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Nancy Drew made this job look easy.

M eg had gone to bed stuffed with yummy pasta and hopeful for the new day.

When she woke up to the rain, she was glad she’d already planned on driving to Summer Break that day.

But did she want to take Watson and possibly have a soaked dog to bring home?

Watson loved car rides, so she decided to take him along.

Besides, he hated being alone in the apartment.

Since they would both probably get wet, she had better bring along two towels.

She checked her phone for messages and found nothing.

Meg gathered the stuff she’d need for the day and put it into her tote.

After she sat down to drink some coffee and wait for it to not be too early to pop into Lilly’s, she went over what she’d written yesterday.

It was good. At least she thought so but maybe it could be better.

She wondered if the college had a class on writing nonfiction. Maybe that would help.

As she was writing last night, she’d seen the holes in her project.

She needed to gather more information, especially about Robert Meade III.

Know your victim, find your killer. It was a sleuthing guidebook tip.

One of fifty she’d developed to help manage writing the book.

She didn’t know enough about the agent or his life.

That was apparent by the surprise of Natasha’s loan. And if he had loaned money to Natasha and Emmett, who else had he loaned money to during the lockdown?

There were probably a lot of businesses that had faced closing without any tourist income, like her mom’s bookstore.

She made a note on her calendar to schedule time with her mom to look at the books.

Mom had invited her into the business planning.

To do that, she needed to know what was currently happening.

Having her mom trust her to review the store’s financials would help Meg give her advice on future planning and projecting.

Something she’d done for the start-up. Had the CEO been honest with her about his actual income, she might have been able to keep the nascent business afloat.

Instead, he’d lied and taken a large piece of the business pie to keep his home life solvent.

Water under the bridge, but she wanted to help her mom.

By the time she’d made plans with Mom to meet Wednesday morning, dodged three calls from Irene about a sale that would end soon, and made a list of people to talk to about Robert Meade, it was time to go drop off her assignment with Lilly Aster. Maybe she’d bring up the subject of Meade, too.

She pulled into the driveway of Summer Break and, leaving Watson in the car, ran through the rain to the door with her folder in hand.

She needed to buy a new raincoat. She’d donated her old one in a fit of madness, thinking she’d buy a new one after they got home from Italy. Or maybe in Italy. Now she needed one.

She rang the bell, thankful for the stone arch that kept her and the entryway out of the rain.

Jolene opened the door and waved her in. “I hope you didn’t bike here today.”

“Nope, I brought the car. I’m heading north after I leave here to get some information about going back to college.” Meg paused, realizing Jolene’s eyes were glazing over. “Sorry. I’ve had a lot of coffee this morning. Here’s the assignment.”

Jolene glanced at the time on the back, then looked at the printed pages. “This looks good. Lilly has your next assignment. She’s on the phone with Sarah, but she said to send you in when you arrived. More coffee?”

“No, I’m good.” Meg thought it was a good sign that Jolene was now calling her boss Lilly and not Ms. Aster when she was talking to Meg. She nodded toward the office. “Just go in?”

“Yep, she’s expecting you.” Jolene dropped her voice. “I think she wants to use you to get off the call. Sarah’s trying to talk her into extending her book tour by a week. Lilly’s not buying it.”

Meg headed to the end of the foyer and stopped at the doors that went into Lilly’s office. She knocked lightly at the half-open door, and Lilly waved her inside as Sarah’s voice came over the speakerphone.

“You can’t keep giving your most profitable event to that tiny store on the island. They don’t even have the staff to support it. The guy who helped me get water at the event works on the ferry.” Sarah was complaining about Island Books.

Lilly rolled her eyes and grinned at Meg. “I hear what you’re saying, but I’m committed to Felicia and her bookstore. Small businesses like hers make our lives better. And she hand sells my books. Not like that store you sent me to in LA. The owner wasn’t even at my event.”

“Carolyn was at a party for a celebrity author who released that week.” Sarah sounded aghast that Lilly would even question her loyalty.

“She could have put in an appearance. I had a release that week, too,” Lilly reminded her agent. “Anyway, I’ve got to go. Felicia’s daughter is here to help me with some research. Say hi to Sarah, Meg.”

