Before I returned to my car, I wanted to check the backyard. Much to my surprise, Robert wasn’t there either.

  “Maybe he’s not home,” I said to myself.

  If that was truly the case, it was time to head back to my car. There was a chance that I would be staked out in my car for a while. After all, there was no telling when he would return home.

  As I began to make my way back to my vehicle, I briefly thought about heading over to Crescent Drive, where another one of the claimants lived. If I did that, I could always come back here later.

  It turned out that I was getting ahead of myself. While I came around the side of Robert’s house, a car approached his driveway.

  That put me in an awful position. There was no way that I could make it back to my car without being spotted. Honestly, I couldn’t even sprint into the backyard without drawing attention to myself.

  Sure, I could have just stood there and confronted Robert when his car pulled into the driveway, but like I mentioned before, I wanted to sit back and observe. A direct conversation with Robert was not something I was interested in.

  Time to act fast, I thought.

  As far as I could tell, I only had one option. I spotted a nearby bush. If I was quick about it, I could dive on the ground behind the bush. Then, as long as Robert went up his walkway and didn’t head toward the backyard, I could avoid being spotted.

  With only a split-second to make my decision, I elected to dive behind the bush. As I ducked behind the bush, the car pulled into the driveway.

  Suddenly, the moment of truth was upon me. Would Robert get out of his car and approach me? Would he head toward the backyard? Or would he remain oblivious and go up his walkway?

  I said a quick little prayer that I wouldn’t be spotted.

  When the car’s driver’s-side door opened, I had no idea what would happen next. I just ducked on the ground, as nervous as could be.

  During moments like that, it became abundantly clear just how unglamorous the life of a private investigator could be sometimes. This was what I signed up for, though. If I managed to avoid being spotted, it would all be worth it.

  Right then, one thing became quite clear. Robert was taking his sweet time getting out of his car. He slowly grabbed his walker and got out of his vehicle. He was also wearing a neck brace.

  What if he really was disabled? That would be an interesting twist in this case.

  Once Robert was out of his car, he pushed his walker toward the front of his house.

  Even though it was taking him a while to reach his front door, the sight of him moving away from my location made me breathe a sigh of relief.

  When Robert finally reached his front door, he went inside his house.

  At that point, I got up from behind the bush and moved over to his living room window.

  I was really hoping that he would open his blinds.

  Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

  His blinds remained closed.

  That said, I could hear him moving through his house. Was he heading toward his bathroom? His bedroom? His kitchen?

  The longer I listened, the more it became clear that he was heading toward the back of his house.

  That was where his kitchen was located.

  I went around the side of his home until I reached his kitchen window.

  I then whispered to myself, “Are you going to make some lunch?”

  Much to my delight, the windows in Robert’s kitchen didn’t have blinds. That meant I had an unobstructed view.

  That proved to be incredibly beneficial to me.

  As Robert entered his kitchen, he was no longer pushing his walker. Nor was he wearing the neck brace. Had he ditched them both the moment he was inside his house? Was he just waiting to get out of view of the general public?

  “Wow, you are a faker,” I said to myself.

  I wasn’t a medical expert, but it was clear to me that he wasn’t nearly as disabled as he let on. In fact, he didn’t appear to be disabled at all.

  In the privacy of his own home, he was walking around just fine.

  I knew that I had to get a picture of this. It wouldn’t hurt to record some video footage of it either.

  I grabbed my phone from my purse and began recording. A few seconds later, I had everything I needed to prove that Robert had committed fraud.

  Now that I had photographic evidence, I was free to head back to my car.

  Once I reached my sedan, I sped away from Robert’s house.

  “Wait until Denise hears about this,” I said.

  Chapter Five

  While I drove over to Crescent Drive, I wondered if Robert was the only claimant who had committed fraud, or whether I’d be able to dig up dirt on others.

  Deep down, I wanted Robert to be the exception. Even though it was my job to uncover the truth, I didn’t take any pleasure from discovering the misdeeds of others. If it was up to me, none of my investigations would ever reveal any wrongdoing.

  In reality, the opposite was usually the case. More often than not, something underhanded was going on.

  Would that be the truth that afternoon?

  For the next few hours, I conducted two different stakeouts.

  What did I find out?

  It would be nice if I could tell you that the other two claimants had not lied on their insurance forms.

  Unfortunately, I discovered that both of the claimants had committed fraud. What a terrible day. I couldn’t believe that all three of the people that I investigated were faking disabilities.

  Talk about a terrible discovery.

  And my work was far from done. The fraud that was committed by the claimants was only half the story.

  Now I had to determine what role Craig had played. If any. There was still a chance that he had not done anything wrong. Perhaps he believed that he had done a thorough investigation when in fact he had just been duped by these scammers.

  Then again, there was also the very real possibility that Craig knew that the claimants were lying.

  It was up to me to discover the truth.

