The Missing Dough(44)

“Are you making any progress?” I asked timidly and then hastily added, “You don’t have to answer, but you know that we’re dying to find out.”

He took a deep breath, ran a hand through his hair, and then said, “It’s slow, that’s for sure, but we’ve got a few leads we’re pursuing.”

I smiled at him. “Chief, we aren’t interviewing you for the newspaper. You can be a little more forthcoming than that.”

He laughed. “Sorry. I guess I just got a little guarded. I’ve been burned a few times in the past, though not by you two. I meant it, though. We’ve got a few irons in the fire going. I’ve got Chief Hudson from Cow Spots looking into a few things right now for me, too, but he’s got his hands full with a mess of his own, so I’m not sure when I’ll hear from him.”

“What’s going on there?” Maddy asked.

“I don’t guess it will hurt to tell you. He and the state police just broke up a gambling ring in town. It was being run right under his nose, and Hudson didn’t know much about it. He’s as mad as I would be, and nobody’s going to get away with it if he has a say about it.”

“It wasn’t at the dry cleaner, was it?” I asked. I based my guess on how Vivian had reacted to us when we pressed her for information, and how she’d folded once she found out that Art Young was in my corner.

Chief Hurley looked at me with widened eyes. “How could you possibly know that, Eleanor?”

“It was just a lucky guess,” I said.

“I doubt that. Are you sure your buddy Art Young didn’t tell you anything about it?”

I was glad that I could answer honestly. “I guess you haven’t heard. I haven’t talked to him in a while. Our friendship is on the rocks.”

“So, you finally wised up and dropped him from your group of friends, did you? That’s smart, Eleanor.”

I wasn’t about to get into that discussion with him.

“We know the woman who runs the place,” I said. “Was Vivian arrested, as well?”

“She’s in one of my holding cells even as we speak. The chief didn’t think she’d be safe in his lockup. How do you happen to know her? It’s a little far to take your dry cleaning, isn’t it?”

I didn’t know how to answer that, so I came up with something else to distract him from pursuing the matter any further. “Grant Whitmore took his dry cleaning to Cow Spots, you know.”

“No, as a matter of fact, I didn’t,” he said. “How did you figure that out?”

I’d done it now. There was no way I could disclose the fact that Maddy and I had done a little B and E, but what else could I say?

Fortunately, I didn’t have to. Before I could come up with an answer, the chief’s radio squawked. He had a quick conversation with his dispatcher and then got into his car as he said, “We’ll have to continue this conversation later, but don’t think it’s over just because I’m leaving. There was a pileup on the outskirts of town, and they need me on the scene.”

He took off with lights flashing, siren wailing, and tires screeching.

“Whew, that was close,” Maddy said.

“I think we just delayed answering the question,” I said. “Remind me to come up with a good answer for him. Is there any reason to hang around here?”

“Not that I can think of. Whoever was searching the promenade isn’t about to come back any time soon.”

“Agreed,” I said. “Listen, instead of splitting up like we’d planned, I think I’m going to follow you home so you can pack a bag. I’ve got a weird feeling that something’s about to happen, and I don’t think we should be splitting up.”

“Is it something worse than murder?” she asked me.

“Not necessarily. Just something bad.”

“Dear sister, your imagination is in overdrive these days. I’ll be fine.”

“I know you will,” I said stubbornly, “because I’ll be right there with you.”

“What makes you think that having two of us will help?”

“I don’t know it for a fact, but I do know that if I don’t go with you and something happens to you, I’ll never be able to forgive myself.”

“Okay, tag along, then,” she said.

After we got in our separate cars, I followed her through town to her apartment. I watched as she grabbed a few things and threw them all into an overnight bag, but I didn’t breathe any easier until we were at my place.

As we walked inside my Craftsman-style bungalow, I waited for Maddy to get over the threshold, and then I firmly latched the heavy oaken door behind us. I didn’t realize that I’d been holding my breath, but the second that lock clicked firmly into place, I let out a deep breath.