Read Online 02 _ Maltese Goddess, The by Lyn Hamilton - Free Book Online
Authors: Lyn Hamilton
Tags: Fiction, General, Romance, Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Women Sleuths, Mystery Fiction, Political, Archaeology, Canadian Fiction, Toronto (Ont.), Detective and Mystery Stories; Canadian, Malta
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It took all the courage I could muster to stay in the house that night, but I managed it. Indeed, by the next morning, I’d persuaded myself that the dead cat incident, as it became known in my mind, was a childish prank of some sort. An exceptionally cruel one, but a prank nonetheless.
Anthony had cut the cat down, as Sophia and I clutched each other, and we found a little patch of ground to bury it in. They’d stayed with me a while, but then Sophia had to get home, so I found myself alone. I spent the evening checking the doors and windows, peering out into the darkness, but most of all thinking about The Deez, my shop cat, whom I loved even though he was a rather standoffish little beast. In the end, mercifully, I slept.
The next day, though, there was an even nastier surprise in store for me.
Anthony had obviously told Marissa and Joseph about our problem with the car, because as soon as they and two workmen arrived on Monday morning, the men began to inspect the vehicle. Despite my protestations—the car could sit in the driveway forever, as far as I was concerned—it was decided that before work on the house could begin, the car would have to be repaired. After much gesticulating, sounds of annoyance, and shrugging of shoulders, one of the men, Eddie by name, headed off somewhere in Joseph’s car.
“Have you found what’s wrong?” I asked, hoping for an affirmative and a diagnosis that would not take long to fix.
“Part missing probably,” Joseph replied. “If Eddie moves fast enough, he may get it back. For a price, of course.”
I looked from Joseph to Marissa. “I’m not following this conversation,” I said.
Marissa smiled at me. “We have a lot of old cars here. People grow very attached to them. Parts are scarce; sometimes they aren’t even manufactured anymore. So they get stolen fairly regularly if you’re not careful. We thought the place was far enough off the beaten track that it wouldn’t be a problem. But I guess we were wrong.
“There are body shops around that miraculously always seem to have parts. Everyone knows who they are. So Eddie will visit a couple of them and get the part. It could even be the one we lost.” She smiled wryly.
“Isn’t that theft, or extortion, or something?”
“Probably. Here we call it the way things go. Joseph will clear some of the construction materials out of the garage so you can lock the car in at night.”
“You know, the first night I was here I thought I saw someone out by the edge of the cliff. Someone wearing a hood. Perhaps he’s our thief!”
“Did you now?” Joseph said. “Strange things go on here from time to time,” he added. Marissa’s usual sunny smile faded somewhat, but neither said anything more.
Eddie returned about a half hour later with a mechanic, and the two of them got to work. At first Eddie was very talkative: he told me that while he was at the body shop he’d also checked for a part that would fix the transmission, which is to say, give it a second gear. He’d had no luck. Someone had beaten him to one by
minutes,
he told me.
But suddenly there seemed to be a chill in the air, metaphorically speaking, and both Eddie and the mechanic grew silent. Soon there was a whispered consultation with Joseph, who in turn whispered to Marissa, who looked really upset. Joseph started clearing his tools and construction materials out of the garage, and Eddie headed out again, returning this time with a huge padlock which he went about installing on the garage door.
All of this was making me nervous, and by extension, annoyed. “We need to talk, Marissa,” I said to her. “I want to know what is going on around here!”
“Let me talk to Joseph,” was the reply. The two of them held another whispered conversation, Joseph finally nodded, and Marissa came back to me.
“The problem with the car was a bit more serious than we thought,” she
It took all the courage I could muster to stay in the house that night, but I managed it. Indeed, by the next morning, I’d persuaded myself that the dead cat incident, as it became known in my mind, was a childish prank of some sort. An exceptionally cruel one, but a prank nonetheless.
Anthony had cut the cat down, as Sophia and I clutched each other, and we found a little patch of ground to bury it in. They’d stayed with me a while, but then Sophia had to get home, so I found myself alone. I spent the evening checking the doors and windows, peering out into the darkness, but most of all thinking about The Deez, my shop cat, whom I loved even though he was a rather standoffish little beast. In the end, mercifully, I slept.
The next day, though, there was an even nastier surprise in store for me.
Anthony had obviously told Marissa and Joseph about our problem with the car, because as soon as they and two workmen arrived on Monday morning, the men began to inspect the vehicle. Despite my protestations—the car could sit in the driveway forever, as far as I was concerned—it was decided that before work on the house could begin, the car would have to be repaired. After much gesticulating, sounds of annoyance, and shrugging of shoulders, one of the men, Eddie by name, headed off somewhere in Joseph’s car.
“Have you found what’s wrong?” I asked, hoping for an affirmative and a diagnosis that would not take long to fix.
“Part missing probably,” Joseph replied. “If Eddie moves fast enough, he may get it back. For a price, of course.”
I looked from Joseph to Marissa. “I’m not following this conversation,” I said.
Marissa smiled at me. “We have a lot of old cars here. People grow very attached to them. Parts are scarce; sometimes they aren’t even manufactured anymore. So they get stolen fairly regularly if you’re not careful. We thought the place was far enough off the beaten track that it wouldn’t be a problem. But I guess we were wrong.
“There are body shops around that miraculously always seem to have parts. Everyone knows who they are. So Eddie will visit a couple of them and get the part. It could even be the one we lost.” She smiled wryly.
“Isn’t that theft, or extortion, or something?”
“Probably. Here we call it the way things go. Joseph will clear some of the construction materials out of the garage so you can lock the car in at night.”
“You know, the first night I was here I thought I saw someone out by the edge of the cliff. Someone wearing a hood. Perhaps he’s our thief!”
“Did you now?” Joseph said. “Strange things go on here from time to time,” he added. Marissa’s usual sunny smile faded somewhat, but neither said anything more.
Eddie returned about a half hour later with a mechanic, and the two of them got to work. At first Eddie was very talkative: he told me that while he was at the body shop he’d also checked for a part that would fix the transmission, which is to say, give it a second gear. He’d had no luck. Someone had beaten him to one by
minutes,
he told me.
But suddenly there seemed to be a chill in the air, metaphorically speaking, and both Eddie and the mechanic grew silent. Soon there was a whispered consultation with Joseph, who in turn whispered to Marissa, who looked really upset. Joseph started clearing his tools and construction materials out of the garage, and Eddie headed out again, returning this time with a huge padlock which he went about installing on the garage door.
All of this was making me nervous, and by extension, annoyed. “We need to talk, Marissa,” I said to her. “I want to know what is going on around here!”
“Let me talk to Joseph,” was the reply. The two of them held another whispered conversation, Joseph finally nodded, and Marissa came back to me.
“The problem with the car was a bit more serious than we thought,” she
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