“My folks are worried, especially after Lawrence was killed at the stall market, but they’re supportive. They’ve taken some flak about me being a Wolf lover, which ticked them off.” Debany gave Monty a sheepish smile. “My sister wants a job where she can ride a horse and work with animals, so she keeps asking about the River Road Community—what sort of job skills are they looking for, when are they taking applications.”

“Why don’t you talk to Roger Czerneda? As a fellow officer, he might have more information and be willing to tell you something.” Monty sighed. “Well, let’s hope that Karl’s and Ruth’s families come around.”

“Karl’s not holding his breath.” Another hesitation. “They postponed the wedding.”

He had wondered why nothing had been said lately but thought Karl and Ruthie had just decided to keep the ceremony private and have a party to celebrate once they moved to their new place.

“I don’t think their families were going to show up anyway,” Debany added.

It made his heart heavy to hear that—and it made him wonder if his mother and sister coming to Lakeside was such a good idea.

As he started to turn toward Howling Good Reads, Monty realized the For Sale signs were gone from the front yards of the two stone apartment buildings on either side of the two-family—confirmation that the Courtyard’s purchase of the buildings was going through. So far there had been no protests about the Others owning property outside of the Courtyard, but sooner or later someone would make that bit of information available to the TV and radio news. Monty suspected that the current owner of the apartment buildings wanted his money before he started stirring things up.

“Why don’t you pick up something at A Little Bite, get a feel for anything that might become a problem,” Monty said.

“Yes, sir. Are we talking about human problems?”

“Anything and everything.” He wanted to talk to Kowalski about things that weren’t being said. But first he needed a word with Simon Wolfgard.

Debany went into A Little Bite. Monty went into Howling Good Reads. The Residents Only sign was on the door, but he was, for the time being, a temporary resident, so he went in. Kowalski, dressed in sweat-darkened T-shirt and cutoff denim shorts, stood at the display table in the front of the store, reading the cover copy of a book. He looked up when Monty walked in.

“Aren’t you supposed to be arranging furniture?” Monty asked. Karl looked a little strained, but Monty couldn’t tell if that was because of family pressures or from moving into a new place.

“Oh, please,” Kowalski groaned. “How many times can you move one piece of furniture?”

Monty smiled. “That’s a trick question.”