Cottage on Gooseberry Bay: The Innocence Factor

Book 18: Cottage on Gooseberry Bay

by Kathi Daley

Genres: Siblings; Private Investigators; Cozy Mystery; Animal Cozy Mysteries

Synopsis

A seemingly open and shut case, a gut feeling, and an emotional journey into the past, with the hope of finding answers to a present-day murder.

Cottage on Gooseberry Bay is a heartwarming mystery series about finding answers and fostering hope while building friendships and embracing the magic of life by the sea and small-town holidays.

Ainsley Holloway had come to Gooseberry Bay to find answers about her past. She’d come to find an explanation for the dreams that haunted her after the death of the cop who’d both rescued and raised her. And she’d come to identify the family she couldn’t remember but knew in her heart she’d once belonged to.

Ainsley hoped that by finding these answers, she’d also find healing. She hoped that once she’d resurrected the memories buried deep in her mind, she’d find peace.

The Cottage at Gooseberry Bay is a series about, not only finding answers, but finding hope.

It’s a series about family and friendship.

It’s a series about shared holidays, festivals, and celebrations.

It’s a series about shared heartbreak and hardship.

And it’s a series about the bond that can be forged amongst strangers when tragedy binds two or more individuals with a common goal.

In book 18 in the series, Ainsley finds the body of a teacher at the local high beneath the bleachers during an early morning run. She calls it in and then waits to find out who the killer might be, only to find out that the prime and only suspect is one of Adam’s boys. Justice is new to the school this year. A brilliant mind with a troubled past, Justice was not only seen with the dead man the evening before the discovery of his body, but research proves that he had with ties from the past to the murder victim as well. In spite of the fact that all evidence points to Justice as the killer, Ainsley isn't so sure. She knows she'll need more than a gut feeling to convince the new deputy that perhaps other suspects should be considered, but in this case, evidence pointing toward anyone other than Justice seems impossible to come by.

 

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Release date: May 6, 2025

Publisher: Kathi Daley Books

Reader says this book is...: entertaining story (1) trail of clues (1)

Sample

Chapter 1

The morning sun shone down on Gooseberry Bay, creating the illusion of tiny fireflies on the
water. It was a nearly perfect day in the small town I called home. The predicted high
temperatures hovered in the mid-seventies, the air was calm, and the blue sky was cloud-free as
far as the eye could see.
“Morning, Ainsley,” my favorite barista at the coffee cart on the boardwalk across the street
from Ainsley Holloway Investigations greeted me after I stopped to order my morning latte.
“Where are the kids this morning?”
I knew that by “kids,” she meant my Bernese Mountain Dogs, Kai and Kallie. “I’m meeting
with a new client, so I left them at Jemma and Josie’s cottage.” I referred to my neighbors and
good friends, Jemma Hawthorn and Josie Wellington, who, along with their cats, Stefan and
Damon, were happy to doggy-sit any time I needed.
“I suspect they’ll have fun with the roommates. Do you want your regular?”
“I do.” I knew by regular she was referring to my usual nonfat triple shot no foam latte. “It
sure is a gorgeous day. I think it might be the nicest one yet this season.”
She poured the milk into the machine. “It is a near-perfect day. There are cold and windy
days in the early spring when I can’t help but wonder why I thought an outdoor cart was a good
idea, but then, on days like today, I suddenly remember why I wanted to be outside and not
cooped up in a storefront all summer.”
“The long-range weather forecast shows sunny and moderate days for at least the next few
weeks. Of course, that could change, but I’m rooting for a long spring, followed by a mild
summer.”
“I hear ya.” She handed me my cup. “Now that spring seems to have arrived, and the on-
again/off-again rain we had last month seems to have ended, the seasonal vendors are beginning
to show up. I love this time of year when the boardwalk comes to life. There are a few hearty
year-round carts like me, but most choose to close down from Christmas through Memorial Day.
It feels somewhat desolate in the winter, but when spring arrives, life on the boardwalk is
everything I hoped it would be.”