“Hi, Sarah. It was nice to see you at the launch,” Meg called out. Lilly held up her thumb, letting her know that she appreciated the support.

“Oh, hi, Meg.” Sarah paused, and Meg wondered if she was trying to remember what exactly she’d said about the bookstore. “Lilly, I guess I’ll see you in New York on Thursday, then?”

“With bells on,” Lilly said, then disconnected the call. “I’m sorry about that, Meg. Sometimes Sarah thinks bigger is better.”

“My mom appreciates you doing your launches at her store.” Meg’s stomach hurt a little as she thought of what might happen if Sarah got her way.

“I’ll never change that arrangement. As long as my books are selling and your mom still wants to host the launch, that is.” She waved Meg over to the desk. “I’ve been thinking a lot about your next assignment.”

Meg felt her excitement growing. She was going to be doing work on the manuscript Lilly was writing. Maybe as a first reader. “I’m looking forward to whatever you need me to do.”

“Great, because it’s something I’ve been needing to do, but I’ve put it off.

” She handed Meg a new folder. “I need a list of all the mystery bookstores in the US. I’d love a few in London or Canada, too, but first, we need to cover the States.

Please make it an Excel document. You know how to work in Excel, right?

Anyway, I need the name, website, phone, address, any sister stores, owner, and author contact information.

If you aren’t sure it’s focused on mystery, put that in the notes.

I’d rather have too many than not enough. ”

“Oh, a bookstore spreadsheet. Are you sure there isn’t one out there?” Meg briefly felt the disappointment, then thought about two more weeks, at least, of income being tucked into her account.

“You would think so, but I haven’t found one.

And check out the book tour listings of at least ten other authors in my genre.

That might stir up a new one or two for us to contact for the new release.

Robert always pushed me to a few larger venues.

Sarah says she doesn’t help set up tours—except, it seems, with her friends’ stores.

I got a new publicist, again, at the publisher.

She doesn’t know anyone. You’d think I could have someone stable, but no.

” Lilly pulled out a folder with bookmarks and flyers tucked inside.

“These are what I’ve gathered over the years, but some of the stores aren’t even in business anymore. ”

“Okay, so this will be a moving target.” Meg thought of ways she could find the information.

“If you haven’t subscribed to the free edition of Publishers Weekly , I’d suggest you do that.

It will help. I’ll try to let you know what I see, as well.

I tend to see it and then forget to send the information to anyone.

This will be hugely helpful for planning the next tour.

” Lilly’s phone rang. “And speaking of, Sarah is calling again, probably to complain about the stores Robert set up for the New York trip. Like I can do anything about it now.”

Lilly waved at Meg as she picked up the phone. “Sarah, what’s happening now? You know I’m trying to write before I leave tonight.”

Meg knew she’d been dismissed. As she left, the view out the glass sliders caught her attention.

From this room, Lilly could see her entire beach, including the boardwalk from the house to the dock and toward the gate.

If she’d been here the day Robert was killed, she could have seen him and maybe the attack.

She turned back to ask a burning question, but Lilly was flipping through her planner. “I know I have the owner’s name somewhere.”

Meg didn’t want to interrupt again. Especially not to ask if her employer had seen her former agent drown near her dock. It probably wasn’t a work-appropriate subject.

Before she left Summer Break, she gave Watson some water and walked him around the driveway and the house. The rain had stopped, and she could see the sun trying to break through the clouds. Maybe she wouldn’t be driving in the rain the entire day.

Summer Break, a three-story mini-mansion, had cedar shake siding, giving it a coastal feel.

The front was completely fenced off, with a gate to the left, which might lead to a trail down to the beach.

But from the front, you couldn’t tell that the house was even close to the waterfront.

Trees surrounded the driveway area and blocked neighbors’ views of the property, except in the back.

Meg guessed the houses on either side of Summer Break had windows with views of the Seattle skyline, like those in Lilly’s office—views that encompassed Lilly’s dock.

If someone had killed Meade on the dock, like Uncle Troy believed, maybe someone in one of the two houses on either side had witnessed it.

If they didn’t, their architects should be fired.