  I would hopefully figure that out tomorrow.

  In the meantime, I was ready to head home. It might sound strange, but I was completely exhausted. Even though I had spent my day observing the actions of others, it was still tiring.

  Part of it was the mental energy that I exerted trying to keep from being spotted. It was a lot of work staying one step ahead of the people I was watching.

  Right then, I just wanted to get home so that I could relax.

  Ultimately, I made it about halfway home before I got a phone call from my mother.

  “This could be interesting,” I said to myself.

  Talking to my mother was often an adventure. She was an incredibly direct woman. Subtlety didn’t seem to have any place in her life.

  When I answered the phone, the conversation started off simply enough. My mother asked me how my day had gone.

  I quickly filled her in on the insurance fraud case.

  “Yikes,” she responded.

  “I know. And the case is far from over. I still have plenty of work to do,” I said.

  “It’s amazing how low people will stoop sometimes.”

  “When it comes to money, there really are no limits.”

  “That’s sad, but true. Here’s hoping that only the claimants are committing fraud. It would be an entirely different animal if the investigator is corrupt too.”

  I groaned. “Don’t remind me. This case could get much uglier.”

  “I’m going to pray that it doesn’t.”

  “Either way, I won’t get answers until tomorrow. At the earliest.”

  “In the meantime, on a more pleasant note, I was actually calling to see if you have plans tonight.”

  “That depends,” I said.

  “On what?” my mother asked.

  “You’re not going to try to set me up on some crazy blind date, are you?”

  “First of all, I’ve never set you up on a crazy date.”

  “What would you call that blind date with Alex Peterson?”

  “Melody, that was a long time ago.”

  “It doesn’t matter how much time has gone by. I still remember that romantic disaster like it was yesterday.”

  “Aren’t you exaggerating just a little bit?”

  “Not in the least. The man referred to himself in the third person. Amongst other things. I could rattle off an entire list of everything that went wrong with that date, but I’ve been trying to forget those things for a couple of years.”

  “Hey, a lot can change in a few years.”

  “So, you are looking to set me up on a blind date then, aren’t you?”

  “Actually, no. Although, there are worse things that a mother can do than care enough about her daughter to assist in her love life.”

  “What some people call assisting, others would call meddling.”

  “I just want you to be happy. That’s all.”

  “That’s good to hear.”

  “Now, can I get to the real reason that I called you?”

  “Sure.”

  “I was wondering if you want to come to a fundraising dinner with me.”

  “Tonight?”

  “I know it’s short notice.”

  “Don’t you mean really short notice?”

  “Originally, I was going to go with Vanessa Kitteridge, but she has come down with a cold.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “I can always call one of my other friends, but I figured that I’d ask you first. There’s free dinner being served. Not to mention some live entertainment. And a silent auction. What do you say?”

  “Thanks for asking, but—”

  “Are you turning me down?”

  “Maybe if it wasn’t such short notice, I’d be more excited.”

  “So, it’s not because you have better plans?”

  “Not particularly.”

  “Do you have any other plans tonight?”

  “Of course, I do.”

  “Such as?”

  “I’m planning on relaxing.”

  “Can’t you do that later?”

  “You really want me to come to this, don’t you?”

  “I sure do.”

  “Why?”

  “I think you’ll have fun. It’s going to be a really good time. You might also meet some new people.”

  “Are you thinking of anyone in particular? For example, a man?”

  “I don’t have anyone in mind, but there will be men there. Some of them might even be single.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Even if you don’t meet a guy, it’ll be nice for you to get out and socialize. You spend so much of your time working like crazy. Wouldn’t it be nice to just cut loose?”

  “I’m still going to pass on your invitation.”

  “Why?”

  “Like you said, it is short notice.”

  “Is that the only reason?”

  “I also don’t like the idea of having to get dressed up and everything that comes with that. For example, picking out a dress. And applying makeup. And doing my hair.”

  “That sounds like a lot of excuses.”

  “Maybe next time I’ll jump at the opportunity.”

  “Perhaps. But I’m not going to hold my breath.”

  “Can you really blame me for wanting to take it easy? After all, I’m not retired like you are.”

  “You’ve got me there. Well, I hope you have a good night.”

  “You too.”

  ***

  I got back to my mid-century modern home on Redwood Drive a few minutes later. As I came in the front door, my stomach began to rumble.

  I immediately headed into the kitchen. When I opened up my fridge, I was horrified by what I saw. There was almost nothing in it.

  I seriously needed to go grocery shopping. It was a shame that I didn’t realize that ahead of time. If I had been aware of just how empty my fridge was, I could have stopped by the store on the way home.

  Granted, I could have grabbed my keys and taken a run to the grocery store right then, but I wasn’t in the mood to go out again. I was back in the comfort of my home. Nothing short of an emergency was going to get me to head outside.

