Лейганн Доббс - A Twist In The Tail

‘A false arrest will not gain their confidence and it will also ensure that I don’t bake you any more of my blueberry pies.’ Millie let go of his arm and stomped back to her chair.

Seth’s face fell. ‘Okay, fine. But if I get any more evidence that points to you, Miss Josie Waters, you won’t have to worry anymore about what to serve for breakfast to your guests. You’ll be getting served breakfast yourself. Too bad it will be bread and water at the Oyster Cove jail!’

That wasn’t true. I happened to know they served eggs for breakfast there, but I was scared anyway.

Seth left and I exhaled. ‘Really? He was going to arrest me because of some partial words on a piece of paper? That’s ridiculous,’ I said. Was it possible that Charles was writing a bad review about the guesthouse? He’d been mad about the egg, but surely that wasn’t enough to write a bad review? Even if it was, why would someone else kill him over it?

‘Of course it is dear,’ Mom assured me.

‘We know you’re no killer. But unfortunately Seth doesn’t have much experience in murder cases. He’ll want this wrapped up as soon as possible. There’s only one thing for us to do.’

‘That’s right.’ Mom pushed up from her chair and headed for the door. ‘We need to figure out who the killer is before Seth tries to arrest Josie again. The best place to start is the victim’s room.’

Four

Nero sunk his paws into the silky blue duvet on Charles Prescott’s bed and fluffed. ‘Now that the police are gone, I hope the humans figure out they need to look in here for clues. If they don’t come up soon, I’m game for a nap. This is my favorite room.’

Charles had been staying in what Nero referred to as ‘the blue room.’ As you might have guessed, the room was a lovely shade of light blue. Nero found that the combination of the powder blue and gold silk oriental rug, Victorian-era sky-blue flowered wallpaper and the robin’s egg blue silk bedding to be very relaxing.

The room also had all antique furnishings, handed down from Millie’s ancestors, like the mahogany dresser and the four-poster bed. Nero loved the antiques because they were rich with lingering scents of lemon oil and pride from generations of use, unlike the new stuff that smelled like glue and a quick buck.

Marlowe poked her head in quickly from the adjoining bathroom. ‘I wouldn’t be so sure that the humans will come. I don’t think that redhead is too smart.’

‘You mean Josie?’ Nero asked as Marlowe disappeared back into the bathroom to continue the search.

‘Yeah, she said she owned us. She’s clearly not too quick on the uptake.’ Marlowe’s voice was muffled, likely because she had her head in the trashcan.

‘She’s just oblivious to the ways of felines. I sense that she has a kind heart and I think she’s worth training.’ Nero hopped down from the bed. He’d already canvassed the room for clues and was waiting for Marlowe to catch up. He knew there was one whopper of a clue in the room and wanted to see if the younger cat could figure it out.

‘Train her? You mean by not doing as she asks?’

‘Naturally. And sometimes the exact opposite.’

‘Good idea.’ Marlowe trotted back into the room. She sat on her haunches, licking her front paw. ‘Okay. I noticed a scent that shouldn’t be here.’

‘Indeed,’ Nero said. The young cat was coming along nicely. ‘And what do you make of it?’

‘Well, it’s salty like the sea but also has a tinge of seagull and wet dog. So, I’m guessing our victim was near the ocean and the gulls and possibly visited someone with a dog. Maybe near the cliffs where they nest or on the beach. Those darn seagulls are everywhere.’

The mention of the gulls had Nero cringing. ‘Tell me about it. One dive bombed me the other day and I had to do a tuck and roll right out in the middle of the street!’

‘I had to hide under an azalea bush to get away from one.’

‘They’re a nuisance.’

‘They don’t even taste good. Like bland chicken.’

‘And very dry.’

‘Too salty.’

Nero glanced out the window. The room had a partial view of the ocean and he could see the gulls flapping above the Smugglers Bay Inn. Good, let them stay over there. He didn’t mind them so much if they just kept away from him. Live and let live was his motto. ‘But still, they seem to be dying in droves. And I hate to think of anything dying before its time. They only have one life, you know.’

‘True,’ Marlowe sniffed at a pair of tan chinos that lay on the floor. ‘Judging by these pants our victim was up to something sneaky before he died.’

Nero nodded. He had wondered if the other cat would discover the scent of nefarious intention on the human’s pants. That was an advanced sleuthing skill and he was happy to see that Marlowe was mastering it. ‘What do you think our next move is?’

Marlowe raked her claws on the oriental rug. Millie would have a fit if she saw her. ‘We must talk to the gang at the wharf. One of them might know something about what our victim was up to.’ Marlowe started for the door.

Nero stayed rooted to his spot. The young cat would have to learn not to be so hasty. There was still something big left to be found. ‘Not so fast. There is another clue.’

Marlowe turned back, her green gaze slit. ‘There is? I skulked around the whole perimeter of the room and didn’t see anything that is not supposed to be here. Nor did I smell anything other than what I mentioned.’

‘Sometimes when looking for clues, it is not what you see, it’s what you don’t see,’ Nero said wisely.

Marlowe rolled her eyes. ‘Seriously? Could you be any more vague?’

Nero simply gave her a blank look.

Marlowe sighed. ‘Okay fine. I’m making another round.’

Nero watched the young cat carefully as she sniffed the perimeter, coming to stop in front of the small bookcase just as Nero had hoped. The bookcase was only two shelves that Millie had stuffed with a few old Reader’s Digest volumes. It looked like Charles had put those all on one shelf and added his own books to the other.

Marlowe turned around triumphantly. ‘Aha! One book is missing.’

Nero nodded. ‘Yes, and from the fact that the victim had placed books here in the first place, I think we can conclude that these books were important.’

‘Yeah, I see that. So how are we going to alert the humans?’

‘We’ll have to draw their attention to it somehow. Naturally they will think they made the discovery.’

‘I know! We never get credit,’ Marlowe said. ‘But how should we draw their attention? Hair ball? Incessant meowing? Leaping in the air?’

Nero watched as Marlowe pantomimed all of the above. He was proud that the young cat had figured out the clues, but she could be a little overzealous at times. ‘I think this calls for something more subtle. The good old pushing-everything-off-the-top-of-the-bookshelf routine should do the trick.’

The police had secured Charles’ room with a large ‘X’ of yellow crime scene tape. Was that really necessary? I worried that it would make the other guests nervous.

Millie must have had the same thought because she stopped in front of it. ‘Seems overly dramatic to have this here. What does he think this is, a scene from Castle ?’ She ripped the tape off one side and Mom and I followed her into the room.

The first thing I noticed was that the duvet was messed up. It looked like something had been burrowing in it. A movement in the corner of the room caught my eye. The cats.

I was sure Nero was the culprit. ‘If you put any tears in that cover I’m not feeding you any more of that nice food with the gravy.’