"Yes, I was, but honestly, I didn't see her park so she could have parked anywhere and then forgotten."

"Is it likely she forgot?"

"I don't know. I guess. Like the time she said money was disappearing from her purse. Ten dollars here, five dollars there. Sometimes a twenty. I just reminded her of how many times we reach into our purse to get a coffee or a lip balm or candy. It's easy to not remember pulling out a bill, right?"

"Right," I agreed, wondering how many times I'd done something similar. It was plausible. Plus, it made me super happy whenever I found a forgotten bill in a jeans pocket or a blazer in my closet. "But there have been other incidents? Can you remember any?"

"Juliet mentioned little things... clothing going missing! Then Rob reminded her of the big clean-out she just did in her closet. He said she must have accidentally sent something to Goodwill, or else she'd find the dress two weeks later, all scrunched up in the corner of the closet. And stuff keeps moving around the house. I said maybe the maid forgot. I know Juliet makes these out to be big things, but they're really not."

"What about the wedding things? Did she mention the things she said she didn't order?"

"Yeah, but it's so weird. They were orders from her computer, right? So, maybe she binge-shopped and was too embarrassed to admit it. I did that once and ordered three purses I didn't need! She knows Rob would hate her going all Bridezilla on him."

"It's a lot of incidents," I pointed out without mentioning the huge price difference between three purses and a ten thousand dollar wedding cake.

Penelope flapped a hand dismissively. "I know. This thing with her job worries me, and I feel awful for not saying ‘yeah, it's definitely a stalker’ especially as she's going crazy trying to figure everything out, but I assure you, I'm looking out for her. That's what a best friend is for. For when you go a little crazy, yeah?"

"Yeah." I let out a laugh, thinking of all the dumb, crazy stuff Lily and I got into over the years. Some of it was barely legal, and some of it was hilarious, but Penelope was right. That's what best friends were for and Lily and I had lifted each other’s spirits many times through the years and put each other back on the right track. I was glad Juliet had someone there for her. Penelope wasn't buying the stalking story, but that wasn't too worrying because her explanations seemed plausible enough to have an air of truth. It still didn't mean Juliet was wrong about being set up.

Could someone really be messing with Juliet though? Making her believe she was crazy so that no one else would believe her insistence that a stalker was to blame for all the incidents? With the clock ticking on her freedom, I had to find out if Juliet were being set up for the final time.

Chapter Six

My inconspicuous, little VW was parked a few houses down from Juliet and Rob's house. Far enough away that it wasn't obvious I was watching, but close enough that I didn't need a zoom lens to observe things through my open window. The occupants knew I was there, of course, but the rest of the Bedford Hills neighbors didn't need to know one of their residents was paying me to conduct surveillance. Not that my surveillance was getting me anywhere. Although their lawyer departed more than an hour ago, Juliet and Rob hadn't left the house, or received any visitors since Penelope, who left twenty minutes after the lawyer. Neither the lawyer nor Penelope looked towards me, or acknowledged my presence, which was good since I was doing my best not to draw any attention to myself.

However, that didn't explain why an unmarked police car was suddenly cruising my way; I'd seen the same car in the police lot a number of times. I tried to look inconspicuous as it drew alongside me and the window rolled down. Realizing the obvious, that I caught someone's attention, I turned towards the car, which was now parallel to my window.

"Hey," said the officer, his eyes squarely on me.

I breathed a sigh of relief at seeing my brother, a detective on the burglary squad. "Hey, Jord."

"One of the residents reported a woman sitting in a car."

"And they sent you on such a dangerous mission?" I jested.

"Bedford Hills call, and we roll out the cavalry."

"My job would be much easier if I could stake out Frederickstown." In Frederickstown, no one would give two hoots about a woman sitting in a car for several hours. It was highly probable no one would even notice. It wasn't the best neighborhood, thanks to poor planning. That was back when it was created as a commuter neighborhood; however, the bad public transport link and rising unemployment meant several areas of the sprawling neighborhood only got steadily worse. Bedford Hills, with its smart lawns, expensive cars, and wealthy population was a sharp contrast. Here, people noticed things. In Frederickstown, it was better if you didn't.

"Don't suppose you could take your business over there?" Jord suggested.

I shook my head. "I'm working a case."

"I'll let the residents know you're not scoping out their homes."

"Thanks."

"No problem." The window rolled up and the car gently accelerated away. I sighed and rolled my window up. So much for being inconspicuous. If one resident had noticed me already, then others would too. I could sit on Juliet's house for as long as possible, but reality was leering at me in a particularly ugly way. Working solo might have been okay on some cases, but on a surveillance job like this, with the stakes so high, I needed help and someone to rotate shifts with.

I picked up my cell phone, noting Solomon's terse text message to call him, and thumbed my way to my favorite contacts. Lily was at the top of the list. I hit dial and a moment later, she answered.

"Did you solve it yet?" she asked as glasses clinked in the background.

"No."

"Damn shame. I had such faith in you."

"It's a tricky one."

"It's a paying one."

"I like paying."

"You like tricky too."

"What are you up to later?"

"Nothing." She paused. "I feel like I shouldn't have just said that."

"Do you want to help out with surveillance?"

Lily gave a relieved sounding sigh. "Thought you'd never ask!"

"What did you think I was going to suggest?"

"I have no idea. It's hard to tell with you. Hey, do you want to come to my pregnancy yoga class? We could go to next week's?"

"I'm not pregnant."

"It's not until next week!"

"I'm pretty sure I won't be pregnant next week either."

Lily snorted. "No one will actually ask."

"I guess so," I conceded. "But only if I can find someone who isn't either of us to assist me with surveillance. We need more people than just you and me."

"I know just the person."

"Are we related to them?" I had to check. Since I hadn't been the source of any dinner table gossip for a while, I assumed my family members were all looking for some kind of juicy fodder to sustain them. My asking for surveillance help would probably suffice until something really succulent turned up.

"No. It's Ruby. We were just talking about surveillance, and she said she loves it. I'll call her soon. Where are you now?"

"Outside Juliet's house. Want to come?" I gave her the address.