Блейз Клемент - The Cat Sitter's Whiskers

I said, “Ethan, he was dead.”

He looked up, his eyes wide. “What?”

“Somebody killed him. When I knocked on his trailer door, it swung open and he was inside … in a pool of blood.”

His face went pale. “You’re telling me that somebody murdered Levi Radcliff?”

“Yeah, but … wait, how do you know his last name?”

He leaned back and ran his hands through his hair. “Wow. I know him.”

“You mean … you were friends?”

“No, I didn’t know him personally, but his father was a client. My grandfather represented him in court. He was an in-house accountant for a big management consulting firm, and he got accused of embezzling money.”

“Levi’s father?”

“It turned out he was moving hundreds of thousands of dollars to offshore accounts in the Virgin Islands, accounts that he’d set up himself with bogus companies. It was big news because he was already a rich guy.”

“Wait a minute. Levi’s father is rich?”

He nodded, but I noticed there was a faraway look in his eye.

“But Ethan, that’s impossible. I saw Levi’s house. He lives in a ratty old trailer home.”

“I know. After Levi’s dad went to prison for embezzling, his mom filed for divorce. Levi was just a kid then, probably five or six years old, and the divorce was nasty. There was a custody battle, which his mom finally won, but then there was a long fight over money and assets, and then the defense attorneys produced a prenup, and even though Levi’s mom said she’d never seen it before, her signature was on it and a handwriting analyst testified it was genuine, so the judge ruled against her and she and Levi ended up with nothing.”

“Wait. How do you know all this?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, this must have been decades ago…”

He looked down and rubbed the palm of his right hand with his left thumb. “I told you, his father was a client.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Why do I think there’s more to this story than you’re saying? Because it doesn’t make sense you’d know all this unless you spend all your spare time at work going through your grandfather’s old files.”

A wry smile formed on his lips. “Why do I think you missed your calling as a trial attorney?”

Ella had hopped up on one of the stools at the kitchen bar, and the entire time we’d been talking she was watching us with sleepy eyes, but now something had caught her attention outside, a bird or a squirrel maybe, and she was focused like a laser beam on the patio window.

I said, “And what did you mean when you said Levi’s dad was a rich guy?”

He shook his head. “Okay, but seriously, Dixie, this is just between you and me.”

“Of course. Who would I tell?”

He gave me a look.

“Good point. I won’t say a word to Judy.”

He looked down at his hands. “Levi’s dad killed himself three weeks ago.”

I gasped. “What! How do you know that?”

“Because I’m the executor of his will.”

I just sat there, staring wide-eyed at Ethan while all kinds of questions started bubbling up in my mind, most of which I knew he was probably not in a position to answer ethically.

I said, “He killed himself in prison?”

“No. Here in Sarasota. He only served three years at a minimum-security facility. Then when he got out he just picked up where he left off.”

“How involved could his estate be if he was so hard up he was stealing money from his employer?”

“Dixie. Poor people steal. This guy embezzled. He bought a twenty-thousand-square-foot mansion on Bird Key for his second wife, he’s got a condo on Miami Beach and another in Santorini, and he’s got more Swiss bank accounts than I can keep track of, along with all kinds of offshore companies and tax shelters. The dude was a millionaire ten times over.”

For once, I was speechless. And, of course, the first thing I thought was: Did Levi stand to inherit any of his father’s millions? Because if he did, I imagined Detective McKenzie would be very interested to know what would happen to those millions if, for example, Levi was unable to accept them.

I whispered, “Ethan…”

He nodded slowly. “Yep.”

16

Ella had hopped down off her kitchen stool and taken up a position on the windowsill. She was completely motionless except for her tail, which quivered slightly as she scanned the limbs of the trees outside. I was sitting in the chair opposite Ethan, and in the pregnant silence between us, my mind had turned immediately to Sasquatch. I mean, Mona Duffy … Levi’s fiancée.

Sometimes, when I meet someone new, I know right off the bat what kind of person they are. Whether it’s a sixth sense or gut intuition or what, I don’t know, but I can tell almost the way a cat instantly knows a friend or a foe.

Naturally, when I was standing on the steps of Levi’s trailer and heard the sound of Mona’s voice, I knew right away. I turned around and saw her indignant face staring up at me, and a tiny voice in the back of my mind said, Nice girl.

Sometimes I’m wrong.

Part of the problem is that I tend to be drawn to loony-birds like a moth to a flame, and vice versa. I’ve always imagined it’s somehow related to that old Hemingway Curse, because it definitely gets me in trouble sometimes.

Mona seemed about as unhinged as an old outhouse, and yet … There was something about her, something in her face, her eyes, that made me think she was more than the angry mask she presented to the world.

On the other hand, there’s nothing more dangerous than greed. If Mona Duffy was in a position to have access to a lot of money in the not-so-distant future … well, I shuddered to think what it might make her capable of.

Ella had given up on whatever creature was taunting her outside and had sidled up next to Ethan on the couch. She was kneading his lap with her two front paws and looking up at his face with an expression of rapturous affection while he absentmindedly ran his hand down her back. I realized he was watching me.

I said, “What?”

He shook his head. “Nothing. I’m just sorry you had to see Levi like that.”

I said, “I’m fine. I just feel bad for him, and for Mona, but also…”

“Also?”

“Well, there’s one more thing. It’s stupid, but basically Levi and I had a thing in high school … kind of.”

He frowned. “Huh? You never told me that.”

“Well, you never told me you were the executor of his father’s estate.”

He got up and came around to my side of the coffee table and sat down on the floor in front of me. “Oh, yeah. Good point.” He rested his head on my knee. “Remind me to have my secretary update you daily on all my clients.”

I flicked the top of his head with my index finger.

“Ouch!”

“Nobody likes a smart-ass.”

He grinned. “Yes, they do. So what do you mean, a thing? ”

“He’s the first guy I ever kissed.”

He looked up at me, genuinely surprised. “For real?”

“For real.”

“Okay, that’s kind of heavy.”

“I know, except not . It was ninth grade, we were waiting in the hall outside one of our classes. And for the record, I didn’t kiss him. He kissed me, and nothing happened after that.”

He put one hand on mine and smiled. “I’m not jealous, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I know.”

“But either way, that just makes it even sadder. It sucks.”

I ran my fingers through his hair and said, “I know,” again, but inside I thought, This is why I love you. Ethan has a talent for zeroing in on the heart of the matter, which I guess is what makes him such a good attorney, but it also makes him a damn good b -word.