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“Come on, Max, before the fish run away.”
“Fish can run?” Max asked quizzically. “Don’t they swim?”
Logan laughed. “Let’s go find out.” Max skipped behind Logan as they made their way down the back lawn to the dock.
“Nice kid,” Dunbar said.
“He’s a good boy. Smart, too. But I have to say that. I’m his mother.” Colette laughed nervously.
“I think we have a lot to talk about, Colette. Can I get you something to drink? Water? Coffee? Tea?”
“A coffee would be very nice.” She hesitated a moment. “I have something in the car I need to show you. That’s why I’m here.”
“Sounds intriguing.” He smiled at her.
“That is a good way to put it. I’ll be right back.” Colette moved quickly to the car and retrieved her tote bag, where she kept the spiral booklet. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably. She steadied herself. She had made it this far. She was safe. She had always liked Clive Dunbar. He wasn’t arrogant or dismissive the way Arthur was. He had always been polite to Colette. He didn’t treat her as if she was just a servant. Dunbar was smart and loyal. She could understand why Randolph trusted him to protect his interests. She stood tall and walked back into the house through the side door. Clive was making a carafe of coffee in a French press.
“I hope you like your coffee on the strong side?” Clive smiled at her as he pushed the plunger down.
“I do. Thank you.”
Dunbar pulled out a small tray and placed the coffee urn, two cups, cream, and sugar on it. He walked back into the massive pantry and brought out a crumb cake. “I just love this stuff. I probably shouldn’t eat it, but my niece is a great baker, and she makes dozens of these at a time. I usually bring three or four up here with me. Don’t tell my wife. She’d kill me.” Dunbar was acting like a granduncle toward her. He was making a great effort to make Colette feel comfortable. He could only imagine what she had felt when Randolph died and Rowena tossed her to the curb. He did not believe for one minute that Colette would steal anything from the Millstones. Randolph had trusted her, and that was enough for Clive to trust her as well. Randolph did not suffer fools gladly. He was sharp as a tack. Clive thought about his friend and had a moment of melancholy.
“Come, let’s go out to the porch. We can talk and watch Max and Logan skip stones.”
Colette followed Dunbar to the porch area. It was expansive, reaching from one side of the house to the other. And it was large enough to hold several dozen people. She wondered how many people came to visit at the same time. There surely was enough room for many. Clive indicated for her to sit at one of the teak tables. He put the tray down and pulled out a chair for her. He took his place opposite from where she was sitting.
“So, tell me what brings you to this neck of the woods?” Clive poured the coffee and cut several slices of the coffee cake.
“Mr. Dunbar, I don’t know where to begin.”
“Let’s start with the day you found Randolph in the garage.”
Colette’s eyes welled up. “It was a terrible day, Mr. Dunbar.”
“First, please call me Clive. I feel as if I’ve known you long enough, if not in person, at least through Randolph.”
“OK. Clive.” Colette nodded. “Mr. Randolph was on his way to the garage to meet you for your appointment. I realized he had forgotten his cell phone, so I went after him. When I got into the garage, he had already fallen down. I ran over to see what I could do, and he handed me this.” Colette reached into her bag and produced the spiral notebook. She slid it across the table.
Clive looked down at it. “Do you know what it is?” “I have no idea. But there was an envelope inside. It fell out when Arthur came bounding into the garage. I could tell from the look on Mr. Randolph’s face that it was something he did not want Arthur to see. He looked terrified.” She paused and took a sip of her coffee and a bite of the cake. “This is delicious. I understand why you like it. And I won’t tell your wife.” She smiled.
“What happened to the envelope?” Clive asked easily.
“Well, when Mr. Millstone came barging in, I hid the notebook behind my back. When he followed the paramedics to the ambulance, I picked up the envelope, but before I could put it back in the notebook, he barked at me to leave.” She took another pause. “I knew I couldn’t keep the notebook secret if I tried to put the letter back in, so I shoved it into an old table. I thought I would be able to go back to retrieve it, but they sacked me before I could.” She took a few deep breaths. “I feel terrible that I couldn’t get it back.”
“OK. We’ll take this one step at a time.” Clive patted her hand. “So as far as you know, the envelope is still in that table?”
“I suppose.”
“What else can you tell me?” Clive gently nudged her.
“A very strange thing happened the other day when I was at work. A man claiming to be a Jacob Taylor got in touch with me. He sent me a letter with your law firm’s name on it, with a business card.”
“Jacob Taylor?” Clive asked curiously.
“Yes. A letter was delivered to my sister’s house asking that I call him to set up an appointment. The thing is, I left his letter in my car, and it was going to take too long to get it. I still had your office number on my cell phone, so I called it directly, and Abigail told me there was no Jacob Taylor at your firm.”
“That much I know is true,” Clive assured her.