I handed the woman a twenty-dollar bill and waited for the change.
“Do you know if the shaved ice people plan to return this year?” I accepted the change and
dropped a couple of bills in the tip jar.
“I heard they will be back, but I haven’t seen them yet. In fact, I think most of the regular
vendors will be back this year. Ivan and Glory from the little cart that sold locally sourced
pottery moved into a storefront over the winter, and I heard they weren’t planning to bother with
a cart on the boardwalk. Doug and Levon from the hat cart decided to try their luck in Seattle, so
they won’t be back this season either, but I think everyone else will be returning.”
“How about the brothers with the pastry cart?” I did love a sweet treat to start my day.
She frowned. “I’m not sure that I’ve heard one way or another. I hope they’re back. Those
fritters they had last season were to die for.”
A line had begun to form behind me, so I decided to take my latte and walk down the
boardwalk. There were a lot of vendors who had set up their carts since I’d been down to look
around a week ago. I would be willing to bet that everyone with a permit to set up a cart will
have done so within another week. While it was early in the day for the food carts to really ramp
up, I knew that the scents of hotdogs roasting, burgers grilling, churros warming, and popcorn
and nuts from the vendor near the marina, would dominate the area in a few hours, which would
draw in folks passing by who didn’t even realize that they were hungry until an imprinted
memory from their past sent them looking for a boardwalk favorite from childhood.
“Two for twenty,” a man with a purple shirt and bright green pants said as I walked by his
cart featuring brightly colored visors. Given my fair skin, I owned a lot of hats and visors since
keeping the sun off my face was always a good idea.
“Do you have one the color of your shirt?”
His lips turned up in a crooked grin. “I do. The visors are one for fifteen or two for twenty.
Would you like to add a second color?”
“How about the bright orange one in the back.”
“He handed me both visors, and I gave him a twenty-dollar bill. I was about to turn around
and head back to my office when I noticed Hope Masterson, the first friend I made after arriving
at Gooseberry Bay and a good friend still to this day, standing in front of a cart selling freshly
baked bread and bagels.
“Good morning, Hope,” I said after I walked up behind her. “I see you’re getting an early
start on the freshly baked bread.”
She turned and smiled at me. “This is one of my favorite seasonal carts, and the fresh bread,
muffins, and bagels are always a hit with my guests.” She looked behind me. “Kai and Kallie
aren’t with you?”
“Since I have a new client meeting today, I left them with Jemma and Josie. I was a few
minutes early for my meeting, so I decided to walk down the boardwalk and see who had already
returned.” I held up my visors. “It looks like I’ll have a colorful presence this year.”
“They are bright, but I really like them. I feel like a splash of color is warranted after the long
winter.”

