Sleuthing at Sweet Springs (The Sleuth Sisters Mysteries Book 4) by Maggie Pill Read Free Book Online Page B

Mrs.—”
    “Ms. Stilson, but please call me Retta.” I caught his scent, expensive and manly. “It’s lovely to meet you, Mr. Chou.”
    “Rick, please.” He smiled like he’d just drawn the card he needed to fill an inside straight.
    I heard an irritated huff of air before Barb spoke. “Mr. Chou is hoping we can locate his wife.”
    “Ex-wife,” he corrected, still looking at me. “As I told your sisters, Ms. Stilson, my wife left me for greener pastures. At the time, I forget she’s listed as co-owner on property we own just south of here on the lakeshore. Now I’ve decided to sell the place, but she needs to sign off, and I’ve lost contact with her.”
    The Lake Huron shoreline south of Allport is dotted with exquisite homes in all styles of architecture from Tudor to ultra-modern. Not only was Mr. Chou movie-star handsome, he was apparently loaded as well.
    “Didn’t your divorce decree specify who got what?”
    He made a comical grimace. “Apparently that means nothing if her name is still on the deed. It’s just a matter of a signature, but as I said, I have no idea where she is.”
    “Will she agree to sign?” Barbara asked.
    “The value of the property was taken into consideration in the divorce.” Chou raised a crow-black brow. “She hated the house, said log homes belong in the 1800s. She hated the location, too, said it was always cold with the wind off the lake. She’ll sign.”
    A house on Lake Huron was guaranteed a lovely view. The ex-Mrs. Chou sounded like a spoiled brat to me.
    “It was an angry parting?” Barbara leaned forward abruptly, causing her chair to make a snapping sound. She examined the poor man as if he were a virus in a laboratory.
    “The angriest.” He put up a hand to forestall her next question. “You don’t have to tell me where she is, since she obviously doesn’t want me to know. I just want you to get Candice’s signature—at my expense, of course.” He smiled disarmingly. “You three can take a weekend in the Bahamas and I won’t care, as long as you accomplish that.”
    Barbara didn’t warm to his attempt at humor. “We’ll let you know if we think we can help, Mr. Chou. Possibly today, but tomorrow morning at the latest.”
    When he stood, I noticed he was the perfect height for dancing, just a couple of inches taller than I am. After shaking hands with all of us, he left, flashing me an extra smile as he closed the outside door.
    “What do we think?” Barbara asked.
    “He’s great,” I said.
    “It’s a case, Retta. We’re talking about a case.”
    “Of course. We’re going to look up his ex-wife and ask her to sign off on property she already agreed to give up. Shouldn’t be a problem once you and Faye hit your computers and track her down.” I smiled mischievously. “I’ll be glad to report our findings to the client.”
    “Then we’re agreed we’ll take Mr. Chou’s case.” I imagined her rapping a gavel on her desktop to signify the verdict was official.
    Faye made a little gesture like she was trying to get the teacher to call on her. “I have a case to consider, too.” Briefly she recounted her meeting with Clara, ending with, “I don’t think it will be a lot of trouble to look into this. If she’s a crazy old lady, we drop it. If the niece—”
    “Gail,” I supplied.
    “If Gail is pushing for Clara to be declared incompetent just so she can sell the property, we need to stop her.”
    Faye spoke mostly to Barbara. A person might look at the agency and see three equals, but in practice, we deferred to our eldest. Faye, Barbara’s biggest cheerleader, never made a move without her approval, and because my full membership in the agency was due to what Barbara Ann called blackmail, I tried to tread lightly.
    Though she pondered for some time, I was pretty sure Barbara would say yes. It was obvious Faye wanted to help the old woman out, and Barbara’s soft spot is Faye. “All right,” she said, pulling open the