Блейз Клемент - The Cat Sitter's Whiskers

She nodded. “Yes. Although Mona didn’t tell me herself. One of the neighbors saw a woman in a white sports car, a BMW, with local plates.”

My mind was spinning. “Then that’s it, right? You need to find that woman. If she—”

McKenzie smiled wanly. “Thanks, but we already did. It was a rental car leased under the name Cohen. It only took a few phone calls to trace it to her.”

“Who is she?”

“A tourist. She’s renting a condo here for the summer. She met Levi in a bar. They were drinking, and apparently he could be quite charming when he wanted to be. She came home with him, and…”

For the first time, I sensed a crack in McKenzie’s confidence. She always struck me as the type of person who held herself at a distance, keeping her cards close and never letting her guard down, but there was something she wasn’t telling me.

I said, “And…?”

She sighed. “I could certainly understand why a man might single Miss Cohen out in a bar. She’s quite beautiful, and I imagine it happens to her all the time, but … she appears to have been in a fight, and were it not for Levi’s past record, I don’t know if I would have believed her…”

“What do you mean, Levi’s past record?”

“… and her fingerprints are all over the trailer, so there’s no doubt she was here, but…”

“Detective McKenzie, what past record?”

“Dixie, it would appear that Levi may have tried to rape her.”

My jaw dropped open. “No. There’s no way.”

She tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes. “Why do you say that?”

“I don’t know. I mean, I admit I don’t know much about his personal life, but I can tell you without a doubt … I mean, I went to school with him. He’s lived here his whole life…” My voice trailed away. I could tell by the look on McKenzie’s face I was getting nowhere.

She folded her arms across her chest, almost like she was hugging herself. “Assault and battery. Two counts. And six counts of sexual assault, all within the past four years. Dixie, I’m afraid Levi may not have been the person you thought he was.”

I stepped back. “That’s not possible…”

“It’s true. In every case, his accuser dropped the charges, but you know as well as I do a woman could have any number of reasons for changing her mind that have nothing to do with the innocence of her attacker. Miss Cohen told me Levi was extremely drunk, so she managed to fight him off, and she has the scratches and bruises to prove it.”

I just stood there, shaking my head back and forth mutely.

McKenzie said, “They were seen at Hoppie’s Bar the night before. We’ll know more after we see the security video from the parking lot of the condo where she’s staying. She says she was home just after midnight, which, if the coroner’s evaluation is correct, would be hours before Levi was stabbed.”

I cringed.

The amount of blood in Levi’s trailer should have been enough to clue me in, but I think I’d been doing my best not to think about how he had actually died. This whole time, I’d just assumed he’d been shot, which for some stupid reason seemed less … I don’t know … less horrible. The idea that he’d actually been stabbed made me feel a little light-headed, and for a moment I felt like I might faint right there in front of McKenzie. She may have noticed, because she changed the subject immediately.

“Dixie, I asked you here because I wanted you to look at Levi’s car, but it wasn’t the only reason. Frankly, it’s not something I think we could’ve discussed over the phone…”

I just stared at her and nodded.

She cleared her throat. “Normally, this would be way out of line on my part, but I think in this particular case it’s warranted, and you seem to have established a certain … that is, it seems you know how…” She put her hands on her hips and looked down at the ground. “Oh, screw it. You know how to talk to people. And Mona trusts you. I’m afraid she sees me as the enemy, and I’m afraid she’s not telling me everything she knows. In fact, I’m certain of it. I’m wondering if you might be willing to talk to her again.”

I could feel my eyebrows slowly creeping up my forehead. I said, “So … basically, you’re asking me to do your job.”

She tilted her head to one side and the corners of her mouth rose slightly.

“Yes, Dixie. I suppose that’s exactly what I’m asking.”

31

When I opened the door at Tom Hale’s condo, I heard Billy Elliot’s toenails skittering on the parquet floor as he raced down the hall, and then once I got inside he pranced around in a circle, jumping up and lavishing me with kisses. There was a time when I would never have tolerated such behavior. He would have been required to sit quietly while I put my stuff down, and then when I was ready he’d be allowed to greet me, and with all four paws on the floor like a gentleman. But we’ve been friends for so long. We cut each other some slack now and then.

I found Tom out on the balcony overlooking the Gulf, sitting in his wheelchair with a book and a cup of coffee.

He said, “Billy wants me to tell you you’re late.”

I smiled. “Sorry, I had an early-morning meeting.”

“How’s your head?”

“It’s all better, at least on the surface.”

“That’s progress. Did you ever solve your earth goddess mystery?”

I leaned against the doorway and folded my arms over my chest. “Yeah. I did. The whole thing was a dream.”

He frowned. “A dream?”

I nodded. “Yep. The attack, the curtains, the whole kit and caboodle. Honestly, I think what happened is, after I fainted, my brain just decided to come up with a more entertaining explanation.”

Tom turned in his chair. “What?”

I shrugged. “Believe me, I don’t like it one bit. I was hoping if Mrs. Keller had started a collection of those figurines it might mean I hadn’t imagined the whole thing, but no such luck. As it turns out, if she’s collecting anything, it’s old jars of cornmeal.”

He slipped his glasses down his nose and peered up at me over the rims.

I waved my hand in the air. “I know. Don’t even ask. I’m done trying to figure it out.”

“Dixie, if I recall correctly, you told me you slipped on an orange peel.”

Billy Elliot raised his head off the floor and looked up at me, his ears pointing out like two radio towers.

I gulped. “I did?”

“Yeah, you did.”

“Oops. Sorry. I was probably afraid you’d think I’d lost my mind.”

“Well, it’s a little late for that.” He swung his chair around to face me. “Dixie, I saw something in the paper about a string of robberies in the area…”

I crouched down and rubbed the scruff of Billy’s neck. “Yeah, I heard about that, too, but trust me, this wasn’t one of them. The cops came and checked everything out. There was no break-in, nothing missing. It was all my imagination. I even saw two candles burning in the living room, and I dreamed the guy who hit me was wearing one of Mrs. Keller’s masks—a big scary thing with gnashing teeth and weasel eyes, like this…”

I made a face, trying my best to imitate Dick Cheney’s menacing grimace, but Tom was just staring at me blankly.

I said, “What?”

“Well … I don’t want to get you all riled up again, but it’s funny you say…”

I waited. Billy looked up and wagged his tail. “Funny I say what ? Come on, Tom, this dog needs some exercise.”

He closed his book and slowly laid it down on the table. Then he released the locks from his wheelchair and without saying a word rolled right past me. Billy offered a low-pitched, “Wuff!” as if to say, Let’s go! and then followed him in, leaving me standing there on the balcony all by myself.