Софи Келли - Paws Аnd Effect

“Doing what?”

“Making a case for the kind of thing he’s working against now.”

I started filling our bowls. “Maybe he had a change of heart and that’s why he went to work with American Land Trust.”

Hope shrugged. “I know it makes me sound cynical but in my experience those kind of things don’t happen very often.”

I set a steaming bowl in front of her. “This smells good,” she said. “Chicken noodle is my favorite, although at my house it generally comes out of a can.”

I took the place opposite her. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Owen drop the chicken head, stretch and head for the table. “You could make this,” I said. “The slow cooker does most of the work. If you decide you want to let me know and I’ll show you what I do.”

“Seriously?” Hope asked, spoon halfway to her mouth.

I smiled. “Absolutely.”

We ate in silence for a couple of minutes, then Hope set down her spoon. “Kathleen, how much do you know about Dani McAllister?”

“I only met her once,” I said. “Marcus and the others told me some stories about her, but that’s about it.” There was something about the slight frown on her face that made me curious about her question. “Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know if this matters and I’m not even sure it’s something I should pursue . . .”

“But . . .”

“I think Dani was gay.”

I set my own spoon down, hoping nothing in my expression gave me away. “Have you asked Marcus?”

She shook her head, making her dark curls bounce. “No. It’s none of my business unless it has something to do with her getting killed, and so far I haven’t found any evidence of that. I don’t want to air her personal life because if she was gay she kept that information pretty private. But we are running out of possibilities for what happened to her.”

I got up and started the coffee to buy myself a little time. “What makes you think you’re right?”

“She had a book of essays in her backpack written by women sharing their experiences coming out. It just made me wonder.” She suddenly stopped, closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head. “I have a book about decomposition in my backpack,” she said. “What does that say about me?”

“That you’re a good detective,” I said. I hesitated for a moment. “And you’re right about Dani.”

“How did you find out?”

I explained about my online research and Marcus’s confirmation, without saying anything about his and Dani’s so-called secret.

Hope crumbled a cracker into her bowl. “I think it’s sad that Dani felt she had to hide who she really was from everyone.”

I nodded. “Me too.” No matter how crazy my family may have made me over the years, I knew they loved me unconditionally. I couldn’t imagine how Dani had to have felt, thinking that she’d lose her grandmother’s love just by being honest.

“Do you know the woman’s name? The one you think might have been involved with her?”

“Tanith Jeffery.”

“I should get in touch with her.” I didn’t answer right away and Hope looked up from her soup. “You don’t think it’s good idea.”

I sighed. “It’s just . . . what would you say?”

“Well, I’m not going to say, ‘Hey, you think your friend was killed because she was gay?’ if that’s what you’re worried about, Kathleen.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t say anything.

Hope looked away, smoothing a hand over her hair. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I know that’s not what you were thinking.”

“I wasn’t,” I said. “It just seems to me that this woman cared about Dani. I don’t want to see her get hurt for no good reason.”

Hope nodded. “I get that. I do. In police work we ask a lot of people a lot of questions and, yeah, sometimes those questions stir up some painful emotions. But sometimes they help us catch the bad guy, and for the people we talked to, that’s worth it.”

It took no time, using her cell phone, for Hope to find Tanith Jeffery’s number. “Okay, I’m going to put this on speaker so you can hear both sides of the conversation, but please stay quiet.” She glanced down at the cats. “You too.” Owen yawned and headed for the basement. Hercules sat up straighter, his green eyes on the phone in Hope’s hand. “We good?” she asked.

I nodded. Hercules murped softly.

Hope punched in the number and I pulled up both legs and hugged my knees. Tanith Jeffery had a voice that reminded me of singer Bonnie Raitt. Hope explained who she was and why she was calling.

“I’ve been debating whether or not I should call you,” Tanith said. “It wasn’t common knowledge but . . . Dani and I were a couple. I feel as though I’ve been doing my grieving in secret.”

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” Hope said. “Is there anyone you can think of who might have wanted to hurt her?”

“I’ve been asking myself that question since she . . . since it happened. And I can’t think of anyone. Everyone liked her. I know people always say that when someone dies but it’s the truth.”

Hope and I exchanged a look. The pain in Tanith Jeffery’s voice was raw.

“Ms. Jeffery, are you familiar with Travis Rosen?” Hope asked.

“Dani’s college boyfriend, yes. He replaced the engineer who was helping with the field research on the project she was opposing. She’d been trying to find the right time to tell him about us. It was . . . it was hard for her. I don’t suppose there’s any way you’d know if she did.”

“I’m sorry,” Hope said. “I can’t answer that.”

I was impressed with her kindness. I could hear the empathy in her voice and I was sure Tanith Jeffery could as well.

“What about John Keller?” Hope asked.

“Yes,” Tanith said slowly.

I had my chin propped on my knees but I raised my eyes to Hope’s. Like me she’d heard the change in the other woman’s voice.

“How do you know him?”

“They work together.” She cleared her throat. “Worked, I mean.”

It was still there in her voice, a tiny bit of reticence.

“Ms. Jeffery, is there anything I should know about Mr. Keller?” Hope asked.

“They’d known each other since they were twelve or thirteen,” Tanith said.

Hope rubbed her shoulder with one hand. “Just for a minute, don’t think of me as a detective. Think of me as another woman. Is there something you’d want me to know about him?”

She exhaled slowly. “It’s really just a feeling.”

“So what’s the feeling?” Hope asked.

“I thought there was just something a little off about him. Dani didn’t agree with me, by the way.”

“Off how?”

Tanith sighed again. “It was just little things, really. For instance, they were in touch with each other a few times a year but he didn’t tell her he was applying for the foundation job until he got it. Why would someone do that? Why wouldn’t you mention you know someone at a place where you want to get hired?”

“Did he give any reason for that?”

“He said he didn’t want to take advantage of his friendship with Dani.”

Hope leaned forward and propped an elbow on the table. “Was there anything else?”

“He moved into her neighborhood. She said she’d see him at the grocery store, at the gym, getting coffee. He just seemed to be everywhere.”

I looked at Hope. Her mouth was pulled into a tight line. I wondered if she was thinking what I was thinking: that John’s behavior was more than odd. It sounded creepy.

“Detective Lind, do you think it’s possible that John Keller had anything to do with Dani’s death?” Tanith asked.

“I don’t know,” Hope said. “But I promise you I’m going to find out.” She gave the woman her cell number, urging her to call if she thought of anything. Then Hope ended the call and set the phone down on the table.