Leann Sweeney - The Cat, The Professor and the Poison

“I was just texting you when I got yours. That guy is here at the professor’s farm. We looked in the window and Evan recognized Hoffman. You need to send the police.”

“So Evan’s with you,” I said, looking at Brandt and nodding.

His features relaxed, and he smiled.

“The police need to come without sirens, or Hoffman will run. That’s why I was afraid to call 911,” she said. “Hurry or he might leave.”

“You and Evan need to get out of there. Now,” I said.

“We’re leaving,” she said and disconnected.

My heart was beating a mile a minute as I explained everything to Candace and Brandt. Candace called Baca immediately and then went to the closet and came out with her holster. She strapped it on and put her gun in place.

“You two stay here with Tom.” She held out her hand. “I’ll need your keys-and Kara’s phone number.”

I showed her the number in my phone’s address book, and she must have committed it to memory because she simply repeated it. We went to the kitchen, and I grabbed my keys off the hook. “Maybe you’re blocked in,” I said.

But when we looked in the driveway I saw that Tom had parked his Prius alongside my van, and I didn’t see Brandt’s car, so he must have parked in the road.

Candace left, and now the worrying began for me as well as for Brandt.

“She’s good,” I said. “And Chief Baca’s good. They’ll catch this man. Then maybe we can understand why he killed your father and Rufus, because I’m convinced now that he did.”

“I might have an explanation.” It was Tom. He’d come into the living room and held his hand out to Brandt in greeting. They shook hands.

“What are you talking about?” I said.

Tom held up several sheets of paper with printing on them. “This explains why Professor Lieber did what he did.”

“Professor Lieber?” I whispered.

But Tom glanced at Brandt and got a sheepish look on his face.

Bet he wishes he didn’t blurt that out, I thought. But Lieber? Why Lieber?

Tom glanced toward the kitchen. “Where’s Candace? I should give this information to her.”

“She’s gone,” I said. “Kara called and said she and Evan went to the farmhouse, that they spotted Patrick Hoffman there. She and Baca and probably the entire Mercy police force are on the way over there.”

“Kara went to that farm?” Tom said. “I told her she had to wait until the crime scene was released by the police, told her that she could get in trouble.”

“My brother is with her,” Brandt said. “Tell me what Doug has to do with my father’s death.”

Tom stared hard at Brandt for what seemed like an eternity. “You’ll find out anyway. A microchip that I am assuming your father implanted in a cat led me to information stored on the Internet. The two professors were working together to create VanLieber Raw Pet Food. I’ve got formulas, expenses, everything right here.” Tom held up the printouts again.

Brandt looked dumbfounded. “Doug and my father? Working together?”

“That’s right,” Tom said. “But the money for this business plan seemed to have dried up, and from what I can tell, Professor Lieber had put up a pretty penny.”

“He killed my father over money? Is that what you’re saying?” All the color had drained from Brandt’s face.

Neither Tom nor I said anything for several seconds.

Finally I spoke. “We can’t be sure of that. What about your mother? She’s with Lieber now, right?” I looked at Tom. “Shouldn’t we warn her?”

“I’m switching from geek mode to cop mode. Lieber doesn’t know he’s a suspect. We don’t want to set him off.” Tom looked at Brandt. “Can you call your mother, play it cool, ask her what she and Doug are doing? Where they are?”

Brandt nodded and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. His hand was shaking when he tapped a few digits. When he said, “Mom?” his voice wavered.

I could hear her every strident word. “What’s wrong, Brandt? I can tell you’re upset.”

“I’m fine,” he said, sounding calmer now. “I was just checking in. What are you and Doug up to?”

This time I couldn’t hear her.

After a few seconds, Brandt said, “He didn’t say where he was going?”

I heard her loud “No” this time.

I raised my eyebrows, questioning this outburst.

Brandt put the phone on speaker then.

She said, “So I’m stuck here without a car. Where did he have to go in such a big hurry?”

“You got me,” Brandt said.

Tom made a motion with his hand to keep her talking.

“Um, any favorite places you guys have found in town?” Brandt asked.

“No. And that coroner lady phoned. The death certificate has been issued and I can pick it up. If I had a car.”

“Did you call Doug after he left?” Brandt asked.

“I tried. He’s not answering, and that’s not like him. He got a phone call and he was out of here. And what am I supposed to do now?”

“I can come over and take you to see the coroner,” Brandt said.

“Would you?” she said. “That would be great. The sooner we get the death certificate, the sooner this mess can be settled. That farm belongs to you and Evan. If we sell it, he’ll have enough for tuition.”

“Um… I thought Doug said he’d help with that,” Brandt said.

“Until about a month ago, I thought so, too. But all of sudden he says Evan should work his way through school. Anyway, we can talk when you get here. Thank you so much, sweetheart.”

She disconnected before Brandt had a chance to say good-bye.

Tom said, “Go stay with your mother, but stall her about this death certificate thing. Create some excuse not to get on the road. There’s a killer loose, and the police will want to know exactly where you are. And if Professor Lieber returns, stay cool and call me.” Tom rattled off his number, and Brandt added it to his phone.

“But what about Evan? You think he’ll be okay?” Brandt said. “Was Evan the one who called Doug and he’s gone to that farm, too?”

“If Lieber’s on his way there, he’ll be met by the entire Mercy police force. We’ll make contact with them and make sure they know what the microchip revealed.”

Brandt seemed hesitant, but he finally left with my urging after I told him he had to take care of his mother.

“I hope Brandt doesn’t take a detour to that farm to play big brother,” I said to Tom as we stood in the foyer.

“I think he’ll do what we said,” Tom said. “Now call Candace.”

But she didn’t answer, and when I called Mercy PD, B.J. put me on hold-probably because lots was happening and he thought I called to chat with Candace.

“Come on, come on,” I said into my phone.

“Forget it. Let’s go,” Tom said. “B.J. probably has more than he can handle right now.”

Since Candace had used my van, we took Tom’s Prius. It was a lot peppier than my vehicle, anyway. We made the drive to the farm in less than ten minutes, and the whole time I kept trying to phone Candace. But she was obviously too busy to answer.

The tree-lined road was crowded with police and emergency vehicles for the third time in a week. Tom took my hand when we got out of the car and led me to where Morris was standing.

“That’s far enough,” he said. Seemed his job was to make sure no one got past him.

But when we explained why we had come, that we had important information, he radioed Candace. Soon I saw her running down the driveway toward us.

I could read a hint of panic in her eyes. “Hoffman’s got them, both Evan and Kara. We’re waiting on a county SWAT unit.”

“Oh my God. They’re hostages?” I said.

“Yup. Saw a rifle of some kind. But we don’t know what Hoffman wants until we make contact. And right now that’s dangerous without major backup. We need help on this one.”