4th of July

Chapter 34

I CLIMBED OVER JOE’S body, threw his shirt on over my cutoffs, and went to the door. An attractive fifty-ish woman was standing on the front porch with an expectant smile on her face. She was too hip in her tennis dress and Lilly Pulitzer sweater to be a Jehovah’s Witness, and she looked too sunny to be a federal agent.

She introduced herself as Carolee Brown.

“I live down on Cabrillo Highway, about a mile north of here. That blue Victorian with a lot of chain-link fencing.”

“Sure. I know the place. A school, isn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s the one.”

I didn’t mean to be snappish, but I felt awkward standing there with my beard-roughened face and love-smushed hair.

“What can I do for you, Ms. Brown?”

“It’s Dr. Brown, actually, but please call me Carolee. Lindsay, right? My daughter and I help your sister out with Penelope. This is for you.” She handed me a platter covered in aluminum foil.

“Oh, Cat did mention you. I’m sorry. I’d invite you in, but —”

“Don’t even think about it. I wasn’t paying a visit. Just being the Cookie Lady. Welcome to Half Moon Bay.”

I thanked Carolee, and we exchanged a few more words before she said good-bye and got into her car. I stooped to pick up the morning paper, glancing at the front page on the way back to the bedroom. Sunny today, NASDAQ down ten points, Crescent Heights murder investigation still going nowhere. It was nearly impossible to believe that people had been murdered in this lovely place.

I told Joe about the slayings, then peeled the dome of aluminum foil off the platter.

“Chocolate-chip,” I announced. “From the Cookie Lady.”

“The Cookie Lady. Like the Easter Bunny?”

“I guess. Something like that.”

Joe was staring at me with that dreamy look of his.

“You look great in that. My shirt.”

“Thanks, big fella.”

“You look even better out of it.”

I grinned and put down the platter. Then I slowly unbuttoned Joe’s nice blue shirt and let it fall from my shoulders.