“Were you?”

Her question caught me off guard. I’d gotten used to her huffing off when things got heated or embarrassing.

“I don’t think I was, but you know what? I probably was to some degree. It’s in our DNA. We can be terrible to one another. But I don’t think I was most of the time.”

She tapped her fingers on the table. “So you don’t think she didn’t invite me because of the dead guy?”

Double negative,” I reminded her. She frowned and I just smiled and continued. “It’s a possibility. But you aren’t friends with her, honey. Why would you expect to be invited in the first place?”

She sighed again. “I don’t know. But this sucks.”

I nodded. “It does. I’m sorry. Boys are frustrating and so are girlfriends. It’s gonna be like that for awhile, I’m afraid.”

“No,” she said, standing up and gathering her books. “I meant living in a murder pit.”

THIRTY NINE

“Rex quoted me two grand,” Jake muttered.

We were standing in the basement, staring at the pipes.

He’d come home shortly after my conversation with Emily and he was in a bad mood. When I questioned why, he just made a noncommittal grunt and went upstairs to change his clothes. I gave him his space and then followed him downstairs when he motioned for me to follow him to the basement. I wasn’t sure if it was because he had serious news he didn’t want the kids to hear or because he wanted a quickie.

It wasn’t the quickie.

“They’ll have to cut two vents and two returns,” he explained. “One in the crawl space that’ll go to the kitchen and then another right over there that’ll be in the living room.”

I stared up at the ceiling, pretending I knew what I was looking at. “And tell me why again?”

“We need the warm air to warm the pipes,” he said, frowning. “The walls down here don’t offer enough insulation and there isn’t enough natural heat down here to keep them unfrozen. When we hit the nine-month season that is winter, the air temps dip low enough to freeze the water in them. The only way to keep them warm is to circulate warm air down here from the furnace. So we need the vents to feed the air to the trouble spots. Hence, the two friggin’ grand.”

“And I assume this is not something we can do ourselves?” I asked hopefully.

He grunted. “No. This is something we have to overpay for.”

“We could get a saw and just cut some holes in the floor.”

“No.”

“Buy some space heaters?”

“No.”

“So then we just overpay.”

He sighed. “Yes.” He rubbed at his jaw. “We overpay.”

We had the money. I knew that. But I also knew how much he hated to overpay for anything. It drove him nuts. When we had contractors come to give us bids after we first bought the house, he’d stood there and negotiated after they gave us a price. I’d get uncomfortable because he wouldn’t budge and I would usually end up leaving the room. But every single time, he’d gotten the price reduced more to his liking.

“I’m going to have them start right away,” he said, sounding tired and resigned. “I looked at the forecast. We’re going to get super cold again next week and I don’t want to worry about them freezing again. Or bursting.”

I hugged him. “Okay.”

“Sorry,” he said, hugging me back. “Didn’t mean to be an ogre when I walked in.”

“It’s okay.”

“He called me a couple hours after he came by and I’ve been stewing on it all day. Just put me in a bad mood.”

“Understandable,” I said. “But do you know what would put you in a worse mood?”

“What?”

“A frozen pipe that burst while we were gone.”

He sighed again. “I suppose.” He rested his chin on top of my head. “So Rex and some other guys will probably be here over the next couple of days.”

“He told me he’d probably be back soon when I saw him this morning,” I said. “But answer me this. Is there any sort of conflict of interest in the house inspector doing contract work on our house?”

Jake shrugged. “I don’t know. But our options are limited here in town. He knows how to do the work and he can do it right away. Beats having to get bids and then trying to get on someone’s schedule. I’m fine with it.”

“Okay,” I said. “Well, I told him he could just come over whenever.”

“Okay,” he said. “And Will said if I needed to borrow any money, he had cash. Do I want to know why?”

“No,” I answered quickly.

“Which means I absolutely want to know why.”

“He just…did a little work for me this morning,” I said carefully. “I needed some help.”

“And you paid him enough so that he’s now offering loans?”

“He probably heard you grumbling about money,” I said. “And was feeling generous.”

“Daisy. Tell me.”

“There’s nothing to tell,” I said, stepping away from him. “I needed some help. He helped me. I paid him.”

Jake narrowed his eyes. “What kind of help?”

“Computer help.”

“Be more specific.”

“Just computer stuff,” I said, smiling at him. “I’d be more specific if I could, but I didn’t understand it. That’s why I needed his help.”

“Maybe I’ll just ask Will.”

“He won’t talk. He was paid well.”

“I’ve got cash.”

“You wouldn’t.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t I?”

He totally would.

Dammit.

“I needed information,” I said. “So I asked him to help me.”

“Information about what?”

I paused. “Helen Stunderson.”

He rolled his eyes in much the same way Emily had, so similar in fact that it was surprising he wasn’t her biological father. “I thought you were going to leave that alone.”

“I am,” I said. “I mean, I am now. I’m giving up.”

He raised the eyebrow again. “I’ve heard that before.”

“But I mean it this time,” I said. “It’s been a waste of time and I’m not helping in any way. More frustrating than anything.”

“What did you learn?”

“You mean about being a private investigator?”

“No, about Olaf.”

“Oh.” I thought for a minute. “I know he was very unhappy with his marriage. I know that he was the one who wanted his divorce. I know that his ex-wife is semi-insane. I know that his sister loved him.” I paused. “But I have no idea who killed him or how he ended up in our coal chute.”

He leaned against a post. “Those are the kind of things you usually feel compelled to know about.”

“I feel like you’re accusing me of being nosy.”

“I’m not accusing you,” he said. “I know you’re nosy.”

“Hmm. Whatever. But I’m telling you, I’m done. I’ve asked all the questions I can think of. There’s nowhere else to go and I just keep hitting dead ends.” I held my hand up. “So I swear. I’m done playing Magnum P.I.”

He stared at me for a long time.

“Magnum P.I. was a really good show,” he finally said. “I’m kind of surprised you know it.”

“Magnum was hot.”

He frowned. “Not what I meant.”

“I know.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “Alright. As long as you promise you’re done, I’ll stop asking questions.”

“I promise,” I said. “I’m done.”

“Good,” he said. He glanced up at the ceiling. “Because after we pay for the new vents, we won’t have any money left to bail you out of jail.”

FORTY

I drove Emily to school the next morning.

“Why do you need to come in?” she asked.

“I have to turn in your lunch money and your forms for next year.”

She fiddled with the radio, turning the volume up. “I can drop them by the office.”

“I know,” I said. “But I have a question about the fees for the photography class.”

“That you can’t ask on the phone?”

“I’m getting the distinct impression that you don’t want me to come into your school.”

She bit her lip and said nothing.

“I’ll pretend I don’t know you,” I assured her. “Jake and I will save all of the embarrassing stuff for when we chaperone your dances.”

She whirled to face me. “You will not!”

I just laughed and shrugged. “Guess you’ll have to wait and see.”