Ник Сайнт - Purrfect Sidekick. Purrfect Deseit. Purrfect Ruse [calibre 5.14.0]

Bad sign!

“So what did you want to talk to me about?” asked Emma Bezel once Odelia’s flow of tears had lessened to a trickle.

“I talked to your sister this morning,” Odelia said, still sniffling a little but trying her darndest to put on a professional face. “About the death of Bob Rector.”

“Uh-huh,” said Emma, slumping a little in her seat.

“So you are aware that Bob Rector is dead?” said Chase.

“Oh, sure. I saw it on the news this morning.”

“Your sister didn’t know. It came as quite a shock to her when I told her,” said Odelia.

“I didn’t want to break the news to her over the phone,” said Emma. “I planned to pay her a visit later today, after I closed up my shop, and tell her in person.”

“How well did you know Bob, Mrs. Bezel?”

“Not very well. I met him a few times, but only briefly. Actually I was the one who introduced him to my sister. I’d been standing in line at the General Store for what felt like ages and Franklin was getting tired and had started barking—Franklin is my sweetheart. He’s a Shih Tzu. Well, Bob was so kind to help me out with Franklin and so we got to talking and turns out he was a dog person, too, and very sweet and gentle and it got me thinking about Evelina and the bad luck she’s had when it comes to men…”

“And so you set them up for a date,” Chase said, nodding.

“Worst decision of my life,” said Emma. “I should have known the man was too good to be true.”

“Why do you say that?” asked Odelia.

“Look, I’m the people person in our family, okay? I’m good at reading people. Evelina, on the other hand, is terrible at relationships but an amazing businesswoman. She took our parents’ company and turned it into a phenomenon. Amazingly successful. Money, and respect from her peers—the works. But she still sucks at creating a personal life that’s gratifying. That’s always been my department. So I figured I’d help her find happiness in her personal life as well. But Bob… You know what I think happened?”

“What?”

“I think Bob must have been targeting me specifically. That he must have investigated me and sought me out, knowing I’m Evelina’s sister. That he nudged me into setting him up with her. These people do that, you know. They’re very clever about how they set it up. Make you think it was your idea, but when you look back you realize it was their idea all along and you were set up. And that’s what I think happened.”

“You think he was after your sister’s money from the start,” said Chase.

“Absolutely.”

“So why didn’t he stay with Evelina?” asked Odelia. “If he was after her money a marriage would have made him a very rich man.”

“But don’t you see? Bob didn’t want a relationship. He just wanted a payday. Quick and easy. Couple of dates and bingo—seventy-five thousand in his pocket.”

“Can you prove that he was after her money? Or is this just a hunch?”

“A hunch, mainly. But, like I said, I’m the people person in my family. And my hunches are usually correct.”

“Except when you met Bob,” said Chase.

“Yeah, my radar was way off base. Which just goes to show Bob was a real pro. He must have done this kind of thing before.”

“Tell us about the kidnapping. Do you think he sent those messages to Evelina?”

“Oh, absolutely.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Well, I don’t know for sure, but if I were being kidnapped, and my life was in danger, I don’t think I’d be smiling and looking as calm and collected as Bob did in that video.”

“You saw the video.”

“Evelina showed it to me. I told her to go to the police. That the whole thing was a setup. But she refused. She said that if I was wrong and something happened to Bob, she would never forgive herself.”

“She’d really fallen for him, hadn’t she?” said Odelia.

“Yeah, she had,” Emma confirmed. “She was convinced he loved her. The night before he was taken he said he had something important to tell her. More specifically, something important to give her. So she figured it was probably an engagement ring.”

“She thought he was about to propose.”

Emma nodded. “So she refused to go the police, and insisted on paying the ransom money, just like they asked her to.”

“Were you there when she dropped off the money?”

“I was. We drove out there together. The kidnappers—or Bob himself—had told her to put the money in a plastic bag and tape it off with heavy-duty sealing tape. Like plumbers use? To make sure the bag was completely waterproof. And then to drop it in the McMillan Street canal lock. So we did. Bob probably fished out the bag later.”

“You didn’t notice anything?” asked Chase. “Anyone watching? Anything suspicious?”

“Nothing. It was the middle of the night, and there wasn’t anyone around as far as I could tell. But they must have been watching us and come out as soon as we left.”

“You didn’t stick around to see who picked up the money?”

“No, that wasn’t part of the instructions. We were to drop off the money and immediately drive off again. So even if we’d stayed, they wouldn’t have shown their faces.”

“When you heard that Bob had died, what did you think?” asked Odelia.

Emma heaved a deep sigh. “My first thought? I just figured he must have gotten into a fight with the other crooks about how to divide the money and so they shot him.”

Chapter 24

That night the mood at Casa Poole was quite a few degrees below zero. And not just at Odelia’s little home but that of Marge, too. Odelia was still sad that her cats had bluntly refused to come to her wedding, and Marge… Well, Marge apparently was unhappy that Tex had tried to cheat on her!

I must say it came as a big surprise to me when the news broke of Tex’s infidelity, and so when a family meeting was called, by none other than Gran, of all people, we all felt a little shocked, to be honest.

Tex. Cheating on Marge? On the eve of his daughter’s wedding? No way!

“Look, I think we need to make something very clear,” said Gran at the start of the meeting, which was taking place in Odelia’s living room, presumably chosen as the proverbial neutral ground in this case, the entire family seated around the big living room table. “Tex never planned to cheat on you, Marge. And if he’s guilty of anything, it is of being too naive and kind-hearted for his own good.”

“Oh, Ma, it’s no use,” said Marge. “I know what happened. He admitted it!”

“Nevertheless, let’s reiterate the facts. Fact one. Evelina’s sister Emma Bezel, née Pytel, convinces Tex to take Evelina out on a date, claiming the woman is suicidal after being stood up by Bob Rector. Fact two. Emma neglects to inform Tex that Bob was in fact kidnapped and subsequently killed. I talked to Emma and she admits she withheld this information on purpose, figuring the kidnapping and murder business would scare off the good doctor.” She turned to Tex. “Emma conveys her apologies, by the way, also about the fact that Evelina stood you up.”

“Evelina stood me up?” asked Tex, much surprised.

“You didn’t notice because Scarlett and I broke up your date. But yeah, she stood you up.”

“But… why?”

“When Emma informed her she was about to go on a date with you, Evelina said the last person in the world she intended to date was her own doctor. Her exact words were that she found the whole thing ‘extremely icky.’”

“Icky,” murmured Tex, looking a little stricken.

“It’s obvious you wanted to date Evelina,” said Marge. “Just look at you. You’re disappointed she stood you up!”