A Three Book Problem, page 27
I’d gathered my “crew,” rented a truck and forklift, and we’d spent most of Sunday morning packing the thing up, moving it, and unpacking it.
“As fun as this has been,” Jayne said, “not, I have to get to Mrs. Hudson’s.”
“It’s unlikely crime stopped in West London while you moved your piece, Gemma,” Estrada said. “So I have to go to work too.”
“Lemonade first?” Leslie Wilson came out of the back door bearing a pitcher tinkling with ice and a platter of homemade chocolate chip cookies.
Everyone gathered around and helped themselves. We sipped and munched and studied the statue.
“I almost expect them to move,” Andy said at last.
“Violet wants to join in the game,” Jayne said.
“At first, I thought you were nuts getting that thing,” Louise Estrada said. “As though you wanted some sort of memento of what happened at the house. But I have to admit, it suits your garden.”
Ryan draped his arm over my shoulders. “It suits Gemma.”
“You have mud on your cheek.” I wiped it away, and we exchanged smiles.
“Thanks for the lemonade and cookies,” Andy said to Leslie. “Jayne, if you’re ready to go I’ll drop you at the tea room.”
“Thanks. Mom, do you want a lift?”
“No, thank you, dear. I’ll enjoy the walk.” Leslie carried the tray back into the house and came out with her purse.
“Catch you later, Detective,” Estrada said to Ryan. She gave me a nod and what might, barely, have passed for a smile.
“Donald,” Jayne called, “are you coming?”
“What?”
“We’re leaving now.”
“Okay. Goodbye.”
“Perhaps I need a lift home after all.” Leslie linked her arm through Donald’s. “I’ll go for my walk later. You can take me. Let’s leave Gemma to enjoy her statue in peace.”
“I think Louise and I are getting on much better now,” I said to Ryan when we were left alone to admire the statue.
He dropped to the ground, grabbed my hand, and pulled me after him onto the soft, cool grass. Violet had given up waiting for the bronze ball to come her way and found a real one under a bush somewhere. She dropped it next to Ryan, and he obliged her. Peony joined in the chase.
Ryan and I leaned against each other and looked at the statue for a long time. “There’s something about it,” Ryan said. “It’s mesmerizing.”
“It speaks to us of our own childhoods, I think. Freedom and fun and happy memories.”
Peony dropped the ball in my lap, and I tossed it into the bushes. They scrambled after it.
“Did you have a happy childhood, Ryan?”
“I did. We always had dogs. I remember Nipper in particular. What a fun little guy he was.” The edges of his mouth turned up and his ocean blue eyes looked at something far, far away. “Memories. I wonder, when I’m old and gray, what memories I’ll have of you. Getting yourself in trouble and chasing criminals, most likely.”
“Is that all?” I asked.
His eyes came back into focus and he grinned at me. “I certainly hope not.” He cleared his throat and glanced away. “Perhaps, Gemma, it’s time for us to talk about making memories together.”
I put my head on his shoulder. “I’d like that.” I studied the statue. The girl’s bronze eyes caught the sun, and almost seemed to have a twinkle in them.
“Sorry, sorry. Hope I’m not interrupting. Forgot my keys.”
Ryan and I pulled apart as Donald bustled around the corner. “I’m sure I had them in my pocket, but I must have put them down somewhere. Gemma, have you seen my keys?”
Ryan pushed himself to his feet with a groan. “I’ll help you look.”
“I don’t mean to disturb you. They must be around here somewhere. I searched the front of the house already.”
I stood up. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not as if we were talking about anything important.”
Ryan might have muttered something rude, and I gave him a warm smile. Let Donald fuss: Ryan and I had plenty of time to talk about important things.
Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mysteries
A Curious Incident
There’s a Murder Afoot
A Scandal in Scarlet
The Cat of the Baskervilles
Body on Baker Street
Elementary, She Read
Lighthouse Library Mysteries
(writing as Eva Gates)
Deadly Ever After
A Death Long Overdue
Read and Buried
Something Read, Something Dead
The Spook in the Stacks
Reading Up a Storm
Booked for Trouble
By Book or By Crook
Ashley Grant Mysteries
Coral Reef Views
Blue Water Hues
White Sand Blues
Year Round Christmas Mysteries
Dying in a Winter Wonderland
Silent Night, Deadly Night
Hark the Herald Angels Slay
We Wish You a Murderous Christmas
Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen
Constable Molly Smith Mysteries
Unreasonable Doubt
Under Cold Stone
A Cold White Sun
Among the Departed
Negative Image
Winter of Secrets
Valley of the Lost
In the Shadow of the Glacier
Tea By the Sea Mysteries
Murder in a Teacup
Tea & Treachery
Catskill Summer Resort Mystery
Deadly Summer Nights
Also Available By Vicki Delany
More Than Sorrow
Burden of Memory
Scare the Light Away
Author Biography
Vicki Delany is a national bestseller in the US and one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers. A former computer programmer and systems analyst, Vicki lives and writes in bucolic Prince Edward County, Ontario. She is the past president of the Crime Writers of Canada.
This is a work of fiction. All of the names, characters, organizations, places, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real or actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2022 by Vicki Delany
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Crooked Lane Books, an imprint of The Quick Brown Fox & Company LLC.
Crooked Lane Books and its logo are trademarks of The Quick Brown Fox & Company LLC.
Library of Congress Catalog-in-Publication data available upon request.
ISBN (hardcover): 978-1-64385-798-5
ISBN (ebook): 978-1-64385-799-2
Cover illustration by Joe Burleson
Printed in the United States.
www.crookedlanebooks.com
Crooked Lane Books
34 West 27th St., 10th Floor
New York, NY 10001
First Edition: January 2022
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Vicki Delany, A Three Book Problem
