Софи Райан - No Escape Claws

“We were hoping she could help with the book project,” I said. “I don’t suppose you kept any of that old paperwork?”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Sarah. It’s long gone.”

I nodded, hoping my disappointment didn’t show on my face. Turns out it did.

John turned his attention to Liz. “How long have we known each other?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” she said. “Thirty years maybe. Whenever Jack took you on as his grad student.”

“Closer to forty,” he said. “So how about both of you stop this song and dance about writing a book and tell me what the hell is really going on?” I saw a brief flare of anger in his eyes.

“Tell him,” I said.

Liz glared at me. “Fine,” she said. She looked at John. “I think that Rob Andrews was set up. I don’t think he embezzled the money from the camp.”

John blew out a breath. He set the box on the corner of the workbench and then gave us his full attention.

“You need to go to the police,” he said.

“Sarah and I are trying to find enough evidence to do that,” Liz said. I noticed she hadn’t mentioned Michelle. “So I need you to keep this to yourself for now. Please.”

John made a face and rubbed his jaw. “If you’re right about this, then who did take the money?”

“We don’t know,” I said. “We were hoping Marie Heard might be able to help.”

“Do you have any notes from the board meetings back then?” John asked. “Or copies of the annual reports?”

“I have both.” Liz flicked a bit of lint from the dark purple tunic she was wearing. It seemed that I could feel the frustration coming off of her.

“If it will help, I can take a look at them again. Maybe I’ll see something this time now that I know what I’m looking for.”

“Thank you,” I said.

He gave me a tight smile and looked at Liz. “I’ll keep your secret for now—but not from Isabel.”

“I’m sorry, I should have been honest with you from the start,” she said.

“You really think Rob Andrews was innocent?”

“I do.”

“I’ll look at everything,” he said. “Maybe there’s a connection I didn’t see.” He eyed Liz for a long moment. “You’re going to have to bring the police in on this at some point.”

“Just not yet,” Liz said. “Please.”

John hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “All right.” He picked up the box holding the light shade and headed for the back door.

“He’s right,” Liz said. “I should have told him what was going on from the beginning.”

“You’ve told him now,” I said. “And maybe he’ll see something in those papers that we didn’t.”

“I hope so,” she said, “because without Marie I’m not sure what my next move should be.” She shook her head. “I feel bad that she died and none of us knew. I can’t believe Wilson didn’t stay in contact with her.”

“What if you tell Wilson what you’re trying to do?” I said. I looked down at my shoe and realized I had what looked like chocolate sprinkles on the toe, probably from the back of that customer’s SUV. “Maybe he would have some idea who could have taken the money and set up Rob.” There were also bits of dried grass and what seemed to be dog hair stuck to my sleeve. I brushed them away. That SUV could use a good vacuuming, which reminded me that my vehicle probably could as well.

“Do I look like I’ve taken leave of my senses?” she asked.

“No,” I said a little uncertainly. This had to be a trick question.

“First of all, Wilson is incapable of keeping a secret.” Her mouth twisted to one side. “He’s my brother and I love him but sometimes I’d like to whack him on the back of the head with my purse. If something doesn’t affect him directly it could be happening right under his nose and he wouldn’t notice. And no, that short attention span is not because I knocked him with a swing when he was four.”

“You knocked your brother off a swing?” I said.

Liam had once spun me so fast on a roundabout at the park that I’d thrown up.

On him.

“I didn’t knock him off a swing,” Liz said. “I might have knocked him in the head with a swing. But honestly, it hardly left a mark. Though you would have thought he’d fractured his skull the way he fussed.”

I laughed and slung an arm around her shoulder. “Did I ever tell you about the time Liam spun me on the roundabout at that little park down the street from Mom and Dad’s house?”

• • •

Liam and Nick headed out for lunch about twelve thirty. Rose and Mr. P. went with them. Mr. P. had managed to find enough trim and baseboard from Cleveland to finish the sunporch. In return we’d given the picker a box of old tools that had been in the first of the two storage units. Everyone was happy.

Charlotte and Avery were working in the store. Charlotte was showing china to a young woman who was getting married at Christmastime while Avery was ringing up a sale at the cash desk. To my surprise a man was buying two boxes of old first-grade readers that had to have been hanging around the shop for at least six months. Elvis was sitting in the tub chair being his usual charming self.

I went up to my office, dropped into my desk chair and picked up my coffee. It was cold. I could go get a cup and then add a few items to the store’s Web site, I thought. I could go downstairs and talk to Avery about ideas for a new window display. I could eat the last blueberry streusel muffin in the staff room—assuming Nick or Avery hadn’t already inhaled it. But what I really wanted was one of Mac’s pep talks where he told me that Rose and crew would in fact pull this investigation out of the fire the way they’d saved every other case they’d taken on.

I looked at my phone lying on the desk. Mac had said if I needed anything to call him. “So why don’t you call him?” I said.

There was a loud murp from the floor in front of my desk. Then Elvis launched himself onto the desktop. He licked a paw and ran it over his ear, then cocked his head and looked inquiringly—at least that’s how it seemed—at me.

“He might be busy,” I said. I rubbed the space between my eyebrows. I was having a conversation with a cat. A cat who probably had no clue what the heck I was even talking about.

The cat in question ducked his head and nudged the phone a bit closer to me. Okay. Maybe he did know what I was talking about.

I picked up the phone, punched in the number Mac had given me and wished I didn’t feel like I was back in high school.

Mac answered on the fourth ring. “Sarah. Hi,” he said.

I couldn’t help smiling. “Hi yourself,” I said. “Is this a bad time?”

“No, this is a good time.” I heard the squeak of what sounded like a desk chair. “I’m eating a piece of coffee cake and drinking a cup of coffee and thinking how much better Rose’s coffee cake is and how much I like the coffee made from the beans Mr. P. gets from that roaster in Kennebunk.”

“So you miss us,” I teased. “Or at least the food and the coffee.”

Mac laughed. “Rose’s coffee cake is very good, but I do miss all of you. What’s up?”

Elvis had stretched out on the desk. Now he rolled on to his side and closed his green eyes. Cat for My work here is done .

I swiveled around in the chair and leaned back, propping one foot on the edge of the desk. “Liam is here working in the sunporch.”

“That’s good,” Mac said.

“There are two new windows in and a big hole covered by a tarp because Liam, Nick, Rose and Mr. P. have gone to lunch.”

He laughed. “They’ll be back. I swear.”

“I have visions of coming in Monday morning to find a raccoon sitting in the tub chair and a family of seagulls on top of that big gold standing mirror.”