Crowbones

CHAPTER 18

Vicki

Thaisday, Novembros 1

Once everyone had been fed and sufficiently caffeinated and had wandered off to do whatever they were going to do, I stayed in the kitchen and tried to call Julian to deliver Michael Stern’s message.

The bookstore’s phone rang and rang and then went to voice mail. Julian’s mobile phone went to voice mail.

The bookstore wouldn’t be open yet, but I was surprised that Julian was ignoring both phones. Then I worried because he was meeting Chief Grimshaw and Ilya Sanguinati to discuss whatever they hadn’t mentioned to me about last night’s scary excitement.

Which was totally unfair because I should be informed if they knew something about the scary excitement. After all, it was my guests who could end up being eaten, because scary things did not live on dead donkey alone.

Then again, there was such a thing as too much information.

Ignoring the little inner voice that kept asking if I really wanted to know what the men knew, I called Ilya’s office—and got voice mail. I called his mobile phone—and got voice mail.

“If there was an emergency, we’d all be in deep doo-doo while you all did your manly talking,” I muttered. Unless they weren’t answering their phones because they were already dealing with deep doo-doo.

I hung up the wall phone in the kitchen and almost jumped out of my shoes when the darn thing rang right under my hand.

“The Jumble. Vicki speaking.” I sounded slightly squeaky, but still professional.

“Vicki?”

“Ineke?” She did not sound professional, which made my stomach take an unexpected roller-coaster ride, because anything that spooked Ineke Xavier could not be good.

“Is Chief Grimshaw there with you? No one’s answering the phone at the station, and I think his mobile phone is turned off. I wondered if he was playing a game of pool before work.”

Oh, golly. Really deep doo-doo, since she knew as well as I did that Grimshaw wasn’t a play-before-work kind of man. “Julian went to meet him and Ilya, but I haven’t been able to reach either of them.”

A beat of silence. Then Ineke said, “Would you give the chief a call? He’ll pick up the phone if it’s you.”

I’d call that optimism over reality. Then again, if the designated trouble magnet calls the chief of police, you have to figure there is trouble.

And then I wondered why Ineke hadn’t called Officer Osgood. He still lived at the boardinghouse and wouldn’t dare ignore a phone call from her. But Ineke was my friend, so I said, “Sure. What do you want me to tell him?”

She told me.

Eventually I realized I was sitting on the kitchen floor listening to a dial tone.

Eventually I stood up and placed a call to Grimshaw’s mobile phone, hoping I’d get lucky and get his voice mail, because he was not going to be a happy camper.

No such luck.