The mysterious caller didn’t respond. Rosemonde nearly hung up, but stopped when she heard a series of hacking coughs.
“I can’t tell you my location, but if you want to meet up I’ll be at the Fait Maison Bakery. It’s a block away from the Vader home. Be there at...uh...three...no, two weeks from today in...in...in the morning, at 6 o'clock... sharp.”
“I don’t think I’ll meet up with you, however I’m deeply concerned for your safety, with all that coughing. Is someone else in your location holding you against your wi—hello? HELLO?”
The caller had hung up.
“The evidence was a setup,” the chief told her the next morning. Rosemonde glanced at him groggily. Her hair was tangled, her face was pallid, and the dark circles under her eyes were…show more content… “W-w-why?” she sputtered.
“He bugs the hell out of me. He’s rude, a raging partier and drinker, and he makes awful jokes. Keep him in jail, Degarmo...it’ll benefit us all,” The chief insisted sternly.
Then he walked away, whistling “Yankee-Doodle” out of tune, smiling serenely.
Rosemonde checked her black leather watch, fretting over the time. She was here exactly two weeks from the day she was called, but her mystery guest was nowhere in sight. Her caller said he/she would be here at 6, but it was almost 7 by now. Rosemonde feared that her caller may not even be alive, given her coughing fit towards the end of the call. Rosemonde had a hunch that someone else must have heard her conversation and choked her to death. This meant that she might end up having to solve two murder cases instead of just the Vader case. Shivering, she tried to banish the thought from her mind.
She checked her watch again, suddenly feeling very irritated. She got up in exasperation, pushing her chair to leave, when she heard a tapping sound.
She turned around, startled. A woman disguised in a shawl and sunglasses walked up to her with a grim look on her face.
“I’m the caller,” she whispered, her eyes darting left and
