Free Hope Callaghan - Garden Girls 05 - Eye Spy by Hope Callaghan

fill in my place.”
    The previous owners had left all the furnishings in Andrea’s house, with the exception of a few personal items.  Andrea had kept some of the furniture that was in good shape, and what she had kept fit the décor to a “t” but there were spots that still needed to be filled. 
    “The plan is for next Monday.  We’ll open early.  You can come by the night before or first thing in the morning to shop if you want,” Gloria replied.
    Brian held up the pot of coffee and cup.  “Want some?”
    She shook her head.  “No. I just had some over at Kenny’s place.”
    Brian poured two cups.  He slid one towards Andrea and cradled his own.  “So you must be here to see if we heard anything.”
    Brian lowered his voice, although there was no one was in the store to eavesdrop.  “I’m keeping my ear to the ground for you,” he assured her.  “The detectives suspect an inside job,” he added.
    Gloria was frustrated.  “That’s what I heard – but why?  Why does it have to be an inside job?”
    Brian drummed his fingers on the counter and stared up at the tin ceiling panels.  His eyes met Gloria’s and he shrugged.  “Well, it’s possible someone tipped them off.  Or another possibility is that, depending on how long the investigation was going on before they tipped their hand, they may already have a suspect in mind.”
    Gloria remembered Kenny’s shed.  How it was crammed full of post office boxes.  Was he running an illegal drug ring from his place?   she wondered.
    She thought about Ruth’s spy cam she had installed in the post office.  “Say, hypothetically speaking, someone installed a surveillance camera inside a government building.  Like a bank or a post office, for example, and they didn’t have,” Gloria raised her hands and made the quote signals with her fingers, “‘permission’ to do it, is that a federal offense?”
    Brian leaned forward, his brilliant blue eyes honed in on Gloria.  “I would have to tell you not to do that.  You could get in big trouble,” he warned.
    Gloria swallowed hard.  That was the sternest reprimand Brian had ever given her.  She didn’t take the warning lightly.  She stood straight up. “I would never do such a thing,” she replied.  No, she wouldn’t, but Ruth had!
    Andrea swiveled around in the chair.  “Why don’t you do your own stakeout?” she asked.
    Gloria smiled sheepishly. 
    Andrea nodded.  “Ohhh…so you already have….”
    “Ruth and I caught someone sneaking around the dumpster out behind the post office last night.  Dumpster diving.  Isn’t that what they call it?”
    “Then what happened?” Brian wondered.
    “They disappeared without a trace,” she admitted. Gloria glanced at her watch.  “I better go.  I need to stop by Dot’s before I head home,” she said.
    Gloria stepped out of the hardware store and headed down the sidewalk.  The weather was nice so she decided to stretch her legs and walk to Dot’s Restaurant. 
    The phone in her pocket vibrated.  She veered off to the side and perched under the drugstore awning.  She pulled her glasses from her purse and glanced down at her phone.  There was a message from Paul.
    “Sending out an SOS!  I need to escape my own house!” The frantic text continued.  “Can I take you to dinner?” Gloria grinned.  Paul was in the midst of his own crisis and unexpected houseguests.  She missed him, but what with Ruth underfoot, a yard sale in full swing and a mystery to solve, Gloria didn’t know if she was coming or going anymore. 
    Yes, an evening with Paul was just what she needed. “That would be wonderful,” she texted back.  She couldn’t wait to see what he came up with.  Guests in his house, guests in her house.  They’d have to plan a rendezvous! 
    Dot’s place was packed with the lunch crowd.  Dot nodded to her a couple times as she hustled back and forth between the kitchen and the dining room.  Holly, Dot’s