll check in later. Love you,” Jake said quickly, and then he hung up.
I just laughed as I pocketed my phone.
Grace came out waving my change in the air as she asked, “What’s so funny?”
“Jake said it’s already freezing up there.”
“Literally?” Grace asked incredulously.
“No, of course not. But he did say that it was chilly. I bet it’s quite a shock to his North Carolina sensitivities.”
“That poor boy,” Grace said as she handed me my change.
“Boy? He’s a grown man, and a state police instigator at that,” I said.
“Maybe so, but he’s still a Southern boy at heart.”
“I can’t disagree with that,” I said. “Are you ready to tackle Reggie Nance?”
“I’m more than ready,” she said. “Any idea how we can get him to break down and really talk to us about what happened to Jude?”
“There’s only one approach that I can think of, and it’s pretty risky,” I said.
“Go on. Tell me. At least let me judge for myself.”
“The only thing that might work, and I want to stress the word might, is we have to invoke Debbie’s memory. If we can get him talking about her as sympathetically as we can, he might just spill something that he doesn’t want us to know.”
Grace frowned.
“What’s wrong?”
“Didn’t you give me a lecture on ethics not that long ago? How is this any better than what I did?”
“It might not be, but we’re running out of time, and options,” I said. “Do you forgive me if I’m being a little inconsistent about our investigation?”
“Forgiven and forgotten,” she said.
“That’s why I’m your number one fan,” I said.
“As far as you know, anyway,” Grace said with a laugh. “Come on, Sherlock. Let’s get sleuthing.”