Кэти Дэйли - The Case Of The Cupid Caper

“Agreed. I think I have enough for my warrant.” He looked at Margo. “Thanks for sharing what you knew with us.”

“No problem. Happy to help.”

“Remember not a word to anyone,” he cautioned. “The last thing we want is to tip Lissa off before we can get the warrant to search her property.”

Cass was going to be held up for much of the afternoon, so I decided to go home and check in with Paisley and Gracie. When it looked like Cass might have time for lunch, I’d arranged for Gracie to pick up Paisley and bring her over to the house to work on the sewing room. Now that it appeared that Cass would have to cancel lunch, I supposed I’d just go home and write the articles I’d gathered notes on that morning. It was while I was putting the finishing touches on my craft fair article that it occurred to me to wonder if Lissa drove a blue sedan. I remembered that Cass had told me that one of Mayor White’s neighbors had told Cass that they’d seen a blue sedan on the street just before seeing the smoke from the fire. I figured Cass would be busy, but I also figured it wouldn’t hurt to text him. He texted back and confirmed that Lissa did indeed have a blue sedan and that he’d found large cans of gasoline that he believed she’d used to accelerate the fires in her garage. He’d picked her up and was about to head back to his office for the interrogation. I had to admit I’d like to be a fly on the wall in that room, but I guess I’d have to get the details from Cass after the fact.

“Gracie helped me to make a cute top.” Paisley held a simple sleeveless pullover with no snaps or buttons up in front of her. I could see it was a good pattern to use to start her off. There were a few seams to sew, but nothing complicated and nothing requiring pleats or elastic.

“That’s a really awesome top,” I replied. “It’s going to be so perfect with those pink shorts you have once summer gets here.”

Paisley grinned. “I can’t wait to try a vest. Or a beach bag. Or maybe a skirt. Gracie said she has beginner patterns for all of those.”

“And we’ll make all of them in the next few weeks,” Gracie promised. She glanced at me directly. “I was thinking of setting up a second station so that Paisley and I can work on separate projects at the same time. Do you still have the machine I gave you that you never really used?”

“I’m sure it’s in the attic. I’ll go and look for it.”

Paisley and I had cleaned the attic a while back, and I was certain I’d seen that old machine somewhere. Gracie had really tried to instill in me a love of cooking, sewing, and even gardening, but I’m afraid I only had room in my life for one mistress — music.

Of course, that was then, and this was now. Maybe I should expand my horizons. Not sewing. Never sewing. But maybe cooking or gardening.

It took a good thirty minutes to find the machine, but eventually, I did find it. I carried it downstairs and then helped set it up on an old desk that Gracie had refurbished. The desk had drawers Paisley could use for the patterns and supplies for the project she was working on, and it had a large surface where she could spread out and not have to drape sections of her project in her lap while working on another section.

“I can’t believe I have my own sewing machine,” Paisley beamed.

I had to admit it did my heart good to see her so happy. She’d had a rough time as of late, and I really did want to do whatever it took to bring that smile to her face more often.

“You know, I could use a bag to carry my laptop in. Something simple with a shoulder strap. Maybe made out of denim. If you think that is something you might be able to work into your sewing schedule, I’ll buy the fabric.”

Paisley looked at Gracie. She nodded.

“I think we can do that,” Paisley said proudly.

“You know, I bet something like denim purses and denim computer and book bags would sell at a place like the craft fair I went to this morning. If you try it out and decide it’s something you enjoy making, maybe the two of us could team up. I’d buy the supplies, and you’d make the bags and purses. We could sell them at an event like the one I attended this morning and put the proceeds into a college fund for when you get older.”

She smiled. “I want to go to college. I’m going to be a doctor.”

“I thought you wanted to be a lawyer,” Gracie said.

“Or a musician,” I added.

She shook her head. “No, a doctor. A cancer doctor. I want to find a cure, so no one else’s mom has to die.”

Chapter 14

Cass called just as I was getting ready to take Paisley home. He’d had a really long day, and hadn’t gotten around to eating anything so hoped I’d be able to join him. I’d eaten earlier with Gracie, Tom, and Paisley, but I told him if he wanted to come over, I’d heat up a plate of Gracie’s leftover pot roast with potatoes and carrots. He’d responded by saying that he was on his way.

I knew that Cass liked extra gravy, so I heated that separately. By the time he arrived, I had the meat, potatoes, veggies, gravy, and biscuits ready to serve. I knew Cass enjoyed a beer with his meal, but he looked so exhausted, and since he still needed to drive home, I gave him a glass of iced tea instead.

“So how’d your conversation with Lissa go?” I asked after he’d had a chance to eat a portion of his meal.

“It was interesting.” He swirled a piece of potato in his gravy and popped it in his mouth.

“Interesting?”

He nodded as he broke a biscuit in two and slathered it in butter. “It took some doing, but she eventually admitted to having shot both Dale and Frank. She also admitted to having set both fires.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Lissa told me that she’d had a tough life to date, and after moving to Foxtail Lake, she’d begun seeing Dale as a patient. At the time, he’d been dating the woman she’d told us about who’d been obsessed with him.”

“So, she did know her name.”

He nodded. “She knew the names of all the patients she told us about. I’m not sure why she acted like she didn’t, but I don’t suppose that matters now. What does matter is that shortly after she met Dale, he dumped the other patient and began coming onto her. Lissa shared that the reason she’d made an appointment with him in the first place was because of her insecurities over men after suffering a bad breakup with a man she considered to be the love of her life before she moved to Foxtail Lake.”

“Wow, that’s rough. I can’t believe someone who is an experienced therapist would take advantage of his position that way.”

“I guess it takes all kinds. Anyway, Lissa told me that she’d been trying to find someone to have a meaningful relationship with for years, and was devastated and even considered suicide, until her brother, Mark, convinced her to move to Foxtail Lake and make a new start. She said she tried hard to get back in the game after her breakup and even applied to Ms. Cupid, but as you suspected, Ms. Cupid never contacted her about a match. So when she met Dale, she was primed. He made his move, and she fell completely and obsessively in love.”

“And then?” I asked.

“And then after they had dated for a while, a new woman came into his life. I’ve spoken to this new woman, and she is gorgeous. I mean, supermodel gorgeous.”

Okay, now I was jealous. “And.”

“And apparently, according to Lissa, Dale dumped her even though he had no chance with this other woman. After Dale broke things off between them, she really became obsessed, calling him multiple times a day, finding reasons to increase the number of sessions she was paying for, and even sitting outside his home watching him as he went about his day. At some point, she realized he was never going to be hers, so she decided that if she couldn’t have him, she didn’t want to live and once again began thinking about suicide. She said she eventually realized that if anyone was going to die, it should be him, so she shot him and then set his house on fire.”