Page 44 of The Vampire and the Case of the Cursed Canine

‘Only one polar bear,’ I said wryly.

She shrugged. ‘There’s a reason Stan’s in charge, I guess. That man can open a whole can of whoop ass.’

‘And boy, was he pissed,’ I agreed.

‘And you didn’t have a garden hose,’ she said sagely, making me grin.

‘Yeah, that was a bummer.’

‘No doubt.’ She flashed me a smile and rolled up her sleeves. ‘I’ll grab the vacuum and we can get this place looking a little more respectable.’

I was pretty sure respectable had left the station but we could aim for not covered in dust and grime. Connor and I had cleared away a lot of the big-ticket items but the place was far from clean.

‘I’ll help,’ I offered. I went into the break room to snap on some gloves and grab a bottle of cleaning fluids. Time to make this place sparkle.

Chapter 27

All that cleaning left my hands busy and my brain free, so I mentally wrote a pros and cons list. By the time I was done, the pros had it. I picked up Wilson and called Liv. ‘Gunnar,’ she purred.

‘It’s Bunny.’

‘Oh,’ she said flatly, her disappointment clear. Burn.

‘Gunnar is still with Sig in hospital. I need to talk to you about your interviews with the black market people. Can you come in?’

She harrumphed. ‘I’ve already told Gunnar that no one knew anything. Besides, I’m busy.’

‘I don’t have any leads, so I’m asking you as a councillor to please come in. Maybe if I ask you some questions, it will trigger a memory or something that will help our investigation.’

She sighed audibly. ‘Fine. Give me an hour.’ She hung up. Did no one in this town say goodbye?

There was a knock on the back door; it was Ernie, the owner of the hardware store-slash-café. I opened the door with a smile. ‘Hey Ernie!’

‘Hi, little lady. I’ve got a new front door for you. Just wanted to give you the heads up before I rip that wooden travesty off.’

‘Thanks, Ernie, you’re the best.’

The old man grunted and thrust a paper takeout cup at me. ‘Chai latte,’ he said, scratching his head awkwardly.

My eyes lit up. ‘Thank you!’

‘If you cry—’ he started.

‘—you’ll leave. I remember. No tears, I promise.’

‘Some people got no respect,’ he complained. ‘Doing this to the Nomo’s office? You wouldn’t have gotten such disrespect in my day.’

I wondered when his day was. Ernie could have been anything between sixty and a few centuries; with a paranormal town, you never quite knew.

‘It wasn’t his fault,’ I said vaguely. ‘Extenuating circumstances.’

‘It ain’t right,’ he groused. ‘We’ll see you fixed up.’ He touched a hat he didn’t have and went to start work on the front door. Banging and clanging commenced and I winced. I wasn’t going to be able to hear Wilson over all this racket.

I went back to my cleaning as I waited for Liv. By the time she swanned in, Ernie had hung the door and left. She arrived fifteen minutes early but I was prepared. She liked people off balance, especially me. Well, two could play that game.

‘I like what you’ve done with the place,’ she said drily, looking around the empty office space with its lonely phone and single chair.

‘We had an angry polar bear stop by.’

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