Page 15 of The Sole Suspect
Both HDC and Vertex circled the Historical District like vultures, each claiming to be in competition, but their synchronized movements told a different story. They moved too perfectly in tandem, like dancers in a well-rehearsed ballet. The sour taste in my mouth spread—Dominic at HDC, Blake’s sudden interest in local politics, the coordinated property offers.
A predator didn’t share its prey unless it had something bigger to gain.
“Thank you for telling me this, Minnie.” I touched one of her mother’s carefully preserved documents. “Would you mind if I borrowed these? Just overnight?”
She hesitated, then nodded. “Mother would have wanted them used to protect the district. But Leo?” Her sharp green eyes fixed on mine, a flash of the fierce competitor I knew returning to her eyes. “Be careful. These corporate types—they’ll promise the moon and leave you with dust. Just look what happened with Holloway.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” I swiped my debit card through the card reader, which beeped in protest before finally accepting the payment.
The burned smell of forgotten pastries wafted from the kitchen. Minnie jumped up, her professional mask sliding back into place. “Oh! My croissants!”
I gathered the maps with gentle precision, taking extra care not to damage the fragile, discolored paper. The cheerful door chime felt discordant as I left, my mind racing with connections.
Blake with his family grudge. The smooth guarantees from Vertex…
Dominic’s face flashed in my mind, his steel-gray eyes intense as he’d warned me about danger.
The figure in the raincoat.
My lips curved into a frown. I needed to talk to Penny.
The sharp scent of marker ink mixed with the musty perfume of old fabric as I spread one of Minnie’s maps across Penny’s work table in the back room of Vintage Vogue. A pair of mannequins in half-finished evening gowns stood sentinel in the corner, their empty forms casting long shadows.
“So let me get this straight.” Penny perched on his desk, his lucky penny swinging as he leaned forward. “Both HDC and Vertex are targeting the same properties? Properties that just happen to form a strategic path through the district?”
“Properties the Harringtons owned before the Depression.” I tapped the yellowed map. “Look at this pattern.”
Penny hopped down, pink hair catching the light as he moved to examine the map. “The timing’s too perfect to be coincidence.”
He moved restlessly, rapping his knuckles against the tabletop. “Speaking of timing...” Penny pulled out a stack of blueprints from beneath his workbench, the papers rustling as he smoothed their curled edges. “I’ve been doing some digging of my own. These are copies from Town Hall’s public records.”
“What am I looking at?” I leaned closer, studying the crisp blue lines.
“See these notations?” His finger traced a pattern across the schematics. “Every building marked with a red X has had some kind of ‘accident’ in the past couple of months—burst pipes,electrical issues, structural problems. Might be significant, might just be old buildings behaving as expected… but all conveniently timed right before they received buyout offers.”
My stomach clenched as I recognized the addresses. “Most are same properties HDC and Vertex are targeting.”
“Exactly.” Penny leaned over the blueprints, agreeing with a slow tilt of his head. “And look what else—” He was interrupted by a knock at the door.
Sarah poked her head in, the scent of coffee preceding her. “Thought you two might need fuel for whatever scheme you’re plotting.”
“Sarah!” Penny brightened. “Perfect timing. Tell Leo what you overheard at the café.”
Sarah set down the coffee cups she carried in each hand, her usually cheerful face tight with worry. “Blake’s been holding meetings in the corner booth. A few days ago, I heard him tell his lawyers that ‘historical designation is a minor obstacle.’ Like our whole neighborhood’s just some inconvenience to work around.”
“When exactly was this?” I asked as I carefully rolled up one of Minnie’s maps.
“Around two, right after the lunch rush.” Sarah folded her arms across her chest. “And get this—he left a Vertex business card on the table.”
“Was it Dominic Steele’s card?” My fingers traced the edge of the map as I asked.
“No, different name. Some guy named Brian Collins.” Sarah perched on the edge of the table. “Why?”
“Mr. Harrington and Mr. Steele—” Penny swirled his lavender latte. “We’ve got a hunch they’re in cahoots.”
Sarah’s eyes widened. “Really? But if they’re working together, why the show of running against Adelaide for mayor?”
“Maybe they want us fighting each other instead of seeing the bigger picture?” I started arranging the documents on Penny’s cleared work table. “Look at the timing—HDC makes an offer, then Vertex swoops in with a counter. Properties get vandalized, insurance rates go up...”