Page 73 of Dragon Detective

“I’ll call with any questions when I’m filling out the report,” he told Hannah. “But I think I’ve got it down in my mind.”

“Thank you,” Hannah said as he led Evelyn toward the stairs.

“Four times a charm?” he called out to us.

“I sure hope so.”

Once they were gone, I drew her into my arms and studied her face. “Are you alright? She didn’t hurt you?”

“Nope. I just wish I didn’t have to fling that soup in her face.”

“Is that all there was?”

“You know me. I made plenty. There’s a big pot of it on the stove.”

“Good, because I’d hate to miss out on your soup.”

“I’m mad because it created more of a mess up here than she did. I’ll have to come up with a bucket of soapy water and clean.” Her smile rose. “I made corn muffins too.”

“My favorite.”

“I’ve got some blackberry jam I also made that’ll be perfect with them.”

“I’m getting hungry already,” I said with a grin.

We turned and, arm-and-arm, picked our way across the attic.

“Will we ever discover what Evelyn was looking for?” I asked.

Hannah gazed up at me with a sparkle in her eyes. “Before the detective arrived, she told me. Well, she gave me a clue. I know exactly where it is. I found it within days of moving in, but I thought it was something one of the kids played with.” Her laughter trilled out. “After we enjoy my soup and muffins, how would you like to go on a treasure hunt?”

“Dragons love treasure.” I drew her into my arms for a quick kiss, then grinned down at her. “I can’t wait, sweetheart.”

Chapter 37

Epilogue

Hannah

A Month Later

With Blake on vacation, Monsters, PI needed a few volunteers to staff the front desk. Thain, their new ogre hire, sat out front all morning because he was still only taking on easier cases and the regular staff was busy handling other things. Melly took a shift in the afternoon, and since Reylor was managing things while Katar took paternity leave, I volunteered to manage the lunch hour. My building was nearly ready to open, and I only needed to put the finishing touches in each room and the downstairs areas, something I could do during the morning and afternoon.

As for the great mystery Justin had left behind?

Evelyn was convicted. She served her community service and fled town not long after, and I was grateful I hadn’t seen hersince. A few demons stopped by once to ask me if I’d seen her, but honestly, I could tell them I hadn’t. They’d left as well, following her trail, and I wasn’t sure if I hoped they’d find her or not. As long as she didn’t return to Mystic Harbor or reach out to me again, I was happy.

Victor had profusely apologized for ruining my gardens and came by with some perennials to sweeten his apology. He even offered to rebuild my back deck. We had an uneasy truce that I hoped would smooth out into friendship, though we’d see. I still sent him recipes on occasion, and he’d started to send a few future guests my way.

Grant had served a few days in jail and left town after he was released. Estadore fired him, and no other realtor would hire him after what happened. Last I’d heard, he was working in a retail store near Boston.

As for Sylvia, her family arrived and said they’d take over her care. She was still ranting about needing to find it, though she wasn’t revealing what “it” might be. The judge dismissed the charges, and her family took her back home with them to Florida, selling her antique store and the apartment above not long after. A woman had bought it, and I’d heard she planned to move to town soon and open a new business while living in the apartment above. The location would be perfect for almost anything.

And Justin? It was hard to say if ghosts existed, but I swore he left little signs. A bouquet of flowers on the counter Reylor denied giving me. A piece of jewelry sitting on my bureau when I was about to go out for dinner. Even a good book when I was bored and didn’t know what to read. From the things he left for Reylor, it was clear he liked that my love had moved into the B&B and that we were happy together.

That was good enough for me.

When I first moved into the building, I went through the books in the library, and I found an old map. Since it was among a pile of children’s books, I’d left it there, thinking the children of guests might enjoy pretending they were following a pirate’s map to treasure.

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