Read Online Gina Cresse - Devonie Lace 04 - A Deadly Change of Power by Gina Cresse - Free Book Online Page B

Street,” I said.  Every town has an Elm Street, doesn’t it?
    She chuckled.  “Well, honey, that’s not the address we have for Mr. Waterman.  If he’s expecting to get mail there, it’s no wonder he hasn’t received his bill.”
    “Can you tell me what address you did send it to?”
    She ignored my question.  “In fact, not only did we send the bill out, but it’s already been paid.  Are you sure you’re his bookkeeper?”
    I cri nged.  “We must have had a misc ommunication ,” I said, trying to think of some other way to get his address.
    “In fact, as I read further, the bill was paid by Mr. Waterman’s estate.  It was the final payment on his account.  Service has been stopped.  It appears Mr. Waterman is deceased.  So, how exactly did you communicate with him?  A séance?”
    “Deceased?  When?” I asked.
    “Honey, you better call someone else to get information.  I got calls backed up ten deep.  Every one of them waiting to chew me up one side and down the other because their electric bills have doubled, as if it were all my fault.”
    I hung up the phone.  Deceased.  I wondered what the cause of death was.
    The next name on my list was Harvey Brewster.  I had his address in Riverside but no telephone number.  He was unlisted.
    Ronnie shuffled into the kitchen, rubbing her puffy eyes and yawning.  It didn’t appear that she’d slept well.
    “Good morning.  Breakfast?” I asked.
    “Oh, don’t go to any trouble for me.  I can just grab a piece of toast or something.”
    “It’s no trouble.  I scrambled some eggs for Craig.  There’s still some in the pan.  Toast takes a second.  Juice is in the fridge.”
    “Sounds great.  Thanks,” she said.
    While Ronnie ate her eggs, I sat across the table from her.  “After you talk to your insurance company, you feel like taking a drive with me?  To Riverside?”
    “Riverside?  What’s there?” she asked.
    “Harvey Brewster.  He filed a patent for — “
    “I know the name.  Why go see him?”
    “Just talk to him.  See if anyone has tried to buy his patent.”
    Ronnie nodded.  “Okay.”
    I poured myself a glass of grapefruit juice.  “Clyde Waterman is dead,” I said.
    “What?  The fuel-cell guy?  When?”
    “Not long ago.  They just stopped his electric service this month.”
    “How’d he die?” she asked, sounding afraid of the answer.
    “I don’t know.  I thought we could stop at the library first and go through the obituaries.”
    “You’ve been busy this morning.  Anything else I should know about my peers?”
    “Ozie Dartmond is living high-off-the-hog somewhere in the Bahamas.  Casper Harris’s phone has been disconnected.”
    Ronnie frowned.  “And the others?”
    “I haven’t gotten that far yet.”  I handed her the cordless phone.  “You can use this to call your insurance company.  Let me know when you’re ready to go.”
     
    Clyde Waterman died after being struck by a hit-and-run driver.  He was crossing the street in front of his house to collect his mail.  It was nine in the morning.  Visibility was good.  There were no witnesses.  There were no suspects.  It happened only six weeks ago.  Waterman lived alone and left behind no family.  Ronnie chewed her bottom lip as she read the newspaper account.  I gathered up my purse and stood.  “Come on.  Let’s go,” I said.
     
    Ronnie navigated while I drove to Riverside.  At her insistence, we took her car.  She read the map and directed me around the streets in Riverside until we reached the street I’d written down.  “What house number are we looking for?” I asked.
    “Two forty-nine.”
    I checked the numbers on my side.  They were even.  “Okay, it’ll be on your side.”
    We drove the entire block, but couldn’t find the number.  We found two forty-three and two fifty-five, but no two forty-nine.  “I must have written it down wrong, or it was listed wrong.  Let’s stop and ask,” I