Read Diane Greenwood Muir - Bellingwood 05 - Life Between the Lines for Free Online

how to handle. She was damned tired of dealing with these things by herself.
    Well, he had told her to call when she woke up. She pulled the phone out of her back pocket and dialed Henry.
    “Good morning!” he said. “You called. I didn’t think you would.”
    “Henry?” was all she could get out before she began to cry.
    “Polly, what’s wrong?”
    “Henry, someone threw paint all over the front of Sycamore House. It’s a horrible mess and I don’t know what to do.”
    “They did what? Is it spray paint or paint paint?”
    “It’s like they flung buckets of the stuff. They got the door, it’s on the windows and the bricks. It’s all over the sidewalk.”
    “Is it still wet?”
    “What?”
    “Is it still wet?” he repeated.
    “I don’t know.”
    Very patiently, he said, “Would you mind touching it? Has it been on the building all night or did it just happen?”
    “Oh!” She walked back to the front door and swiped her index finger through the paint. “Still wet.”
    “If there is one time of the night when they might get away with this, it would be between three and four thirty.”
    “Maybe that’s what woke me up,” she said to herself.
    “What?”
    “Well, I was surprised when I woke up so early, but I assumed it was because I’d had plenty of sleep.” She tried to avoid it, but couldn’t get past the catch in her throat.
    “I can’t believe this.” Henry sounded furious.
    “I can’t either.” She cried again.
    “I also can’t believe I’m not there to help you. I’m cancelling my plans with Lonnie and I’ll be home later today.”
    “No. Don’t do that. I have plenty of people here to help me.”
    “You need to call Ken Wallers.”
    “I’m not going to wake him up.”
    “Call the police station. They’ll send someone. Do that first and then we’ll start dealing with the next steps.”
    “I will in a minute. Obiwan needs to go.”
    “I’ll get the phone number while you walk with him. Don’t hang up on me.”
    “I won’t. Henry, this looks awful. My beautiful home!”
    She heard him clicking away in the background as she walked toward the north side of the building. Obiwan followed, bouncing into the grass. When they got near the row of Sycamore trees, he dashed off to make sure they’d all been properly marked. She followed him to the creek and waited while he pranced in and out of the trees.
    “Polly?” Henry said.
    “Yes?”
    “I have the number. Call the station and tell them what’s happened. After you hang up, go back around front and take pictures. I want to see what has happened, so email those to me.”
    “Okay.” They ended the call and she quickly dialed the number he gave her before it was forgotten. A woman’s voice on the other end asked what she could do to help.
    “This is Polly Giller over at Sycamore House,” Polly said. “Someone has flung paint all over the front of my building and I need to file a report.”
    “Yes, Miss Giller. I’ll call Ken. He’ll be over in a little bit.”
    “I didn’t mean to wake him up,” Polly protested.
    “That’s fine, Miss Giller. He’s on call this morning and I think he’ll be relieved to hear that you don’t have a body for him.”
    Polly couldn’t help it. She laughed out loud. “Oh, thank you. That made me feel better. I’m glad I don’t have one for him, too.”
    “He’ll be over soon and I’m sorry this has happened to you.”
    “Thank you.” Polly hung up and said, “Come on, Obiwan. It’s time to head back inside.”
    She called Henry. “I’m sorry I messed with your morning.”
    “Don’t be sorry. I feel terrible that I’m not there.”
    “I’ve called the police. Ken Wallers is coming over. I’ll take Obiwan upstairs and feed him before I take pictures for you.”
    “When Eliseo gets there, ask him to call me. I have some ideas on how to clean it up. Don’t worry, okay?”
    “I won’t. I’ll send the pictures over and talk to you a little later.”
    “I