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When it was their turn to step inside, Daniel Cardiff stood behind the counter scooping up one of the fifteen flavors he offered—plain vanilla to lavender to passionfruit.
Brogan nudged Lucien in the ribs and pointed to the sign at the end of the shop. “See? Hand-churned homemade ice cream with a homemade taste. Satisfied?”
“It does look like the real deal,” Lucien decided, perusing the selections. “I’m getting two scoops of the Rocky Road.” He leaned in and whispered, “It’s a test. Anyone who can deliver on Rocky Road is a winner.”
Brogan nodded and smiled over at Daniel. “Two vanilla pup cups, one dip of peaches and cream in a waffle cone, and two scoops of Rocky Road fixed the same way.”
“You got it,” Daniel said as he got to work. “We use all fresh ingredients here. Just so you know. It means peaches and cream is a seasonal summer offering.”
“That makes sense,” Brogan noted as she watched the twenty-something man deftly dish up the frozen scoops. “What flavor will you have instead?”
“Pumpkin spice in the fall. Lavender vanilla in the spring. But we’ll always have Rocky Road.”
“Pumpkin spice sounds yummy. I’ll have to try that. I’m Brogan Cole, by the way. And this is Lucien Sutter. Welcome to Pelican Pointe.”
“Daniel Cardiff. Thanks for stopping in. I’ve heard about you guys, the private investigators, right?”
“That’s us,” Lucien chimed in. “If you ever need a—”
Daniel didn’t let him finish. “There is an issue I’d like to discuss.” He gazed at the line. “Later. Got a business card with you?”
“Sure.” Lucien reached into his wallet and pulled one out of its slot. “Here you go. Call whenever you get the chance.”
A teenager Brogan recognized as Kiki Hyland worked the cash register at the other end. After adding money to the tip jar, she turned to Lucien. “Why don’t we get our order and find a place to watch the sunset, then decide how we plan to approach our new case tomorrow?”
Lucien nodded, taking note of all the different flavors. He paid with his debit card and stepped aside to wait for their order. “Sounds like a plan.”
After getting their cones, they rejoined the dogs they’d left outside and headed toward the pier.
“There’s an empty bench,” Brogan announced as she rushed over, carrying Poppy, and plopped down.
Their first taste of Daniel’s concoction left them speechless.
“This might be the best peaches and cream I’ve ever tasted. Talk about homemade, it has chunks of real peaches in it.”
“Same with mine,” Lucien acknowledged between licks. He looked over at Stella, who’d already gobbled up her tiny cup and began sniffing her way to Poppy’s. “Looks like it’s a hit with the dogs.”
“So it has Lucien Sutter’s seal of approval?”
“I’d give it five stars. What do you suppose Daniel wants to talk to us about?”
“Who knows? Maybe he wants to find his long-lost relative. Or maybe he wants to reconnect with a girl he knew in high school.”
“You’re a romantic, Brogan Cole. The thing is, he could do that himself with a Google search.”
“True. Then why do you think he needs our services?”
“No idea. But it’s a safe bet it isn’t about a murder, right?”
“Yeah. What are the odds of that? Which brings us to the Anna and Mack Dolworth case. A twenty-year-old cold case will be ultra challenging. We’ll need background checks on everyone involved. That probably means a call to Jack Milliken.”
“I sent him an email after Pollock left, highlighting what we know so far. But I’m sure Jack will do a deep dive before getting back to me. One of the things I pointed out was the absurd theory about the fourteen-year-old paperboy.”
“You know it’s not unheard of that a teenager could kidnap a child. It has happened before. Remember those two teenage girls who abducted a baby in Milwaukee? And there’s the case of teen girls luring a toddler away from a store in the UK. I’m just saying that it does happen.”
Lucien arched a brow. “But they were caught shortly afterward. They didn’t get away with it for long. Here, you’re talking about double murder. First, Trey Rescher would have to eliminate the parents. Not saying it isn’t possible, but where did he get the gun? And how did a fourteen-year-old disappear with the precision of an adult? I'm not buying it until we can verify a few things. Could Trey drive? Did he have access to a car that also went missing? How did he get away?”
“All reasonable questions. Maybe Trey’s family will be able to tell us. Remember, Ted Bundy had already stolen two cars by the time he turned fourteen. And he possibly kidnapped a little eight-year-old girl as his first victim. All I’m saying is to keep an open mind. Don’t go into this thing with tunnel vision.”
