Lucy and the Valentine Verdict by Rae Davies Page A

have.”
Not to mention all the TV shows I watched. Peter might be an expert
at reading lab reports, but this was an entirely different
thing.
    “So, you think you can solve the case before
I can?”
    I stood up straight. “Of course.”
    His eyes glinted. Maybe he was laughing a
little. I studied him, trying to decide, but his mask slipped back
into place.
    “Well, then, I guess we’re headed to
Seeley.”
    I guessed we were.
    I picked up Kiska’s leash and snapped it
onto his collar. “I’ll just take Kiska next door to Rhonda.”
    “About that...” Betty stepped out from
behind the counter. “Rhonda called.”
    I dropped my chin to my chest. This weekend
was doomed. I just had to hope it wasn’t a portent for Peter’s and
my relationship.
    “She has the flu.”
    The flu? Rhonda never got sick. She prided
herself on not getting sick. “Really?” I asked.
    “Really,” Betty replied.
    I looked at Kiska. Thinking my attention
signaled some kind of upcoming reward, he plopped his butt onto the
floor and grinned at me.
    I felt lower than Kiska’s behind.
    Peter held out his hand. I glanced at him,
unsure what he was doing. He nodded at the flyer and pulled out his
phone.
    His cowboy charm worked. Ten minutes later,
he, Kiska and I were loaded in his truck and heading out on the
two-hour drive to Seeley Lake.
    o0o
    The mystery mansion turned out to be an
older two-story log home with small one- or two-room mini cabins
sprinkled around it. The entire compound backed to Seeley Lake,
which was a bit choppy and chilly looking, but still blue and
beautiful.
    When we pulled in, there were three other
vehicles visible. Two were parked under a carport, leading me to
believe that they belonged to the owners. The other, a Jeep, newer
and fancier than the one parked in my garage at home, was off to
the right, leaving plenty of room for us.
    Peter parked the truck next to the Jeep and
helped Kiska out. I hopped down on my own. By the time I’d made it
to the ground, Peter was already waiting at the front bumper with a
bag tucked under each arm.
    He carried our bags to the house’s wide
wooden front porch while Kiska wandered around the truck, sniffing
at the snow. I walked to where I could get an even better view of
the lake and pulled pine-scented air into my lungs.
    I lived in the National Forest, so the pine
smell wasn’t all that unique, but the lake... there was nothing as
relaxing as being next to a big body of water like this.
    Peter glanced at me and I gave him my
biggest, warmest smile. He walked toward me and pulled me into a
hug. We stood there, staring out over the lake and feeling each
other’s warmth.
    This weekend was going to be great.

Chapter 2
    Ten minutes later, the front door to the
house opened and a couple stepped out. Both were dressed in retro
garb that Betty, my jazz-obsessed employee, would have loved. The
male half was wearing a gray pin-striped suit with black piping on
the vest and a bow tie that I could tell was not of the clip-on
variety. He was also sporting a handle-bar mustache that would have
put Hercule Poirot to shame.
    A little western for the theme, but then
this was Montana.
    The female half also looked as if she had
stepped out of the pages of an Agatha Christie novel, but if that
had been her inspiration, Miss Marple had not been. She wasn’t old,
nor unassuming. In fact, the beaded ivory dress she wore screamed
money and sophistication, and she looked to be no more than late
thirties, a good twenty years younger than the man.
    The pair walked to the end of the porch and
waved for us to join them.
    I reluctantly separated myself from Peter
and picked up Kiska’s leash, which he’d been dragging behind him in
the snow.
    “Friends of Betty’s?” Peter asked as we
walked.
    Honestly, I was impressed that he’d noticed
the couple’s clothing; he was a detective, and the clothing was in
my opinion obviously not of this century, but Peter didn’t tend to
comment on such things