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could be the same woman,” Mai said. “If you could set up another meeting with her, Paul, I could jab her with a needle and do a DNA test. We’d know who she is soon enough.”
    Paul put his arm around his wife. “Getting a little vicious, are we? Why not just shoot her?”
    Mai hugged Rosie tight. “I’m good with that. She’s trying to ruin our lives and doing a good job at it.”
    “That’s not gonna happen,” Al said. “We can describe her as a short, thin woman in her late forties or early fifties when we go to Stewart’s Furs to have a look at their customer list for the day.”
    “How are we going to get something like that without a court order?” Hunter asked.
    “We don’t need a court order,” Paul said. “I have my PI license. I can use that as ID.”
    Mai groaned. “That’s what got us into all this trouble.”
    “I’m sorry,” Paul said.
    Rosie was tired and started fussing, so Paul and Mai decided to go home. There was nothing more they could do until the next day.
    Millie talked with Al before she left. She wanted him to be very careful that he didn’t jeopardize his thirty-plus years on the job. “You’re only off this case right now,” she cautioned. “I’m sure you don’t want it to be a permanent thing.”
    Al laughed. “My wife would shoot you if she thought you were trying to keep me from retiring. I’m not worried about CMPD finding out that I’ve helped Peggy. I’ve given them a lot of good years. That includes losing my best friend to the job. If they want to get rid of me for what I do on vacation—so be it.”
    Millie shrugged. “I understand. I’ll see you all later. Hang in there, Peggy. We’ll make this right.”
    Peggy hugged her and said goodbye. Hunter left with Millie. Peggy hadn’t realized the two women were friends. She’d only known them to have met a few times at her house.
    “We’re going too, unless you want me to stay,” Sam offered. “I can take Selena home and come back. I don’t know if you should be alone.”
    “I’ll be fine. Shakespeare is here, and I lived alone in this house for many years. Don’t worry about it. Get some sleep. I know that plant shipment is coming early.”
    “You won’t sleep through it either, you know,” Sam joked. “Those guys are noisy, and so is their truck. They aren’t used to quiet urban neighborhoods. You might get some angry calls from your neighbors.”
    “Drop it off in that big open area by the garage. Only Walter will know, and I’ll tell him to expect it.”
    Sam, Selena, and Peggy hugged before they left.
    Al was the last to go. “Come and stay with me and Mary until Steve gets back. I know you lived here alone for a long time, but now it isn’t the same thing. We don’t know what this woman has in mind. If she’s masterminded both these events to attack you and your family, she’s clever and resourceful. You should be making a list of your enemies.”
    She smiled and hugged him. “You know I don’t have any enemies. And I’ll be fine until Steve gets back. I’ll set the alarm and probably spend the night in the basement with my plants. Whatever this woman has in store, she must not want to kill me, just ruin my life. And we don’t even know that for sure yet.”
    “Okay. If you’re sure I can’t change your mind.” He squeezed her hand. “Call me if you need anything—I mean anything. Don’t wait for it to be life-threatening. We don’t know for sure Mary Hood isn’t out there waiting to kill you either.”
    Al finally left. Peggy fed Shakespeare and then made sure all the doors were locked. He gobbled his food down quickly and quietly followed her to each door.
    She set the outer perimeter alarm and turned off the lights upstairs. Shakespeare followed her into the basement to sniff the sliding glass doors and whine as though asking if she’d made sure those doors were locked too.
    “They’re always locked,” she told him. “Unless you’re asking to go out. Is