Клеа Саймон - An Incantation Of Cats

“Well,” Becca took a moment to recalibrate. “I was wondering if you would tell me a bit about Frank’s business.”

“His business?” The tea seemed to have revived the widow. At any rate, Clara thought, if she was nonplussed by the question, she didn’t show it. “He had that car lot down by the river. That was the extent of it.”

Becca took this in. “Used cars? Did he buy them or bring them in from other locations?”

A frown rippled the little lipstick left on her lips. “I don’t really know. Took them on consignment, I think. It was just a little thing, more a hobby than any kind of big going concern. I know he saw himself as some wheeler and dealer, but I doubt he had more than three cars for sale at any given time.”

Becca paused, apparently storing the words away, as Margaret drank her tea. Before she could phrase another question, the widow continued, her voice taking on a tone of resignation. “That’s not where he got his money from. You probably know that already, right?”

Clara could feel Becca holding her breath as she waited.

“I spoiled him.” A sigh as she placed her mug on the table. “I know I did. The watches, the rings. The car lot itself.” She peered up at her guest. “You’ve probably never been in love, have you?”

“Well…” A half smile from Becca.

“I thought we had a good relationship. No,” she raised her hand, not that Becca had made any move to interrupt, “I know what you’re thinking. But we had our ways. It had…he had never done anything like this before. I thought, well, it’s just another phase.”

“Maybe it was.” Becca spoke softly. “Maybe he didn’t mean to end it this way.”

“You don’t think… Is that why you were asking for my sister?” Her brow bunched together as she reached once more for her tea. “Elizabeth didn’t like him, but she wouldn’t do anything to…to harm him.”

“I believe you.” Becca tried to keep her voice calm and even. “But I don’t know if the police will, and I think she has information that could help us all.”

The widow inclined her head over her mug. “You may as well talk with her, then. She’s checking in on the shop.”

“She is?” Becca leaned in.

A curt nod. “She got a call, probably a prank. That girl…”

Clara looked at her person. Becca appeared to weigh several responses, but wisely decided to hold her tongue. Or maybe she simply hadn’t settled on one quickly enough as the sound of the front door opening had her craning around in her seat.

“Elizabeth.” Margaret looked up at her older sister. While Becca had turned to face the newcomer, Clara could see the curious expression on the widow’s face—eyebrows raised and mouth pursed. “Becca here was just looking for you. She has some questions.”

“Of course she does.” The taller sister breezed in, looking quite calm and collected, Clara mused. What Becca thought wasn’t clear, but her pet could see that she had been taken aback by the older woman’s response, if not by her sudden appearance. “I need to wash up, Becca. Would you join me?”

Becca rose and followed the other woman down the hall to a bathroom, where Elizabeth proceeded to roll up the sleeves of her corduroy workshirt. “So, where shall we start?”

“Your sister said you were at the shop?” Becca watched as Elizabeth lathered up her hands. “Is there anything going on?”

Elizabeth grinned in the mirror. “Very good,” she said. “You’re learning to gather information for yourself before you give it. But everything is fine.”

Becca raised her chin. “Well, then, I’ve just got a few questions.”

“Of course.” Elizabeth focused on her hands. “I’m going to have some more cleaning to do. Gaia was a bit of a slob. Surely, that doesn’t surprise you.”

“No,” Becca had to admit. “But I’m curious as to why you went down there.”

“Why?” Their eyes met in the mirror. “Well, Margaret’s not up for anything right now. And I don’t think she should close.”

“She was thinking of closing?” That appeared to hit Becca hard.

Elizabeth shrugged. “She’s had a loss. And she no longer has a sales clerk. Plus, she’s going to have legal bills.”

That was Becca’s opening. “Is she going to be charged in her husband’s death?”

Again, their eyes met, but if Elizabeth was surprised by Becca’s awareness of the latest development, she didn’t show it. “What do you think?” she asked.

“I guess the police would say she had motive.” Becca eyed the older woman curiously. “But as for means… Margaret already told me they’re doing an autopsy. I’m assuming that they’ll find that Frank Cross was poisoned with aconite—wolf’s bane.”

Elizabeth shook her head, staring straight into the mirror. “I don’t know what they’ll find.”

“We know Gaia had a potted wolf’s bane plant.” Becca’s voice was calm. “We know that you recognized it. You told her what it was. And then it went missing.”

“Wait, you think that I took it and lied about it?” The white-haired woman turned toward her, hands dripping. “Or that Margaret…? No.”

“I’m simply stating facts.” Becca tensed, but if she thought of retreating, Clara couldn’t see any sign of it.

“You’re re-stating what other people have told you.” Elizabeth took on a school-marmish tone. “Letting yourself be manipulated. Gaia, for example, is as careless with logic as she is with dangerous plants.”

Becca didn’t respond. Clara hoped it was because she wanted to draw the older woman out, rather than that she was stymied by this turn of events.

“Yes, I recognized wolf’s bane.” Elizabeth reached for a towel, shaking her head as if she could shed stupidity like water. “That girl pretends to study the craft, but all she saw were pretty blue flowers. Goddess keep her. I read her the riot act. Bad enough she had it. She was keeping it in the shop window. If anything had happened, we’d be liable.”

“Something did happen.” Becca studied the other woman’s face. “Gaia was brought to the emergency room last night. She may have been poisoned.”

Elizabeth started back, and then relaxed. “You know, she might not be the most reliable person to talk about being poisoned.”

“I know she tried to fake something earlier,” Becca confided. “This was real, though. I was with her in the emergency room.”

“That doesn’t mean…” For a moment, Elizabeth looked her age. “Poor girl. Poor, stupid girl. I assumed she took the cursed thing home.”

Becca was shaking her head. “She says she doesn’t have it. She thinks you took it.”

Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed, appraising Becca anew. “And you believe her.”

“I believe that she doesn’t have it anymore.” Becca searched for an explanation. “And I don’t even know if she knows how Frank died. Honestly, I don’t know if she cares that much. From what she’s said, the affair was basically over. She’s just feeling sorry for herself because you fired her.”

“And so she’s looking to pin the blame on me.” Elizabeth turned toward the bathroom mirror, her face unreadable.

“She’s scared,” Becca said.

“Sounds like she should be.” Elizabeth was still holding the towel, and now she looked down at it, as if it held the answer. “Sounds like maybe Gaia has begun to grow up.”

Chapter 31

“You’re going to tell that detective all this, right?” Maddy’s relief was audible when Becca reached her at work. “’Cause you’re done, right?”

“I don’t know, Maddy. I’m not sure I see the point. I mean, I told him everything I know when he ambushed me at the hospital.”

“Ambush?” Maddy’s surprise must have gotten her a few looks, because her next comment was muted. “Becca, what are you talking about? You’re involved in a suspicious death, and another person has been poisoned.”