Page 72 of Waylaid in Whittier

“Poor Carter,” Elvira said. “I feel bad for thinking he was behind it when I saw him trying my doorknob.”

“It was merely a matter of narrowing down the suspects,” Danielle said. “Not only Carter, but also the members of the mining group and filming crew.”

Elvira shook her head in disgust. “I could kick myself. I should have installed a surveillance camera on day one and avoided all of this. What kind of PI / security services owner am I?”

“A distracted one.” Sharky gave her a quick hug. “You have a one track mind, my sugar blossom. You were hot on the hunt for the gold, not realizing Lyle made it a point to eavesdrop on the miners’ conversations when they were at his bar.”

“You may have already told me, but why did you think Carter Morley was involved to begin with, before Elvira saw him trying her door?” Cat asked.

“Sharky and I went over to Wanda’s apartment to look around. We happened to run into her neighbor when we got stuck in the elevator. She told us Wanda had visitors and described both Alex Smith and Carter Morley.”

“Which in itself isn’t a huge red flag seeing how they were working together on the gold mining show,” Annette said.

“At least it was a starting point.” Danielle picked up. “Millie and I did some digging around and found out one of Carter’s family members owned Morley Mines. Fast forward…Wanda confirmed Carter was Gold Morley’s grandson. He’d filled his head with tales about gold near Mount Baldie.”

“While we were all distracted, thinking it was Carter, Lyle was hot on the trail of my honey hole.”

“So Lyle’s surveillance camera was the one we found in your window?” Millie asked.

“Yep,” Elvira said. “Little did Wanda or I know he was spying on us, spying on all of us. He knew we were onto something and decided he needed us out of the picture.”

“The night when the entire crew and miners were at the bar, he witnessed Elvira and Wanda arguing and saw his opportunity to get rid of them both, leaving the Mount Baldie gold mining spot wide open,” Sharky said. “Wanda would be in the hospital—or dead—and Elvira would be in jail.”

“He didn’t anticipate my babe’s determination to help figure out he was behind it,” Elvira said proudly.

“Along with Millie and my other friends,” Sharky reminded her. “I couldn’t have done it without them.”

“The cops found a crowbar with a splotch of blood in Lyle’s dumpster and have sent it in for DNA testing. The authorities dropped the charges against me, although Wanda had alreadygotten that in the works.” Elvira pulled a crumpled paper from her pocket and waved it in the air. “I’m sure you’re probably wondering why I seem to be taking all of this in stride.”

“The thought had crossed my mind,” Millie said. “I have to admit, I figured you would stay behind to keep an eye on your spot.”

“I secured the site via the county and BLM.”

“What is BLM?” Danielle asked.

“It stands for Bureau of Land Management. They’re the ones who process claims to the gold-mining sites. Wanda and I need to protect our territory. I’m almost certain there’s enough gold for both of us.” Elvira told them they planned to partner. Wanda would handle the crew while she would be more hands off.

“Are you sure you trust her?” Millie wrinkled her nose. “I mean, it was touch-and-go for a while there. You weren’t exactly the best of friends.”

“Nah.” Elvira waved dismissively. “She’s cool. We even decided to bring in a third partner.”

“A third partner?” Sharky echoed.

“Alex, the producer. He’s on the up and up. Besides, he’s the reason I got my foot in the door in the first place,” Elvira said. “I figured if I was gonna trust someone, it would be him.”

“I guess you’ll be coming back to Alaska,” Millie said.

“I plan to fly to Whittier and meet the new mining team when the season starts up again in the spring.”

“I’m sure the nuggets you brought on board will tide you over,” Millie said.

Elvira held a finger to her lips and lowered her voice. “We need to keep that on the down low.”

“No one here is after your gold,” Danielle said. “As far as your claim, we won’t be returning to Whittier anytime soon.”

“You don’t strike me as the type of person to sit idly by twiddling your thumbs. What will you do in the meantime?”

Elvira rubbed her palms together. “I have enough in Savannah to keep me busy. The archaeological team working over at Pete Taylor’s place should be wrapping the project up any day, and I’ll be counting my riches.”

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