Free The Case of the Missing Elf: a Melanie Hart Mystery (Melanie Hart Cozy Mysteries Book 2) by Anna Drake Page A

she’d fully recovered.”
    ‘What was the problem?”
    “If I said Ginger’s allergic to children, would you buy the story?
    Dad laughed. “Yes, from what I know of her, I can’t imagine her thriving around little tykes..”
    I settled into a matching arm chair and pulled a book from a nearby table. Surreptitiously, I glanced over at my father and tried to imagine what his world would be like if I moved out.
    Mom had died in a car crash when I was about four. Since then Dad had been everything to me. But now that I’d reached adulthood, I couldn’t deny a desire to launch out on my own. I told Ginger it was my absent cooking skills that held me back. Actually, though, feeding myself was only part of the problem. Ultimately, I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Dad alone in this big house.
    “How’s the book?” Dad asked.
    “Great,” I replied.
     
     
     

Eight
     
    T he call came in at about three Monday morning. I rolled onto my side and grabbed the phone. “Hello?” I muttered in a voice still dripping with sleep.
    “Melanie, I’m so sorry for disturbing you, but I don’t know who else to call.”
    “Wendy?” I glanced at my bedside clock. “What’s happened?”
    “Someone’s broken in.”
    I raised myself up onto an elbow, “Into your place?”
    “No, at Barnaby’s apartment.”
    “How do you know?”
    “I saw  what looked like the beam from a flashlight in the apartment window.”
    “You’ve called the police?”
    “Yes, they’re here now. But they won’t sit with me. Melanie,” her voice trembled, “I’m so scared.”
    “I’ll be right over.”
    I rose from bed and tossed on jeans and an old sweatshirt. Then, after leaving a note for Dad on the center island in the kitchen, I bundled myself up in my parka and headed for the garage. Less than five minutes later, I pulled up at Wendy’s house. Exiting the car, I dashed for her front door. Visiting a friend in her hour of need was one thing, but getting in out of this freezing cold weather carried its own urgency.
    I bounded up the porch steps and pounded on the door. “Wendy,” I called out, “it’s me.”
    In short order the door opened. I lunged inside the house.
    “Thank you for coming,” Wendy said. “You can’t imagine how much I appreciate this.”
    Nero sat off to one side, eyeing me with disdain.
    “Glad to help.” I peeled off my parka.
    “Come on into the kitchen. I’ve made coffee.”
    Once settled there, with coffee mugs in hand, I pressed Wendy for details of the break-in.
    “I wouldn’t have known a thing,” she said, “if Nero hadn’t wakened me. I found him sitting on my chest, making the most frightful sounds. I glanced at the clock, and that’s when, through my bedroom window, I saw a light flitting about in Barnaby’s apartment.”
    “And you called police?”
    “Right.”
    “Good for you. Did they catch the culprit?”
    “No, I’m afraid I thoughtlessly flipped on my bedroom light. That must have scared the burglar off. Because before the police could arrive, I saw someone race down the stairway from the apartment and run down the driveway. I’m too old for this, Melanie. It never occurred to me that I’d alert the thief.”
    “Could you tell who it was?”
    Wendy sighed. “No. It was too dark. He… or she… was little more than a shadow.”
    “Any idea what the person might have been looking for?”
    “Heaven only knows. Barnaby didn’t own anything of much value.”
    “You did know he won a lot of money on a recent run to the riverboats?”
    Wendy gaped. “He didn’t.”
    “Yes, he did.”
    “But he never said a word to me. How did you find out?”
    “I spoke with Porter. He knew about the money. Barnaby wouldn’t have kept a wad of cash in his apartment, would he? He’d have used a bank, right?”
    “I don’t know. I’d never asked him about his finances. I just assumed he didn’t have any.”
    “He was also counting on adding to his total.”
    “You mean