Софи Келли - Paws Аnd Effect

I nodded again. “They were friends in college.”

“You’re looking for information.”

The conversation was beginning to feel like a tennis match. Serve and volley. Serve and volley.

“Yes,” was all I said.

“So what? You think Ernie could have killed that woman?”

At least I wasn’t going to have to play any games. “I don’t know. I don’t know the man—he doesn’t have a library card. But you know him. What do you think?”

He laughed. “I don’t have a library card, either. Does that mean I’m flawed as a human being in your eyes?”

Out of the corner of my eyes I caught sight of our waiter, coming from the kitchen. “You’re generous when it’s a good cause, like Reading Buddies, but you don’t like to waste money. I don’t see that as a flaw. Also, you’re a big fan of Vin Diesel and you wanted to be a lawyer.”

I’d timed it perfectly. Michael arrived then with the pizza and our plates. Simon waited until we each had a slice before he spoke.

“Very good,” he said. “How did you do that?”

I took a bite of my pizza before I answered. It was good, with a thin, crispy crust, tomatoes, onions, salami, fresh herbs and wonderfully stringy mozzarella. “This is good,” I said.

Simon didn’t say anything but “I told you so” was written in the expression on his face.

I set my fork down. “So how do I know so much about you? I’m observant. You don’t have a library card, but you do borrow things on Mia’s card. You’ve watched every movie in the Fast and the Furious franchise more than once.”

“Maybe Mia’s the fan,” he said.

I shook my head. “She likes fantasy and Japanese anime. So it has to be you who likes Vin Diesel. You could have bought those movies or downloaded them but you didn’t. That would be a waste of money when you can borrow them for free. But you did give us money for Reading Buddies. That says you’re frugal but not cheap.”

“And law school?”

“Scott Turow and a lucky guess. You’ve read everything we have that he’s written and requested two books we didn’t have. And I know Mia wants to be a doctor.”

For a moment he didn’t say anything. Then he laughed. “Very good, Kathleen. I’m impressed. And I’m not easily impressed.”

I cut another bite from my pizza. “I answered your question but you didn’t answer mine.”

“Do I think Ernie could have killed that woman?”

I nodded.

“Ernie Kingsley is a junkyard dog who would sell out his own mother to make a deal. But I don’t think he’d kill someone to make a deal.” His expression turned serious. “He does have a temper, though. Last year he was at some business lunch at a restaurant in Minneapolis. I don’t know any of the details, but things got a little heated, some punches were thrown, the police were called. Then it all went away.” He held up his left hand and ran his thumb over the end of his middle finger, implying, it seemed to me, that money had made everything go away.

“Have you considered that squatter?” Simon asked. He glanced in the direction of the bar and once again the waiter seemed to appear out of nowhere, this time with another glass of sparkling water for Simon. “Could I get you another?” he asked me.

I shook my head. “No, thank you. I’m fine.” I turned my attention to Simon. “What squatter?”

“There’s a guy living in the woods out there, close to the lake. He claims his family owned that land a hundred years ago and it was taken from them illegally. I don’t think there’s anything to his claims. In fact it looks like he’s nothing but a deadbeat dad trying to avoid supporting his kids.” He didn’t try to hide the contempt in his voice.

“I know the natural-resources people have had a couple of run-ins with him and I heard that the guy came after Ernie with an ax. Guy has this old truck with some kind of camper thing on the back that he’s living in.”

Hope’s words came back to me: “The medical examiner thinks she was hit by a car, then the body was moved and she was . . . dropped over.”

Maybe this was the answer. Maybe this man, this squatter living in the woods, was the person who killed Dani. Maybe he’d hit her by accident and panicked.

“Thank you, Simon,” I said. The knot that had been in the pit of my stomach since the night Hope showed up at my door loosened.

“I’m glad I could help,” he said.

We spent the rest of the meal talking about Reading Buddies. He seemed genuinely interested and once again I thought that behind the somewhat arrogant exterior there was a pretty nice guy.

Before we parted ways in front of the hotel Simon took out a business card and scribbled something on the back of it before handing it to me. “My cell phone number. If I can help with anything else.”

I headed back to the truck and drove up Mountain Road. A furry-faced committee of two was waiting in the kitchen.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” I said, dropping my briefcase and shoes under the coat hooks. “I was talking to Mia’s father. I may have something that can help find whoever killed Dani.”

I bent down to pet them both. Hercules sniffed my hand and then narrowed his green eyes in suspicion. Owen’s whiskers twitched and he gave a loud and somewhat huffy meow.

“Yes, I had supper with him.” The cats exchanged a look.

“Mrr?” Hercules asked. I knew what that meant. I’d heard it enough times.

“Pizza,” I said.

Hercules made a sound a lot like a sigh. Owen, on the other hand, put on his indignant face and made a point of turning his head and looking away from me.

“It was the only time he had available and it’s not as though I could call you.”

Hercules tipped his head and looked in the direction of the living room, where the phone was.

I put my face close to his and scratched the spot where the white fur of his nose met the black fur from the top of his head. “You don’t have opposable thumbs,” I said.

Beside him Owen gave an audible sigh. I reached over with my free hand and scratched behind his left ear. Then I leaned closer to him. “I’m sorry,” I said. He still wouldn’t look at me.

I got to my feet, got the stinky crackers and put a stack of four in front of each cat. Hercules looked up and smiled at me. Clearly all was forgiven. Owen sniffed the crackers as though he hadn’t eaten hundreds if not thousands of them by now. He eyed me briefly, then nudged the pile over with his nose and began checking the crackers one by one.

Poet Alexander Pope wrote, “To err is human; to forgive divine.” In my experience a few sardine crackers helped getting to the divine.

7

I made it to tai chi just as Maggie formed the circle. I hurried across the room, hopping on one foot as I pulled on my shoes, and slid in next to Roma. She smiled a hello, already swinging her arms along with Mags and the rest of the class.

It was good to set aside everything else that had been on my mind and just concentrate on the form and my Push Hands for the duration of class.

“How are you?” Roma asked after we’d finished the form at the end. “And how’s Marcus?”

Roma had been out of town at a convention for several days. Marcus and I—along with Harry Taylor—had taken care of the cats while she was gone.

“We’re both okay,” I said, patting my face with the edge of my shirt. “There’s something I wanted to ask you. Do you have a second?”

“Sure. What is it?”

I led her over to the windows at the end of the room. “Do you know anything about some guy living in an old truck somewhere near Long Lake?”

Roma nodded. “His name is Ira. He’s been out there for the last five or six months. Do you think he had something to do with what happened to Marcus’s friend?”