Leann Sweeney - The Cat, the Quilt and the Corpse

“Remember I told you that Shawn took Java and those other cats from the Pink House? Well, he didn’t have room at the Sanctuary for all of them, so he brought her here.”

Belle thunked her forehead with her palm. “That’s right. Since I’ve just had this wonderful shock, my brains are a little scrambled.”

“You can thank Shawn for how pretty she looks and how nice she smells. I am no cat groomer.”

Belle laughed. “I’ll thank him next time I see him. But this police business is disturbing. I—”

Candace came back into the room and said, “Chief gave the okay, Belle.”

“Wonderful.” Belle looked at me. “Can you take us back to my car?”

“I’d be glad to do that,” Candace said. “I dropped Morris off at Belle’s Beans, since he had a hankering for that red velvet cake you always have in the dessert case.”

Belle smiled. “That’s my granny’s recipe—older than I am, if you can imagine.”

As they left, Candace lagged behind and whispered, “I’ll call you.”

While I waited for her call, I worked hard to keep my mind off the case. I’d never thought after what I’d gone through since John’s death that my emotions would come alive for anything again—but it was happening. I cared about these cats and wanted to find out what had happened to them.

I spent hours piecing quilts and listening to the Beatles on my iPod while waiting anxiously for Candace’s phone call. At least the music drowned out my thoughts about murder and stolen pets, and my work soothed me as it always did.

When Candace finally contacted me, it was well past nine p.m. She explained she’d had to work overtime. I told her about the other developments prior to figuring out that the Persian belonged to Belle—about Chase and his cat, the idea I had about the cat flyers, my chat with Lydia and my thought that the woman might have actually threatened me. But I didn’t get any information from Candace when I asked her what Baca said about Java belonging to Belle. She simply told me to be ready for a trip to the Pink House in the morning.

What would we be doing there? Looking for cat flyers? Or did Candace have something else in mind?

Candace arrived about ten a.m.—it was her day off—and she looked cranky and tired. Though I didn’t want another adventurous trek in her RAV4, I was afraid that if I suggested I drive it might agitate her even more, so I kept my mouth shut. I noticed she was wearing a Sam Houston State University sweatshirt and thought asking her about that would be safe territory.

After I was sitting beside her, braced for another Indystyle race to our destination, I said, “I like your sweatshirt. That college is north of my old stomping grounds in Texas.”

“Went to a three-day workshop there. They have an awesome criminal justice school. I took a forensics course, but now that you’ve brought that up, I’m pissed off all over again. Why do I have to practically beg to use what I’ve learned?”

Pissed off all over again? My guess was she woke up that way and nothing had changed. “Baca still being stubborn?” I said.

“He’s saying this is a crime about money, not some silly cats,” she said.

“Baca mentioned money when he talked to me too, and then Lydia brought up a life insurance policy. Is that the money he’s talking about?”

“That Lydia. She doesn’t know how to keep her mouth shut.” This further cause for irritation made Candace press her foot down on the gas even harder, and I closed my eyes, sure that we’d end up wrapped around a telephone pole.

Hoping to calm her, I said, “You can be sure I won’t be saying anything to anyone about the money. But Mr. Wilkerson could have been getting money from cat sales, right?”

“It’s possible. But Baca wouldn’t listen to me when I said this looked like a crime of passion, not a premeditated murder by someone cold and calculating. Wilkerson made Shawn angry enough to spit nails, and who’s to say he didn’t make someone else that mad?”

“He upset me, that’s for sure,” I said. “Not angry enough to kill him, but everyone has their own breaking point. What if someone went to the Pink House to get their cat back, just as I did?” And then I had another idea. “And what if that person became incensed when he or she realized their pet was already gone?”

“I had the same thought. The killer used a knife from the kitchen, for Pete’s sake. Knives come out of the drawer when someone’s in a rage. I’ve been out on enough domestic calls to know that much. That has to be it. Flake Wilkerson stole the wrong person’s cat—someone who had a major temper failure.”

Candace was really getting worked up.

“You’re tired, aren’t you?” I said.

“Tired of being treated like I don’t know squat,” she said.

“By the chief?” I asked.

“By Lydia mostly. The chief and I are cool, but he’s not handing me any assignments directly related to the case aside from those evidence samples I took at the Pink House.”

“Is that why we’re heading there this morning? To take more samples?”

“Not exactly. We’re simply paying a friendly visit to Wilkerson’s daughter, like you and I discussed. She got in last night.”

“She knows we’re coming?” I said.

“Not really.”

Candace made a sharp right onto the dirt road leading to the Pink House, and I nearly cracked my head on the passenger window on the rebound. “The chief interviewed Daphne last night, so we’re not interfering with the investigation. Let’s start out by saying you just want to talk to her, extend your condolences, and I’m along for the ride. She’s the life insurance beneficiary, so the chief probably suspects her, but you and I don’t suspect her of anything. We have no reason to, right?”

“I’ll be able to respond after I recover from my broken neck,” I said.

She looked confused. “What?”

“Never mind,” I said.

But then she slammed to a stop behind an ancient Cadillac Seville sitting in the driveway, and this time the seat belt nearly snapped my collarbone as it tightened in response to the sudden braking.

That does it. She never drives me anywhere again. Candace slid from behind the wheel, totally oblivious.

Rubbing my surely bruised shoulder, I got out of the car, too. Candace stopped behind the Cadillac, took a small notebook from her jeans pocket and scribbled down the tag number.

When she was done, she said, “Come on, let’s go meet Daphne so you can tell her how sorry you are you walked into this house and found her father dead.”

“Me? I have to start the conversation?” I said.

“Yes.” She’d gone into full cop mode. And here I thought this was supposed to be a friendly visit.

“But you know how to do this stuff,” I said, realizing I sounded like I was whining. I hate whining.

“You are a lot nicer than I am. She’ll like you.” She was walking toward the front door.

Why did I have to be the front woman? Maybe because Daphne—I didn’t even know her last name; was it Wilkerson?—would learn soon enough that Candace was a police officer? If Candace wasn’t forthright, she could get in hot water again. Whereas I could say anything I wanted. Oh brother. I was beginning to think like Candace.

Though I expected a weeping, overwrought woman to answer the door, that wasn’t my first impression. Daphne, petite and maybe mid-thirties, had an unlit cigarette clinging to her upper lip, wore an army green Henley and had long, dark frizzy hair. Her features were hard, her jaw tight.

“The estate sale isn’t until next week. Come back then.” She started to close the door.

Candace stuck her foot out and stopped this from happening. “Sorry to disturb you, but we’re not here about that. I’m Candace and this is Jillian. We came to offer our condolences about your father.” At least she sounded a lot kinder to her than she’d been with me all morning. Candace could do nice when she wanted to.