Page 51 of Nick

Amber smiled. “He called me this morning. He’s so cute. Since he’s seen those babies on the sonogram, he said he feels like he already knows them. I promised I wouldn’t call them twins. But I explained that it’s mostly identical twins that people will call twin, and you are having a boy and a girl.”

We spotted Dana standing in front of her restaurant. It only burned about a third of it. Firefighters got most of it out. “At least the kitchen is still standing,” I said to Dana when we reached her. “Do you think we could take a look at that letter? There's a lot you can get from handwriting. Most of the time, you can tell if it's a man or a woman writing the letter just by the way it’s slanted.

“Let me get it. I got it in my car. I didn't let the insurance agent keep the main letter. Or the fire marshal. I gave them copies of it. I figured I would need it sometime, I was right.” She handed it to Ruby. She and Amber went over it.

“It's definitely a woman's writing. It’s shaky, like an older person's handwriting.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Look at the way she’s writing this. See how the words slant. If you study handwriting, you will know a woman's handwriting slants are just a little different than a man's. See how it’s like she pushed the pencil down harder here. It’s almost like she’s mad at you. Have you fired anybody lately?”

“No, I've had the same workers for years. I get along with all my employees.”

“Who’s ever doing this wants something? Has anybody wanted to buy your building?

“I always have offers, people wanting to buy my building.

“Has someone come here in person and asked you more than once to buy the building?”

Dana turned towards me. “No, no one has come here and asked to buy it. What about you, Opal? Has anybody wanted to buy your shop?”

“I don't know. I rented the shop from Charlie. Maybe we could ask Charlie and see what she says.”

“I'll call her right now,” Amber said. She took out her phone and dialed Charlie's number. I heard her talking. She was nodding. So, somebody's been asking Charlie. If they can buy her building. I watched Amber shaking her head. Then she hung up.

“Yep, she said, this woman keeps calling her, wanting to buy it. Her name is Sandra Booking. I’d bet anything it was a fake name. Why is she trying to buy up everything on the pier? There’s got to be a reason. There's always a reason that somebody does something. All we have to do is find out what that reason is. And we will find our lady.”

“We are just the three to do it.”

“You can count me in,” Dana said. “That will be us four who will solve this caper of the woman who wanted the pier.”

“Do you read mysteries?

“How did you know?” We all laughed.

“How come you didn't hang out with us before now?”

“Probably because we’re busy. Women who have a business are always busy. If they want their business to become a success. I’ve had a lot of people tell me how good your bread is. I thought I would like to start a service with you; if you can deliver my bread daily, that would be great. My baker doesn't like making bread. And I’ve heard yours is way better than his. Once I get up and running again, I’ll be ordering from you.”

“That's wonderful. Yes, I have a couple more restaurants that do that. We need to put our heads together. And find out who wants this pier.”

“Yes, we do. I want to ensure my property doesn’t get burned down when I open it back up.”

“Opal, are you sure you should get involved?”

“Why shouldn’t I? I’ll be careful. It’s not like I will race somebody down and tackle them. If it’s a woman like we think it is. One of you can tackle her.” I turned my head as the Fire Marshall walked toward us.

“Did you find anything out?” Dana asked.

“Yeah, I discovered that whoever did this isn’t a professional. They poured gas along the edge of the building, forgetting to take the can. It was thrown into the garbage. We’ll see if there are any fingerprints. I can’t believe an arsonist threw away the can in the garbage.” He was still shaking his head as he walked away.

“What happened?” We turned around, and there was this little elderly woman with a walker hurrying to where we stood. I was afraid she would fall.

“There was a fire on the pier. One of the restaurants had fire damage to it.” I said, helping her to sit down on her walker.

“Oh dear, that’s scary. I saw the trucks coming here and knew I had to see what had happened. I live a couple of streets over. I love this pier. When I was a teenager, I would walk here with my fiancé. I loved that man so much, and then he left me for a younger lady. It nearly destroyed me.”

“I’m so sorry. Do they live around here?” What is today? Spill your guts to Opal day about your lost loves.

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