Page 255 of Oracle Returns: Time will Stop

He waved them up to the porch.

“Can I get you guys coffee?” he asked. “I had a late night working on briefs, and I’m just getting up.”

Julian liked the guy.

He didn’t know why, but something about him felt…calming. Plus, he knew Lianna was attracted to him. She was always watching him, like that deer checking out a possible threat or non-threat.

Someone was smitten, and if his gut was right, this man felt the same.

“Thank you,” Honor stated. “I could use a coffee.”

Both Littlemoons knew that was cop for ‘I want to see inside your house so we can get a feel for you’, so they played along.

“I never say no to coffee,” Julian stated.

As they headed up the stairs, he held the door to his own home for them.

Once inside, they could see how nice the place was, and how painstakingly it had been put together for the man who owned it.

There were books everywhere.

A library of books.

The art on the walls was of Salem, and was a snapshot into the historical things there.

Yeah, someone liked history.

Tori made a mental note to have Bexley dig into how far back his family went and if he was in any way connected to the Vanderbilt family.

Because this was more than lawyer-rich.

This was definitely generational wealth.

It was time to dig.

“Nice place,” Tori said. “It’s beautiful in here. I’ve driven past it a few times, and I was curious if it was as nice inside as it was outside.”

He escorted them into a gourmet kitchen that would make the most famous chef weep.

“Thanks. It was my parent’s home and when they died, I moved back in. I grew up here. It didn’t look like this then, though. My dad liked old wood, and fixing things up. When he died, there was a lot of his projects to be finished.”

Well, so far, he hadn’t lied about how he got the house.

To make their coffee, he went behind the counter, and offered them seats at the marble-topped island.

As he poured, he placed coffee in front of each one of them and then got the cream and sugar out of for his guests.

“Does your family roots go way back?” Julian asked, knowing they needed to cover that.

The man leaned on the counter and sipped his coffee.

“Yeah, apparently. My mother was a historian for Salem, and a librarian. She dug that kind of thing,” he admitted.

They made mental notes.

“So, what’s up with the case?” he asked, before they could say anything. “I know Lonnie can’t possibly be causing problems since he’s dead. Oh, and by the way, I’m still waiting on the ME to release his COD so I can get my friend buried.”

Well, about that…