Софи Келли - A Case Of Cat And Mouse

“I think so,” I said. “She has good chemistry with Richard from what I’ve seen, and all the bakers like her.”

“Everyone likes Peggy,” Roma said. Her head was bent over her plate as she tried to scrape the last of the cream cheese filling off.

Maggie grinned. “Roma, would you like another slice of cake?”

Roma looked up. “I shouldn’t.”

“I didn’t ask if you should have another piece. I asked if you wanted to have another piece.”

Roma nodded and held up one hand with her thumb and forefinger about half an inch apart. “Just a little bit, please.”

Maggie got to her feet and looked over at me. I shook my head. She took Roma’s plate and went into the kitchen. “Hey, Kath, do you know who Russell is seeing?” she asked as she sliced the cake.

“I don’t think he’s seeing anyone,” I said.

“Yeah, he is,” she said, “and I’m pretty sure it’s someone on the show.”

I looked up at her, frowning, as she came back with Roma’s cake. “What makes you say that?”

She sat down again, curling one leg underneath her. “You know how the bakers and the camerapeople were doing a walk-through yesterday?”

I nodded. Watching Roma eat her cake was making me rethink my decision not to have a second slice.

“Well, it seems Garry is interested in one of the camera guys.”

Roma held up a hand. “Wait a minute. Who’s Garry? I thought we were talking about Russell.”

“Garry is the illustrator Maggie is working with,” I said.

“Okay,” she said.

Maggie continued, “So Garry is interested in one of the camera guys, which meant he kept coming up with excuses for us to be out there, and every time we were on the set Russell was on set, too.”

“That doesn’t mean he’s involved with anyone. We’re all trying to help Peggy. In fact, Russell has a magic trick they’re going to do. They were probably just working on that.”

Maggie made a face. “No, I don’t think that’s it. Yesterday and Thursday he shaved twice, both days.”

Roma jabbed a finger in the air. “You’re right. This guy’s definitely interested in somebody. A man does not shave twice a day unless there’s someone he’s trying to impress.” She smiled. “Ask me how I know.”

Maggie stretched out a foot and gave Roma’s leg a playful nudge. “We all know you’re married to the perfect man,” she said with a teasing smile.

Roma’s cheeks turned pink. “Eddie is pretty terrific.”

I was still trying to wrap my head around the idea that Russell was involved with someone. I had just found out that Charles had slept with Kassie. Eugenie seemed to flirt with Harry Taylor every chance she got and now it seemed that Russell had his eye on someone from the production. TV people weren’t a lot different from theater people, it seemed.

I realized both Roma and Maggie were looking at me. “Sorry,” I said. “Did I miss something?”

They exchanged a look. “I just asked how your Mr. Perfect is,” Roma said.

I smiled. “He’s good. This case is keeping him busy.”

Roma’s expression turned thoughtful. “I saw Ruby getting coffee at Eric’s this morning. Do you think Elias Braeden could be guilty?”

I shook my head. “I want to say no. I know he has a reputation for being pretty hard-nosed when it comes to business, but that doesn’t mean he’s capable of killing someone.”

“Wasn’t he a suspect in the murder of Simon Janes’s father?” she asked.

“He was a person of interest, very briefly. That’s all.”

“It would break Ruby’s heart if he’s convicted.”

“That’s not going to happen,” I said.

Roma looked at me for a long moment without speaking. “Okay,” she said finally.

Maggie pointed at the computer. “Pictures,” she said.

Roma reached for the laptop again and I moved over to sit next to her. Maggie sat down on the other side where the computer had been.

“Both Olivia and Syd want a good photo of Eddie and me. Whatever that means,” Roma said. She made air quotes around the word “good.” “I’d like one of the four of us if Ruby took any, and one with Mom and Dad.” She looked at me, a smile pulling at her mouth. “Ruby said there are a couple of nice photos of you and Marcus that you’re welcome to have. You never know when you might want a nice picture of the two of you.”

“Say, for an announcement of some kind,” Maggie finished. She batted her eyes at me.

I moved my index finger back and forth between the two of them. “Don’t start!” I warned.

Maggie leaned her cheek against Roma’s and they both gave me their most innocent looks. “We’re not starting anything,” Roma said.

“Nothing at all,” Maggie added.

They had both conspired to get Marcus and I together and now they were being about as subtle as dumping a Gatorade cooler of water and ice over my head, trying to keep us together for life.

I gestured at the computer. “Let’s see some photos,” I said.

Roma clicked on the flash drive icon on the laptop screen. Of course the photo that appeared on the screen was one of Marcus and me. Roma struggled not to laugh. Maggie held out her hands. “Don’t look at us,” she said. “It’s just the universe trying to send you a message.”

I rolled my eyes at her. I had a feeling “the universe” had blond hair and green eyes.

It took more than an hour, but we managed to cull the photos down to a manageable number. “Thank you both,” Roma said, wrapping her arms around her knees. She’d set the laptop on Maggie’s coffee table. “I’ll get these printed on Monday. Both Olivia and Syd stressed that they want ‘real’ photos.”

We’d found two wonderful photos of Roma and Eddie with Sydney and Olivia. All four of them had looked so happy. I remembered the day and I knew they hadn’t just looked happy, they’d felt that way, too.

Roma and I hugged Maggie good-bye and neither of us argued when she gave us each a slice of the Swiss roll to take home. We went downstairs together. When we reached the sidewalk Roma stopped. “I need . . . I need your opinion on something,” she said.

Her expression was serious, her mouth pulled into two thin lines.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Friday night I was late leaving the clinic. I knew Eddie wouldn’t be home and I didn’t feel like cooking, so I drove over to Eric’s for some takeout. I was walking down the street from where I’d parked just beyond the café, and I heard raised voices. There were a couple of men standing by the bookstore. It looked to me like they were arguing but it didn’t seem like a big deal.” She sighed.

“Did you know them?”

Roma shook her head. “One of them had his back to me and the other I didn’t recognize, at least not at the time. I watched them out of the corner of my eye and it didn’t seem to be anything more than a disagreement. I figured there was a pretty good chance that Nic Sutton was working and I thought I would get him to just step out and make sure everything was okay.”

Nic Sutton was built like a hockey goalie, strong and solid. He tended to get people’s attention.

Roma twisted her wedding ring around her finger. “Just as I got to the door the man with his back to me shoved the other guy and stalked away.”

“Was the second man hurt?” I asked. I wasn’t sure where the story was going.

“No, he was fine. The problem is what the first man said before he pushed the other guy.”

I put a hand on her arm. “Roma, what did he say?”

“He said, ‘I’ll take care of it. Keep your mouth shut, Charles, or I will bury you so deep you’ll never come up for air.’ And I really didn’t think about the conversation again, but you and Maggie were talking about the contestants on the show and the more I think about it, the more I’m certain that the man whose face I could see was Charles Bacchus and the other man was Elias Braeden.”