Jamie Brodie 02 - Hoarded to Death

the other one remembers. And you’re not a shitty person.”
    “Yeah, well.” He lapsed into silence again.
    By the time we got to Jeff’s, my nephews Colin and Gabe had opened all their presents from Santa, their parents, and Grampa Dave, aka my dad. Val’s parents were farmers in the Central Valley and could never get away; every odd year, Jeff and Val went there, but in even years Jeff was on call for his veterinary practice and they stayed home. The boys had opened presents from Val’s parents and all of the uncles - Val’s three brothers, Kevin, and me - last night. Kevin and Abby were spending Christmas with Abby’s family, since they’d had Thanksgiving with us. We had their gifts for the grownups with us – I’d remembered them, too.
    Jeff and Colin were putting coats on as we came in the door. “Merry Christmas. Gotta go deliver some very expensive puppies.”
    Colin was practically jumping up and down. “I’m gonna help!”
    “Great!” I raised my eyebrows at Jeff.
    Jeff shrugged. “Yeah, he can hand me stuff. He’s seen goats born, so French bulldogs should be no biggie, right?”
    “One would think.”
    Jeff gave me a look and shepherded Colin out the door.
    Pete and I went inside. Dad and Val were sitting in the floor of the family room, deeply involved in a construction project, and my younger nephew Gabe was closely supervising. He saw me and launched himself at me. “Uncle Jamie!” I caught him in mid-leap and flipped him upside down, with him squealing and giggling. It was our routine. He was taller at this age than his brother had been; we wouldn’t be able to keep doing that much longer.
    I deposited Gabe back on the floor and leaned over Val’s back. “What are you doing?”
    “Isn’t it obvious? We’re building a bulldozer.”
    “Of course. How silly of me.”
    Val reached back and tried to smack me, but I maneuvered out of the way. She and Dad clearly had the task in hand, so I went to the kitchen and came back with Cokes for Pete and me. Pete had settled on the sofa; I set our Cokes down and went back to the kitchen, returning with a garbage bag, and started gathering bits of paper and plastic wrapping. By the time the kid-size bulldozer was complete, I pretty much had the place cleaned up. Dad got to his feet and hugged me hello. “Thanks, sport. We hadn’t gotten around to that yet.”
    “You’re welcome.” I nodded to the bulldozer. “Whatcha gonna do with that?”
    Gabe answered. “We’re gonna go dig some holes for bushes! C’mon, Grampa Dave!”
    Grampa Dave went. He and Gabe took the bulldozer out to the back yard, and pretty soon I could hear it running. Val went to the kitchen for a drink and came back into the living room, flopping down beside me on the sofa. “So, tell me what’s going on with the murder case.”
    We filled her in on all we knew, including my undercover operation with Eckhoff. She was appropriately impressed.
    I ended by saying, “So now we just have to wait and see if anyone takes the bait.”
    Val mused. “You know, I figured from the start that Jennifer’s old lady friend must have told someone else about what was in those boxes. I’m sure the cops have looked into that, right?”
    I shrugged. “I guess, although I don’t know how thorough they’ve been. Eckhoff said that the old lady’s lawyer checked out, because he was dead, and she had no family at all. But he didn’t say anything about other friends. Although, it looks like if she would have told anyone about something valuable, it would have been Jennifer, and not someone else.”
    “Maybe.” Val was quiet. Pete said, “What are you thinking?”
    “I hate to say this, but…are we absolutely sure that Jennifer didn’t know exactly what was in those boxes?”
    “Well, all we have to go on is her word that she didn’t. You suspect otherwise?”
    “I don’t know. What I suspect is that Jennifer wouldn’t tell us if she had. She’d feel stupid for doing it, and she doesn’t want us to think she’s stupid.”
    “But if she didn’t tell the police, and they found out, she’d be in big trouble.”
    “Yeah. I know. It’s just kind of a feeling I have. I can’t explain it, and I have no factual basis for it.” Val got to her feet. "Okay, I've gotta hit the kitchen if we're going to eat today."
    I said, "Can I help?"
    "Nah, there's really not that much to do. Your dad is going to make the sweet potatoes, and Jeff will mash the potatoes when he gets