  Since I refused to do a shopping run, my dinner options were quite limited. Much to my surprise, I didn’t even have a microwave meal in my freezer.

  Suddenly, it was food delivery to the rescue. The only question became, what type of food to order? My choice came down to Italian food or Chinese food.

  Not surprisingly, the urge to order a pizza won out. I called up Majestic Cove Pizza and ordered a medium pie for myself.

  About half an hour later, the pizza arrived.

  I then plopped down on my couch with a few slices of pizza in front of me. There was some TV watching in store for me.

  As I grabbed the remote, I found myself briefly thinking about how much differently my night could have played out if I had decided to go to that fundraiser with my mother.

  If I had said yes, I would currently be going through my closet, desperately trying to pick out the right dress to wear to the event. Then I would rush into the bathroom to do my hair and makeup.

  All the while, I would be as hungry as could be.

  By the time I got to the event, I would be ravenous. From there, I would probably have to make a bunch of awkward small talk.

  On the flip side, even though fundraisers weren’t my thing, dates definitely were. So, while I was glad that I said no to my mother, I couldn’t help but be a little bit jealous of my friend, Kristina. While I was eating pizza alone on my couch, Kristina was out on her date.

  There was a chance that she was having the time of her life. Wouldn’t that be great? I wished her the best. I just wanted her to be happy.

  At the same time, I also couldn’t help but wonder when I would get a romantic break. Even though I solved mysteries for a living, I had no answer to that question.

  Rather than thinking about my dud of a love life, I decided to zonk out in front of the TV.

  At least, that was the plan. Unfortunately, my television let me down. Even though I had hundreds of channels, I couldn’t seem to find anything good to watch.

  At some point, I just gave up and decided to start surfing the internet. I cracked open my laptop and logged into my social media account.

  I quickly realized that was a bad idea. In my newsfeed, I saw a recent post that my ex-boyfriend, Gavin Hildridge, had made. He was on vacation in Hawaii with his girlfriend. They looked like they were having a ball.

  That was the last thing I wanted to see right then. It was safe to say that things had not ended well between Gavin and me. He worked an office job in the finance industry. His hours were nine-to-five. He never encountered danger at work.

  My profession couldn’t have been more different. I often worked nights. Sometimes, I stared danger directly in the face. And my job was highly unpredictable.

  During our entire relationship, Gavin was uncomfortable with my chosen profession. He kept telling me to quit being an investigator. To get a desk job.

  What he failed to understand was that I was really good at my job. I helped people. There was a lot of value in that.

  Gavin wouldn’t listen, though. Finally, one day, he had enough. He broke things off with me. Shortly after that, he started dating a woman from his office. It seemed like he never looked back.

  My story played out far differently. It had been a little over a year since Gavin had broken things off with me. During that time, my love life had gone nowhere. Some days, it didn’t seem like that would change anytime soon.

  Suddenly, I closed my laptop. I didn’t want to scroll through my social media newsfeed anymore.

  Briefly, a sense of regret washed over me. I kicked myself a little for turning down my mother’s invitation. Perhaps going to that fundraiser would have been good for me.

  Oh well. It was too late now. There was no way I could get dressed in time to head over there. Not unless I wanted to skip doing my hair and makeup.

  Rather than feeling bad for myself, I cracked open a book. Reading could distract me from the unsettling state that my personal life was in. Especially a mystery book. Mysteries kept my mind active. When I was reading a mystery, I had to focus on the case.

  So, I dove headfirst into my book and read a few hundred pages that evening before heading off to bed.

  Chapter Six

  Even though my romantic life wasn’t where I wanted it to be, it didn’t mean that the same was true for other people. In fact, I was counting on hearing some good news as I entered Majestic Cove Bakery the following morning.

  I was incredibly excited as I entered the bakery. Then again, why wouldn’t I be? Bakeries were fantastic places. It was hard not to have a smile on my face when I was about to order a pastry. And let me tell you, no one made treats quite like Kristina did. Granted, I was a little biased, given the fact that Kristina was a dear friend of mine. Even so, I wasn’t the only person in town who loved this place. The bakery had a lot of raving fans. It also had amazing online reviews.

  Between the pastries that were served here and the fact that Kristina had just gone on a date the night before, it seemed like I had an interesting morning ahead of me.

  I approached the display case with a big smile on my face.

  “It’s so good to see you,” I said.

  As Kristina stood behind the counter, she looked like she was deep in thought. My statement pulled her head out of the clouds.

  “It’s nice to see you too,” she replied.

  “So, are you going to tell me how your date went? Or are you going to make me guess?”

  Kristina grimaced. “I was worried that you were going to ask me that.”

  “Worried? Why? Did it not go well?”

  She shook her head. “It sure didn’t.”

  My heart sank. “Uh-oh. I’m sorry to hear that.”

  Kristina continued. “Honestly, there’s no reason to sugarcoat things. It was a disaster.”