Page 30 of The Attercop

“Here, you—come,” Mrs B called out, and the dog immediately ran to her. “He’s a smart boy,” she said. “Far more obedient than the other men in the office.”

Mrs B gave Charlie a card, and Gwen served up the cake. “Well, I really should be heading down to the café before customers think I’ve gone out of business.”

“Hold on a sec,” Mrs B interjected. “I have one more thing to give Charlie and I want you here.”

She handed him a present enclosed in tissue paper. It was thin, and about the size of a business-letter envelope.

Charlie gently removed the wrapping, revealing an engraved brass plaque that said,Charlie Watts, Private Investigator.

“I’ll letyouattach it to your door,” Mrs B said. “It’s time to replace that paper sign you have up there now.”

He stared at it for a moment, then threw his arms around her. “Thank you, Mrs B. You have no idea how much this means to me…especially coming from you.”

He took the gift, tore down the paper sign and carefully mounted the brass plaque on his door.

Gwen said, “I really should be going. Happy birthday, Charlie.”

She came over and gave him a kiss on the cheek then headed down the stairs.

Charlie polished the nameplate for the umpteenth time.

Mrs B whispered to Declan, “Is it all confirmed for tonight?”

Charlie’s heart raced.What is he planning?

Declan headed toward him. “So…tonight…”

“Yes?”

“There are a lot of great places to eat in town…but I thought, it being your special day, we should do something a little different.”

“Okay…”

“Well, that’s all I can say for now. But be ready for five o’clock. In the meantime, we’ve got a business to run.”

“Speaking of which,” Mrs B said. “Our lawyer, Mr Vanstone, dropped by. He had a look at that summons and said Charlie probably has nothing to worry about. I’ll need to forward him the case notes, but it looks like everything is going to be fine.”

“Thank God,” Charlie said.

“I also got the signed contract with the payment from Jules’ father,” Mrs B continued. “So, Charlie, you may want to get in touch with her to fill her in on the next steps.”

“Will do,” Charlie replied.

“Good,” Declan said. “I’ve got a meeting set up with Gary Sawchuck this morning. I’m going to tell him what we found out about the guy who may have attacked Angel. We’ll rendezvous back here later this afternoon before we head out for the big celebration.”

“Can’t wait for tonight,” Charlie said. “And, Mrs B, I’ll go get those case notes into shape for you.”

Charlie headed back to his office. He sat in his chair and looked at the new smartwatch on his wrist, then up at the brass plaque. This had to go down as the best birthday, ever! Nothing could spoil this day.

As he opened his computer files, the dog trotted in, his face covered in birthday cake.

“Mrs B! We need to find the owner of this dog! Today!”

Chapter Fifteen

Declan got into his minivan and headed off to meet Gary Sawchuck at a large Tim Hortons coffee shop in the south-east part of the city. As he turned onto Glenmore Trail, the cars in front of him slowed to a crawl. A stalled vehicle had reduced traffic flow to a single lane and the cars were backed up as far as he could see. Declan decided he’d better call Gary and let him know he’d be late. He reached for his cell phone on the console. Before he got to it, it started to ring. Declan glanced at the call-display and pressed speakerphone.

“Hey, Mickey. How’s it going? Any news on Angel?” Deep down, he expected the worst.