Джанет Кантрелл - Fat Cat At Large

“Olson, homicide.” He sounded brusk, in a hurry.

“Oh yes, this is Chase. Chase Oliver.” Why was she dithering like a teenager? Maybe because she could picture those blue eyes, hard and full of ice. “I had a thought that, well, might help.”

“Go on.” Yes, he was in a hurry.

“About the button I saw on the floor. It’s cloth-covered?”

“Yes. It is.” He sounded like, So what?

“Not many people use those.”

“We’ll take that into consideration.” He paused for a breath or two. When he continued, his voice had softened. “Yes, we know Violet Peters often wears that type of clothing. However, I can’t get a search warrant on a button.”

“You can’t?”

He blew air into his phone. “I tried, if you really want to know. The judge wasn’t buying it.”

“Oh. I thought it was evidence.”

“It is, but it’s not enough. Just because no one else you know wears those buttons, doesn’t mean that she’s the only person who does.”

“Oh.”

“We’re watching her, though. She’s on our radar. Can you tell me why she stormed out of your place earlier today?”

He was watching her. “She and Laci got into a fight and I fired both of them.”

“Really? They fought each other?”

“Yes, it was awful. Vi pulled Laci’s hair and it came all undone and Laci grabbed Vi’s blouse and ripped some buttons off.”

“Are the buttons still there? You have them?”

“Sure.”

“Would you mind if someone came by and picked up those buttons?”

“Of course not. If it’ll help solve the murder. How will they help, though? They’re not the same color, or from the same blouse, I’m sure.”

“I’m not at liberty to say, but it could help. How many do you have?”

“Only two.”

“That’s enough. I’ll be there in ten.”

Chase felt a thrill inside as she cut the connection. She had evidence. She was helping solve the case.

Wait a minute. Did this mean that Vi was the killer? Why on earth would she go around killing those men, and attacking an old woman? It didn’t make sense.

But . . . Torvald had taken out a restraining order. That meant, she thought, that he must have been afraid of Vi. Were there other reasons to take out restraining orders? Chase had never been afraid of Vi. How could Torvald Iversen be?

Anna wandered into the office. “Who were you talking to?”

“Detective Olson. He’s coming in a few minutes to pick up the buttons Laci tore off Vi’s blouse.”

Frown lines sprouted on Anna’s forehead. “Vi’s buttons? What on earth?”

“Anna, could Vi have killed those men?”

“I hope not. That would mean we’ve been employing a murderess. But what I came in to tell you is that I think I should visit Hilda Bjorn in the hospital again, since we’re closed.”

“Is she still there?”

“I went by her house Tuesday and that neighbor of hers, Professor Fear, told me she’s still there and is expected to be for another week.”

“That’s an awfully long time. She’s been there a week already.”

“She’s not young, Charity. Older people take longer to recover.”

“And the attack was pretty horrible, from what I could tell. I thought she was dead when I first saw her.” Chase pictured the scene once more, shivered, then shook her head to get it out of her mind.

“Are you feeling better?” Anna asked.

“You know, I think I am. My headache is gone and my back is feeling much better.”

“It will probably be around five when I get back from seeing Hilda. If you’re hungry then, do you want to go somewhere for an early supper?”

Chase accepted as the chimes on the front door sounded.

Detective Olson walked into the kitchen. “When your sign says closed, maybe you should lock the door,” he said.

“We’re terrible about locking doors, Detective,” Anna said. “But you’re right. We should do that.”

He saw the things on the island counter and bent to examine them.

“Do you want Laci’s bobby pins, too?” Chase asked.

He cocked his head in thought. “Wouldn’t hurt. Maybe I will.” He opened a paper bag and swept the items into it. Would Laci’s DNA be on them? Was she a suspect, too?

“Let’s hope nothing comes of this,” Anna said.

“Why do you say that, Mrs. Larson?”

“Laci and Vi are ours. They’re like family.”

Chase didn’t have the same opinion anymore, but she kept her thoughts to herself. Neither Vi nor Laci would fit into her family, she was sure.

After Detective Olson left, Anna asked Chase if she wanted to come with her to the hospital.

“I think I’d better keep an eye on Quincy, especially if we’re going out for a bit later.”

“Good idea.”

Anna put some of the bars she had baked earlier into a bag, in case Hilda would be able to eat them. She shrugged into her turquoise blanket jacket and left.

“It’s you and me, little fella,” Chase said, stooping to give Quincy a rub between his ears. He closed his eyes and his purr was almost up to full volume. He must have been feeling better.

THIRTY-NINE

“I’m so glad I brought along the dessert bars when I went to see Hilda Bjorn,” Anna said, taking a spoonful of minestrone at the Italian restaurant next door to the Bar None.

It had been the easiest place to meet for their early supper, although it wasn’t all that early by the time Anna showed up. Chase had finished off half a basket of breadsticks before she came. They ordered, getting the half-price bottle of wine that was the special that night, and Anna said she had great news after their orders arrived.

“You loosened her tongue? Or her memory?” Chase asked.

“Both! We started talking about the Bar None and she told me how much she liked the Raspberry Chiffon Bars she got when you had given her the free dozen.”

“A lot of good that did me! My goodwill gesture is mainly what makes me the best suspect for Detective Olson.” Chase refilled her wineglass. At this rate she was going to drink most of it. Anna’s half glassful sat untouched while she worked on her soup and the last breadstick in the basket.

“No, no, listen. She went on and on about ‘that nice girl’ who sold the bars to her. I pinned her down. She meant the girl behind the counter, the one who rang her up.”

“You mean the ‘nice girl’ that she saw go into Gabe’s at just the right time to kill him isn’t me?” Chase twirled her fork in the middle of her salad.

“It seems that it’s Violet.”

Chase dropped her fork with a clang and almost let out a whoop of astonishment in the restaurant. She restrained herself, since that behavior would have clashed with the linen tablecloths and muted lighting. She leaned over the table, putting her head close to Anna’s. “What about her saying she saw the one with the cat?”

“I asked her about that. She said she meant the shop with the cat. Not the girl with the cat.”

“We have to let Detective Olson know this.” Chase’s voice was an urgent whisper. “I think you’ll have to tell him, since Hilda talked to you. Get out your cell phone.”

Anna looked around at the nicely dressed dinner crowd. “I don’t think I should do it here.”

“All right. Let’s finish eating and go outside to do it.”

“I’m parked behind the Bar None. Walk with me after we pay.”

They finished the rest of the meal in record time and skipped dessert, even though Chase had looked forward to it for hours. This was much more important.

On the sidewalk in front of the restaurant, Anna realized that her cell phone was in her car.

“Let’s go!” Chase said. She fairly skipped through the shop and out the back beside Anna, to get to where Anna had parked behind the Bar None.