Free Marja McGraw - Bogey Man 03 - They Call Me Ace by Marja McGraw Page A

Judith said. “We’re going to do some exploring, like real detectives.”
    I would have rolled my eyes, but I was trying to concentrate on the traffic. I drove past the restaurant and everything looked as it should. What did I expect? Burglars climbing out of the windows? Turning at the corner, I headed two streets over to the old house.
    Max was waiting in front for us. He walked over and opened the door for Judith. “Good morning, ladies. Aren’t you glad the storm moved on through? You’ll be able to see the house better without all the clouds darkening the sky.”
    I looked around and saw new clouds moving in. They weren’t close enough to block out the sun yet. I could smell moisture and realized that the ground hadn’t dried. The front yard hadn’t been kept up, and wet leaves covered the grass, or what should have been grass.
    Judith took Max’s hand as he helped her out of the car. “My, what a gentleman. Chris Sr. doesn’t do that anymore. I’m lucky if he opens my door, much less helps me out of the car.”
    I could tell Judith was sucking up to Max. Sometimes it takes a woman to recognize another woman playing a man. Judith wanted something, and she was working for it.
    “Max, we’d like to spend some time in the house. If you have anything else you need to do, you could let us in and come back later.” She said it so sweetly, and yet I knew she was giving him the brush off. She wanted him gone.
    “Why, I do have some other houses to show. How long do you want to explore the house?”
    “Oh, let’s say at least a couple of hours,” Judith said.
    Max looked surprised, but he didn’t argue with her. “I’ll come back around noon. How does that work for you?”
    “Perfect.” Judith looked up at him from under long lashes. For a married woman, she could flirt with the best of them to get her way.
    Max headed up the walkway to unlock the door.
    Judith leaned over and whispered in my ear. “Pamela, leave the dogs in the car until he leaves. I don’t want them to screw this up for us. If he thinks about those big dogs running through the house, he might change his mind about leaving us here alone.”
    I nodded. “Mikey, climb up into the front seat and get out through the front door. We’ll come back for the dogs.”
    He did as he was told without asking questions.
    Max walked back down the walkway and handed Judith a key. “If you get done early, just lock up and leave the key over the door, if you don’t mind.”
    “We will, and don’t rush, Max. We might be here for some time.” Judith smiled up at him.
    He narrowed his eyes at us. “You’re not planning on doing some treasure hunting, are you? Because I can’t have that. I don’t want you tearing up the house, you know.”
    “Why, Max, whatever gave you that idea? I just want to really look through every nook and cranny and see what kind of work needs to be done here.” The look of innocence on Judith’s face could only be rivaled by the look of innocence on a newborn baby’s face.
    Again, I wanted to roll my eyes, but I didn’t want Max to see me. So I lowered my head and crossed them. Mikey saw me and grinned.
    Max took off in a hurry. I guess he really did have other appointments.
    “Okay, you can let the dogs out now.” Judith had taken charge.
    Sherlock leaped out of the car, but fortunately I had hold of his leash. I handed it to Mikey. Sherlock was actually the better-behaved dog of the two, most of the time. I reached in and took hold of Watson’s leash. She could be a handful when she wanted to be.
    We took one last look at the outside of the place before entering.
    “I believe there’s a basement in the house,” Judith said. “Why don’t we start there and work our way up.”
    “Because the basement is probably full of black widows.” I hated dark places that might be filled with spiders.
    “I brought gloves and bug spray.” Judith had brought a backpack instead of her purse. She set it on one of the