Блейз Клемент - The Cat Sitter And The Canary

“Tell me what happened.”

At that point, I felt like my brain was swimming in a jar of formaldehyde, but I took a deep breath and did the best I could. I told her everything, starting with my arrival at Caroline’s house the day before, and how Charlie had immediately torn through the living room and scratched the parlor door trying to get to the front foyer. I told her how Caroline had gone on a boat trip with her new boyfriend, and how I’d already tried to call her but she hadn’t answered, and I told her how I’d fallen asleep on the lounge chair by the pool with Gigi on my lap, and how the woman who lives in the house next door had sent a young man over to find me.

The entire time I was talking she didn’t say a word, and even though her pen was poised over her notepad, she didn’t write anything either. She just watched and listened, occasionally dropping her chin and tilting her head to the left, as if she were conferring with an imaginary bird on her shoulder, but as soon as I mentioned the young man next door, she stopped me.

“Which house did he come from?”

I pointed at the big mansion next to Caroline’s. “This one here. It’s…”

“Elba Kramer. Yes, I know.”

“He said he was her assistant.”

Detective Carthage glanced at McKenzie. I imagined he was probably impressed she knew right off the bat who lived next door. He was taking notes on his cell phone, the glow from its screen illuminating his face as his thumbs fluttered over the keyboard with a speed only a teenager could master. His eyes were pale green, his skin clear and smooth, and I wondered whether he was old enough to drive a car, much less be a homicide detective for the Sarasota Sheriff’s Department. He’d probably never even heard of Elba Kramer.

If McKenzie noticed his reaction, she didn’t let on. “Have you spoken with Ms. Kramer recently?”

I said, “No. I know who she is, of course, but we haven’t spoken.”

“And yet she knew you were here. Any idea how?”

I shook my head. “I just assumed Caroline must have mentioned I’d be here taking care of Franklin and Gigi while she was away. Or maybe she saw my car in the driveway.”

“And this young man that came over, what did he want?”

“He said Ms. Kramer wanted to know if I took care of birds and if I could come over and meet with her when I was done.”

“What did he look like?”

“Short. Boyish face. Dark hair and olive skin, kind of Middle Eastern looking … or maybe Indian?”

“And did you?”

“Did I…?”

She sighed impatiently. “Did you go over and talk to her?”

“No. Like I said, I’d fallen asleep. It was late and I needed to get Charlie home, so we made plans to meet tonight. In fact, I need to go over there now and let her know what’s happening.”

“In fact, no.” Without skipping a beat, she turned to Detective Carthage, “Matthew, put somebody on Ms. Kramer’s house until I get a chance to speak to her and her husband. If they want to leave, have somebody get me immediately.”

He just stood there, staring at his screen with his thumbs paused in midair.

After a moment, McKenzie said, “Right,” and then raised one hand like she was hailing a taxi.

Deputy Morgan trotted over. “Ma’am?”

She lowered her chin. “Would you please put somebody on the house next door until I get a chance to speak with them?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And…”

Detective Carthage had gone back to typing on his phone, but without looking up he said, “And if they want to leave, have somebody come get us right away.”

Morgan said, “Yes, sir,” and crossed the sidewalk to one of the deputies standing at the bottom of the driveway.

McKenzie flipped the pages of her notebook over and closed it. “This assistant, did you get his name?”

I said, “He gave me his card. It’s an unusual name … Rajinder.”

“And do you know if Caroline and Elba Kramer are friendly?”

“No. I mean, Caroline’s never mentioned her.”

“Alright, then.” She dropped her notebook back down in her shoulder bag and then glanced briefly at Detective Carthage. “One more thing before we go in. Other than Caroline and the people next door, does anyone else know you’re here?”

I thought for a moment. “Not that I know of. Caroline might have told her boyfriend, but other than that…”

“No one? You’ve not told anyone else?”

“No.”

“You told me when you arrived you thought something was wrong.”

“Yes.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Why is that?”

“Nothing happened in particular, but as soon as I got out of the car, I just had a weird feeling. I didn’t really think much of it at the time, but yesterday when I was here, we went in the side door, and Charlie ran straight through the house to the parlor. By the time I got there he had scratched up the door to the front foyer.”

She frowned. “Why did you go in the side door?”

“Because…”

I’m not sure why I hadn’t thought of it before, but now it seemed completely obvious. Everything had happened so fast, and I’d been so worried about Gigi and Franklin and Caroline that I hadn’t stopped to put all the pieces together.

I said, “Mr. Scotland!”

She tilted her head to one side. “I’m sorry?”

“There was a man here. I completely forgot. He was on the porch when I drove up yesterday. He was standing on Caroline’s porch, and he had a big suitcase. He thought I was somebody else … he called me Ingrid.”

I had a view of the house across the street just over Detective McKenzie’s shoulder, and the entire time I was talking I was staring at its darkened windows. It dawned on me that Mr. Scotland might very well be in there now, watching.

I lowered my voice. “I’m pretty sure he had knocked on Caroline’s door, because he told me nobody was home. He said he was here on vacation, I think from Scotland because he had a really strong accent, and I think he had just arrived, but I didn’t see a cab or anything. He said he was renting a house here, but he got confused because he lost his glasses at the airport. He showed me the piece of paper where he had the address written down. It said number seventeen. This is number fifteen. So he had the right number, but the wrong house.”

Without turning around, McKenzie drew her notepad back out of her bag. “We’re talking about the house across the street, yes?”

I nodded.

“And after he showed you the address, what happened then?”

“We talked for a little bit, but Charlie was barking at him pretty bad. That’s why I went in the side door because it’s faster and I was trying to get him inside so he wouldn’t bark any more.”

“And what did this Mr. Scotland look like?”

“Handsome. Tall, with curly hair sprinkled with gray. He had a suit on, white shirt and tie. His shoes were really shiny and black. Clean shaven. Black eyes.”

“Did you get his name?

“Rupert. Rupert Wolff.”

She clicked the tip of her pen and made a few notes on her notepad while Detective Carthage typed into his phone.

I said, “With two f ’s. He said the second f was for friendly .”

Neither of them looked up when I said that, but almost in unison they each raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, and the address was written on a page from a prescription pad, or at least that’s what it looked like.”

Detective McKenzie said, “And did you notice anything unusual about this man. Did he seem nervous or upset?”

I thought for a moment and shook my head. “No. The opposite actually.”

“How so?”

“He was real smooth, kind of flirty. I got a little creeped out by him, actually.”