The Country Guesthouse (Sullivan's Crossing #5)(83)

“It’s such a strange feeling being here, waiting for test results and feeling, oddly enough, that because of Noah, Hannah is like my nearest relative. I wonder if she’d take pity on me now.”

“Hmm,” Helen hummed, saying nothing more.

“I wonder, Helen. If it turns out I need a little help, would you consider a loan?”

“Hmm,” Helen said again. “I could look into it, depending on the circumstances. Shall we wait and see what happens?”

Victoria coughed again and then said she’d better say goodbye and get some rest.

Helen went to the internet again, looked up every hospital within a hundred miles of the Mayo Clinics in Rochester and Minneapolis. She asked to speak to Victoria Addison, a patient. They had no such patient.

She told Sully she was going to dash over to Cal’s and visit with him a bit.

“Do you mind running by the store in Timberlake and getting us some batteries?” he asked. “We’re running low and I still have some hikers coming through. Just get a couple of big packs of AAs and Cs and I’ll order a larger supply.”

“Be happy to, Sully. In fact, I’ll do it on my way to Cal’s. Anything else?”

“Pie?” he asked.

“I think you know better. Maybe some frozen yogurt,” she said.

But when she got to the store, she was unable to pay for her batteries or yogurt. Her wallet was gone. Other than slipping her phone in and out of her purse, she hadn’t been in it once since she met with Victoria for wine several days ago. And Victoria had paid the wine bill.

“I’ll be damned,” she said. “Who is that woman?”

  “I think your detective might have missed a few things,” Helen told Cal. “Or maybe he didn’t come to the right conclusions. I can’t say I understand Victoria’s plan, but I’m getting a pretty clear picture of who she is. I got a very clear picture when I noticed my wallet was missing from my purse and the last time I had it I was with her.”

“You think she’s a pickpocket?” Cal asked, eyebrows raised.

“More of a petty thief with the occasional windfall. I’ve learned she can get by faking illness and dodging rent. She probably has a lot of scams she was never arrested for, large and small. I talked to her last landlord and he said he believed she was very sick and didn’t evict her, but you can’t make a living that way. That’s pocket change. But she also got a loan from him and, of course, she hasn’t attempted to repay him. Or even call him. Remember when you learned she was seven years cancer-free? She told me it was five years and she’s afraid her cancer is back. She also mentioned friends held a fund-raiser to help her with the bills. I bet that’s happened more than once, the poor darling. She thinks I’m wealthy and asked me if I could float a loan if she needs treatment. She assumed Owen is wealthy, and I played him off as just getting by as a writer, but she was calculating the value of his house.

“Here’s the thing—I’m very good at snooping, but just along legal channels. And I think I’m clever about figuring things out—like what she might be up to. Like we’ve thought all along, I think she wants a piece of Noah’s trust. But here’s what I’m not good at—getting the proof.”

“Banking records might help,” Cal said. “For that we need a warrant. I don’t think any judge would give me a warrant because she lied about when she had cancer.”

“Is it possible she’s been ripping people off for years and hasn’t been caught even once?”

“It’s possible she has no arrest record in Minneapolis,” Cal said. “And if the police have looked at her, questioned her, watched her movements, there wouldn’t necessarily be a record of that. And some records are expunged, if there’s no action. But usually people who make a living stealing are very well-known by police even if they aren’t formally arrested or indicted. We always look first at public records—warrants, arrests, convictions. We like a snapshot—where she lives, what she drives, where she works, divorces or deaths, approximate income level, credit scores. We also like to know who her friends and family members are.”

“She called me and told me she was hospitalized for tests at the Mayo Clinic. I called every hospital within range of the clinic—she was not a patient. Cal, I think she might’ve stolen my wallet out of my purse but other than that suspicion, she hasn’t really done anything wrong. Yet I feel her continued presence in the area is suspect. I could be wrong, but I think she’s targeted Noah and Hannah. I think she’s setting up a plan to fleece them. I just don’t know how.”

“I think we’re going to have to open a dialogue with Hannah and Owen about what you’ve learned and I’ll have to deepen my investigation. When are you free?”

“I’m at your disposal,” Helen said. Then she clapped her hands together. “I love this stuff!”

“We might be disappointed, you know. She could be a curious woman who is not above taking advantage of a little boy and his trust fund if she can. And if she can’t, she might move on,” Cal said.







In life you are either a passenger
or a pilot, it’s your choice.

—Author Unknown



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