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inside.”
    “Did she let him
inside?”
    “No. She figured he was
checking it out as a possible rental. I ran into him a few days later; he asked
me when the new owner was showing up. I figured Gloria was right. Of course if
you had decided to put the house in the rental market, I would have recommended
Bay View Rentals, not Fredrickport Property Rentals. They have a better
reputation.”
    “Do you think he wanted
to see inside because of the Missing Thorndike?” Danielle already knew the
answer to her question.
    “I suppose I find the
idea amusing, especially if Marie told her grandson about the necklace.”
Clarence chuckled again. “But no, probably not. I’m sure Marie would have told
Adam that story years ago, so if he was interested he would have already found some
way to get into the house. No, I was just being overly suspicious.”
    “Perhaps,” Danielle
muttered under her breath.
    “I understand you have
a buyer for the necklace already.”
    “Yes. He’s going to be
here after the weekend.  Which is why I need to get this thing with Cheryl
cleared up.”
    “You’ll have to put
that on hold for right now.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Until we get this
straightened out with your cousin, you really shouldn’t sell the necklace.”
    “I need to sell it so I
can pay the damn inheritance tax,” Danielle said impatiently. “I really don’t
want to lose this buyer.”
    “Don’t worry about that
now,” Clarence said as he stood up. “Let me look into a few things and get back
to you as soon as possible. You just focus on your open house.”
    “That is a little hard
to do,” Danielle grumbled. She stood up and picked up her purse off the floor.
    “Now, now, it will all
work out. One way or another.” Clarence walked Danielle to his office door and
opened it.
    “Thanks for seeing me
today,” Danielle said as she walked out the doorway into the front office.
    “It was nice to finally
meet you in person,” Clarence said. “I’ll see you at your open house.”
     

Chapter Nine
     
    Much to Cheryl’s
annoyance, Sadie greeted her and Ian when they reached the side gate of Marlow
house. Danielle typically left the gate wide open; that had made it easy for
Ian to arrange his first meeting with Danielle and Lily, and for the times he’d
walk over in the evenings and catch Lily sitting on the bench under the
moonlight. But this afternoon the gate was shut. Sadie sat inside the
enclosure, barking for Ian to come inside and play.
    “Hello girl,” Ian
greeted as he pulled the unlocked padlock from the latch and pushed open the
gate. Cheryl followed Ian inside the yard, careful to avoid Sadie, who insisted
on jumping on Ian.
    On the far side of the
yard Lily looked up from the ground, croquet mallet in hand, preparing to hit a
ball. Instead, she let the mallet rest against the grass as she waved to Cheryl
and Ian. Cheryl ignored her greeting and made her way to the kitchen door. Ian
waved in return. By the time he reached Lily, Cheryl had already gone into the
house.
    “That was a quick
walk,” Lily said, briefly glancing over to the door leading into the kitchen.
    “If I ever offer to
take that woman anywhere ever again, please hit me in the head with a
croquet mallet.” Ian shuddered.
    “What happened?” Lily
glanced back to the house and then to Ian.
    “I don’t think you’d
believe me.” Ian shook his head in disgust.
    “Did she make a pass at
you?” Lily asked with a grin.
    “How did you know
that?”
    “Dani said she hit on
Lucas before their wedding.” Lily looked down, positioned the mallet behind the
ball and gave it a little tap, sending the ball toward its target.
    “According to Cheryl it
was the other way around.” Ian followed Lily as she continued to play croquet.
    “She told you that?”
Lily asked as she hit the ball again. It went astray, flying into a nearby
bush. Before Lily could retrieve the wooden ball Sadie flew into the bushes and
snagged it, then dashed