The Chocolate Puppy Puzzle Read Online Free PDF Page B

part of the story. Don’t ask me if it was a big romance or something sleazy or nothing at all. I guess there was talk at the time.”
    “Seventy-five years ago, and it’s still an item.”
    “You knew this was a small town when you moved here, Lee. Part of the story, naturally, is buried treasure. The bank loot—or whatever—is supposed to be hidden someplace on the old farm.”
    “Now owned by Silas Snow?”
    “Right. Going out there and digging around is a Warner Pier High School tradition. Heck, I did it!”
    “It’s apparently a tradition that annoys Silas Snow. But what became of the supposed gangster? And what became of the farmer’s daughter?”
    “I don’t know. Julia Snow and Dennis Grundy both left Warner Pier, but I don’t know if they went separately or together. The Snow family never mentioned Julia after that. Maia thinks the two of them lived happily ever after.”
    “And Uncle Silas doesn’t. And I’m not interested enough to research the matter. I’ve got to get back to the office.”
    As I started to go, I saw Aubrey, who now was the center of a group of drama club members. Maggie was not in sight, but seeing Aubrey reminded me of her.
    I turned back to Joe. “Did Maggie talk to you?”
    “We said hi when you and I went through the line.”
    “No, this was after that. She acted sort of frantic.”
    “I’ll check with her. And I’ll see you later.”
    As I walked toward the office my mind bounced back to Aunt Nettie and her date with Aubrey Andrews Armstrong. Even more surprising than the date was Hogan Jones’s reaction to it. Hogan might be a small-town police chief now, but he’d spent years in law enforcement in a major city. He ought to be wary of people who drop in unannounced and claim to be movie producers. But he thought it was fine for Aunt Nettie to go out with this stranger. He’d accused me of treating my aunt as if she were senile. Or at least too old to have any interest in romance.
    Nobody ever gets that old, do they? I knew Aunt Nettie and her friends were still interested. They had coffee klatches in our break room now and then, and snickered over various older gents in Warner Pier. This one was considered too decrepit, that one too much of a dirty old man, another too hung up on his deceased wife.
    Oddly enough, the only one they all seemed to approve of was—ta-dah!—Hogan Jones. But Hogan had so far deftly avoided all the invitations of Warner Pier’s widows. And if he had himself ever asked anyone out, I hadn’t heard about it.
    I was trying to refocus my thoughts on TenHuis Chocolade’s accounts receivable when Joe caught up with me.
    “I’ll walk back with you,” he said. “My truck’s over that way.”
    “What did Maggie want?”
    “Nothing. She said she had solved her problem, and she didn’t tell me what it was.”
    “Good for her. Now I can concentrate on worrying about Aunt Nettie.”
    “I wish you wouldn’t. Like the chief says—”
    “Joe, don’t start telling me she’s a grown woman. I know that. But she’s been a big help to me, and I’d be negligent if I stood by and let her get hurt.”
    “But Nettie’s not your responsibility, Lee.”
    “Of course she’s my responsibility! Who else does she have?”
    Joe stopped abruptly. “She has herself! You don’t have to take care of her! Maybe that’s our problem.”
    “Our problem? Ours! What problem do we have?”
    “Getting married. I want to get married, Lee. And I can’t get you to set a date. I can’t even get you to say that you’ll set one eventually.”
    I closed my eyes and sighed. “How did we get from Aunt Nettie to this?”
    “I think you’re hiding behind her. You can’t even consider getting married and leaving darling Aunt Nettie alone.”
    “I’ve never said that! I never even thought that!”
    “It’s the only explanation I can come up with. You claim you love me, but I can’t pin you down.”
    “Joe, you have lost your mind. I’ll plead guilty