Chapter 11:

The Girl with the Flaxen Hair (2)

The Charming Detective Agency


Kayla Shepherd's apartment was in a three-story brick brownstone, on a tree lined busy street in one of the middle class sections of town. Riley looked around at the scenery and other businesses nearby—a restaurant, a greengrocer, a small store specializing in children's apparel, and a quaint little cafe with an umbrella table set up outside, and small cozy tables inside. He thought it would be a nice little place for him to take Kayla.

It had been a long time since Riley had even thought about a girl. He had spent his secondary years at Gordon Hall, the same all-boys private school that Jasper Rowley had graduated from, which afforded him very little time for girl watching. Before that, Riley had a crush on a young lady named Alana that he had sat next to in English class. She had come from a country far away, and barely spoke English. The teacher had asked Riley, since he had the best grades in class, to be her tutor. He jumped into the job and helped Alana with her lessons. At the end of the year, however, it was announced that Alana and her family would be moving since her father had accepted a job at a factory over five hundred miles away. Alana told Riley that she would be forever grateful for his help with improving her English, and that soon she'd be able to help support her family as well. They parted as friends, with Riley giving her his address in case she ever needed to write him for advice. She never did.

The front windows of the brownstone were covered with thick curtains. "This is the place," Kayla said. "There is one entrance in the front, as you can see here, and one to the back. The back entrance leads to the landlady's kitchen, so only she can use it. Now, as soon as you go inside, there's a staircase that leads to her apartment, the second floor, and the third floor where I live. Right now, the second floor is vacant—the tenants moved out last month."

Lilly looked up and noticed that a glaring face was peering out from a crack in the curtains, staring right at the three of them. She tugged on Riley's jacket. "Someone's watching us," she whispered.

Kayla sighed. "I thought she'd be gone...That, obviously, is my landlady, Mrs. Ditch."

"Let me guess," Riley said. "She's the type that stays home a lot, except for shopping and church, and watches everything in the neighborhood like a hawk."

Kayla nodded. "Yes. And quite fortunately for us, she's unable to lip-read. But still, I'm pretty sure I'll get called onto the carpet for talking to a strange man. Even if he's got his little sister in tow."

"That's not fair. She should mind her own business," Lilly said.

"Everyone else's business IS her business," Kayla said, rolling her eyes. "You know how I mentioned the previous tenants on the second floor moved out? Well, it was because of her. They were a family with two children, a boy about five and a girl that was maybe two or three, and she got very angry at them because the girl was wearing the boy's hand-me-downs."

"What?" Riley had to stifle a chuckle. "That was all?"

"That's mean. They could've been poor," Lilly said. "And I wear pants and shorts a lot. That doesn't make me a bad person."

"She's even rolled her eyes at me when I've gone out to meet my friends wearing a pair of pants," Kayla said. "And it's a very nice pair, too. A lovely imported suit from Paris."

"That sounds beautiful,” Riley murmured.

"Did you say something?" Kayla asked.

"Uh...no. I didn't--"

Just then, the front door of the brownstone burst open to reveal Mrs. Ditch, who looked enraged. She was dressed in a housecoat and slippers, and had her glasses hanging from a metal chain around her neck. Her hair was a dirty white, and was partially in metal curlers. She carried a carved wood cane with an elaborate natural wood burl as its handle.

"MISS SHEPHERD! Who is this man?" she shouted.

"Ah, good morning Mrs. Ditch," Kayla said. "How are you doing?"

Mrs. Ditch did not respond. Slowly but forcefully, she limped over towards Riley. She put her glasses on to glare at him, and grabbed the cane in both hands, ready to strike if need be. Riley took a step back uneasily.

"Young man, this is a reputable lodging house. What business do you have with my tenants?" she growled.

"Ah...I..." Riley found himself unable to answer. Just then, Lilly stepped forward.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but we were having a private conversation. Please leave us alone," Lilly said politely and forcefully.

Mrs. Ditch looked down at the small girl standing beside the interloper, her eyebrows raised in incredulous surprise.

"You rude little girl! What is the meaning of this?"

Lilly crossed her arms and glared back at her. "Oh, so saying 'excuse me' and 'please' are rude now? I guess my parents were wrong all this time," she snapped back.

"Mrs. Ditch, we were just heading to the cafe," Kayla said. "I should be back within a few hours. Come on, you two." Kayla started moving towards the corner, intent on crossing the street.

"Right, then. Come along, Lilly," Riley said. He laid a hand on Lilly's shoulder and urged her ahead.

Mrs. Ditch watched the three of them walk away towards the street corner, then sighed loudly and went back into the brownstone. A few seconds later, the curtains parted and a pair of opera glasses were pointed in the cafe's direction.

Lilly saw the curtains move and made a silly face at the brownstone.

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"I'm so sorry," Kayla said. "I had thought that she was still out—that's why I wanted to bring you over there."

"It's fine," Riley said. "Although...her behavior is a trifle suspect to me."

They had found a table in the cafe far away from the front windows. Riley was sipping a cup of black currant flavored black tea, while Kayla had opted for chamomile, and Lilly's tea was vanilla flavored. The three of them had each ordered a colorful macaron cookie from the pastry case.

Kayla laughed. "You think it's her, huh?" she said. "If only it was that simple. There is no way that she'd be able to climb that many stairs up to my apartment without making an awful racket. It's hard enough for her to make it up to the second floor, let alone the third!"

"So has she made it up to your apartment?" Riley asked.

"Yes, and she complained about her bad legs all the way up. I could hear it from inside." Kayla picked up her chocolate macaron and took a small, delicate nibble. "She hasn't been up there since."

