The Private Eye

dinner before we explored these theories? I'm hungry. I was promised home-cooked meals, if you'll re call.”
    Maggie stood abruptly and managed a tight smile .
    “Not at all. If you'll excuse me for a minute, I’ll go check, on the casserole.”
    “I'll come with you,” Odessa said.
    The Colonel rose gallantly as the two women headed for the door. “Maggie and Odessa do the cooking around here these days,” he explained to Josh. “Had to let the chef and kitchen help go when we closed down for the winter. Shirley and I clean up.”
    “Just one big happy family,” Josh murmured again.
    “Don't knock it,” Shirley remarked. “It works.”
    Maggie glanced back over her shoulder as a thought occurred to her. She paused in the doorway, wondering how a man could simply take off for an entire month. “Do you have a family. Josh?”
    “No,” said Josh. “The only one I have to worry about is myself. I like it that way.”
    Maggie shivered under the wintry chill of his words and hurried down the hall after Odessa.
    “What do you think of him?” Maggie hissed under her breath when she caught up with the older woman.
    “Seems quite a capable young man,” Odessa answered cheerfully as they entered the kitchen. “I feel we're in good hands, dear.”
    “Capable? The man's on crutches, for heaven's sake. And he doesn't seem all that professional to me. His attitude seems wrong. And he doesn't even carry a gun. I thought all private eyes carried guns.”
    “Perhaps that's only true in those novels you're always reading, dear. Have you ever actually met any private investigators?” Odessa opened the refrigerator door and removed the tossed green salad she had prepared earlier.
    “Well, no. But I've read enough mysteries to have a good idea of what to expect in an investigator.” Maggie grabbed a set of hot pads and opened the oven door.
    Fragrant steam wafted upward. “It occurs to me that maybe Josh January accepted this job because he thought the manor might be a nice place to recuperate from his accident. He probably thinks our problems will make for a real cushy assignment.”
    “I wonder what happened to him?” Odessa tossed the salad greens with the dressing that had been made from her own secret recipe. “Do you suppose it was an accident?”
    “More likely someone got really annoyed with him and pushed him down a flight of stairs.” Maggie muttered darkly as she hoisted the casserole out of the oven.
    “You're not far off,” Josh said from the doorway. He leaned with one shoulder propped against the wall, both crutches in one hand. Somehow he managed to though he was precariously balanced.
    “Someone did get really annoyed with me.”
    Maggie set the casserole down very quickly. It was the heat of the oven that was causing a flush to rise up her neck, she assured herself. She glanced pointedly at his crutches. “I didn't hear you coming down the hall.”
    Josh grinned evilly. “I know. Moving stealthily is child's play for us professional private eyes. We take special courses in it.” He tapped the crutches soundlessly on the Oriental rug in the hall. “The carpeting makes it easy, you see. Even with crutches. You might want to remember that.”
    “I will,” Maggie snapped.
    “Fay no attention to Maggie,” Odessa said lightly.
    “She was just being clever. Maggie has quite a sense of humour.” She smiled serenely as she carried the salad past him out of the kitchen. “Do have a seat at the big round table in the dining room. Josh. We'll have dinner ready in a moment.”
    “Thanks.” Josh waited until Odessa had disappeared into the dining room before turning back to Maggie. “Anything I can do to help?” he asked blandly.
    “I doubt it,” Maggie replied. “Not in your present condition.” She swept grandly past him, casserole in hand.
    “Remind me not to be standing at the top of any staircases when you're around,” Josh murmured to her back.
    MAGGIE HAD BEEN DEAD-ON, Josh reflected midway through dinner. He had taken on this ludicrous excuse for a case primarily because it had seemed like a cushy job and because he needed some time to recover from his “accident.” Very clever lady, that Maggie Gladstone. He would have to keep an eye on her. It would be one of the perks of the job.
    The case itself was going to be a cinch, of course just as McCray had predicted. The situation here at Peregrine Manor was a clear-cut case of some unfortunate luck coupled with some