The Accidental Detective: Finding Her Boss

Chapter 15

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The garage door slowly glided open, and Loriatte felt like she was in that one scene from The Pacifier movie. Standing between her and Zayden, Mrs. Mason stood holding the garage key while Loriatte held her trusty notebook and pen in hand, and Zayden's hands rested on the utility belt around his hips.

With bated breath, the trio waited for the grand reveal of Steven Mason's van.

They all took a step inside when the door completely slid open.

"Hm," Loriatte nodded as she scribbled in her notebook, stepping further into the room and studying the black van, running a finger through its dusty surface, a hint that it hadn't been used in a very long time, she rubbed her index finger against her thumb to feel the texture, before wiping it away on her blue jeans.

"See? still here," Mrs. Mason shrugged, stepping towards the van and laying a hand on its dusty hood.

Zayden nodded, not saying a word as he inspected the van.

"And you are sure it has never left the garage since your grandson's passing?" Loriatte continued her close examination of the van, she paused and furrowed her brows in disapproval of something. Without skipping a beat, she ripped a page from her notebook, crumpled it up, and headed towards the trash can in the corner of the room.

"Dear, I think I would notice if a big van went missing in my garage," Mrs. Mason said in an irritated tone, you couldn't blame her, they were prying a little too close to a sore spot.

"Of course," Loriatte smiled politely, walking back to where Mrs. Mason stood, "we're so sorry for invading, we'll see ourselves out, have a lovely day," she nodded over at Zayden to followed her out.

"You dropped that quick," Zayden noted as they walked back to his car at a fast pace.

"Because I already got enough information," Loriatte responded with a small smirk, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"Hm, she didn't say much," Zayden unlocked the car and they both hopped in.

"Well duh, she didn't have to, her poor housekeeping skills gave everything away," she shrugged as they began the drive.

Zayden raised a questioning eyebrow, his eyes on the road, "this is the part where you explain to and fill the lost boy in," he said.

"The van wasn't just dusty from being in the garage for too long; it had a gritty texture that sand creates. The fact that it rained that night and someone deliberately put sand on it to cover their tracks and make it look like the dusty garage was the cause is a clear sign that we were being watched and this was a calculated move to throw us off."

"Oh?"

"And second, the vent of the hood was a bit warm which means it was recently used, the air freshener looked brand new, and so did the windshield wipers. Why get brand-new stuff for a car that's not in use? And let's not forget the muddy car tracks in the garage and throughout the driveway from last night's rain."

"And you got all that by walking around the van once? Wow, I'm seriously embarrassed," Zayden shook his head.

"Another thing I picked up," she turned in her seat to face him.

"Mrs. Mason isn't 'Mrs. Mason'."

Zayden eyed her for a split second, "what do you mean?"

"I noticed she wasn't wearing her wedding ring, but then I was like 'duh she's in her own home, I'm sure she doesn't feel the need to', but then when she took us to the garage there was a stack of papers in the bin, it was a bit hard for me to get a clear read on them, but I managed to do so by pretending to throw away my trash. They were divorce papers with my boss's signature on them! He filed for a divorce before he was kidnapped!"