“I find I agree with that.” I glanced at the large tote bag she carried over one shoulder. “Are
you heading back to the inn or continuing onward?”
“I need to get back. I spent the morning at the high school, so I had to leave my
housekeeping staff in charge of serving breakfast. I suppose I should check on things.”
Hope owned the Rosewood Inn. While she didn’t have school-aged children, she was active
in the community and a member of multiple boards, including the school board.
“Is everything okay at the high school?” I asked. Unless something was up, it seemed
somewhat early in the day for a board meeting.
“Everything’s fine. Alice Cummings had her baby early. A healthy girl named Jasmine.”
“I heard she was expecting. I’m glad everything went okay. Early deliveries can be tricky.”
“They can be, and Jasmine was born six weeks early, so I guess the situation was dicey for a
while, but I’ve been told the baby is fine and will be allowed to go home in a few days. I’m
really happy for Alice, but taking maternity leave earlier than predicted has presented a problem
with her classes. She had planned to work through the end of the term, and it hasn’t been easy
finding qualified substitutes this close to the end of the school year, but we finally managed to
find someone who will stay through the end of the term.”
Given her tone, it sounded like Hope was resigned to the situation but was less than thrilled
with the substitute teacher selected. “Is there a problem with this individual?”
“Not really. It’s just that I find the guy to be…” She paused as if searching for the right word,
“distracting.”
“Distracting?”
“He really is good-looking. I mean, ‘magazine cover good-looking.’ Don’t get me wrong,
being good-looking isn’t necessarily a problem, but there’s just something about this guy. I think
it has something to do with his eyes that make him appear to be looking right through you. I’m
not sure I can explain it, but I can’t help but wonder if he was the best choice, not that we had a
lot of candidates to choose from. His first day was Monday, so he’s only been at the high school
for a couple days, but I’ve been told by the principal the kids like him, and I’ve spoken to some
of the high school staff, who have assured me that he seems to be doing his job just fine. I may
not have made a connection with the guy and might not have chosen him if I’d had a choice, but
we only need someone to fill in for a couple more weeks. It’s not like we’re trying to find the
right fit for a permanent hire.”
“I can understand what you’re saying about a good-looking teacher being distracting. I had
one of those myself when I was a student. I was a straight-A student who almost flunked history
because I was too busy daydreaming about the single, twenty-six-year-old hunk at the front of
the room who I was certain only had eyes for me.”
She laughed. “So you do understand. If you have time, stop by the high school in the next
couple of weeks and check the guy out. The guy’s name is Clark Oberson, and he teaches drama,
psychology, sociology, and, if I remember correctly, cultural anthropology.”
“Sounds like an interesting guy. I’ll look him up on the internet.” I glanced at my watch. “I
should get going. It was really nice chatting with you. It’s been a while. Come by the peninsula

and hang out sometime. We usually grill food at the roommates’ cottage several times a week
during the season.”
“I’ll give Jemma a call and arrange a time.”
After I spoke to Hope, I headed directly to my office. I’d spent more time enjoying the
boardwalk than I’d intended, and if I didn’t want to be late for my client meeting, I would need
to get a move on. My office was on Main Street, across from the boardwalk. The large picture
window looking out toward the boardwalk and bay provided a lot of natural light, which was
nice most days. I started brewing a pot of coffee in case my new client wanted something hot,
and then I took the folder with the notes I’d taken while the woman and I chatted on the phone
out of my desk drawer. What had initially sounded like a simple case had turned out to be quite
interesting and unusual, to say the very least.
“Are you Ainsley Holloway?” a tall woman with wavy brown hair and bright green eyes
asked after entering my office through the front door.
I stood up. “I am. And you must be Romy Mansfield. Please have a seat.”
The woman was carrying a brown leather purse and a bright yellow tote bag. She set both
items on the floor next to the chair and then sat down.
“Coffee?” I offered.
“No, thank you. I don’t have much time since I am flying home tonight, so I’d like to get
right to it.”
I sat down and folded my hands on my desk. “So, how can I help you?”
She picked up the large yellow tote bag and put it on the desk. “As I briefly explained when
we spoke on the phone, I found something on the bus two days ago, and I’d like you to locate the
owner and return it.”
“Bus?” The woman’s comment surprised me because I knew that the only public bus that
was available in Gooseberry Bay was the one that ran around town during the busiest summer
months.
“The bus in Seattle.”
I raised a brow. “Seattle?”
“I live in Virginia and have been in Seattle for the past two weeks for business. I’ve been
taking the bus from meeting to meeting and was on my way to a meeting across town from my
hotel two days ago when I entered an overly crowded bus. I didn’t think there would be a place
to sit, but then a lovely older woman removed the yellow tote bag she had placed next to her and
put it under her seat so I could sit next to her. Since the traffic was congested and the bus was
moving slowly, we started talking. I told her that I was in town on business, and she told me that
while she lived in Gooseberry Bay, she was in Seattle to pick up her husband. Even though we
never exchanged names, we had a lovely chat. She got off a couple stops before me, and I didn’t
notice that she’d left her yellow tote bag behind until I reached beneath the seat for my bag and
found it there. I told the driver that the woman had left the tote bag behind, and he told me that I
could set the item behind the driver’s seat and that someone from the company’s lost and found
department would pick it up at the end of his shift. Since the woman had been so kind and placed
the tote bag on the floor so I could sit down, I wanted to be sure she got it back, and my gut

