Софи Райан - The Whole Cat Аnd Caboodle

I nodded. “She wanted to come back. I told her there isn’t anything she can do. She’s going to call you.”

“There isn’t,” Rose said. “Josh Evans is a very smart young man. He’ll get this straightened out lickety-split.”

“I don’t think it’s going to be that simple,” Liz said.

“What do you mean?” Rose asked. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her lean forward in the seat.

“Think about it, Rose. The police have evidence—of some kind. They wouldn’t have arrested Maddie without it.”

“You think she killed Arthur?” Rose said, her voice tinged with surprise.

“That’s not what she said,” Charlotte interjected, holding up one hand.

Beside me Liz shifted in her seat, turning toward the backseat. “Thank you,” she said to Charlotte. “I know Maddie didn’t kill Arthur. I’ve already said that and I’m not saying it again. What I am saying is that the police have some reason they think she did. They must know he didn’t die of natural causes. We need to find out what makes them think Maddie killed him and find some way to show them they’re wrong.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” I started to say, but they talked right over me.

“You’re right.” Rose was nodding so vigorously she looked like a gray-haired bobble-headed doll. “I’m sure Josh must have some idea why the police arrested Maddie. They’d have to tell him, wouldn’t they? We should talk to him.”

“And Maddie, as well,” Charlotte added.

I glanced in the rearview mirror again. I knew that look in Charlotte’s eye. She was already making a mental list of things to do.

“There’s no time like the present,” Liz said.

“We could bring Maddie back with us,” Rose said. “I don’t think she should be all alone, anyway.”

“I’m hoping she’ll stay with me,” Charlotte added.

“Josh’s office probably has their own investigator, you know.” I didn’t like the direction the conversation was going in.

“I’m sure they do, dear,” Liz said, sending me a look that seemed a little . . . condescending before she turned back to her friends.

Thankfully we were almost at the courthouse. I found a parking spot in the nearby lot and we walked down the sidewalk to the building.

“Is Christopher going to be here?” Liz asked Charlotte.

Maddie’s son, Christopher, was a mining engineer who traveled all over the world.

Charlotte shook her head. “He’s in northern Russia.”

“Does he even know?” Liz asked, smoothing down the sleeve of her suit jacket.

Charlotte slid the strap of her purse over her shoulder. She was wearing a navy suit with a bright print scarf at her neck. She looked like the school principal she used to be. “I don’t know. Maddie said she called him, but . . .” She shrugged and gave her head a little shake.

Josh Evans was waiting for us inside the courthouse. He smiled and walked over when he caught sight of us. “Sarah, I would have known you anywhere,” he said, taking the hand I offered in both of his.

“Is that good or bad?” I asked, smiling back at him.

“All good,” he said.

I would have recognized Josh, as well. His sandy hair was in the same short, spiked style he’d had when he was twelve, except now it was styled with a lot more expensive cut. He was tall and lanky but he’d lost his geeky awkwardness. He still wore black-framed glasses, except the frames were a designer name now and they weren’t held together with duct tape at one corner. His blue eyes were keen behind his glasses, taking everything in. Even as he smiled at me I felt myself relax, just a little.

Josh said hello to Liz, Rose and Charlotte. Then he quickly explained what was going to happen. “After the charges are read the judge will ask Mrs. Hamilton how she pleads,” he said. “She’ll say not guilty. The prosecutor and I have already talked about bail. I’ll agree with her suggestion and I don’t see why the judge will have any problem with it.”

He gave us an encouraging smile. “Things should go pretty quickly.”

And they did.

Maddie came into the courtroom looking a little tired and very serious but she smiled when she saw us all sitting in the front row. Josh was right about the bail and very quickly we were all in the hallway outside the courtroom.

Charlotte took both of Maddie’s hands in hers. “Are you all right?” she asked, her eyes searching Maddie’s face.

Maddie nodded. “I’m fine. I’m just . . . glad to be here with all of you.” She smiled at Charlotte, Rose and Liz in turn and then she turned to me. “Sarah, you sweet girl, I don’t know how to thank you,” she said. “Josh told me you sent him.”

I reached out and touched her arm. “All I did was make a phone call. It was Rose’s suggestion.”

Maddie looked at us all again. “I don’t know what I’d do without all of you,” she said.

I could see the glint of unshed tears in her eyes. I remembered what Mac had said to me last night when I’d said pretty much the same thing to him. I smiled and patted Maddie’s arm. “It doesn’t matter,” I said, “because you’re not going to find out.”

Josh touched my elbow and we moved a few steps away from the women. “You and Mrs. Elliot found Arthur Fenety’s body,” he said.

I nodded. “Yes.”

“I’ll need to talk to you at some point.”

“Just let me know when.”

“So, you’ve talked to Michelle.” A hint of a smile played across his face.

“I have.” I glanced over at Maddie again. Surrounded by her friends she didn’t look quite as tired as she had in the courtroom.

“Michelle’s fair, Sarah,” Josh said. “And she’s a good cop. If we come up with anything, she’ll investigate. She wants the truth.”

“That’s good,” I said.

He pushed back the sleeve of his suit jacket and checked his watch. It had a wide black leather strap with a silver dial, and on the black face I saw something familiar.

“Wait a minute. Is that Darkwing Duck?” I asked, leaning in for a closer look.

Josh grinned and held up his arm so I could get a better look. It was the purple-suited cartoon superhero on the face of his watch. Josh had been obsessed with Darkwing Duck when he was a kid. The summer he was nine he’d worn a purple cape everywhere. I guess it said something good about the majority of kids in North Harbor that he didn’t get beaten up once.

“It’s good to see you haven’t changed too much,” I said, grinning back at him.

He tugged his sleeve back down. “Sarah, most people in town remember the dorky little kid I used to be. It would be pretty difficult to get too full of myself.”

“You weren’t a dork,” I said. “You were quirky.”

“Quirky,” he said, nodding slowly. “Okay. I like that.” He glanced over at Maddie and the other women. I hoped they weren’t pumping her for information for their “investigation.”

“If you saw Michelle, then I’m guessing you saw Nick, as well,” Josh said.

I nodded. “I did.” I slid the strap of my purse back up onto my shoulder again.

“Heck of a first week.” Josh shook his head. “A murder investigation for his first case, and then he spent most of last night talking a suicidal teenager off the Memorial Bridge.”

“What?” I said. It didn’t sound like the kind of thing an investigator for the medical examiner’s office would be doing.

“He was going somewhere and he saw this kid who had climbed up on one of the girders of the bridge. He pulled over. She started talking to him and she wouldn’t talk to anyone else.”

That sounded like Nick: always the hero. And it explained why he hadn’t called me back. I wondered if Charlotte knew. I glanced down at my own watch. I really needed to get to the shop. I knew Mac could more than handle things, but I didn’t want to dump everything on him for too long.