"The mansion that burned down about twenty years ago."
"Yes. The cottage was far enough from the main house that it only suffered a little scorched clapboard on one side. As you know, the mansion was a total loss. The debris was cleaned up but the building was never replaced. All that remains is the concrete foundation"
Harry frowned. "Isn't there a fence around that?"
"Yes," Bertie said, nodding. "Several years after it was cleaned up, a wooden platform was built over the old concrete. Everyone thought it was the start of a new house but they just put a fence around the platform and left it."
Harry rubbed his chin. "I wonder if Baxter is paying rent or maybe he's a squatter. Or if he's related to the family."
Bertie wrinkled her forehead and said, "I think there might be some connection but... I'm not sure how close it is."
Harry chuckled. "Meanwhile, I'll visit Miss P and Glory, and see what they know about Baxter." He glanced at his watch. "Maybe around ten."
"Morning tea break," she said, with a smile. "Good timing."
"I thought so." He grinned and looked at his computer screen. "Joe and Silas should know something too. I'll talk to them later."
"I'm sure they know more than I do," Bertie said.
********************
Precisely at 9:45 am, Harry headed for Miss Pinkerton's place. Of course, as Bertie had guessed, he was just in time for morning tea. Well, the ladies had tea and he had coffee, but he had his share of baked goods and on this particular morning, it was freshly baked blueberry muffins.
"Are you ladies familiar with Clive Baxter?" Harry asked, placing his mug on a coaster. "Do you know much about him?"
"A lot like his mother, Clive wouldn't harm a fly," Miss P said. "Why do you ask?"
"No particular reason," Harry said. "It's just that he seems... too perfect, somehow."
"Can anyone actually be too perfect?" she asked.
"They can if they're trying to hide something," he said.
Glory looked at him over the rim of her cup. "Do you think he's trying to hide something?"
"Not necessarily, and if he is, it could be something innocent. Do either of you know him personally?"
They shook their heads. "I doubt if anyone knows him as more than a familiar face," Miss P said.
"That's right, just well enough to say hello," Glory added. "He was always a loner."
"Do you know what he does for a living? Does he have a job?" Harry asked.
Miss P gave an amused little laugh. "Probably not. He was the only son of Addison Baxter and his wife Nora, sister of Jimmy Morton. Addison was about thirty years older than Nora and very wealthy. He was also a mathematical whiz. Come to think of it, I believe Clive inherited his father's mathematical abilities."
"Still, I suppose he must do something to occupy his time," Glory said, slowly. "Everyone needs something to help pass the time."
"He was very interested in plants when he was a teenager," Miss P said. "He did some work in the gardens here in the summers during his high school years. He didn't have his inheritance then. He enjoyed the work and he was good at it."
