“Ask her.”

  Bernie moved a step closer to Bolt. “Does she also know that you were supplying her husband with Percosets and E?”

  “I never did that,” Bolt said.

  “That’s not what I heard,” Bernie said.

  “You’re nuts,” Bolt told her.

  He tried to sound confident, but Bernie noticed there was a quaver in his voice that hadn’t been there before.

  “Yup,” she continued. “In fact my informant tells me that you gave some E to Ted the night he died.”

  “You have no informant.”

  “Why don’t we go to the police and let them decide?”

  “Okay, okay,” Bolt said. “I sold him a few Percosets when I went to work for him. So what?”

  “And the E?”

  “He tried it a few times and gave it up. I think it weirded him out.”

  “So what were you selling him?”

  “Viagra. Really,” Bolt said when Bernie didn’t say anything. “I figured that’s why she came on to me after Ted died.”

  “I’m not following,” Bernie told him.

  “It’s simple,” Bolt said.

  “Not to me.”

  “She wanted to find out what a real man was like.”

  “I see.”

  Bolt looked at himself in the mirror and flexed. “It’s true. Ask her if you don’t believe me.”

  “I’m going to.”

  “Good.” Bolt turned toward her. “And remember, if you’re interested I always have room in my schedule.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “You’d be surprised.”

  “You’re right. Maybe I will have to try a real man someday. Too bad that won’t be you.”

  She turned and walked away. “By the way,” she told Bolt over her shoulder. “I heard you two started getting together before Ted died.”

  Bolt picked up his weights again. “Believe what you want.”

  Chapter 32

  “I told you he was a moron,” Brandon said when Bernie related her conversation with Bolt.

  “Yes, you did,” Bernie agreed. “I just didn’t believe how big a moron he was. Do you think he was telling me the truth?”

  “About him and Marnie?”

  Bernie thought back to her conversation with Marnie about the ruined vat of chocolate. She’d kept on saying, “No. He’d never do that to me.” Or words to that effect.

  “No. That I believe. I was thinking about the Viagra.”

  Brandon shrugged. “Sure. Why not? It’s a party drug now.”

  Bernie buckled her safety belt. “But why buy it from someone like him?”

  “Because it’s less embarrassing.”

  “I suppose.”

  “I know.”

  “Do you think that was all Bolt sold him?”

  “No. I think Bolt is a full-service pharmacy.”

  Bernie nodded. “He’s probably getting them from someone at the gym.”

  “Probably,” Brandon agreed. “Where to now?”

  “You can drop me off at my car.”

  “Today’s my day off. I’m kind of enjoying the chauffeuring business. I’m thinking I may have found myself a new career.”

  “Are you sure?” Bernie asked.

  “I’m sure,” Brandon told her. “And anyway, it’s my job to keep you from grieving about your recent loss.”

  Bernie realized she hadn’t thought about Rob once since she’d gotten into Brandon’s car.

  “Well, you’re doing a good job,” she told him.

  “I always do a good job. What is Madam’s pleasure?”

  “I think I need to go back to Just Chocolate again and talk to Marnie.”

  Brandon gave a quick bob of his head. “Your wish is my command.”

  Bernie leaned back in the seat. “I think I could get used to this.”

  “That’s what you used to say back in high school.”

  “I never said that back in high school.”

  “Oh yes, you did.”

  “No, I didn’t. How could I? You didn’t have a car.”

  Brandon snapped his fingers. “How could I have forgotten?”

  “Amazing, isn’t it?”

  Brandon put the Nissan in gear and roared out of the parking lot. As they left, Bernie could have sworn she saw Bolt staring out the window at them. The expression on his face was anything but pretty.

  It took Brandon about twenty minutes to get back to Marnie’s shop. During that time Bernie called Libby and checked in on how things were going at the shop.

  “How well are they going?” Brandon asked her when Bernie clicked off.

