Софи Келли - A Tale Оf Two Kitties

“Bread machine made the bread,” Harry said.

“It’s good,” I said. I could taste molasses and I thought seven-grain cereal.

“He’s a good cook,” the old man offered. “Baffles me why he can’t get a woman.”

“Don’t start,” Harry warned.

His father paused his spoon in midair. “When did I stop? I’ve been telling you for years that you need a woman.”

Harry glanced at me and I saw a smile pulling at his mouth. They’d had this conversation dozens of times before. “Doesn’t seem to be working for you,” he said.

“That’s because you’re bull-moose stubborn.”

“Dad, did you ever hear the expression ‘People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones’?” Harry asked.

“Is that your way of saying you think I’m stubborn?”

“Yes,” Harry said.

The old man shook his head. “Every bit of your stubbornness comes from your mother, may she rest in peace.”

I was losing the struggle not to laugh. A bit of carrot went down the wrong way and I started to cough. I reached for my water glass.

“You all right?” Harry asked.

I nodded.

“Okay, no more talking about who has all the stubborn genes in this family,” he said. “I don’t want Kathleen to choke to death.”

“Fine with me,” Harrison said. He turned to me. “Anyone figure out who killed Leo yet?”

“Marcus is working on it,” I said.

“I hope he’s getting some help,” he said.

I shot him a look but didn’t say anything.

“How many enemies could Leo have had in town? He hasn’t lived here in close to twenty years.”

“It doesn’t mean someone couldn’t still have a problem with him,” I said.

I watched Harry out of the corner of my eye. His head was bent over his food but he was clenching his jaw. Maybe it was none of my business, but I needed to know what Harry’s beef had been with Leo Janes. I leaned forward and looked directly at him. “Like you, for instance.”

His head came up and his eyes met mine and I saw a flash of anger in his gaze.

Harrison was shaking his head. He swore and then immediately looked at me and apologized. “I told you to let that go,” he said.

“Let what go?” I asked.

Harry pushed his bowl away. “Kathleen, no offense, but it’s not really any of your business.”

I set my spoon down. “You had an argument with Leo at my library, so you pretty much made it my business.” I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Harry, I don’t for a moment think you had anything at all to do with Leo’s death, but that doesn’t mean that whatever had the two of you so angry didn’t.”

His shoulders were rigid and I found myself hoping I hadn’t permanently ruined our relationship. “It doesn’t,” he said.

“Then why keep it a secret?”

“You know damn well I’m going to tell her if you don’t,” Harrison snapped.

Harry held out both hands. “Be my guest.”

The old man looked across the table at me. “You know Ruby’s grandfather, Idris Blackthorne, used to run a poker game out in that shack he had in the woods by Wisteria Hill?”

I nodded.

“I played a few times, probably a few times more than I should have,” Harrison said. “I got in over my head one night.” He made a face. “I thought I had a good hand, a sure thing, and those kind of things rarely are. I lost my watch. To Leo.” He shook his head at the memory. “Few years later when I had a bit of money I tried to buy it back from him.”

“He wouldn’t sell it to you.”

“No, he wouldn’t, and if I’m being fair I was a bit of an asshole so I can’t really blame him.”

His son gave a snort of derision. His father let it pass without comment.

“So you were arguing over that watch?” I said to Harry. I was confused. So much anger over an old watch that had belonged to his father didn’t make sense to me.

He pulled a hand across his mouth. “He told me he wasn’t even sure he still had the watch but he’d take a look when he had the chance. He said he didn’t see what the big deal was.”

“That makes two of us,” Harrison commented.

I saw a flash of anger again in Harry’s eyes but his voice was quiet and steady when he spoke. “Do you remember where you got that watch?” he asked his father.

“Your mother got it for my birthday,” Harrison said. And then recognition spread across his face. He swore again. “It was the last gift she bought me before she had that stroke.”

Now I got why the watch was so important.

Harry let out a breath. “Dad, I’ve tried to be supportive of your relationship with Peggy Sue. Hell, she got you to go for a checkup, which is more than Larry and I have ever been able to do, so in my book she gets points for that. I want you to be happy.” He swallowed. “And I’m damn glad we have Elizabeth, no matter how she came into our life.”

The old man nodded but he also hung his head. Harry’s younger sister, Elizabeth, was the result of a relationship Harrison had had when his wife, Harry’s mother, was in a nursing home after a debilitating stroke that eventually ended her life.

“But I don’t want my mother to be forgotten. I thought if you had the watch, maybe you’d remember her once in a while. When I heard Leo was in town it seemed like a good chance to try to get it back.”

Harrison’s expression changed. “Remember her once in a while? There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of your mother. I loved her with everything I had. And yes, I’m grateful to have Elizabeth and to be part of her life—which by the way is thanks to Kathleen—but I’m ashamed of how I betrayed your mother.”

I wrapped one arm around my midsection and pressed the back of my hand to my mouth. I’d handled this badly. I’d upset two people I cared about for nothing. Harry’s argument with Leo Janes had nothing to do with his murder. “Harry, I’m sorry,” I said. “You’re right. This is none of my business.”

“No,” he said. “ You’re right. There’s more and I shouldn’t have been keeping it to myself. At my age I should know better.”

“I don’t understand,” I said.

“Day before he was killed Leo called me at the house. He said he’d found the watch and he asked if I could do something for him. He said he’d give me Dad’s watch whether I helped him or not.”

“So what did he want?” I asked.

“Well, it didn’t make sense, but Leo wanted me to put him in touch with Lisa.”

“What for?” Harrison said, frowning. Lisa was Harry’s ex-wife.

Harry tented his fingers over the top of his water glass. “I don’t know. I figured it had to have something to do with insurance.” He looked at me. “Lisa’s a claims adjuster for Activa Life,” he said.

“Did you talk to her?” I asked.

“I did. I explained that he was giving me Dad’s watch. She knows about it. I asked if she’d talk to Leo.” He looked from his Dad to me. “I told her she didn’t have to help him but I’d appreciate it if she’d talk to him. She said she would. That was it. Pretty much.”

“Did you talk to Leo again?” I asked.

“I called him with her number. He told me to come over and pick up the watch.” He rubbed a hand over his bald head.

“You were there, the night he was killed. I passed you on the way over there. It was raining.”

Harry nodded. “I rang the bell but he didn’t answer the door and yes, I was mad when I left.” He looked at his father then. “I didn’t kill Leo.”

“Good Lord, we know that!” Harrison exclaimed.

I nodded. The idea that Harry could have killed Leo Janes or anyone else was unthinkable.

Harry went on to explain he’d talked to Marcus. Footage from a security camera on a nearby house confirmed how quickly Harry had been in and out. He wasn’t a suspect.