Blind Trust Read Free Page A

lemon oil and the spicy scent of the town’s tea shop. The narrow-planked hardwood gleamed. Sunshine filtered through lace curtains, playing hide-and-seek with the elaborately gowned china dolls adorning the fancy Victorian furniture.
    No sign of counterfeiting equipment, not even a computer. With no garage outside, that left the basement and bedrooms.
    â€œYou have a lovely house, Mrs. Nagy. May I have a tour?” Brazen, he knew, but it saved him the hassle of a search warrant.
    The woman glowed. “Of course, of course.”
    â€œI’ll just put away your groceries while you show him around.” Kate fired him a warning scowl before slipping into the kitchen.
    Photographs lined the hallway. “These your children?” Tom asked.
    Verna peered at the pictures as if she’d never noticed them before. “My son Brian and grandson Greg. My husband passed two years ago.”
    â€œI’m sorry. Must be lonely for you. Does your son visit often?”
    â€œOnce a week. He’s a good boy.”
    Tom made a mental note to check into her son’s finances and make sure he was as good as his mother believed.
    The bedroom housed nothing more than a bed and dresser. The spare room had a sewing machine and piles of fabric and half-finished articles. Mrs. Nagy squinted into the room and swayed a little. Then, as if she’d forgotten him, she strolled back to the living room, sank into her recliner, and clicked on the TV with her remote.
    Tom trailed her, wondering how to wrangle his way into the basement without raising any suspicions, because from the looks of Mrs. Nagy, she’d make an easy front for a counterfeiter to exploit.
    Kate came in waving a package of frozen fish. “Did you want this in the downstairs freezer?”
    â€œHuh?” Mrs. Nagy looked up from the TV. “Oh, hello dear. When did you get here? Staying for tea?”
    Kate paled. “Yes. I’ll make us some.” To Tom, she whispered, “I don’t know what’s wrong. I mean, she’s forgetful sometimes, but never like this.”
    Tom relieved Kate of the package of fish. “I’ll take this to the freezer. You make her a cup of tea and then we’ll chat.”
    Kate nodded, thankfully oblivious to his motive for offering to take care of the fish. He took his time walking across the basement to the freezer, being careful not to move anything so any discovery couldn’t be thrown out of court. The basement was devoid of furniture. Instead, shelves of home canning, coated in a thick layer of dust, lined one long cement wall, while the boxes stacked along the adjacent wall looked like recent additions.
    He tossed the fish into the freezer and circled behind the stairs. A dust-free workout gym dominated the space. Her son’s?
    A large patch of dust was scraped from the floor beyond the workout area, as if something had recently been moved. Not likely by Verna, as frail as she seemed, but not without her knowledge either. With no outside exit on this level, no one could easily sneak into the basement undetected.
    By the time Tom returned to the main floor, Kate was sitting next to Verna in the living room. The steam rising from the teacup in her hand intensified the spicy scent in the air. From the TV, a theatric judge lambasted a defendant for his overly trusting nature. Tom turned down the volume, debating how to interrogate Kate’s neighbor. Showing signs of dementia, she wasn’t likely the kingpin of a counterfeiting operation. But if she repeated his questions to the wrong people, he might lose his trail before he found it. Of course, she could be faking.
    Tom took a seat kitty-corner from Verna. “Nice workout gym in your basement. Your son’s?”
    â€œGrandson’s.”
    â€œHe live with you?”
    Verna glanced from him to the feuding couple standing in front of the TV judge and shook her head.
    â€œHer son’s wife walked out on the