Death by Chocolate

no one. “Where’s your mom?” she asked the
girl.
    Gilly glanced around and
shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe at the beach over there.” She pointed down the
hill to a stretch of sand that disappeared around a point. “She likes to go
down there when she’s feeling upset. She’s been pretty upset.”
    Savannah stood and brushed
the grass off her slacks. “I think I’ll go talk to her awhile. You have fun
with Mona.”
    “Okay. Will you come say
good-bye before you leave?”
    “I sure will. Later,
punkin’.”
    Savannah headed down the
path that led to the beach, but once she was out of earshot from Gilly, she
stopped, reached into her purse, and produced her cell phone.
    “Hi, Tam,” she said. ‘Yeah,
I’m over at the Maxwell place. Do me a favor, would you? Go online and see if
you can find a local Silky Terrier Rescue group. I know they have one for
dalmatians and for Boston terriers. And tell them to get down to the county
pound right away.”
    She paused, listening, then
added, ‘Yeah, you might not want to mention their names or their propensity for
biting any hand that isn’t feeding them. And if anybody asks, they just need a
loving home and a bit of discipline, and their names are Moe, Larry, and Curly.
Okay? Thanks, darlin’.”

Chapter

16
     
     
     
    S avannah found Louise
Maxwell on the beach, as Gilly had suggested. But contrary to Gilly’s other
prediction, she didn’t look at all upset to Savannah.
    She was lying on an
oversized beach towel, soaking up rays. And since her bikini was even more
skimpy than the one she had been wearing previously, she was absorbing more
than her share of California sunlight.
    Before she saw Savannah she
was gazing contentedly at some surfers farther down the beach and humming to
herself. But the moment she noticed that she had company, Louise’s pleasant—if
somewhat dopey—smile disappeared.
    “What are you doing back
here?” she demanded, sitting up on her towel. “I thought I told you that you
weren’t welcome around here.”
    Savannah nodded. “Yes,
that’s what I thought you said, too. But fortunately I didn’t take it to heart.
I never worry that much about how welcome I am someplace.”
    Louise jumped to her feet,
ripped off her sunglasses, and stood glaring at Savannah.
    Savannah assumed this was
meant to intimidate her into a speedy retreat. But Louise had no idea how many
times Savannah had been glared at in the course of her professional careers as
a cop and an investigator. And as long as the glarer wasn’t holding a gun in
their hand.... she wasn’t impressed.
    “Listen, you,” Louise said,
taking a couple of steps toward her. “I’ve inherited all of this!” She waved
her arm, indicating the house, property, and beach. “And you’d better not mess
with me, or I’ll have you arrested, or I’ll sue you, or—”
    “Don’t you remember? You
haven’t officially inherited anything yet.” Savannah weighed her next words
carefully before speaking. She wanted to find out Louise’s involvement in
robbing from her mother, but she didn’t want her to tip off Martin that Dirk
was on to him. “And besides,” she said, “when you do finally get your just
dues’ you may find out that it ain’t nothin’ much to crow about.”
    Louise’s face went from
enraged to confused the instant Savannah’s words filtered into her brain. “What
do you mean?”
    She didn’t know. Louise was
as clueless as they came. Martin Streck might have been embezzling from her
mother, but Louise wasn’t part of the scheme.
    Savannah felt slightly
disappointed. It would have been fun to nail Miss Bikini Prissy Pot with
something good.
    “I said, ‘What do you
mean?’ ” Louise repeated. “You said my just dues wouldn’t be much. What do you
know about anything?”
    “Who? Me? No, of course I
wouldn’t know anything about your personal business... your inheritance....
anything like that. Don’t worry about a thing, Ms. Maxwell. I’m sure
everything’s fine. I just like to run my mouth once in a while. It’s a
character flaw of mine that I’m working on.”
    She turned to walk away, to
return to the house and say good-bye to Gilly. But before she did, she noticed
with a deep sense of gratification that Louise Maxwell did indeed look upset.
Quite upset.
    Mission accomplished.
     
     
    Savannah sat in her Mustang
outside the brick office building on Sunset Boulevard and watched the front
door. As always, the famous boulevard was