Page 138 of Axel

“Good. What do you recommend today?”

“An apple fritter. It’s still warm.”

“Sounds good.”

“Hey, my brother had an apartment open up in his building, if you know of anyone looking.”

“Oh, yeah?” There were only two apartment buildings in town, and both were usually full.

Chase turned and watched as Nick carried peanut butter, bread, and something else to the checkout. He wondered if their new detective had found an apartment yet.

If not, he isn’t going to.

“No, I don’t know of anyone. But I need a favor.”

“Uh oh,” Mr. Peterson said. “Sounds serious.”

“It is. Did you hear Joey had to take a leave of absence?”

Mr. Peterson frowned. “No, I hadn’t. Is he all right?”

“I believe so. Anyway, the chief hired this other guy to fill in as detective until Joey gets back, but I don’t know if the guy intends to treat this as a temporary job.”

“What do you mean? He wants to take it from Joey?”

“I think so.”

“Damn out-of-towners. They come here and think they can do whatever the hell they want.”

“Exactly,” Chase smiled. “Any chance you could ask your brother not to rent to a Nick Moore?”

“Nick Moore? No problem. I’ll call Darlene too. She owns the other building.”

“Thank you. That would be great.”

Two birds, one stone.

Not only would that ensure Nick wouldn’t be getting an apartment in Fisher Springs, but everyone knew Mr. Peterson loved the gossip—well, more like he loved knowing something others didn’t. Soon, it would be all over town that Nick was trying to come in and take over Joey’s job.