Лейганн Доббс - A Purrfect Alibi

“Umm… Okay. So she wanted to be close to you in an outhouse?” Marlowe’s whiskers twitched. “Yech.”

“The fact remains that someone took something out of that old compartment.” Nero turned to Jed. “Did you know about that?”

Jed swirled and dipped. “I might have had a little secret stash to hide some hooch from the missus back then.”

Nero exchanged a glance with Marlowe. “So you knew it was there, and you’re in communication with Esther… so…”

“No! It’s not like that. Esther is no killer, I swear to that!”

Poor Jed, he had it bad for Esther. Nero had never seen a ghost so smitten. Was Jed so gullible that Esther had him doing her dirty work? How far would he go for her?

“I don’t think she’s the killer, either,” Marlowe said.

Nero glanced at the younger cat. “Is there concrete evidence which has caused you to reach this conclusion or do you just favor her because she gives us treats?”

Marlowe’s steps faltered. “I… well… She seems so nice, I can’t imagine her killing anyone.”

“In our line of work, we can’t go with how we feel, we have to make conclusions based on evidence.” Nero tried to keep the exasperation out of his tone. One minute Marlowe seemed as if she was making great progress in the ways of becoming a cat detective and other times it was as if she’d taken two steps backwards. Oh well, not every feline could be a great detective like he was, he had to remember to be patient with his protégée.

Jed swirled to Esther’s defense. “She is nice. And kind. She wants justice. Have you not considered that there may be another reason for her activities?”

They reached the house and Millie ripped the door open and ran inside with the other humans quickly following. Jed held back and Nero paused, waiting for him to fill them in.

“Well, what is her other reason?” Nero said finally.

Jed looked a bit unsure of himself. “I’m not sure exactly what Esther has in mind. Wait, it can’t be…” He paused and looked off in the distance, then said very softly, almost as if to himself, “ Yes… Yes… it all makes sense now. This goes back much deeper than either you or the humans think and I bet I know who is behind all of it.”

Twenty-Five

Millie skidded to a halt in the kitchen and we all piled in behind her. The door banged shut, leaving the cats outside. They wasted no time in meowing their displeasure and I opened it to let them in. The five of us stood around catching our breath.

“What’s your plan?” I asked Millie.

“I do think we need to proceed with caution. We could be dealing with a killer,” Millie said.

“Maybe we should call Seth,” Mom suggested.

Millie pressed her lips together. “No time for that, if Esther is the killer we need to act fast. Victor is planning something and I’m sure Esther means to stop him.”

Meooow. Nero blinked up at us as if contributing to the conversation.

I looked down at him. “I know you like her, but this is bigger than cat treats.”

Nero seemed affronted. He yowled, turned his back end toward us and flicked his tail at me.

Millie frowned at him. “Anyway. I’m sure she is still in the house, probably waiting to make a move on Victor. I think the key is to catch her alone.”

“Good plan. Even if she tries something, it is three against one.” I pointed to Mom, Millie and then myself.

“And two cats,” Mom added.

“Right,” Millie said. “I think we should get her to show us what was in that envelope and potentially use that to get a confession. I have Seth on speed dial so we can call him in once we have solid evidence.”

“Good thinking. We wouldn’t want to call him prematurely lest we ruin our reputation,” Mom said.

Millie nodded. “We have to be very careful about our credibility. We’ve called him in on a few false leads before. Won’t make that mistake again.”

They were worried about their credibility ? I was more worried about another murder at the guesthouse.

Millie put her fingers to her lips with a shushing noise. Someone was rustling around in the butler’s pantry. We crept over to see Gail looking out the window.

Gail turned to us. “Shh… he’s out there. I saw him.”

“Who?” Mom asked, ducking down and then peeking up over the countertop to look out the window.

“Victor.” From the tone of Gail’s voice, she might as well have been telling us the devil was out there. I guess she did see him as such. I really hoped he was the killer, he seemed like a jerk, but the evidence we had pointed to Esther.

“What’s he doing?” Millie asked.

“Getting ready for his fake talk with Jed, I assume. He called in that reporter,” Gail whispered.

Anita Pendragon was out there too? I leaned closer to the glass but it was dark out and I couldn’t see a thing.

“Tonight is Victor’s last chance. I heard Anita saying the movie producer called her about the story. Nothing sensational has happened, so he’s moving on. Victor will have to up his game.” Gail turned to us, her eyes deadly serious and maybe a little crazy. “He may do something drastic. Maybe even murder.”

“You think he’s the killer?” Mom asked.

Gail turned back to the window and murmured, “I wouldn’t put it past him.”

Mom, Millie and I exchanged looks. Should we try to follow him?

“Here he comes!” Gail whispered as I saw a figure emerge from the shadows and head toward the back foyer.

We all ducked.

“What do you think he’s up to?” Mom whispered.

“Not sure.” Gail peeked up over the counter. “He must be setting things up for his big chance. Anita is out there too. I saw another shadowy figure over by the conservatory and it wasn’t Victor.”

The door to the foyer opened and we heard someone slip in. Sounded like they were trying to be quiet. Gail turned to us. “Are you going to catch him?”

Millie thought about that. “If he’s the killer we will. But first things first, these things must be done in a methodical manner. Do you know where Esther is?”

Gail cocked her ear toward the ceiling. We could hear Victor going up the stairs. The second-floor landing creaked but he kept going. Was he going to the attic? I’d locked the door, hadn’t I?

Gail didn’t look away from the ceiling as she spoke. “Esther’s in the front parlor gazing into that crystal ball of hers.”

Millie jerked her head in the direction of the front parlor and said, “Come on, ladies. We have no time to waste!”

Esther was in the front parlor just as Gail had said. She was seated at the oak table next to the window, her gaze fixated on the crystal ball, which was practically glowing atop the purple velvet cloth she’d laid on the table’s surface. I wondered if the cloth was part of her act or if she’d done that so as not to scratch the antique table. If it was the latter, I made a note to make sure to let her know I appreciated that… after we got a confession out of her, of course.

The cats were already there. They must have come in when we were talking to Gail. Marlowe was curled up on Esther’s lap and Nero was sitting on the corner of the table, his gaze fixed out the window.

Esther looked up at us, her eyes cloudy as if she were somewhere else entirely. Slowly her gaze cleared and her face registered surprise.

“Oh, hello.” Her voice sounded uncertain. I suppose it was a bit intimidating to look up and see the three of us looming over her.

Mew. Nero blinked at us. I sensed disapproval in his demeanor. Marlowe let out a snore from the comfort of Esther’s lap. I envied Marlowe’s ability to lapse into a catnap quickly and at any time, she was clearly oblivious to the gravity of the situation.