  “About as well as can be expected given the circumstances. Tim discovered a squirrel’s nest in the ceiling next to the venting system.”

  “Do you want to stop by there first?”

  Bernie shook her head. She knew that if she did, she’d never get out of there.

  “Okeydokey,” Brandon said and stepped on the gas.

  They headed down Ashcroft. Bernie spent the next ten minutes listening to Dolly Parton and looking at the rich people’s houses on Ashcroft and Elm. They were all immaculate with their sloping lawns and winding, carefully shoveled driveways. Even the dusting of snow on their lawns seemed artful.

  Fortunately, the mania for McMansionization hadn’t hit Longely yet. Bernie hoped it never would. She’d hate to see these houses torn down to make room for bigger ones.

  She was just thinking about what a waste it would be when they pulled into Just Chocolate’s parking lot. Bernie noticed that it wasn’t as crowded as usual. Brandon brought the Nissan to a halt, put it in park, and turned towards Bernie.

  “So,” he asked, “what’s the plan?”

  Bernie twisted her ring around her finger. The truth was she didn’t really have a plan. “I’m just going to go in and ask Marnie about Bolt.”

  “Just like that?”

  “Just like that. Why?”

  “I was thinking you’d try something more subtle. You know, like talking about Lady Chatterly’s Lover and going from there.”

  Bernie raised an eyebrow. “I’m impressed you know the book.”

  “What? You think I’m an illiterate bartender? I took English lit in college.”

  “I’ve just never seen you reading anything but the newspaper.” Bernie eyed him speculatively. “You just read the dirty parts, didn’t you?”

  “Actually we called them the good parts.”

  “I bet you did.”

  “I still do.”

  Bernie laughed. “I think I’m sticking with my original plan.”

  “Such as it is.”

  “Such as it is,” Bernie agreed.

  “Just remember—any trouble and I’m your man. I wasn’t a member of the junior varsity wrestling team for nothing.”

  “That’s good to know.”

  Bernie got out of the car and started toward the chocolate shop. The closer she got, the less sure she became of how to proceed. What was she trying to do here anyway? She thought about what her father would say.

  She was here to gather information. So the question was how best to get it: She could either do a full frontal assault or lurk around the edge picking up crumbs of information. In a metaphorical sense. She was still debating strategy as she walked through the door.

  As the parking lot had indicated, the shop still wasn’t busy. The two counter girls were standing around looking bored, while a third one was sweeping the floor.

  “Is Marnie here?” Bernie asked.

  The girl sweeping pointed to the office. Bernie thanked her and went into the back. Three of the candy-making stations were in operation. Cyna was seated at the nearest one, and looked away when she saw Bernie.

  “Hi,” Bernie said. “I’m looking for your boss.”

  “In the office,” Cyna said without looking up from the potato chip she was dipping in milk chocolate.

  “You sell a lot of those?” Bernie asked, regarding the tray that was already three-quarters filled.

  “Tons,” Cyna mumbled.

  They were, Bernie decided, one of those things that sounded weird, but were actually very good. When one combined sweet and salty in one dish the results were usually impressive.

  Bernie thanked Cyna and walked toward the office. The door was open and Marnie was working at her computer. Bernie was relieved to see that her office desk looked like the one at A Little Taste of Heaven. When she got close enough she knocked on the door frame. Marnie jumped.

  “I didn’t mean to startle you,” Bernie told her.

  Marnie hit a button and the screen on the computer went dark. Then she got up and came outside. “You didn’t. What can I do for you?”

  “I have a question,” Bernie said.

  “About the benefit?”

  “No. About Bolt.”

  Marnie crossed her arms over her chest. Bernie noticed that she was wearing a very good, light blue cashmere sweater.

  “So you found him?”

  Bernie nodded.

  “Is he okay?”

  “Why shouldn’t he be?”

  “Because he’s sick.”

  “Not really. He’s working out at the gym.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I checked.”

