“We need the warm air to warm the pipes,” he said, frowning. “The walls down here don’t offer enough insulation and there isn’t enough natural heat down here to keep them unfrozen. When we hit the nine-month season that is winter, the air temps dip low enough to freeze the water in them. The only way to keep them warm is to circulate warm air down here from the furnace. So we need the vents to feed the air to the trouble spots. Hence, the two friggin’ grand.”
“And I assume this is not something we can do ourselves?” I asked hopefully.
He grunted. “No. This is something we have to overpay for.”
“We could get a saw and just cut some holes in the floor.”
“No.”
“Buy some space heaters?”
“No.”
“So then we just overpay.”
He sighed. “Yes.” He rubbed at his jaw. “We overpay.”
We had the money. I knew that. But I also knew how much he hated to overpay for anything. It drove him nuts. When we had contractors come to give us bids after we first bought the house, he’d stood there and negotiated after they gave us a price. I’d get uncomfortable because he wouldn’t budge and I would usually end up leaving the room. But every single time, he’d gotten the price reduced more to his liking.
“I’m going to have them start right away,” he said, sounding tired and resigned. “I looked at the forecast. We’re going to get super cold again next week and I don’t want to worry about them freezing again. Or bursting.”
I hugged him. “Okay.”
“Sorry,” he said, hugging me back. “Didn’t mean to be an ogre when I walked in.”
“It’s okay.”
“He called me a couple hours after he came by and I’ve been stewing on it all day. Just put me in a bad mood.”
“Understandable,” I said. “But do you know what would put you in a worse mood?”
“What?”
“A frozen pipe that burst while we were gone.”
He sighed again. “I suppose.” He rested his chin on top of my head. “So Rex and some other guys will probably be here over the next couple of days.”
“He told me he’d probably be back soon when I saw him this morning,” I said. “But answer me this. Is there any sort of conflict of interest in the house inspector doing contract work on our house?”
Jake shrugged. “I don’t know. But our options are limited here in town. He knows how to do the work and he can do it right away. Beats having to get bids and then trying to get on someone’s schedule. I’m fine with it.”
“Okay,” I said. “Well, I told him he could just come over whenever.”
“Okay,” he said. “And Will said if I needed to borrow any money, he had cash. Do I want to know why?”
“No,” I answered quickly.
“Which means I absolutely want to know why.”
“He just…did a little work for me this morning,” I said carefully. “I needed some help.”
“And you paid him enough so that he’s now offering loans?”
“He probably heard you grumbling about money,” I said. “And was feeling generous.”
“Daisy. Tell me.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” I said, stepping away from him. “I needed some help. He helped me. I paid him.”
Jake narrowed his eyes. “What kind of help?”
“Computer help.”
“Be more specific.”
“Just computer stuff,” I said, smiling at him. “I’d be more specific if I could, but I didn’t understand it. That’s why I needed his help.”
“Maybe I’ll just ask Will.”
“He won’t talk. He was paid well.”
“I’ve got cash.”
“You wouldn’t.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t I?”
He totally would.
Dammit.
“I needed information,” I said. “So I asked him to help me.”
“Information about what?”
I paused. “Helen Stunderson.”
He rolled his eyes in much the same way Emily had, so similar in fact that it was surprising he wasn’t her biological father. “I thought you were going to leave that alone.”
“I am,” I said. “I mean, I am now. I’m giving up.”
He raised the eyebrow again. “I’ve heard that before.”
“But I mean it this time,” I said. “It’s been a waste of time and I’m not helping in any way. More frustrating than anything.”
“What did you learn?”
“You mean about being a private investigator?”
“No, about Olaf.”
“Oh.” I thought for a minute. “I know he was very unhappy with his marriage. I know that he was the one who wanted his divorce. I know that his ex-wife is semi-insane. I know that his sister loved him.” I paused. “But I have no idea who killed him or how he ended up in our coal chute.”
He leaned against a post. “Those are the kind of things you usually feel compelled to know about.”
“I feel like you’re accusing me of being nosy.”
“I’m not accusing you,” he said. “I know you’re nosy.”
“Hmm. Whatever. But I’m telling you, I’m done. I’ve asked all the questions I can think of. There’s nowhere else to go and I just keep hitting dead ends.” I held my hand up. “So I swear. I’m done playing Magnum P.I.”
He stared at me for a long time.
“Magnum P.I. was a really good show,” he finally said. “I’m kind of surprised you know it.”
“Magnum was hot.”
He frowned. “Not what I meant.”
“I know.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Alright. As long as you promise you’re done, I’ll stop asking questions.”
“I promise,” I said. “I’m done.”
“Good,” he said. He glanced up at the ceiling. “Because after we pay for the new vents, we won’t have any money left to bail you out of jail.”
FORTY
I drove Emily to school the next morning.
“Why do you need to come in?” she asked.
“I have to turn in your lunch money and your forms for next year.”
She fiddled with the radio, turning the volume up. “I can drop them by the office.”
“I know,” I said. “But I have a question about the fees for the photography class.”
“That you can’t ask on the phone?”
“I’m getting the distinct impression that you don’t want me to come into your school.”
She bit her lip and said nothing.
“I’ll pretend I don’t know you,” I assured her. “Jake and I will save all of the embarrassing stuff for when we chaperone your dances.”
She whirled to face me. “You will not!”
I just laughed and shrugged. “Guess you’ll have to wait and see.”
She vaulted out of the car the minute we pulled into a parking space, mumbling a quick goodbye. I thought about running after her to give her a big hug and kiss goodbye, but reined myself in.
I pushed through the double glass doors into a wide, open room. The building itself was only a few years old and most everything that I’d seen inside still looked close to brand new. The front office was no exception. The desks were neat, the tiled floor immaculate, and all of the ladies behind the desks were still smiling. They hadn’t been plagued by the cynicism and fatigue that normally overtook school staffs.
It would get them, too, eventually.
“Haven’t seen you in forever, Daisy,” Eileen Varhuus said from behind the first desk. “How are you?”
We’d known Eileen and her family long before Emily had enrolled at the high school. Short and stout, with a wide face but eager smile, she’d homeschooled her two kids for several years before they’d gone the same route as Emily. When we started looking at schools for Em, we’d been pleasantly surprised to run into Eileen, who’d taken a part-time job manning the front desk of the high school. We’d picked her brain a little bit before enrolling Emily and she’d been a great resource for us.
“I’m good,” I said. “Just have some forms and money to turn in.” I found the form for the photography class. “Do I need to pay the lab fee now or wait until next year?”