Софи Райан - The Whole Cat Аnd Caboodle

“Six thirty,” she said.

I pulled the elastic out of my hair. “I’ll see you there,” I said.

Rose and Avery decided to walk to Liz’s and set out together. Mac wanted to put another coat of varnish on the top of the table. I was carrying a box of old sheet music to the car when Nick pulled into the lot.

He smiled when he caught sight of me.

“Hi,” he said, walking over to me and taking the box out of my hands.

“Hi,” I said. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to give you a heads-up that the police found a safe-deposit box belonging to Arthur Fenety. In Rockport.”

I exhaled loudly and shook my head. “Was there anything of Maddie’s in the box?” I asked.

“I can’t answer that, Sarah,” he said. “I probably shouldn’t be telling you about the safe-deposit box as it is, but I figured news would get around town pretty quickly, anyway.”

It was as close to a yes as I was going to get.

I stuffed my hands in my pockets. “Thanks,” I said.

He smiled. “You’re welcome. I had fun last night.”

“It’s been a long time since you were up on that stage.”

He shifted—self-consciously it seemed to me—from one foot to the other. “It felt good.”

I smiled. “It sounded good, too.”

His smile got wider. “I’m going to pretend you’re not just trying to flatter me.”

“I wasn’t.”

Nick pulled his keys out of the pocket of his Windbreaker. “I’ll let you get back to work,” he said. “Tell Jess next time the chips are on me.”

“I’ll do that,” I said. I couldn’t exactly tell him he was the reason they’d actually been on me last night.

Nick headed for his SUV and I walked over to Mac. Behind him I could see Elvis prowling around the shed.

Mac was wiping down the top of the table. “Was Nick looking for his mother?” he asked.

I shook my head. “The police found Arthur Fenety’s safe-deposit box.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“I have a feeling it might be bad.”

Chapter 19

I took Elvis home, fed him his supper and turned on the TV, setting the sleep timer so it would shut off when Jeopardy! was over. I felt a little silly but I told myself setting up the television so my cat could watch a game show wasn’t any weirder than sticking a Santa hat on his head at Christmas, and people did that all the time.

I managed to fit in a run and a shower and still get to McNamara’s on time. The ladies were sitting by the window. Rose waved when she caught sight of me. It was busy inside—a typical Friday night—and the line went all the way back to the door. I squeezed my way inside. Charlotte stood up and gestured to the empty chair at the table. She mouthed something but the only word I caught was food . That was enough for me. I headed over to them, dodging elbows and oversize coffee cups.

“There was no clam chowder left,” she said. “So I got you broccoli-cheese soup, and roast beef on a whole-wheat roll.”

“You’re an angel,” I said, hugging her. “I need to talk to you about something,” I whispered against her ear.

She nodded almost imperceptibly as she let me go.

I pulled out my chair and sat down, smiling across the table at everyone. “How are you?” I asked Maddie.

“I’m all right,” she said. “I heard about your trip to the airport. Thank you.”

“Anytime,” I said. I studied her face, looking for any sign that she was lying, but I couldn’t see one. And she was lying. I was sure of it. Not about killing Arthur Fenety, but about something. The timeline just didn’t work out. But I needed to talk to Charlotte before I said anything. The broccoli-cheese soup was steaming with crisp croutons and slivers of Swiss cheese on top. Charlotte had also gotten me a cup of coffee, and for a few minutes I ate and let the conversation swirl around me.

I’d eaten about half my soup when Jess walked in. She waved and walked over to us.

“Hi,” she said, reaching down to swipe the pickle off my plate.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I was hungry. I kind of lost time sewing.”

“Get something to eat and come and sit with us,” Rose urged.

Jess shifted her gaze to me.

I nodded.

“I’ll be back,” she said.

I ate a little more of my soup. Charlotte reached for the teapot. “We need more hot water,” she said.

“I’ll go,” Rose offered.

Charlotte shook her head. “Sit. You were on your feet all day.”

“So were you,” Rose said.

I pushed my chair back. “She wants an excuse to look at the cupcakes, Rose,” I said, picking up my cup. I looked at Charlotte. “I’ll come with you. I need more coffee.”

“Bring enough cupcakes to share with the class,” Liz said.

Charlotte and I joined the end of the line, which had gotten shorter in the previous five minutes. Jess was already at the counter, ordering.

“What is it?” Charlotte asked.

I made a face. “I don’t exactly know how to say this.”

“It has to do with Maddie, doesn’t it?”

I nodded. “Nick stopped by for a minute after you’d all left. He wanted to give us a heads-up that the police had found Arthur’s safe-deposit box.”

She pressed her lips together for a moment. “What was in it?”

I folded my hands around my empty coffee mug. “He couldn’t tell me, but I got the feeling they found something that belonged to Maddie.”

Charlotte’s gaze immediately went to the table. “But Maddie said she didn’t give Arthur anything.”

“I don’t think she’s being completely honest about that. Or about how long she was in the kitchen.”

Charlotte looked at me again. I could see the worry etched into her face. “I’ve been wondering about that myself. You don’t think she . . . ?”

“No. Maddie didn’t kill Arthur, but she is hiding something.” I exhaled slowly. “I think it’s time we found out what it is.”

Charlotte glanced over at the table where Rose was making room for Jess and another chair. Then she looked at me and nodded slowly. “Okay,” she said.

We went back to the table with a fresh pot of tea, half a dozen dark-chocolate cupcakes with mint green icing, and coffee for me.

I waited until they all had a fresh cup of tea before I spoke.

“I saw Nick just before I got here,” I said.

“Did he tell you anything about the investigation?” Rose asked, pausing with her cup halfway to the table.

“The police found Arthur’s safe-deposit box in a bank in Rockport.” I was watching Maddie out of the corner of my eye and I saw the color drain from her face.

Rose set down her cup “Did they find any of the jewelry that belongs to Jim Grant’s mother?”

“I don’t know what they found. Nick couldn’t tell me,” I said. I looked across the table. “Do you think there was anything of yours in that box?” I said to Maddie.

She shook her head. “No. I told you. I didn’t give Arthur anything.” Her face was very pale.

Charlotte reached across the table and laid her hand on Maddie’s. “The police are going to find out.”

Rose looked flabbergasted. “Charlotte!” she exclaimed.

Liz frowned. “What are you talking about?” she said.

Charlotte just looked at her friend and the color flooded back into Maddie’s face. Maddie’s gaze met mine across the table at me. “They’ll probably find my father’s railway watch in that box. At least I hope they do.”

“Oh, Maddie,” Rose said.

“How much money did you give him?” I asked.

“Twenty-five thousand dollars.” She looked away. “It’s true. There’s no fool like an old fool.”

“Balderdash!” Liz said. “You should be able to trust the people you love.”