Клэр Донелли - Catch As Cat Can

“He was pretty scruffy,” Lenore said. “Why do you ask?”

“We had something weird happen outside the office a couple of evenings ago.” Sunny described what had happened to Shadow. “I didn’t see it, Zach Judson broke it up. But he said the guy with the noose had a beard—and was wearing a raincoat. Maybe if you showed him a picture . . .”

Lenore Nesbit shook her head. “Trust me, Sunny, what’s left of that face is nothing you’d want to look at.”

The sheriff asked a few more questions, but Sunny didn’t have anything to offer. Then she thanked Sunny, saying, “I’ll need you to write up a statement—I’m sure you know the drill.”

Sunny knew it only too well. She sat cooling her heels in the little room until a deputy finally came with a legal pad and a pen. Sunny wrote an account of what she’d seen and done since getting out of her Wrangler, and waited again until somebody came and picked it up. Then more waiting until it got typed up. By the time she finally got to sign her statement, the day was pretty well shot, and she was starving.

The day brightened a bit when Will Price stopped by the desk where she was signing off on the paperwork. “I wrangled the job of getting you back to your car,” he said.

They went outside and got into an unmarked car. Will pulled out of the sheriff’s department parking lot and headed for the interstate.

“Well, it’s nice that you’re allowed to talk to me again,” Sunny said. “Did Ingersoll give the okay?”

Will grimaced for a moment. “He wasn’t exactly subtle, was he? But he had a point. My job is to investigate now. And we do have a connection.”

“Yeah, we’ve investigated a lot of things together.”

“But now I’m supposed to be doing it officially.” Will didn’t look happy at the expression on her face. “Have I ever told you how to write stories when you do them for the Harbor Courier ?”

“No, but then I’ve read the way you write reports.” Sunny looked around the car. “I was almost expecting to see your friend Val Overton in here.”

“Why would you say that?” Will said sharply.

“She was at the crime scene with you,” Sunny pointed out. “Apparently it was okay for her to be around.”

“Val is a trained investigator,” Will explained. “We worked together on a fugitive task force when I was with the state police up by the border.”

“We seem to keep bumping into people from your past,” Sunny said. “First Abby Martinson, and now this federal marshal. Did you have a crush on her, too?”

Will laughed. “You haven’t seen Val in action. She’s a big gal, and I’ve seen her take down even bigger guys than me.”

“Somehow, that doesn’t reassure me,” Sunny told him.

“Strictly business,” Will assured her.

Sunny decided to change the subject. “So, did you find out who the dead guy was?”

Will shook his head. “No wallet, no ID.”

“So you have to go with fingerprints.”

He nodded. “Which always takes a lot longer than it does on the TV cop shows.”

“I thought of something when Lenore Nesbit was questioning me. The guy in the freezer was wearing a raincoat. So was the guy who went after Shadow.”

Will glanced at her from behind the wheel. “You think the two may be connected?”

“I don’t know,” Sunny replied. “But I do know better than to stroll the streets of Kittery Harbor in just a raincoat during winter.” As if to underline her thought, a sudden blast of wind actually made the car shake a little. “Did the body in the freezer have a beard? Maybe you could have Zach Judson take a look at him.”

“Zach told me he only got a glimpse of the guy outside your office,” Will said. “As for the fellow in the freezer, his face isn’t exactly recognizable. He took two shots in the back of the head. The exit wounds—trust me, you don’t want me to draw you a picture.”

But Sunny was thinking of something else. “Shots in the back of the head. Execution style. In a fish shop? Why break in there in the first place?”

“Well, it’s quiet, and the freezer would be pretty much soundproof,” Will said. “I hate to tell you this, but the New Stores are hardly Fort Knox. Why did Ollie put the gate on the store next door to your office? Or did Neil do it?”

“Ollie had it installed, hoping to lure a better class of tenant.” Remembering the elaborate shutters protecting stores in New York, Sunny shrugged. “It’s window dressing really. Or rather, it only protects the door, not the windows. If anybody really wanted to get into those stores, they could do it pretty easily.”

“Yeah, but a broken window draws attention,” Will said. “Better to go in the back way. The rear doors are metal, but you could get through them if you were determined.”

“I’ll bear that in mind in case I forget my key,” Sunny told him. “I have to admit, when I saw the body, the first thing I thought of was Madman Mel.”

That got a laugh from Will. “From what I remember of Mel, our friend in the raincoat seems a bit on the skinny side.”

Sunny nodded. The would-be pillow magnate always looked as if he had a couple of his products stuffed under his shirt. “Maybe he fell on lean times—literally—after he lost his store.”

“Well,” Will promised, “I’ll have Mel checked out, although I think it’s a long shot.” They were on the local streets in Kittery Harbor by now. He pulled up in front of the New Stores. Sunny gave him a quick kiss and stepped out onto the street. Kittery Harbor Fish had its gate down now, with crime scene tape festooned across the entrance.

Huh, Sunny thought as she turned to the MAX office, I’d have sworn I turned off the lights.

As she went to put her key in the lock, she discovered the door was open, too. She stepped inside, her hand going for her cell phone, when she spotted Ollie sitting behind a desk.

“You scared me for a moment,” Sunny said, then she realized that her boss had company.

Val Overton sat in the visitor’s chair, flashing her brilliant smile in Sunny’s direction. “Just sitting here, passing the time with Ollie.”

Ollie looked as though he’d have been happier passing time with a rattlesnake. “Seems as though Marshal Overton hasn’t tracked down the party she’s supposed to serve. I offered to help, but she won’t tell me who it is.”

Translation, Sunny thought, I’d do anything to make her go away, but she won’t.

“Now, honey, I explained that,” the marshal said in a sweet voice. “How do I know you might not be partners with the fella I’m after?”

Her tone left Sunny wondering which “fella” Overton was after right now—the person to be served or Ollie. Judging from his expression, Ollie wasn’t sure, either.

“So I’ve been trying to get a grip on the general state of business in these parts,” Val went on. “Since Ollie seems to be a mover and a shaker, I thought I’d pump him a little.” She smiled that high-wattage smile again. “You own all these stores?”

“Yeah, this used to be my dad’s—a soda fountain and candy store,” Ollie said. Sunny could remember herself as a kid, sitting on a stool and sipping some sugary concoction through a straw.

“When I came back here with a little capital, I was able to buy the whole property. Several of the tenants are long-established businesses.”

Like Judson’s Market, Sunny thought.

“But the fish store is new—or is it all just refurbished?” Val asked. “When I was in there, everything looked brand new.”

“No, it’s all newly installed,” Ollie said. “Quite an investment for the tenant.”

Speaking of which . . . Sunny spoke up. “I didn’t get a chance to talk with Neil Garret about the rent—considering what happened.”