Scarlett met Vesta on the corner of Norfolk Street and saw that her friend wasn’t in the best of moods. In fact, she looked downright terrible. “Honey, what’s wrong?” she asked.
“I did the most horrible thing, Scarlett,” said Vesta. “I poisoned Harriet. She’s at the vet right now, and things are not looking good.”
“Oh, but that’s terrible,” she said with feeling. Even though she had only recently adopted Clarice, she had already become very attached to the sweetheart and couldn’t imagine life without her. “When you say things are not looking good, you mean…”
Vesta shook her head. “I don’t know. Odelia wouldn’t say. Just that she’s suffering from an acute case of nausea, and she had to take her to Vena twice already. She’s there right now, with Vena wanting to keep her under observation.” She buried her face in her hands. “Oh, honey, if anything happens to Harriet, I won’t be able to forgive myself.”
“It’s the bug spray, isn’t it? We shouldn’t have trusted our own judgment and should have had it tested before applying it to Harriet.”
“I should have tested it on a rat, just like you suggested,” said Vesta. “Though poor rat, you know.” A hard look came into her eyes. “It’s those bug spray salespeople. They promised that their product isn’t harmful to humans or pets, but clearly they were lying.”
“They’re still in prison, aren’t they?”
“I’m not sure,” said Vesta. “I would like a word with them, though. After this mess they made with their bug spray, they’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”
“Let’s hope Vena can work a miracle,” she said. If anyone could save Harriet, it was Vena Aleman, the most accomplished vet in all of Hampton Cove, with plenty of experience under her belt. And as they stood chatting, suddenly she noticed something quite peculiar. “That guy over there—he’s acting suspiciously, wouldn’t you say?” She was pointing at Garland McNerlin, the manager of the Star Hotel, who stood across the street from the coffee shop where Vesta’s granddaughter sat enjoying a drink with her husband Chase. Clearly, he was watching them and trying to remain inconspicuous about it.
“You’re absolutely right,” said Vesta with a frown. “What is he up to?”
They’d seen Garland often enough at the Star, their favorite place to have a drink in the morning. He was always friendly and polite to a T, so this type of behavior was quite out of character. Also, instead of donning his usual suit, he had opted for jeans and a T-shirt, which made him look odd. But then she wasn’t used to seeing him out of his usual attire—or even outside his usual surroundings. Odelia and Chase got up, paid for their beverages, then started in the direction of the police station. Without delay, the manager started following them!
“Well, I’ll be damned,” said Vesta. “Let’s see what he’s up to.” And so they followed the guy, to make sure he didn’t get Odelia and Chase into any trouble.
“Maybe they forgot to pay their bill?” Scarlett suggested.
“No hotel manager would follow his guests if they haven’t paid their bills,” Vesta said, and that sure made sense to Scarlett. Imagine if a hotel manager had to start stalking all of his welching customers. There simply weren’t enough hours in the day.
Odelia and Chase got into Chase’s squad car. The manager seemed to hesitate, but only for a moment. Then he hurried to a cab parked on the corner of the street and got in.
“We’re going to lose him, Vesta,” said Scarlett. “He’s getting away!”
“No, he isn’t,” said Vesta determinedly. And so she stepped out into the street and started waving her arms until the driver of the next car stopped. With screeching tires, he pulled up right in front of her, with only millimeters to spare. The guy stuck his head out of his car. “Hey lady, are you nuts!” he yelled.
But Vesta didn’t waste time arguing. Instead, she yanked open the passenger side door and stepped into the car. “Get in!” she told Scarlett. And so Scarlett did as she was told.
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing!” the guy cried.
“I’m Vesta Muffin, and I’m the leader of the neighborhood watch,” said Vesta, producing the neighborhood watch badge she had especially printed for this type of occasion. “And I want you to follow that cab!”
“I ain’t doing no such thing!” the guy said, folding his arms across a very hairy chest.
“Follow that cab, or I’ll have to arrest you for obstruction of a neighborhood watch investigation!” she said.
“There’s no such thing as a neighborhood watch investigation!”
“Oh, yes, there is. We work with the police. So either you do as you’re told, or you will face the consequences.” She leaned in, her breath hot on the man’s face. “I’m not kidding, bozo!”
“All right, all right,” said the guy, and put his car in gear again, then stomped on the accelerator and went in pursuit of the cab that carried the hotel manager. “What’s this all about?” asked the man.
“I’m not sure,” she said. “But whatever it is, it’s not good.”
“A man is following Vesta’s granddaughter and her husband,” Scarlett explained, feeling that they owed their driver at least some explanation.
“Scarlett! That’s on a need-to-know basis!”
“I’m driving, so I need to know,” the man said, and Scarlett thought he made a good point.
“Okay, so the hotel manager of the Star Hotel is in that cab,” she said. “And he’s acting very suspiciously. So we want to see what he’s up to.”
“Gotcha,” said the guy, and seemed to warm to his task. “So you’re the neighborhood watch, huh?” he said, cutting a glance in his rear-view mirror and flashing a grin at Scarlett. “Must be a pretty exciting job.” He was hairy all over, she saw. Apart from the dark curly hair that peeped from his shirt, his face was also covered with the stuff, as well as his brawny arms.
“Oh, it is,” she assured him, giving him one of her trademark killer smiles in return. She adjusted her décolletage, which never failed to have a powerful effect on any member of the male sex. “Extremely exciting.”
“So do you do this sort of thing often?”
“All the time,” she assured him.
“Cool,” he said, and stomped on the gas so he was right up on the cab’s tail.
“Keep your distance,” Vesta advised him. “We don’t want him to rumble us.”
“Hey, you’re the professional, lady,” said the guy as he eased up a little and allowed some distance between them and the cab.
“We were so lucky that we got you,” said Scarlett, continuing to lay it on thick. It didn’t hurt to make the man feel appreciated, she thought. “Our knight in shining armor.”
The guy grew a couple of inches in size and grinned. “Cometh the hour, cometh the man.”
