Софи Райан - The Whole Cat Аnd Caboodle

“Yes, we do,” Rose said. “That’s why Maddie hasn’t told the police or even her lawyer about you. I know exactly what we’re asking. Please think about what you’re asking her to do if she keeps your secret.”

Aleida looked around her living room. “I’ve spent forty-one years in this house,” she said. She turned her gaze to Rose. “Do you have a house?”

Rose shook her head. “Not anymore. I live in an apartment at Legacy Place. It was my daughter’s idea.”

“Do you like it?” Aleida asked.

Rose shook her head. “No, I don’t. All my neighbors do is talk about their ailments and what store has prune juice on sale this week. But I love my daughter and I know she loves me.”

Aleida sighed. She looked at me. “You’re right. Madeline is a good person.”

I nodded.

“If it’s not too late and you can get her lawyer on the phone, I’ll talk to him.”

I had to swallow a couple of times before I could answer her because I could suddenly feel the press of tears at the back of my throat. “Thank you,” I finally managed to get out.

Rose and Aleida had stepped into the living room. I pulled out my phone and punched in Josh’s cell number.

“Hi, Sarah,” he said when he answered.

I explained quickly about Aleida and then I put her on the phone. She repeated pretty much the same story that Maddie had told us at the sandwich shop.

Rose took both of my hands in hers and grinned at me. “You did it, my darling girl,” she said.

I smiled back at her. “I think you did it,” I said.

She tossed her head, because she couldn’t really toss her hair. “Drew Barrymore would be so proud,” she said.

Josh arranged to meet Aleida in person the next morning at eleven o’clock. She handed my phone back to me. “I’ll be there. I give you my word.”

“We know that,” Rose said. “Would you have time for lunch afterward?’

“I think I’d like that,” she said.

I smiled at her. “ Thank you doesn’t seem like enough.”

“Thank you for showing me that I needed to do the right thing,” she said.

We said good night and headed for the SUV. Once we were on the sidewalk, Rose grinned and gave the car a big thumbs-up. Jess and Mr. P. high-fived and Liz nodded approvingly.

“She’s going to talk to the police?” Liz asked as I slid onto the seat.

“She’s already talked to Josh,” I said.

“What did you say?” Jess asked.

“We just reminded her what a good person Maddie is,” Rose said.

We headed back to North Harbor, with Rose making plans for a party to celebrate the charges being dropped against Maddie.

“Slow down a little,” I warned. “It may not happen right away.”

“Horse pucks,” she said. “They don’t have a case now.”

I left Liz at her house and headed for Legacy Place to drop off Rose and Mr. P.

“Are you headed home or do you want to come have a cup of coffee?” I asked Jess.

“Coffee sounds good,” she said. “Do you have any cookies?”

Cookies. This was getting embarrassing. I’d forgotten to get groceries again. I made a face. “Sorry.”

Jess grinned. “Not a problem,” she said, holding up a bag from the sandwich shop.

“When did you get those?” I asked.

“When you were telling everyone to use the washroom before we hit the road.”

“She always does that,” Rose said, unfastening her seat belt. “I’ll see you in the morning,” she said to me.

“Next time you guys go on a road trip I want to come,” Jess said.

“You’re welcome anytime, dear,” Rose told her. “Thank you for the cookies.”

“Are you coming up front?” I asked.

Jess shook her head. “I’m fine here.”

“You’re as bad as Elvis,” I said, shaking my head.

When we got to the house I stepped into the kitchen, turned on the light and found myself face-to-face, or, more accurately, face-to-whiskers with Elvis. He was sitting on the stool at the counter.

I jumped and sucked in a breath and Jess banged into my back. “You scared the bejeebers out of me,” I said. I put my face close to his and he licked my chin. “Cute does not work on me,” I warned. He licked my chin again, tipped his head to one side and blinked at me. “Nobody likes a smart-ass,” I said.

Jess leaned around me. “Hey, Elvis! How’s it shakin’?” Much to her delight he meowed and shook his head.

“You’re as bad as Liam,” I said.

Jess just laughed and picked up the cat.

Liz had called Charlotte and Maddie from the road, but I wasn’t sure if Charlotte had called Nick, and he deserved to know what was going on.

“I should call Nick,” I said.

“Okay,” Jess said. She headed for the sofa with the cat. “C’mon,” I heard her say to him. “We can sit over here and pretend we’re not listening.”

I took out my phone.

“Hi, Sarah. What’s up?” Nick asked when he answered.

“Maddie has an alibi,” I said.

“What do you mean, an alibi?”

I gave Nick just the facts, leaving out the details of our road trip. “She’s meeting with Josh in the morning and then they’re going to the police station,” I said. “This could be over by lunchtime.”

“I don’t think so,” Nick said. His voice was flat.

I frowned at the phone even though he couldn’t see me. “What do you mean?”

“Maddie doesn’t have an alibi,” Nick said. “This doesn’t prove anything.”

Chapter 21

“Yes, it does,” I said. “Aleida Scott drank the coffee and she saw Maddie take a cup to Arthur—without a detour to the garage to pour in a little pesticide.”

“It’s not that simple.” Nick exhaled loudly.

“I’m starting to really dislike that expression,” I said.

“Sarah, from what you’re telling me, Maddie and this woman could have been working together to kill Arthur.”

“Except that Maddie didn’t kill anyone,” I said tightly.

“I’m sorry,” Nick said. “I know that. I’m just telling you what Michelle will say.”

Anger flared in my chest. Maybe it wasn’t fair to Nick, but from my perspective all I could see was that he may have been an investigator for the medical examiner’s office, but that didn’t mean he knew for certain what the police would do. “And you know that how, Nick?” I asked. “You work for the medical examiner. Not the police. Have you talked to Maddie for more than a couple of minutes? No. Have you talked to any of the other women Arthur Fenety conned? No. Have you seen all the evidence? No again . You told me your job was to figure out how Arthur Fenety died and you’ve done that. It’s not your job to build a case against whoever killed him, so you don’t know what Michelle is going to say.”

“I understand that you’re frustrated,” Nick began. “But, like I said, it’s not that simple.”

I thought about Rose standing up at the table at the sandwich shop and marching indignantly for the front door to make a point.

“I’m not frustrated,” I said. “And it’s really simple: I’m angry.” Then I hung up. Well, actually I just ended the call. That was one of the frustrations of a cell phone: no receiver to hang up in righteous indignation.

I leaned back against the counter. Jess and Elvis were watching me. “I told you she’d hang up on him,” Jess said to the cat.

Elvis narrowed his green eyes at me, then looked at Jess and meowed.

“We’ll see,” she said.

My cell phone rang. I knew it was Nick before I checked. I let it go to voice mail.

“You were right,” Jess said to Elvis, stroking the top of his head.

He gave her a blissful kitty smile and leaned against her chest.

I dropped onto the couch beside the two of them.