Софи Келли - A Case Of Cat And Mouse

“That’s one of my favorites, too,” I said. “The photographer, Ruby Blackthorne, is very good at getting them to pose. They are cats after all.”

“Dogs come when they’re called. Cats take a message and get back to you later.”

I laughed. “Dena, you have cats, don’t you?”

“Ellery, Agatha and Ngaio.”

“And you’re a mystery fan,” I said. “Ellery Queen, Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh.”

“Very good,” she said. “People usually don’t get the Ngaio reference.”

“She’s one of the Queens of Crime. More people should read her books.”

“Yes, they should.” I could hear the smile in her voice. “So, you wanted to know if Ray Nightingale was here in what year again?”

I repeated the date. I heard the clicking of computer keys. “Let me just check something else,” she said.

I waited.

Silence and then, “Ah, there’s the problem. He was here.”

So I was wrong.

“But he was kicked out at the end of the first week.”

So maybe I wasn’t wrong.

“Is that a problem?” Dena asked.

“No,” I said slowly. “I don’t think it is.”

“I’m glad I could be of help.”

I thanked Dena for the information and told her there was talk of another calendar. Then we said good-bye.

I leaned back in my chair, closed my eyes and tried to sort out what I knew. Ray had lied—again—about his credentials. Not only did I have to share the information with Marcus, but Maggie and Ruby needed to know as well. Had Kassie known what Ray had done? Was that why she had that photo of the two of them? Was it more than just a walk down memory lane? I was going to have to talk to Ray to find out. One thing I did know was that he was the kind of person who took shortcuts.

I stretched and stood up. Hercules was still washing his face and ignoring me. I leaned over and took his furry black-and-white face in my hands. “I love you, furball,” I said. Then I kissed the top of his head. “Two sardines when we get home tonight.”

He nuzzled my right hand, his way of saying all was forgiven.

We were out of the library at the end of the day pretty much on time, maybe even a few minutes early. Abigail waved at Hercules and mouthed “Good luck” to me.

We headed across town. I glanced at the cat. He’d climbed out of the carrier as soon as I’d unzipped the top. He was lying on the seat, head on his paws, a glum expression on his face. Had he figured out where we were going or was I just attributing human feeling to a cat again?

“You know, don’t you?” I said. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him give me a look.

He knew.

“It won’t take long. All Roma is going to do is look at your leg. No poking at you. No stitches. I promise.”

“Mrrr,” he grumbled.

“She’ll probably have a treat for you.”

I looked over at him again. He seemed to be thinking about the treat. “And after Roma is finished I’ll take you home for those sardines I promised.”

He shook his head, sat up and made a sound like a sigh. I figured that was as good as I could hope for.

The visit with Roma went well. I held on to Hercules while she checked his leg and he protested.

Loudly.

Once she was done she put two little fish crackers on the examining table. I let Hercules go. He used a paw to drag the treats into the middle of the table, away from Roma.

“He’s fine,” she said to me, pulling off her gloves. “And it went a lot better than last time.”

I nodded. “I remember last time.”

“Tell Maggie I’m sorry to miss class. David wants a second opinion about a hip replacement surgery on a German shepherd. I’m leaving in a few minutes. If I agree with him, he wants to do the surgery as soon as possible.”

David was another vet, a friend of Roma’s. He’d helped her on a couple of surgeries and she’d done the same for him.

“I’ll tell her,” I said. I held up crossed fingers. “Good luck.”

Once Hercules was settled on the front seat I checked my watch. There just might be time to tackle Ray if he was at his studio.

I headed for Riverarts. Hercules wasn’t paying any attention to where we were going so he didn’t object. I pulled into the parking lot and as luck would have it both Ray’s and Ruby’s cars were there. I slipped into Maggie’s allotted spot since I knew she was over at the tai chi studio.

“Do you want to go see Ruby?” I asked Hercules.

He immediately sat up and took a couple of passes at his face with a paw. Then he looked at me, cocking his head to one side. “You look very handsome,” I said.

I pulled out my phone and called Ruby’s cell. She answered on the third ring. “Hercules and I are in the parking lot,” I said. “Could we come in?”

“I’m on my way down,” she said.

I rummaged in my bag for a second, picked up the cat, locked the truck and reached the back door of Riverarts just as Ruby reached the bottom of the stairs. She let us in and smiled at Hercules. She was wearing a T-shirt with the sleeves rolled back and a pair of baggy overalls.

“Does Maggie have another interloper down at the store?” she asked.

I shook my head. “No. We just came from seeing Roma. And before you ask, he’s fine.”

“You had a doctor’s appointment?” Ruby said. She made a face. “I hate doctor’s appointments. You’re so brave.”

He preened in my arms. Ruby’s words seemed to carry a lot more weight than mine did.

“I’ve been playing around with a couple of ideas for another calendar. I’d love to hear what you think.”

She was still talking to Hercules, I realized, not me.

He murped an okay.

“Actually, could he stay with you for a few minutes?” I asked. “I was hoping I could go talk to Ray.”

“Sure,” Ruby said. Her hands were in her pockets and she rocked forward and back just a little in her red high tops. She looked like she wanted to say something so I waited for a moment.

“You haven’t found anything to clear Elias yet, have you?” she finally asked. “I, uh, I’ve been trying not to bug you by calling or texting.”

I shook my head. “I haven’t come across anything that puts Elias in the clear. I’m sorry. I’ve eliminated some people but I haven’t found anything that eliminates him.”

She played with one of the several earrings in her right ear. “If someone accused your father of murder you’d know they were wrong, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes,” I said.

“And it wouldn’t just be because he’s your dad. It would be because you know what kind of a person he is. You know him better than just about everyone.” She tapped the left side of her chest with a closed fist. “You know what he’s like in here.”

I nodded. “I do.”

“I know Elias that way. He’s not my dad, but he’s the closest thing I have to one.” Her eyes were locked on to my face. “He wouldn’t lie to me. If he had killed Kassie he would have told me. I’m not saying he would have told the police, but he would have told me. So I don’t mean to put pressure on you—” She stopped abruptly and a tiny smile played at her mouth. “Actually, that’s not true. I do want to put pressure on you. Elias didn’t do this, which means somebody else did.”

Hercules was getting restless and I set him down. He shook himself and moved to sit next to Ruby.

“I wish I had answers for you,” I said. “I can tell you this much. I haven’t given up. And I know that Marcus hasn’t, either.”

Her expression grew serious again. “One question. Do you think Ray could have killed Kassie?”

“No, but I do think they had more of a connection than he’s admitting to. That’s why I need to talk to him.”

She sighed. “Okay. I guess I’m going to just have to go with that.” She looked at Hercules and tipped her head at the stairs. “Let’s go,” she said. He didn’t give so much as a backward glance to me. I had a feeling even with sardines waiting at home I was going to have a problem getting him back into the truck.