  “Oh,” Marnie said. She seemed nonplussed.

  “He says he doesn’t have anything to do with the vat of chocolate.”

  Marnie absentmindedly twirled one of the diamond studs in her earlobe. “I told you he didn’t. He would never do something like that.”

  “That’s what you said. He seems to like the ladies.”

  Marnie shrugged, but Bernie noticed there was a slight tremor under her eye.

  “What he does out of work is no concern of mine.”

  Right, Bernie thought. Of course it isn’t.

  “He came on to me,” she informed Marnie.

  She watched as two bright spots of color appeared on Marnie’s cheeks.

  “Surprised?” Bernie asked.

  “I’m not…I mean why should I…care?” Marnie stammered.

  “I’d care,” Bernie told her. “I just found out my boyfriend has been cheating on me, and that doesn’t make me very happy at all.”

  “He’s not my boyfriend,” Marnie protested, but Bernie thought her protest sounded weak.

  Bernie shook her head. “That’s not what he said.”

  “He’s lying.”

  “Somehow I don’t think so. Did you take up with Bolt before your husband died or after?”

  Marnie still didn’t say anything, but Bernie could see her jaw muscles tightening. She clenched her fists, realized what she was doing, and unclenched them.

  “Maybe that’s why you keep saying that Ted is mad at you. You have a guilty conscience.”

  Marnie bit her lip. The two spots of color on her cheeks grew.

  “I’m right, aren’t I?” Bernie asked.

  “No. You’re dead wrong,” Marnie hissed.

  “Really?” Bernie said.

  “Yes. Really. I was faithful to that son of a bitch all my life. I never so much as looked at another man and then I find out he’s been sleeping around on me. He’s been doing it for years. Years.” Marnie’s face was now completely red. She pointed to the back door. “Now get out of here. Get out of here now.”

  “Does this mean you don’t want my services anymore?”

  “Out,” Marnie yelled.

  “I’m just asking.”

  As she was leaving Bernie went by the cartons of supplies stacked up on the shelves. There were even more boxes of chocolate than there had been the last time she came. As her eyes passed over the boxes, one of the SKU numbers caught her attention. She closed her eyes while she thought. Yes. She was almost positive. She hurried out to the Nissan.

  “We have to go back to A Little Taste of Heaven,” she told Brandon. “We have to go back there right away.”

  Chapter 33

  B ernie raced up the stairs to the flat. Brandon was right behind her. She went straight into her bedroom and started looking through her jeans. God, she hoped she hadn’t washed the ones she needed. That would be terrible. What pair had she been wearing that night?

  Her Lucky jeans? The ones from Seven or the ones from Paper or Diesel? Arrgh. She couldn’t remember. Why was she so disorganized? Why didn’t she have a folder or a notebook or something? Why was she always doing this? It was crazy making. How many pairs of jeans did she have anyway? Nine? Or was it ten? She went to her closet to check. Her Union Pacific jeans were on the floor.

  She was picking them up when she heard, “I thought that was you I saw through the window.”

  Bernie spun around. Libby was standing inside her bedroom. Bernie had been so engrossed in her search she hadn’t even heard her coming up the stairs.

  “You didn’t wash any of my jeans, did you?” she demanded of her sister.

  Libby gave her an incredulous look. “Why would I do that?”

  “I don’t know. They could have gotten into your laundry bag by accident.”

  Libby snorted. “You’re a size six, I’m a size twelve. I think when I put them in the wash I’d know they weren’t mine.”

  “Maybe you decided to do me a favor and do them anyway.”

  “You don’t look like a size twelve,” Brandon interjected.

  “That’s sweet,” Libby told him.

  “I’m a sweet guy,” Brandon responded.

  “No, you’re not,” Bernie replied.

  “Can I get you some coffee?” Libby asked him. “We’re featuring Sumatra and I’ve got some lemon squares and pumpkin bread from yesterday that’s still good.”

