Page 86 of Half Baked

The traffic had cleared out, so he pulled out of the parking space and headed toward the exit. “Neil already got back to me about George Somato.” He shot me a glance. “There’s nothing.”

“But Dawn seemed so sure.”

“Neil used multiple possible spellings. While I’m watching your aunt tonight, I’ll do an internet search for articles about his arrest and see if I can come up with anything that way.”

“Okay.” I gave myself a few seconds to let the information sink in. “Do you think Dawn lied?”

“I’m not sure what purpose there’d be to lying, but I’m not ruling it out.”

“None of this makes any sense.”

“Let’s go talk to Gina and see if we can get more information. If your mother invited her to the women’s club, then she must have known her. And it’s possible she might be able to give us a different name for Gordy.”

“Yeah,” I said absently.

“Hey,” he said, reaching over and threading his fingers through mine. “We’re going to get to the bottom of this. I promise.”

That’s what I’d thought I wanted, but now I was worried what we’d find at the bottom.

ChapterTwenty-Three

Maddie

It was almost four on a Friday afternoon, so I was worried the accounting office might be closed by the time Noah found parking in front of the building, but the lights were still on and an open sign hung in the window.

“I’m not sure what to say to her,” I said as he turned off the car. “I’ve never met her before, and she’s at work. This could be awkward.”

“Just approach her like you have everyone else,” he said. “And if you feel like you’re not getting anywhere, I can pull out my badge.”

My eyes widened. “You’re not supposed to be working.”

“We’re getting close, Maddie. I can feel it,” he said in frustration. “The shitty part about all of this is that we’ve easily followed a breadcrumb trail nearly twenty years old. If Bergan had actually worked this case, I suspect he could have made an arrest within the week.”

“Still, I don’t want you to get into trouble.”

“We’ll deal with whatever happens as it comes.”

We headed inside. The office was warm and bright, not cold and sterile like other accounting offices I’d visited. Then again, the last time I’d been in an accounting office, it had been with my ex-boyfriend Steve, whose accountant had been dirt cheap.

The receptionist greeted us with a smile. “How can I help you?”

I approached her desk and said warmly, “Hi. I’m Maddie Baker, and I was hoping to speak to Gina. Is she available?”

The receptionist—Susan, based on her nameplate—looked wary. “I don’t see that you have an appointment with her. What is this in regard to?”

I tried to amp up the friendliness. “She knew my mother, and I’d like to ask her a few questions about her.” Even as I said it, I knew how strange it sounded.

Her smile wavered. “Since this is a personal matter and not a professional one, you can leave your name and number, and she’ll get back to you as soon as she’s available.”

I shot Noah a questioning glance, unsure what to do next. Honestly, I couldn’t fault Susan for guarding her boss.

Noah gave me a grim smile, then stepped in front of me, holding his badge out. “I’m Detective Langley with the Cockamamie PD. We need to speak to Ms. Moore as expediently as possible.”

Fear filled Susan’s eyes. “What’s this about?”

“As Ms. Baker mentioned, it’s regarding her mother.”

“Who’s your mother?” Susan asked me, wide-eyed.

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