Too Much Stuff Read Online Free PDF Page A

have.
    “Okay.” She reached into her purse, pulling out a white business card. “If you are ever interested in moving down here, call me. I could use a good plumber. Not just now, but about every other day. And the guys down here, the guys who call themselves plumbers, they’re working on island time.”
    “Next time, for sure. It’s just that right now, we’re not prepared.” James flashed her a shaky lady-killer smile.
    She stood up and walked away.
    “You didn’t want people to know we were investigators so you had the plumbing signs made.”
    “Yeah?”
    “We could be called Smith Brothers Hauling. We could do that. Haul stuff. Or, like I told you, you could have just gone signless. Now, we stick out like a sore thumb. I mean, a plumbing truck with no tools and no plumbers.”
    “Yeah. I get your point.”
    “You know, James, sometimes your answer to a problem just causes more problems.”
    Little did I know how prophetic that statement would be.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    James drove back to Pelican Cove, the magnetic Smith Brothers Plumbing signs now thrown in the back of the truck.
    “Now we’re just a white box truck with a splash of black paint on the side.”
    He was upset that our humble transportation now bore a scar. I didn’t care so much about the scar, but I was happy we weren’t plumbers any longer.
    “Now no one will ask us to do them any favors.” I breathed a sigh of relief. Signs? We didn’t need no stinkin’ signs.
    “Dude, I wonder how much she would have paid us.”
    A question that had no answer. We had no talents in plumbing. Hell, we had no talents, period. I’m reminded of that from time to time.
    “I think we could have made some serious jack, you know? She said to charge whatever we wanted. Who knows? Maybe we could have made enough on the side to get two rooms instead of one.”
    Oftentimes, I couldn’t believe what came out of his mouth.“James, it makes no difference.” Sometimes I seriously think he’s clueless. “Neither of us knows the first thing about plumbing.”
    “I can use a toilet plunger.”
    I didn’t say anything.
    “I thought of something you said back at the Turtle. Something you said about the gold and it got me thinking.”
    “Yeah?”
    “You said finding the gold was the most important thing.”
    “I did.” But I’d agreed that if we found the missing detectives, it could mean our job was a whole lot easier.
    “First of all, I still think we need to find those two detectives. Their disappearance is way too strange.”
    I nodded my head in agreement.
    “But you said finding the gold was the first priority. I already told you, I think if we find these two Miami hotshots we find the gold, but—”
    “But what?”
    “The lady. Maria Sanko.”
    “What about her? She’s got a leaky pipe and no one to help her.” It actually sounded dirty.
    James chuckled. “Skip, she’s a real estate lady.”
    “Yeah?”
    “She knows about property and stuff.”
    James was doing the same thing, dragging the story on, like I was supposed to pick up on every—
    “Ah.” It hit me. “A real estate person just might know where older properties were located. Right?”
    “Right, amigo. This lady might be able to tell us where the Coral Belle hotel used to be.”
    Sometimes he hit a home run. Not that often, but—
    “James, that’s a great idea. You’ve got her card. Let’s call her.”
    He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the card. He flipped it to me as he drove north.
    I dialed the number on my cell phone, worrying about how many minutes this would eat up. She answered on the second ring.
    “Maria Sanko, Sanko Properties. How can I help you?”
    “Miss, Mrs.—”
    “Please, call me Maria.”
    “Okay. Maria, this is Skip Moore. You approached my friend and me in The Green Turtle about a plumbing problem?”
    “Oh, thank you for calling. You’re too late though. I found Jimmy Sheldon at home and he—”
    “No, no. It’s not about that.