The Inn at Holiday Bay: Clue in the Clam, Kathi Daley [early reader chapter books TXT] 📗

“Maybe,” I agreed. “I guess if we are able to track down the other four men Genevieve told me about who were also making payments to Evagrius Industries, we can ask them why they’re making the payments.”

Colt frowned as he pulled out his cell. “It’s odd that I haven’t heard back from any of the men. Kurt is probably drunk and holed up somewhere, but Barnaby, Clark, Ted, and Robert should all be at work.”

“Some people don’t monitor their phones while they’re working. I’m sure once the men get off for the day, they’ll call.”

Colt took some photos of the office, and then we headed upstairs to the master bedroom. A quick search of the dresser, closet, and nightstands didn’t net us any new information, but I did find it interesting that only Oliver’s clothes were in this room. I had to wonder if perhaps Mr. and Mrs. Halifax had separate bedrooms. I mentioned my observation to Colt, who decided to ask Collette, who confirmed the couple had kept separate rooms since before she came to work for them. I wasn’t sure if that was a relevant piece of information, but it might be something we’d need to know at some point. I supposed it explained why Mrs. Halifax had gone on such a long cruise without her husband.

Colt chatted with Collette for a few minutes, and then we headed down the coastline to the equally magnificent estate owned by Henry Goodman. As Colt had indicated he would, he’d called ahead and had the neighbor meet us with the extra key. As with Oliver’s home, it seemed Colt had been here before since once the neighbor let us in, he headed down the hallway to the home office.

“It looks like the computer is gone from here as well.”

Colt nodded. “The guys from the county have it. Are the drawers in the desk locked?”

I tried the top middle drawer, and it opened. As with Oliver’s desk, this draw held items such as pens, notepads, and paperclips. I tried the top drawer on the right, but it was locked. The bottom drawer on the right contained stacks of file folders, but the folders were empty. It looked as if he had been saving the old file folders to recycle for future use.

The top drawer on the left was locked, and the bottom drawer on the left contained personal items, including a bottle of really good scotch. It felt strange rummaging through the man’s personal items, but if there was something to find, it seemed likely that was where I’d find it. The drawer held a pack of gum, two tubes of lip balm, a small bottle of hand lotion, and a package of Hershey’s kisses. I guess the guy had a sweet tooth. The drawer also contained a pair of reading glasses, a small address book, and a book of matches. Removing the address book from the drawer, I flipped to the F’s. There were at least fifteen entries. Stan Fairfield was one of them. There were two other entries for individuals with a first name that began with S and a last name beginning with F: Sabrina Fox and Steve Farley. Neither name sounded familiar. I supposed they might be friends or clients. The book was old and the cover worn, which led me to believe that the addresses in the book were attached to people Henry had known for a while.

“Do you know Sabrina Fox or Steve Farley?” I asked Colt, who was sorting through a closet.

“No. Why?”

“I found an address book in one of the drawers. I looked for names with the initials SF, and those two came up. I suspect this book might contain addresses and phone numbers for people Henry has known for a while. It’s possible the information included is no longer accurate, but it seemed worthwhile to take a peek.”

“Let’s bring it with us. I’m sure Henry has a more recent contact list in his cell phone, but so far, his cell phone hasn’t been found.”

“I take it his computer is password protected.”

Colt nodded. “The guys at the county office are working on it.”

“There’s also an entry for someone named Fagen under the F’s,” I said. “No first name, just Fagen.” I flipped back to the S’s. “There’s an entry for Spades and one for Salvatore. I’m not sure if those are first or last names or maybe businesses.”

“Spades is a bar located about thirty miles east of here. I’m not sure about Fagen or Salvatore.”

I slipped the little address book into my pocket and worked on trying to open the two locked drawers. There wasn’t a place for a key, so the chances were that the drawers could be opened by working a lever. I slipped my hand into the top center drawer and felt around. The center drawer had been open when we arrived, but this drawer did have a place for a key. I supposed that the only way to open the drawers to the side would be to work the latch when the middle drawer was open, which meant if the middle drawer was locked, the top two were secure as well.

“Bingo,” I said aloud as I found the latch and popped the locks on the side drawers. The top right drawer contained files that looked to be current in nature. The file on the top held contracts relating to the proposed development. “I found some stuff relating to the proposed development.”

“Okay. Let’s take those with us. Is there anything else?”

“Some customer files that look current. Maybe we should take them as well. I’m not sure if they’re relevant to what happened to Henry, but it wouldn’t hurt to look through everything. I wonder who will take over all these escrows. Did Henry have a partner or work in an office with other agents?”

“He did work out of an