"And I doubt she'd even let me in the building," Riley said. "Let me ask you something, Kayla—Miss Shepherd. What kind of people does she have visiting the building? Workmen? Delivery people?"

"Well..." Kayla put her teacup down on the saucer and thought. "There are a few regular visitors that we have. There's a whole bunch of old ladies that come over every week to play mah jongg with her. And then there's the milkman, the mailman, the newspaper delivery boy, and then there's a lady who comes in to clean Mrs. Ditch's apartment every week. Oh, she also has a handyman come in every so often. The last time he was around was when the second floor moved out."

"And she trusts them?" Riley asked.

"Oh, of course. They were people her husband hired before he passed away last year."

"So maybe...do you think one of them could be a suspect, since she trusts them?" Lilly asked.

"That's a good thought," Riley said. "Any way that we can find out who she has for her chores and such?"

Kayla sighed. "If only that was something you could do easily..."

"Maybe we should go about it the other way, and find out what company these people are from," Lilly said.

"Hey, good idea there," Riley said. "You're beginning to think like a detective."

Her tea and macaron finished, Kayla set her cup down and looked into Riley's eyes. "I think I've been gone long enough, and I'm pretty sure she's going to interrogate me when I come in. I...honestly haven't told Mrs. Ditch anything about what's going on. I don't want to involve her with this."

"You need to," Riley said. He looked Kayla earnestly in the eye. "Remember how you said I got it right when I guessed that she was the type who sat at home and watched everything that went on? You need to have her look out for whoever this trespasser is for you."

Kayla nodded. "I will."

"And if this happens again, please, let me know." Riley reached into his pocket and handed Kayla a business card. "This is our phone number. If you discover any other evidence of someone having been in your apartment—please, call me."

Kayla accepted it, smiling brightly at Riley. "I will. Wish me luck. It's going to be fun talking to her when I get back, believe me."

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After the three of them parted ways, Riley was lost in thought as he and Lilly walked back to their house. He couldn't get Kayla out of his mind.

Riley hoped that whoever the trespasser was, that Kayla would not come to any physical harm. At most, the trespasser would only be charged with committing a simple crime, and get off with a relatively light sentence. Lesser crime punishment was forever evolving, and it had only been a few years ago when stalking and harassment of people had been given a more stringent punishment. And once the criminals fulfilled their penalties, they'd often get right back to what they were doing, and the cycle began anew.

"What do you think of the landlady?" Lilly asked as the two of them sat down to a light dinner.

"What do I think of her? Well...I can't say what I think of her. Mom would probably come down from Heaven and slap me for saying what I REALLY think of her," Riley said, smiling. Lilly giggled. "Seriously, though, I agree with Kayla—Miss Shepherd. She doesn't seem like the type."

"You just called her by her first name," Lilly said. "That means...you like her, don't you?" Riley almost choked on the mouthful of milk he had drank.

"Well..." Riley put down his glass of milk. He was blushing, and Lilly was smiling slyly at him. "I have to admit, she's...quite a girl. And I want to protect her."

Lilly nodded. "Yeah...I want to get to know her a little more. She's a newspaper reporter! There's got to be some great stories that she's written."

"I've seen her byline a few times in the newspaper," Riley said. "It's funny, because you'd never expect that she'd be so..." He tried to search for the right words to say, but then decided that it would be best to be perfectly honest. "Pretty."

"So that’s why you wanted to help,” Lilly muttered.

Riley sighed. "Honestly, Lilly..." He got up to put his plate and glass in the sink. "Back to business, now. On my way home, I was thinking of ways we can get into her apartment and investigate. We'll probably need Father's old fingerprint kit, seeing as if they're looking through drawers and such. Unfortunately, I don't think Mrs. Ditch will let me anywhere within five hundred feet of Kayla's apartment..."

"What if I go?" Lilly asked.

Riley shook his head. "No. I won't allow it."

"Why? I want to help!" Lilly said. "I want to be a detective! I'm even going to study hard for the licensing exam once I get my recommendation!"

Riley sat back down in his chair. "Lilly, come over here. I need to tell you something."

Quietly, Lilly moved her chair over next to Riley and sat there, facing him. She looked up into his eyes, wondering if she was in trouble, but Riley's face reminded her of her father's—stern but loving.

"Lilly, being a detective is not all fun and games. There are serious matters that you're going to be dealing with. You'll never be able to see people in the same light again. There are people that you'll meet who enjoy hurting other people. There are people that you'll meet that have been hurt, and they're depending on you to help them. And when you can't help them...that's the worst feeling in the world. You are going to know what that feeling is, and you're going to feel it often." Lilly nodded as Riley continued. "But you have to remember, Lilly, to never let these feelings drag you down. If you become a detective, you need to become someone that people can trust and depend on. You can study the laws and regulations for hours and hours, and sit the detective examination and get your license, but just following the letter of the law won't make you a true detective. If you want to become a true detective, you need to learn how to really listen to people. They will open their hearts to you, and it's up to you and your instincts to earn their trust."

Lilly wiped tears from her face. It was one of the most serious conversations she ever had with her brother, and his words carried weight that threatened to crush her dreams. Riley smiled gently at her and patted her head.

"You know, Lilly, your Papa had this same exact conversation with me, and I was only a little older than you were."
"Really..." Lilly sniffed, and Riley smiled back at her, nodding.

"When he was done talking with me, he told me that I had three whole days to make my decision. So I'm going to give you three days to think things over. You can go into Father's office and look over his old cases and read his law books, but don't forget your school work while you're at it. That's another thing—I don't want your school work to suffer if you're going to become a detective." Lilly smiled at Riley through her tears. "So on Wednesday night, at dinner, I want you to tell me whether your answer is yes or no. All right?"

Lilly nodded. "All right," she said.

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