Софи Райан - The Whole Cat Аnd Caboodle

“Liz is right,” I said, leaning forward and propping my forearms on the table. “You’re not a fool. You trusted the wrong person, who took advantage of that.”

“You could have told us,” Charlotte said gently.

Maddie looked up at us all again. “I was humiliated. I didn’t want anyone to know, and then once I lied I had to keep telling the same story.” She took a deep breath and let it out. “There’s something else I have to tell you, about the day Arthur died.”

“Go ahead,” Liz said. “We’re not going to judge you.”

Maddie managed a half smile. “Thank you. This is a little complicated because it involves someone else.”

“Just start at the beginning,” I said.

She nodded and took a deep breath. “I knew,” she said.

“Knew what?” Charlotte asked, although I think we knew the answer.

“I knew that Arthur was a con artist.”

“How did you find out?” I asked.

“It was after I gave him the twenty-five thousand to invest. I kept waiting for the latest financial statement to arrive and it didn’t. So I did some research into the fund.” She swallowed hard. “I should have done that in the beginning. The entire thing was a house of cards, and the more I thought about it, the more I didn’t see how Arthur could have been duped. So I did some research on him, too.”

“What did you find?” Rose asked. I could see the concern in her blue eyes.

“At first, nothing,” Maddie said. She was picking at a loose bit of skin on her index finger with her thumb. “He used different names, and most of the women he conned were too embarrassed to tell anyone. You saw the article in the paper. Then I was talking to one of the organizers of the fund-raising dinner where Arthur and I met. She asked me his name. She said she was talking to a friend of hers who thought she recognized him. And I knew. I just knew. I called the woman. Her name is Aleida Scott.” She paused, pressed her lips together and swallowed again. “I invited Arthur for lunch and the two of us were going to confront him. Together. We planned to tell him that we’d go to the police with our stories if he didn’t give the money back—not just ours, but everyone’s.”

“What went wrong?” I asked, reaching for my coffee.

Maddie continued to pick at her thumb. “At first nothing. Aleida arrived early. She seemed a little nervous but I didn’t think there was a problem. She stayed inside and I got Arthur settled on the patio. When I went back in she was gone. Her car was gone and she wasn’t answering her phone.”

Charlotte glanced at me. “That’s why it took so long to make lunch.”

Maddie nodded. “Yes. I was phoning every number I had for Aleida and checking the window to see if she’d come back.”

“She lost her nerve,” Liz said.

Maddie looked at her. “She doesn’t want her family to find out. She’s afraid they’ll make her give up her home and management of her money.”

Liz shook her head sympathetically.

“You have an alibi,” Rose said.

Maddie shook her head. “No.”

“Yes,” Rose insisted. “Did this other woman, Aleida, see you make the coffee?”

Maddie thought for a moment. “Yes. I poured her a cup and then I poured one for Arthur.”

“What did she do when you took it out to him?”

“She stood by the window and watched me. She wanted to see Arthur before she came out to the patio.”

Rose was smiling. “So, she drank the coffee after you made it and she saw you take it to Arthur—without making a detour into your garage for any pesticide. Maddie, you have an alibi.” Rose looked at me. “Sarah, am I wrong?”

“It’s not perfect,” I said, tracing the rim of my cup with one finger. “The police could argue that Arthur had a second cup of coffee after Aleida left and Maddie put the napthathion in that. But I think it’s more than enough reasonable doubt.” I turned to Maddie. “You need to tell all of this to Josh right away.”

Charlotte put both of her hands over Maddie’s. Liz pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. “You can use my phone,” she said.

Maddie shook her head. “You don’t understand. I talked to Aleida. She still doesn’t want her family to find out.” Her voice was edged with anxiety. “She won’t vouch for me. I have an alibi that won’t be one.”

Chapter 20

“Then we’ll go talk to her and change her mind,” Rose said.

Liz looked at her across the table. “It’s not that simple, Rose.”

“It’s not that complicated, either,” she said. “This woman knows Maddie didn’t kill Arthur but she’s keeping quiet because she doesn’t want to look foolish. If she really understood what’s at stake she’d go to the police. So it’s up to us to explain it to her.”

I leaned against my chair. Rose did make it sound simple.

“Maddie, is it possible that Aleida put something in Arthur’s coffee?” I asked.

Maddie shook her head. “No. She didn’t touch it, and when I came back in, her car was gone.”

Rose pushed back her chair and stood up. “Who’s coming with me?” she asked.

Charlotte reached a hand across the table. “Sit down, Rose. You don’t even know where the woman lives.”

In some perverse cosmic coincidence, the door to the sandwich shop opened then and Alfred Peterson walked in. A look of triumph gleamed in Rose’s blue eyes.

“Alfred will find her,” she said.

Maddie reached out and caught her arm. “You can’t do this, Rose,” she said. “You can’t make Aleida talk to the police. She’s afraid of what her family will do.”

Rose brushed off Maddie’s hand. “I understand what you’re saying,” she said. “But that doesn’t change anything. You going to prison for something you didn’t do is a lot worse than your friend looking like an old fool to her family.” She looked around the table at the rest of us. “Maybe the rest of you are willing to stand back and do nothing but I’m not.”

I knew that determined look in her eye and that shoulders-squared stance.

“Drew Barrymore wouldn’t sit around and do nothing,” she said. And then she tossed her hair, or she would have if she’d actually had enough hair to toss.

Jess leaned sideways. “Drew Barrymore?” she whispered in my ear.

“Charlie’s Angels. It’s a long story,” I said, rubbing the knot that had suddenly tightened in my left shoulder.

Rose made her way around the table and headed for the door of the sandwich shop. Mr. P. smiled when he caught sight of her. She grabbed his arm. “Alfred, I need your help,” she said without stopping, pulling him along toward the door.

Jess twisted in her seat, one hand on the back of my chair, to watch the little drama being played out behind us. “What’s she doing?” she asked.

I picked up my coffee cup. “Wait for it,” I said softly.

Mr. P. looked a little startled but he was nothing if not game—and totally smitten with Rose. “All right,” he said.

A few feet from the entrance Rose slowed down. “In case you’re not paying attention—and none of you seem to be—this is where you all come after me.”

I pushed back my chair and stood up. “And there you go,” I said to Jess.

She grinned back at me. “This is better than HBO.”

Liz lifted a hand. “Rose, don’t get your panties in a bunch,” she said. She turned to Maddie. “She’s like a dog with a bone. She will find this woman and end up on her doorstep. It’s worth asking her one more time to help you. So let us go with you.”

Charlotte nodded.

Maddie looked up at me.

I pointed over my shoulder with one finger. “Do you really think she’s going to give up?” I asked.

“I’m not,” Rose said. She wouldn’t turn around.