Elaine Orr - Jolie Gentil 05 - Trouble on the Doorstep Read Online Free PDF

on Sunday talked about where Eric Morton could be and whether Steve Oliver’s death was really a hit and run or maybe something more sinister. I don’t think that would have occurred to anyone, except that Eric was missing. I couldn’t imagine why Eric would leave that message for Pooki, but if he was anything like what I saw of her behavior, it would be hard to guess at reasons for why he stayed out of sight.
    I felt really bad for Bill Oliver. I couldn’t imagine losing Renée. I wanted to talk to Bill, but his practice was closed on Sunday and I didn’t have a mobile number for him. I planned to track him down Monday. I would have tried harder on Sunday, but the B&B guests were staying until Monday, and I didn’t want to add any drama to their visit.
    Instead, I ate lunch with Ramona in the B&B and she tried to teach me how to make a decent loaf of bread from scratch. No success there.
     
    I CHECKED IN at Steele Appraisals as soon as the guests left on Monday. One of the best things about moving to Ocean Alley was getting a job with Harry.
    Usually there is at least one request for an appraisal on a Monday, but not today. I checked behind Harry’s desk to make sure no incoming work had fallen off the fax machine. Most people use email now, but Ramona’s Uncle Lester, the biggest pain in the backside of all the Ocean Alley real estate crew, hates email and mostly uses it to send insulting comments to Harry. Since Lester sends us a lot of business, it’s okay. Except when he’s arguing with Harry about the value of one of his properties that I appraised.
    Work had dropped to almost nothing since Hurricane Sandy, since most people had at least some clean-up work and didn’t want a real estate agent to show their houses until they were more or less perfect again. And who had time to shop for a house when they were busy throwing out the contents of their freezer, putting in window glass, or volunteering to help the city crews who were dismantling damaged sections of the boardwalk?
    Harry and I figured that eventually some of the people in southern Jersey who lost homes might relocate in our area, meaning a lot of the Ocean Alley houses on the market might sell. Sad to say, there is not a lot of available housing in the areas Sandy hit the hardest. I wanted more work, but not that way.
    It was so quiet in Harry’s home office that the phone startled me. “Steele Appraisals,” I said.
    “Jolie?”
    Why does this voice make me shiver? “Yes, can I help you?”
    “It’s Elmira Washington.”
    It took me a couple seconds to reply. “Hello Elmira. I guess you know where Harry is.” My heart was actually beating faster. Every town has at least one person who believes it their duty to pass on bad news, and Elmira had seen fit to let everyone know that my ex-husband had embezzled money from his bank and I’d turned tail (her words) and moved in with Aunt Madge.
    “I know. I need your help, Jolie. Something’s wrong at Silver Times.”
    And you’re calling me why? “Did you call the manager or maintenance people?”
    “They said they’re tired of talking to me,” she said.
    Imagine that. I took a deep breath and tried to pretend I had Aunt Madge’s patience. “And what is it you think I can do that they can’t?”
    “You know how to investigate things. You need to…”
    I cut her off. “Elmira, you know I’ve only looked at stuff a couple of times when something pertained directly to me. I’m not some sort of investigator.”
    “Maybe not officially, but you know how to find things. You need to come over here right now. I’m in unit seven in the duplex section.” She hung up.
    Elmira is the only person I truly dislike in Ocean Alley. I think she’s mean. I opened a file drawer and took out the folder for a house I was supposed to appraise in early November. They hadn’t had a lot of hurricane damage to repair. Maybe the owner and buyer were ready to close their deal and needed the appraisal this