Джанет Кантрелл - Fat Cat At Large

He could tell that? “No, of course not. That would be tampering, wouldn’t it?”

Detective Olson narrowed his eyes in an unattractive way.

“Since I was here, because Quincy was here, I thought I’d peek in and see if she needed anything. Professor Fear said—”

“Yes, I heard you. He said she was sick.” He still didn’t seem convinced, but told the policeman to take the handcuffs off.

“My cell phone,” Chase said.

Detective Olson retrieved it and handed it to her. “If I need anything further, I’ll be in touch,” he said.

Grateful, Chase stammered something and fled.

TWENTY-NINE

Chase approached Mike’s condo with caution. She didn’t want to interrupt anything between him and the red-haired dog owner, the one who had let her dog get hold of a chicken. Chase still thought that was irresponsible.

Mike’s truck was at the curb, behind his Ford sedan. No other cars were parked nearby. The woman must not be there. Chase rang his doorbell. He answered the door alone. So far, so good. Quincy was curled up on his couch, asleep. Evidently, finding bodies, even those of people he’d known and napped on, didn’t bother him overly much.

“Thanks, Mike. I’ll take him.”

“What’s your hurry? Come on in.” He stepped aside and motioned her inside. “I’ll get you some iced tea or . . . coffee?”

“I’d better call Anna. She has no idea where I am.”

“Are you doing all right without me?” Chase asked when Anna answered the office phone.

Anna said that Vi had returned and was in front, selling. She said they’d both been worried about where Chase was until Anna noticed that the office door was open and Quincy was gone. “Where are you two?”

Chase told Anna about Quincy going to Hilda’s and about finding the elderly woman on her floor, unconscious at first. “I think she was hit on the head. There was something chunky beside her on the floor.”

“The poor woman. Will she be all right?”

“They took her away in an ambulance.”

“Are you at the hospital?”

“No, I was . . . detained.”

“Detained?”

“By the police. Just for a bit.”

Chase heard Anna’s intake of breath. “Do they think you did it?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t think so. That is, I don’t think Detective Olson thinks so, but the uniformed cops were ready to take me to the station. I was handcuffed until the detective showed up.”

“That’s awful.” Chase heard beeping on Anna’s end of the call. “That’s the timer. I’m making caramel.”

Chase knew timing was critical for that process. “I’ll be back to the shop in a few minutes.”

After she finished the call, Mike asked if she had to go right away.

“Maybe I could have a glass of iced tea,” Chase said. She realized she was parched. Maybe extreme emotions did that to a person.

Mike disappeared into his kitchen and emerged in a few moments with a frosty glass of iced tea that Chase grabbed. She gulped down half of it, then realized what she was doing. “I’ve forgotten my manners. Thank you, Mike.”

He grinned and her heart gave a little lurch. “Any time, Chase. By the way, I think Quincy is losing weight. He seems lighter.”

That made her feel lighter, too. She was doing it right! Chase looked at the tabby, who still appeared sound asleep except for his ears, which were swiveled their way. Then they twitched and swiveled toward the front door. A second later, the doorbell rang.

When Mike opened the door, the redhead stood there, her hair standing up straight and a huge toothy smile on her face.

“Am I early?”

• • •

“At least hehad the good grace to look embarrassed,” said Chase.

The shop had closed at 6:00, half an hour ago, and Vi had taken off soon after that. Shaun Everly had pulled up in front and beeped his horn. Vi had slung her tote over the shoulder and gotten ready to run out as if a movie star were waiting for her.

Chase had stood in her way. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“What do you mean?” Vi drew herself up to her full height, which was more than Chase’s. She raised her perfect eyebrows just two hairs.

“Shaun can’t be trusted.”

“What do you mean? I’m not trusting him with anything. Torvald did and look where that got him.”

“You think Shaun killed Torvald?”

Vi frowned. “I never thought of that. Torvald was mean enough to kill someone, but I don’t think Shaun is. They just wanted your place.”

“Shaun wanted it?”

“I think so.”

“He turned on me and he can turn on you.”

“ He turned on you ? That’s not the way I heard it.”

“Vi, I need to sit down with you and tell you the whole story.”

“Yes, I’d like to hear your side. But right now I have to leave.”

She had hurried out, jumped into Shaun’s Porsche, and they had roared away.

“How lucky Dr. Ramos showed up to take Quincy,” said Anna, now in the kitchen, cleaning up from the day’s baking.

“I know. But he’d just told me, before Quincy got out and I went after him, that his next appointment was there, at his office. Then, a few minutes later, he was coming home for lunch and saw the cars at Hilda’s house.” Chase sprayed down the countertops with disinfectant and wiped them.

“Maybe it wasn’t his appointment.” Anna finished wiping the baking sheets dry and tucked them into the cabinet. “Maybe it was . . . I don’t know, the mailman? And his appointment was a no-show.”

“I suppose.” Or maybe it was the redhead, who seemed to be everywhere lately. “I hope Hilda Bjorn will recover,” Chase went on. “If she got hit in the head, I hope she’s not brain damaged.” She moved to the sink and started giving it the nightly scour.

“Are you going to visit her in the hospital?”

“I don’t think I can do that. Detective Olson didn’t seem to think I should have been in her house at all. He actually thought I was there to try to change her eyewitness account.”

“Weren’t you?”

“I was there to get Quincy!” She straightened, her scrubbing cloth dripping onto the floor.

“Don’t get huffy, Charity. I can imagine you would have tried to talk to her about what she saw, once you were inside.” Anna took the cloth from Chase, then swiped the floor with a paper towel.

Chase pulled out a stool. “Yes. You’re right. I did think it would be a chance to ask her exactly what she saw. She can’t have seen me, but she must have seen someone.”

“And that someone is the killer?”

“I’m not sure. But there’s a discrepancy between what I’m saying and what she’s saying, so that throws suspicion on me. If our stories matched, it would be much better.”

“I thought eyewitness accounts have been shown to be unreliable.”

“Tell that to Detective Olson.”

“Meanwhile, you would do well, Charity, to stay away from Hilda Bjorn, I agree.” Anna gave a last wipe of the stovetop. “So I suppose I should visit her.”

“And get her to change her story?” Chase felt a slow smile starting.

“I didn’t say that.” But Anna was smiling, too.

THIRTY

Chase stopped her bicycle in the middle of the bridge, her favorite part of the early morning ride she had been doing all too seldom lately.

“Looks like it’ll be warm again today,” said Julie, stopping beside her.

“I’m so glad you could make it this morning. We haven’t done this in ages.”

“Too long,” agreed Julie. “What with my trial and your troubles . . . Trial and troubles, sounds like a blues song, doesn’t it?”

“What do you think of your chances right now?” The testimony for Julie’s big trial was in its fifth day, having started last Friday.