Page 32 of Fish out of Water
One of the police officers came our direction. “Everything okay?”
My neighbors immediately turned to face him, each wearing a wide smile.
“Everything is fine, officer.” Mrs. Sherling propped one hand on her hip, pushing her shoulders back a little. “Have you found anything to inspect?”
“We’re still investigating.” His eyes slid to where I stood with Grant. “You two stay close. We’ll need statements from you.”
I’d never interacted with the police before, let alone given a statement.
It turned out to be less exciting of a process than I thought. It took two hours for them to finally decide to come talk to us, and even then, it was pretty short and sweet.
“Can you describe the men who broke into the apartment?”
I couldn’t.
“Do you know if they took anything besides the fish?”
I didn’t.
“Where did you say the actual renter of the unit was?”
That was the million-dollar question.
“You did great, dear.” Mrs. Sherling stuck with us through the whole thing, bringing water and snacks as the afternoon dragged on.
I chewed through one of the homemade cookies she brought for Grant and me. “Thanks. I’ve never been questioned by the police before.”
She gave me a wink. “There’s a first time for everything.”
The manager of the complex had shown up about an hour into the process, alerted to the goings-on by at least fifteen of the residents. She came to where Grant stood at my side. “I’ve got one of the maintenance men coming to board up that back window.” She was a short woman about my mother’s age, but Grant’s looks and charms clearly knew no limits. She batted her eyes at him. “I can have our cleaning crew come in first thing in the morning to help with the mess.”
“I really appreciate that, Sally.”
Was he on a first name basis with everyone around here?
“Do you have somewhere to stay until then?” Sally rested one hand on Grant’s arm. “I can’t stand the thought of you in there with it looking the way it does.”
“Actually, Julia has offered me her spare room for the night.”
My eyes went so wide they burned.
I definitely did not offer Grant my spare room.
Because I didn’t have one. I had an office with a desk and a chair.
Sally deflated a little. “Well that’s very nice of her.” She finally looked my way. “We’re changing the locks on the door tonight so the current keys won’t work anymore.” She turned back to Grant. “I’ll bring you the new keys once I have them.”
“Thank you. I’ll be at Julia’s.”
Her smile was a little tighter than it had been. “Great.”
A few minutes later the cops moved out, taking our phone numbers down in case they had any more questions, before pulling away and taking the day’s entertainment with them.
The people who’d gathered with folding chairs and drinks to watch the excitement slowly started packing up and heading home.
I crossed my arms, lifting my brows at Grant. “Why did you tell Sally I said you could stay with me?”
“Because you owe me.” Grant had collected his belongings while the cops were on site, and he had a black bag slung over one shoulder and a rolling suitcase in tow.