instinct was that the driver wasn’t all that interested in making sure that happened. For some
unexplained reason, I wasn’t comfortable leaving the tote bag on the bus, and I decided it would
be best to keep it with me and then personally hand-deliver it to the main transit office after my
meeting, which I did.”
The woman seemed to be taking a circuitous route to answer my question, but I knew it was
important for some clients to ensure that I had the complete story, so I merely let her continue.
“When I arrived at the main transit office, I was told they would be happy to put the tote bag
into lost and found. Given that it had been several hours since the woman left it behind, I figured
the woman may have come in or called with an inquiry, so I asked if anyone had already come or
called looking for it. They informed me they hadn’t received any in-person inquiries or phone
calls about a lost yellow tote bag but would hang onto it per their lost items policy.”
She paused, took a breath, and then continued. “Since I’d looked inside the tote bag by this
point and knew how important the contents were, I hated to leave the tote bag and its contents
with the woman at the desk. I informed her that due to the importance of the contents, I’d just as
soon take it with me to ensure its safety, and asked if she would take down my name and phone
number so the owner could track me down if she did stop by or call, and she assured me that my
plan would be fine. I was sure I’d have the tote bag returned by the end of the day, but that was
two days ago, and so far, no one has come forward to claim it. As I said, since I’m due to fly out
tonight, I decided that leaving the tote bag and its contents with someone I can trust to follow
through and return the tote bag and its contents to its rightful owner would be the best option.”
“So it occurred to you to hire a private investigator?”
She nodded. “I know that seems like an odd thing to do for a lost tote bag.” She reached into
the tote bag and pulled out a large pewter urn. “But I believe the woman on the bus may have left
her husband behind.”
Okay, I guess this was beginning to make sense.
“Are there any markings on the urn that would help us to identify its origin?”
“Not that I can tell,” the woman replied. “The urn appears to be a standard container that one
might use to transport ashes meant for scattering rather than saving. If I wasn’t so pressed for
time, I’d do additional research, but I am on an extremely tight timeline. Looking back on the
conversation I had with the woman, I’ve decided that, while it sounded like she and her husband
owned a home in Gooseberry Bay, her husband had been ill and had been either in a hospital,
convalescent facility, or hospice situation in Seattle. When she said she was in town to pick him
up, I guess I imagined that he had gotten better and was coming home, but after finding the urn, I
realized that the woman must have actually meant that he’d died and she was in town to pick up
his ashes. I can’t imagine why she didn’t immediately contact the transit office looking for her
lost tote bag, but it’s been days, and so far, if the woman who handles the desk at the main transit
office is to be believed, no one has come looking for the tote bag. Given that I don’t have the
woman’s name, address, or phone number, nor do I have time to track any of that down, this is
where you come in. If you’re agreeable, I want to hire you to take possession of the urn and then
do your best to return the ashes to the woman who left them behind.”
Since I could see that the woman was sincere in her desire to return the ashes to the woman
on the bus and understood her predicament due to her imminent departure, I agreed to take
possession of the urn and do my very best to return it to its rightful owner. I took down her

contact information and gave her mine so we could stay in touch, and then I assured her that,
given the circumstances, I would waive my regular fee. She thanked me and then left to catch the
next ferry back to Seattle. Given her tight timeline, it was impressive that she’d gone to as much
trouble as she had.
Once the woman left, I carefully inspected the urn. It did appear to be the sort of thing that
might come standard with a cremation where the individual ordering the cremation didn’t want
to or have the funds to pay for a personalized urn. I imagined that the woman on the bus might
be dealing with financial restraints given the fact that she likely had a mountain of medical bills
to pay due to her husband’s hospitalization, or as my client had indicated, she may have been
planning to spread the ashes and didn’t want to pay for a fancy urn that she’d have no use for in
the long run.
The urn didn’t appear to have any markings or identifiers I could see, so I decided the best
place to start my search was at the local mortuary. But first, I had a lunch date with my
boyfriend, Adam Winchester, so I locked the urn in my safe, gathered my belongings, and
headed down the boardwalk toward the new café that had been opened on the pier near the
marina.