  Heaven spare me, Bernie thought as she tapped Libby on the shoulder. Libby turned around.

  “We’re not playing Martha now.”

  Libby’s face puckered. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

  “I mean we have to stay on task.”

  “What task? I keep asking, but you’re not telling me.”

  “I’m looking for the piece of paper I took from Ms. McDougal’s cabin. I’m positive I stuffed it in one of my jeans’ pocket, but I can’t remember which pair, not that it matters because it doesn’t seem to be there.” And to prove her point Bernie gestured to the pile of jeans lying on the floor with their pockets turned inside out.

  “Maybe you only thought you put it in your pocket,” Brandon suggested. “Maybe you put it in your jacket pocket or maybe it dropped on the floor. That’s happened to me a couple of times.”

  “I was so sure.”

  “So was I.”

  Bernie bit her lip, went over to her bed, got down on her hands and knees, and looked under it. Nothing. She got up and dusted off her hands.

  “We should go back and look,” she said to Brandon. “Just to make sure.”

  “Excuse me,” Libby said. “You still haven’t told me what this is about.”

  Bernie reached for the pair of gloves lying on the bed. It was going to be cold up on the hill. “It’s about a SKU number.”

  “Meaning?”

  “I’ll tell you when we get back.”

  Libby put her hands on her hips. Bernie noticed her sister was tapping her foot.

  “Tell me you’re not going up to Ms. McDougal’s cabin now?”

  “Okay, I won’t tell you.”

  “Seriously.”

  “I am serious. I’ll be right back.”

  “Bernie, I still have Tim here.”

  “You’ll be fine.”

  “That’s not the point. The point is that I can’t leave if I need something.”

  “Do you need anything?”

  “No. But…”

  “Well, then there you go.”

  “Bernie—”

  “I’ll be back before you know it,” Bernie promised as she headed out the door.

  “You’d better be,” Libby called after her. “And get some butter. We’re going to be all out soon. And some parsley flakes.”

  There might have been more, but Bernie didn’t hear it because by that time she was out the downstairs door.

  “Are you sure you want to go?” Brandon asked her when they were in the car.

  “I’m positive,” she answered.

  She was thinking about what she’d seen when her cell phone rang. She looked at the screen. It was her dad.

  “What’s up, Buttercup?” she asked him.

  “Whatever’s not down, Crocodile.”

  Bernie listened as he described his meeting with Ted’s mom. “She sounds like a nutcase,” she said when he was through. There was a word for people who collected animals. Unfortunately, she couldn’t think of what it was. She was about to ask her dad when her cell phone started beeping. It was going to die. And then it did.

  Brandon turned toward her. “What’s up?” he asked.

  Bernie explained. Then she fell silent. Things were beginning to fall into place and she wanted a chance to think them through.

  They arrived at Ms. McDougal’s cabin twenty-five minutes later. Brandon did the same thing he had the first time they arrived and parked the Nissan behind the cords of wood stacked below the house.

  “Do you think this is necessary?” Bernie asked.

  “You can never be too careful,” Brandon told her.

  “Of course you can be.”

  Brandon just shook his head. “I’m not getting into this discussion with you.”

  Brandon got out of the car and Bernie followed. The wind whipped around her like it had the last time they were up here. She was glad she’d brought her gloves. As approached the house she wondered if she’d find the paper on the floor. Then she wondered if maybe she was wrong. Maybe she was making things up.

  “I wonder if the guy who was living here is still around,” Brandon mused.

  “How do you know it’s a guy?”

  “I don’t. I’m just making an assumption. Most women wouldn’t be living like that.”

  “This is true. They have more sense.”

  Bernie looked at the McDougal place. By now they were halfway up the path. At least the climb was easier in the daylight when she could see where she was going.

  Brandon turned and looked at her. “You doing okay?”

  “Last time I did this you told me I always did okay.”

 

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