We were back at the Canaan Lodge for breakfast. Andrea was having only a bowl of cereal, since she was going to lunch with the sheriff. I ordered French toast with a side order of bacon. We were having coffee and waiting on our food when Mr. Predictability, Willard Hill, walked in. Was he following us? Surely he didn’t think . . . but we hardly knew Olga! My mind was running wild, and I reined it in. “Good morning, Willard.” Did he spend half his day having breakfast?
“Good morning.” He looked at Andrea. “I understand you’re having lunch with Ward today.”
Andrea looked miffed. “Word certainly gets around in this part of the country.”
“He asked me to cover for him in the office since he was having lunch out, and I pried until I found out what he was doing.”
“I expect he wants to ask me a few more questions.”
Willard gave her a knowing look. “I’ve never known him to ask someone to lunch to ask questions.”
By this time I was dying to ask Willard whether the sheriff was married, but I thought better of it. Andrea probably would have killed me. Instead I said, “How are the investigations going?”
“No new leads.” He looked disappointed that he didn’t have any big news to impress us with. He wasn’t the only one who was disappointed.
The waitress brought our food, and Willard ordered. “Please go ahead and eat while it’s hot.” Andrea’s breakfast wasn’t hot, but that was beside the point. We both dug in. Willard sat there looking as if he wanted to say something and didn’t know how to begin. Finally he made a foray into the subject of his many long breakfasts. “I’d appreciate it if you don’t tell the sheriff how often you’ve seen me having breakfast. In theory, we’re supposed to have breakfast before we come on duty, but I’m not hungry that early. I consider this time I’m taking right now a break.”
Andrea looked as if she were about to say something, but he continued before she got a chance. “You have to understand that there are some days we’re so busy we never get a break, not even for lunch. I figure it all evens out.”
Andrea nodded. “No problem.” Willard need not have worried. Talking to the sheriff about him wouldn’t be Andrea’s style. “We saw you going into the bank over in Davis yesterday. I hope there wasn’t a robbery or something serious going on there.”
“Nope. Just depositing my paycheck. Didn’t get around to it last Friday.”
So he did have an account there. Of course that wasn’t proof of anything. Probably half the population of Tucker County had an account at the bank in Davis. But obviously none of the out-of-town guests did, which was something else to think about. The waitress came with Willard’s food, and Andrea and I asked for more coffee. Willard gulped his food down, trying to prove to us that he was eager to get back on the job. He left while we were finishing our second cup of coffee.