Chapter 2

Since I arrived at the café about fifteen minutes early, I texted Adam to let him know I was
there and planned to grab a table on the deck, and he should join me when he arrived. I ordered a
freshly squeezed lemonade to sip on while I waited and then sat back to enjoy the brilliant
sunshine. Tilting my head back, I closed my eyes and allowed the sun to warm my face. I’d
liberally applied sunscreen that morning, and since it was a nearly perfect day, I intended to
enjoy every minute of it.
“Ainsley.”
I opened my eyes. “Phoenix.” I stood up and hugged the young woman who’d been such a
large part of my life the past few years. I’d first met Phoenix four years ago when she was still in
high school. She was part of a group known as the Geek Squad, a likable group of five friends
with huge IQs and limited social skills, at least at the time. In the years I’d known her, Phoenix
had grown from an awkward teen into an amazing young woman. “I didn’t know you were home
from college already, although now that I think about it, you did indicate that your last class
would be on May the twenty-third, and here it is the twenty-eighth already. How’d your finals
go?”
“They went fine. I should have straight A’s again this semester, although I won’t get my final
grades for a few weeks. By this point, I’m just happy to be home for the summer. Last semester
was intense, and I really need a mental break.”
I looked around. “Are you here with friends?”
She turned and nodded toward a table where three young women were sitting. “I’m here with
friends from college who are on their way to Canada for a summer program and stopped to spend
the night with me on their way north. I should get back to them, but I saw you sitting here and
wanted to say hi. Are you here alone?”
“I’m meeting Adam for lunch. I was a few minutes early, so I snagged a table. I don’t want to
keep you from your friends, but I’d love to get together soon. I want to hear about your semester
and your plans for the summer.”

“I’d love to get together. I actually need to talk to you about something. My friends leave
tomorrow morning, although I’m not sure of the exact time they plan to leave. Maybe you and I
can get together for lunch tomorrow. If my friends get a late start, it might be a late lunch, but it
shouldn’t be too late.”
“That works for me. Once you figure out a good time to meet, text me, and we’ll decide on a
place to meet.”
Phoenix hugged me again. “Okay, I will. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She turned to return to her table just as Adam arrived. When Phoenix saw Adam, she paused
to greet and hug him, and as she had with me, she expressed her desire to get together to catch up
as soon as possible.
“I wasn’t aware Phoenix was back already,” Adam said as he kissed me on the cheek before
he sat down across from me. “Skeet isn’t due to arrive for another two weeks.”
Skeet, who lived with Adam when he wasn’t away at college, was another member of the
Geek Squad.
“Her last class was this past Friday. She must have driven up right after.”
“And the women she’s with?”
“They’re friends from college who are on their way north for a summer program.”
The waitress came over, so we ordered our meal before continuing the conversation. Once
the waitress had left, I asked Adam about the meeting he’d had at the high school. When I’d
spoken to him that morning to lock in our plans for lunch, he mentioned that he’d had a meeting
at the high school, probably the same meeting Hope had attended, but I couldn’t be sure about
that.
“The meeting went as well as could be expected.” When Adam answered my question, a
frown was on his face. “I’m not sure whether or not you heard, but Alice Cummings had her
baby six weeks early, and she’s unable to complete the school year as planned.”
“I did hear that. I also heard that Alice’s replacement is quite the looker.”
Adam gave me an odd look. “I don’t know about the man being quite the looker, but he does
seem to be the dynamic sort with an ability to draw people in. Most people, at least. It seems that
Justice has a past with the man. The context of the past is still unclear to me since neither Justice
nor the new substitute teacher seemed willing to elaborate on the reason for the conflict between
them. The only thing I know at this point is that Justice was up at the high school with a couple
of the other kids from the academy to watch a baseball game yesterday afternoon, and the new
substitute teacher, who was also at the game, said something to Justice when he walked past him.
According to what others have told me, Justice went berserk, and there was a very loud verbal
exchange between Justice and the new substitute teacher. I guess it got so out of hand that one of
the onlookers called the police. The police broke it up, and Justice and the kids from the
academy left. The meeting I attended at the high school this morning included myself, as
Justice’s custodial guardian, Clark Oberson, the new substitute teacher Justice argued with, the
high school principal, and Dani.” Adam referred to Deputy Dani Dixon, the new deputy who’d
been hired after Deputy Todd had been killed the previous fall.

