Софи Келли - A Case Of Cat And Mouse

In fact, Eugenie had shown her curtsey to Peggy and me just that morning. “My mother insisted that all we girls knew how to do a proper curtsey,” she’d said. “Just in case the queen happened to come for tea.”

“I have to meet her,” Susan said, gushing like the fangirl she obviously was. “She looks so cool and elegant. Please, Kathleen.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” I said, heading for the stairs. Susan gave a little squeal of excitement.

I loved her zest for life in general. Her boys had the same enthusiasm. And since they were scary smart, life was never dull at Susan and Eric’s house.

During my supper break I started looking into the backgrounds of everyone I figured had been on Marcus’s suspect list before Elias Braeden moved to the top, doing a deeper dive than I had when I was putting together the information for Peggy. I couldn’t just sit on a bench by the water and wait for the answers to come to me, although that had worked twice so far.

Just as he’d told me, Charles had spent close to six years in prison for manslaughter in the death of the man he had shoved outside a bar. I’d missed that when I’d been putting together that basic profile on him for Peggy. The sentence had been reduced due to extenuating circumstances—the fact that the man had just hit his girlfriend hard enough to break her nose.

Charles had learned to box in prison and had had a short-lived professional career when he got out. He’d trained at Rival Boxing in Chicago. I leaned back in my chair, laced my fingers together and rested my hands on the top of my head.

Charles had boxed in Chicago. Sean Sullivan owned a gym in Chicago. Could there be a connection? Had Charles known who Kassie really was? Did he know why Elias had hired Kassie? I had questions for the next time I saw Charles.

I had a few minutes left to see what else I could learn about Caroline Peters. She didn’t have much of a social media presence and what she did have showed that she was very much the earth mother I saw her as. I knew she liked to keep her baking as healthy as possible. She favored natural products like the beeswax wraps she’d taught Rebecca how to make and she was an active protestor over climate change. While Caroline may have been a gentle earth mother most of the time, I discovered she did have a temper when she was provoked. She had tangled with a counterprotestor at a global warming panel discussion in her hometown and had hit him over the head repeatedly with her protest sign. She’d only stopped because other people pulled her off the man. He had needed stitches to close the gash on the back of his head.

No charges were brought against Caroline. Maybe because the police found bomb-making supplies in the guy’s car.

I studied the photo that accompanied the story I had found in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel . The photographer had caught the protestor curled in a ball, cowering on the ground. Caroline had her sign raised above her head ready to swing it again. Her hands clenched the wooden post so tightly that even in the small photo on the paper’s website I could see the skin of her hands pulled tight over her knuckles. As I studied the image all I could think was that she looked angry enough to kill.

Had she?

chapter 10

After I finished work at the library I headed over to Maggie’s. Roma was joining us and we were going to look at photos from her and Eddie’s wedding. The ceremony had been held out at the house with just family and close friends. Maggie and I had been bridesmaids along with Roma’s Olivia and Eddie’s Sydney. They hadn’t had a formal photographer, but Ruby had brought her camera and taken lots and lots of shots.

“The girls are nagging me,” Roma had said on the phone. “They want me to make a wedding album. Ruby put all the photos on a flash drive and said I can use whatever I want. But I don’t have a clue how to get started.”

“We need Maggie for this,” I had immediately replied.

With her artist’s eye I knew Maggie would select the best of Ruby’s photographs, not that I thought there would be very many that weren’t great.

Ruby’s photos often looked like little works of art to me, probably because she was an artist. She had a knack for finding an unusual angle or a unique perspective. That’s why the calendar had been so successful. I was looking forward to seeing the pictures from the wedding. When I took photos I was happy if I managed not to chop anyone’s head off.

“We’re up here,” Maggie called when I knocked on her door. I headed up the stairs and found Roma on the sofa in the living room with her computer on her lap. Maggie was in the kitchen making tea.

“Do you want a cup?” she asked.

“I think I do,” I said over my shoulder as I hung up my jacket in her little coat closet. I looped the strap of my bag over the hanger. “I think I had too much coffee today. I realized tonight when I was helping someone with an Internet search that I was talking really fast.”

“I didn’t know that there was such a thing as too much coffee as far as you’re concerned,” Roma said as I dropped onto the sofa next to her.

I stuck my tongue out at her and she laughed.

“This is vanilla rooibos tea,” Maggie said, holding up the pot. “Naturally caffeine-free.”

“As your sometimes doctor, I approve,” Roma teased. Although she was a veterinarian, Roma had taken care of me more than once since she was also trained in first aid—for people.

I bumped her with my shoulder and leaned sideways to look at the computer. “Let me see the pictures,” I said.

“We have to wait for Maggie,” Roma stage-whispered, moving her laptop to the left, out of my range of view.

“It’s okay. I’m ready,” Maggie said as she came from the kitchen carrying a large tray with three cups of tea, milk and sugar and three plates with what looked to be slices of Swiss roll.

“Oh that looks good,” Roma said, setting the computer next to her on the sofa.

Maggie put the tray on the small coffee table. She had found the rickety piece at a flea market and bought it for five dollars. Marcus had glued and repaired all the joints and she and I had sanded and painted it black. I liked Maggie’s apartment. It was warm and welcoming just like her.

“Rebecca or Charles?” I asked, gesturing at the cake. I knew next week was Cake Week and I knew both of them liked to work ahead.

Maggie smiled and handed me a cup of tea. “Ray actually. It’s red velvet cake with cream cheese filling.” She held up a small jug I hadn’t noticed. “And raspberry coulis.”

“Thank you, Ray,” I said.

I took one corner of the couch, Roma took the other and Maggie curled up in the big chair. We had tea and cake and talked about our week, which meant Maggie and I mostly talked about what we’d eaten.

“Does the show need a veterinarian?” Roma asked. She was wearing her sleek dark hair in a slightly longer bob and it suited her.

Maggie laughed. “I went up to Barry’s Hat with a bunch of the crew. They had beer and wings. I’ve seen farm animals with better table manners.” She nodded slowly. “So possibly, yes.”

I ate the last bite of my cake. “I had no idea Ray could make something like this,” I said, pointing my fork in Maggie’s direction.

“If he’d made one of these Swiss rolls for the co-op board, everyone would have forgiven him pretty quickly,” Maggie said.

Roma licked raspberry coulis off the back of her fork. “Do you think he has a chance of winning?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said.

Maggie nodded in agreement.

I set my plate on the tray. “Ray is very steady. He doesn’t get rattled when things go wrong. Neither does Rebecca.”

“I could definitely see Rebecca coming in first,” Maggie said. She reached for her tea. “I know you’ve been working with Peggy. Is she ready for tomorrow?”