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clouds that hung low in the sky. “And thanks.”
    The office was quiet again and the atmosphere moody. What she needed was a plan. Her number one goal was to stay alive. She knew she stood a good chance of it if she could keep from being alone when the murderer realized he had smashed the wrong head. The second goal was to discover, if she could, that no one wanted to smash her head in.
    She stood up, took a parting glance at her new platter, and left. She could figure out the steps of her plan while she was on the move.
    Her parking lot was deserted. Even Bean Me up Scotty’s, the coffee hut, was shuttered. Driving off gave her a sense of relief. When her phone jangled in her pocket she pulled over. She made sure to take a parking spot at a busy gas station. She was alone in her car, but surrounded by a lot of witnesses. The call came from the inn.
    “Mitzy Neuhaus,” she said, trying to pull together a smile, even though it was just Carmella on the phone.
    “Hey. I talked to the feds.”
    “Great news! What did they say?”
    “Well, they didn’t say thank you, but they didn’t say I was pestering them either. They even asked some questions. What time you found the body, kind of normal stuff. Then they said goodbye.”
    “Did you talk to Backman?” Mitzy knew how Backman worked. She pinned her hopes on getting Detective Backman on this case. Mitzy trusted Backman now, even if the detective didn’t like her.
    “You’ll never believe this! I asked for Backman but she’s not there now.”
    Mitzy’s heart dropped to her knees. On assignment? Out of reach? She didn’t like the sound of that.
    “She’s on her honeymoon!” Carmella with a chuckle.
    It didn’t register. “What?” Mitzy asked.
    “She’s on her honeymoon. She just got married two weeks ago and will be gone until the New Year. She’s in Hawaii of all places.”
    Dry, humorless, heartless, cold and calculating Detective Backman, Mitzy could see handling a murder investigation. She could not see her lounging on the beach for a lengthy tropical honeymoon.
    “I’m sorry. But that’s absurd,” Mitzy said.
    “Don’t be unfair. Detectives can fall in love.”
    “Yes, well.”
    “Detective Collins is still in town. I suppose if they feel like getting involved he’ll get in touch with you.”
    Mitzy could hear voices echoing in the background.
    “Okay, it sounds like you’re needed. I’ll let you go. Thanks for calling, Carmella.”
    “No problem, See you tonight.”
    Before she pulled out of her parking spot she called Tina, the buyer’s rep she had worked with for the deal on her condo.
    “Hey Tina, this is Mitzy, do you have a minute?”
    “I’m swamped right now. Can you call me back in twenty minutes?” Tina said, talking fast.
    “I can. But I could do a late lunch too.”
    “Perfect. Let’s meet at the cafe by your office, I’ll be in your part of town.”
    “Do you tweet, Tina?” Mitzy asked.
    “No, I don’t. Listen, I can’t talk now. I’ll see you in half an hour.”
    “See you at
noon
.” Mitzy hung up and pulled back out into the road. She wanted to get to the bottom of this murder so she intended to work it like selling a house. She’d give it her full attention until she could say mystery solved.

 

 

    Back at the office, Mitzy pulled out the sales contract for her condo. Lunch with Tina was in a few minutes and she wanted to remind herself of the details of the sale.
    Lara Capet had qualified for a traditional loan with a down payment of twenty percent. Mitzy ran her finger down the page and found the sales price, though she hadn’t forgotten it. Twenty percent down on $250,000 was a lot of money for most people in their twenties. How did a kid like Lara save up that much?
    As Mitzy turned to the last page of the contract, Tina knocked on the office door and let herself in.
    “I’m sorry I just can’t do lunch today after all,” Tina said. She fidgeted with her purse.
    “Can you give me five