“Is Justice in some sort of trouble?” Justice James was a new student at Winchester
Academy. He’d been a late admittance after being locked up in juvenile detention for a year. The
kid was brilliant but was also a hot head with a chip on his shoulder the size of Texas. Adam
didn’t usually admit boys with behavior problems into the school, but he’d made an exception
with Justice due to his unique circumstances. It seemed that things had gone fine so far. I
couldn’t imagine what sort of baggage might be between Justice and the new substitute teacher
that would cause him to throw away all of the progress he’d made this past semester.
“In terms of legal action, he’s not in trouble, but Dani made it crystal clear that behavior like
she witnessed at yesterday’s baseball game cannot happen again. She asked me to keep Justice
away from the high school for the remainder of the school year, and I promised to do my best to
make that happen. I knew Justice had a history of reactive behavior when I decided to admit him
to the academy, but he’s managed to keep his rage under control to this point. I truly hope I
didn’t make a mistake bringing him here.”
I reached out a hand and placed it over Adam’s on the table. “I don’t think you made a
mistake. The kid has traveled a hard road, and his behavioral issues are mostly due to the
inability of the rest of the world to understand his triggers and how his past experiences have
affected him. You and Archie have done wonders with that boy. Justice is a quick learner who
has surpassed most of his classmates despite his late arrival, has learned to socialize with the
other boys, and seems to respect the staff. Most importantly, he’s come a long way in his
understanding of, and control of, his own triggers since he’s been with you. At this point, I can’t
help but wonder if we might want to assume that the outburst witnessed yesterday afternoon had
as much to do with Clark Oberson as it had to do with Justice.”
“Do you think that Oberson might have done something in the past that was so heinous that
he actually deserved the verbal abuse Justice dealt him?”
I shrugged. “Perhaps. I ran into Hope, who shared that she found the man distracting. She
made an offhanded comment about his looks being the distracting factor, but I picked up on this
vibe when she mentioned the guy. If I had to guess, I would say something about him disturbed
her. And not just his looks. Hope is the intuitive sort who has an excellent ‘feel’ for people. I
think her comment came more from that than anything.”
“The guy did have an odd sort of stare, and his eyes…” Adam let the sentence dangle while
he appeared to gather his thoughts. “There was something off about his eyes. It’s not that
anything is physically wrong with his eyes; it’s just that he has this intensity that I can’t quite
explain.”
“Hope said much the same thing about his eyes.”
“I can understand how the guy might have set Justice off, but that doesn’t mean Justice’s
behavior can be tolerated.”
“I agree. Is there a plan to deal with the fallout from Justice’s outburst?”
Adam blew out a long breath before he answered. “Archie asked that I allow him to speak to
Justice, and I agreed to do things his way. Archie can be a bit too lenient with the boys, but he
cares about them, and they seem to care about him in return, which keeps them from running all
over my soft-hearted brother. While I’d normally say that a behavioral outburst such as that
witnessed yesterday would require a sizable penalty rather than a softly delivered speech by
Archie about understanding motives and dealing with consequences, in this case, Justice has had

