Софи Райан - A Whisker Оf Trouble

“And you think this out-of-town person was the one who defrauded Edison Hall?”

Caulfield wore a heavy gold signet ring on his right hand and he twisted it around his finger now. “No. But I think there may have been a plant in the audience.”

I was sure my confusion was written all over my face.

“Several people told me that there was a woman at the seminar, not anyone from North Harbor, who was talking about how she preferred to invest in something tangible instead of stocks and bonds.”

“You think she was connected to the scam in some way.”

He gave a slight shrug. “It’s occurred to me that it’s possible.”

Liz was on her way back to the table and I could see our waiter coming as well with her dessert.

“None of what happened is your fault,” I said. “But I do think you should share this information with the police.” I cocked my head to one side and smiled up at him, hoping I was convincing.

“I could be wrong,” he said.

“But you could be right,” I replied.

“Fine. I’ll talk to them.” He smiled at me.

Liz returned to the table just as the waiter reached us with her dessert. We talked in general terms about the plans for the harbor front while she ate her pie and I learned a lot about the project that I hadn’t known before. Caulfield pushed back the cuff off his pale blue shirt and checked his watch as Liz set her fork down.

“Liz, it’s been a pleasure, even with the murder accusation,” he said, getting to his feet. He turned to smile at me. “And, Sarah, I enjoyed meeting you. If I can help you with anything else, please call me.”

“I will. Thank you,” I said.

He leaned over and kissed Liz on the cheek. “If you decide to invest in the development, call me before you sign anything,” he said.

“Thank you for joining us,” she said.

He smiled and headed for the exit.

Liz looked around for our waiter. When she caught his eye she nodded. He nodded in return. The two of them seemed to have some kind of code.

“I do a fair amount of Emmerson Foundation business here,” Liz said by way of explanation when she caught me watching her. Once she’d paid for our meal, we walked out to the car. Liz fastened her seat belt and turned to look at me with a self-satisfied smile. “We make a good team,” she said.

I fastened my own seat belt and stuck the key in the ignition. “You could have been a little more diplomatic,” I said.

“What did you find out?” she asked.

“Why do you think I found out anything?”

She held up a finger. “Number one, I saw your heads together, so I know he told you something.” She held up a second finger. “Number two, I did a damn fine job of setting up your rapport.”

I turned to look at her. “Excuse me?” I said. “What do you mean, you set up our rapport?”

She smoothed a hand over her blond hair. “I was rude. You were appalled. You and Channing bonded. He confided in you. Stop stalling and tell me what he said.”

I pointed my index finger at her, stabbing the air with it. “You did that on purpose.”

She looked surprised. “Of course I did,” she said. “You mean you’re just figuring that out?”

“You could have told me what you were going to do,” I muttered as I pulled out of the parking lot.

“I’m sorry about that,” Liz said. “But I think it worked out better this way. So, what did he tell you?”

I repeated Channing Caulfield’s story about the money management seminar.

“He could be onto something,” Liz said.

“I had the same thought,” I said. I stopped at the corner and used the opportunity to look in her direction.

She gave me a cat-that-ate-the-canary smile. “We’re a good team,” she said.

I shifted my gaze back to the road. “Do not try to tell me that we’re Xena and Gabrielle again,” I said sternly.

Liz laughed. “Fine, but I think you like the detective business.”

“No, I don’t,” I said, keeping my eyes straight ahead.

Liz laughed again and it occurred to me that no matter how hard I tried to stay out of the detecting business, it somehow kept pulling me back in.

Chapter 12

Mac drove in behind me as we pulled in to the parking lot back at the shop. Rose got out of the passenger side of the SUV carrying Elvis.

“That cat is perfectly capable of walking,” I said.

Rose stroked his black fur. “He’s such a good boy. I don’t mind carrying him,” she said. “A couple of squirrels had set up house in the back porch. Elvis convinced them to move elsewhere.”

The cat looked at me and licked his whiskers.

“Tell me he didn’t eat them,” I said.

Mac shook his head. “He didn’t, but he did give them a pretty good aerobic workout.” He reached over and scratched the top of the cat’s head. “I found the hole where I think they got in and I filled it with steel wool.”

“Thanks,” I said.

“That’s not all,” Rose said. She held out a colored brochure. “He found this on one of the shelves of that bookcase in the living room and brought it right to me.”

I took the folded sheet of paper from her. “It’s for Feast in the Field,” I said, turning the paper over in my hand.

Mac frowned. “Do you mean that wine and spirits tasting event last fall?”

“It could be a clue,” Rose said.

I looked at Elvis. If it were possible for a cat to smile smugly, that was what he was doing. “I don’t think so,” I said. “This isn’t from last fall’s Feast in the Field. It’s from the year before.”

“It could still be important,” Rose insisted.

“See what Mr. P. thinks,” I said. I didn’t like to point out that the brochure smelled like fish, which was probably why the cat had been drawn to it. I turned to Mac. “So the kitchen is finished?”

He nodded. “And we can bring the bookcase back on Monday. We came back a bit early today because I heard from Liam.”

“You’re going to finish the drywall?” I said, looking over toward the old garage.

Mac nodded. “That’s the plan. He has some time. I wanted to take advantage of it. He should be here in a couple of hours.”

“If you can get the ceiling done, you and I could finish the rest.”

He pulled a hand over his neck. “Liam offered to help with the crack-filling, too. I told him that’s between the two of you.”

I laughed. “He thinks he’s better at it than I am. He says it’s like frosting a cake, which he also claims he’s better at.”

Mac smiled. “Sarah, no offense but do you know how to make a cake?”

“We’re way off the subject,” I said just a little defensively.

His smile got wider. “Then let’s change it altogether. How was lunch?”

We started across the parking lot toward the back door. “Useful,” I said. “Channing Caulfield definitely didn’t kill Ronan Quinn.”

Rose was in front of us. She looked back over her shoulder at me. “Why do you say that, dear?” she asked.

“Well, first of all because he told us he didn’t when Liz asked him.”

Rose immediately turned to look at Liz. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, what did you do?” she said.

“I didn’t do anything,” Liz retorted. “It was all part of my plan.”

“Your plan to what?” Rose asked. “Let a killer get away?”

Liz rolled her eyes. “You’re overreacting, Rose,” she said. “I was trying to help Sarah make a connection with Channing and I did an excellent job of that if I say so myself.” She turned to look at me. “And it seems like I’m the only one who is saying it.”

“Interesting,” Mac said, almost under his breath. I shot him a warning look and turned my attention to Rose.

“First of all, Liz is right. Like I just said, he didn’t kill Ronan Quinn.”