The Chocolate Puppy Puzzle by JoAnna Carl Read Free Book Online Page A

drama students. They weren’t grown-ups; they were young and inexperienced and would be easy for him to exploit. I couldn’t stand by and let that happen, but I didn’t have the heart to tell Tracy that. And she was waiting for an answer.
    “Sure, Tracy,” I said. “I’ll help you with your makeup, and I’ll make an appointment at Angie’s for you. I’ll go with you, if you like. Angie gives the best haircuts in Warner Pier, and if you need highlights or something, she’ll advise you.”
    “Oh, thank you, Lee! That will be wonderful!” She bounced up and down. “I’ve got the money I saved last summer. I can take it out of my college fund. I’m just so excited!”
    “Angie shouldn’t be busy, now that the summer people are gone,” I said. “I’ll see if she can get you in tomorrow evening. I’ve got to do some research tonight.”
    Yes, I’d be busy that evening. I had to try to find out something about Aubrey Andrews Armstrong and Montezuma Motion Pictures. And I didn’t want to tell anybody what I was doing. Especially not Joe. Not that there was any reason to expect I’d have the opportunity to tell Joe anything that night. I had the feeling he was as mad at me as I was at him.
    So I played business manager until five o’clock, taking orders over the telephone, checking the TenHuis e-mail for more orders, and calling suppliers. In between I worked on the payroll. If business kept improving, I was going to need an assistant.
    But closing time finally came. I told Aunt Nettie I was going to grab dinner downtown, then work late. She seemed a bit disappointed that I wouldn’t be home to see her off on her dinner date.
    “I’ll be home by the time Aubrey brings you in,” I said. “In case you need a chaplain. I mean, a chaperone!”
    Aunt Nettie laughed. “I don’t anticipate needing either. But I’m almost sorry I said I’d go.”
    “It ought to be fun. Aubrey’s a charmer.”
    “I’m looking forward to spending some time with him. And Vernon’s a nice person. But Mae has gone crazy.”
    “You can put up with her for one evening.” Aunt Nettie left. I pulled the shades on the street door and on the show windows, then turned to my computer. That would be the easiest place to start my check of movie producers. I went on line, called up Google, and typed in “Aubrey Andrews Armstrong.”
    An hour later I’d found out something very interesting. Aubrey Andrews Armstrong apparently didn’t exist. At least I couldn’t find him under that name.
    A general search for his highly distinctive name brought nothing. A prowl through the Web site of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences found nothing. I’d tried the Web sites of the two films Aubrey had mentioned, Appaloosa and Mimosa Magic . They seemed to list the entire cast and crew down to the guy who swept out the set, but no Aubrey Andrews Armstrong or Montezuma Motion Pictures was mentioned.
    Unfortunately, this didn’t prove anything. Aubrey could go by “A. A. Armstrong.” Or he could use a completely different professional name. And Montezuma Motion Pictures could have sold distribution rights or done some other tricky thing that made the name not appear on film credits.
    Then I tried another tack, and discovered neither Aubrey Andrews Armstrong nor Montezuma Motion Pictures could be accessed anywhere in the country by the biggest telephone information site.
    I wasn’t ready to give up. I did the whole search of the motion picture sites again, this time using only the name “Armstrong.” I found a bunch of people by that name, of course, but none of them was Aubrey or Andrews or anything else that sounded likely.
    Things were not looking good for Aubrey, but it was all negative—lack of information didn’t prove anything. I rested my head against my computer screen and wondered if I should quit.
    Then it occurred to me that Aubrey’s new production might have had some publicity around the state of Michigan, so I