to deal with more than his fair share of hammers in his life, so maybe a soft approach will work
best.”
Justice’s mother died when he was young. He grew up with an alcoholic father and an older
sister who tried to fill the void left by their mother’s death to the best of her ability. Two years
ago Justice’s sister, Lydia, a high school junior, was strangled and left for dead beneath the
bleachers of the high school she attended in Tacoma. Her boyfriend, Roger, was the prime
suspect, but he seemed to have an alibi, so while he was questioned, he was never arrested. The
case grew cold, and an arrest was never made. Justice had been in the eighth grade at the time.
His father remained his legal guardian, but he was rarely around to do any parenting. When
Justice entered high school, he fell in with a rowdy crowd. He was arrested a few times for minor
infractions, such as underage drinking, shoplifting, and possession of a controlled substance by a
minor. He ended up in the juvenile detention center for a year, which is when Adam received a
letter from Justice’s parole officer asking him to consider Justice for his program. Adam
contacted one of his teachers, who indicated that Justice had a brilliant mind, which was on the
verge of being lost in the system, and that what he really needed was someone to take him under
their wing and help mold him into the man the teacher knew he could be. Adam agreed to meet
the boy, and after they had engaged in a long conversation, committed to accepting Justice into
the academy once the boy had completed his sentence. He’d been with Adam since February,
and things had gone even better than expected, at least so far.
The conversation was interrupted when the waitress came by with our meal. When the
conversation resumed, the topic segued onto the topic of my new client. I explained the situation
to Adam and then asked for his input.
“If the urn isn’t marked, it won’t be easy to find the woman who left it on the bus, but not
impossible,” he said. “We know that the woman had the urn on the bus two days ago, and if she
lived in Gooseberry Bay and only went to Seattle to collect the ashes, that would likely mean that
her husband has passed away within the last week or so. While I realize it’s not an address, it is a
place to start.”
“How many crematoriums do you think there are in Seattle?” I asked.
“No idea, but we can narrow things down. We can assume that the woman walked onto the
ferry to come across since your client met her on the bus, which would indicate she didn’t have a
car. Since she had the urn with her, which appears to indicate that she had recently picked it up, it
can be assumed that she had used a service in the downtown area. I imagine that there will only
be one, maybe two, mortuaries that meet that criteria.”
“That’s a good point. Rather than calling all the mortuaries in the area, I can start by calling
the one closest to where my client met the woman.” I smiled. “Thanks. For some reason, I was
complicating things in my mind. I’d even planned to visit our local mortuary after lunch, but she
wouldn’t have used the local guy if she was in Seattle with the ashes.”
“I’m happy that I could help.” He popped a piece of crab into his mouth. “This seafood salad
is outstanding. The seafood tastes like it was caught yesterday rather than left in a freezer for
months and months.”
“I don’t know about it being caught yesterday, but I agree that it’s very fresh and delicious.
And the dressing is really unique.”
Adam held up the breadbasket. “Another roll?”

“No. I think I’ll save room for the cookout tonight. Are you planning to attend?”
Our friends, Jemma and Josie, had texted the entire group earlier to let everyone know they’d
be grilling steaks if anyone wanted to come by.
“I think I will plan to come by for dinner. Given the situation with Justice, I may not stay
over tonight. I know Archie wanted to be the one to talk to him, and I know I agreed to his
request, but I am the one who went to the meeting at the high school, so I would like to fill
Archie in on the discussion that was had sooner rather than later.”
“I’m sorry you can’t stay, but I understand.”
“Assuming, of course, that Justice understands what he needs to do and will agree to stay at
the academy and avoid town until things calm down, maybe I can plan to spend the weekend on
the peninsula.”
I smiled. “Spending the weekend together would be nice. I’ll pencil you in.”
While the phrase “I’ll pencil you in” was a bit of a joke between Adam and me, the reality
was that between his commitment to the Winchester Foundation and the Winchester Academy
and my job as a private investigator, our plans usually were soft. Given that it wasn’t uncommon
for one or both of us to need to cancel at the last minute, we both knew that was always a
possibility, and we tried not to let things like scheduling define our relationship or the importance
of our commitment to each other. ...