Donally, Claire - Cat Nap (A SUNNY & SHADOW MYSTERY)

In a desperate leap, Shadow bounced into Sunny’s lap. But even there he wasn’t safe. Toby tried to climb up after him—not very successfully, his antics making Sunny, her dad, and Mrs. Martinson all laugh. Finally, Shadow swarmed to the top of Sunny’s chair and launched himself in a leap to the remaining chair in the room. He set himself on the chair back like a sailor clinging to a refuge while Toby circled mournfully around, unable to reach him. From the way Shadow’s tail lashed about, he didn’t find the situation funny at all.

Helena declined coffee or a snack and just sat chatting. The snow squall blew itself out in about forty-five minutes. But in that time it had deposited a fresh coating of a couple of inches on the dirty remains of the previous snowfall. The sunlight was definitely fading by now, and Mike offered Helena a lift home.

“Nonsense,” she replied. “It’s just a short walk, and Toby will enjoy a chance to play in the snow.” She put on her parka, attached Toby’s leash, and started down the drive. Mike stood in the doorway waving good-bye. Sunny stayed in the living room, approaching the chair that Shadow had appropriated, but when she went to pet him, he disappeared from under her hands.

A little skittish today, aren’t we? She turned around to find him. Maybe he’s smelling dog on me from my visit with Jane.

Suddenly Mike yelled and dashed out the door. Sunny followed, shivering in the frosty air. She saw Mike slipping and sliding along the snowy pavement to a dark form lying on the ground. Toby circled around, whining.

Sunny reached her dad as he helped Helena Martinson onto her knees. “Are you okay?” His voice was loud, agitated, making Toby spin around and huff at him. “Did that damn pup pull you off balance?”

“I’m all right,” Helena said in a breathless voice. “That tumble just knocked the air out of me for a second.” Then, more in her normal tones, she went on, “And no, Mike, it wasn’t Toby’s fault. I just hit a slippery patch, and my feet went out from under me.”

“Just take it easy and make sure everything’s okay,” Sunny said. She didn’t want to aggravate any possible injury by hauling the older woman to her feet. On the other hand, Sunny could feel herself shivering. She was pretty sure that standing around in a whipping wind with just a sweater on wasn’t the best thing for a heart patient either, but Mike insisted on helping Helena to her feet. Sunny retrieved Toby, holding him in her arms, and together they headed back to the open door.

Mike kept an arm around Helena as they went up the step to the doorway. “You’re limping,” he said in concern.

“It’s nothing to worry about.” Mrs. Martinson sounded a bit testy now. “This isn’t the first time I’ve slipped on the ice, you know.”

They stood in the hallway for a moment, Helena brushing snow off herself, Sunny and her dad warming up.

“You’re sure you’re okay?” Sunny asked as she returned her neighbor’s dog. She’d taken some falls, too—it was kind of hard to avoid ice, given the local weather—but Mrs. M. had a good thirty years on her.

“I’m perfectly all right,” Mrs. Martinson assured her, cuddling Toby. “I guess I landed on someone’s lawn, since the ground wasn’t too hard. And the snow broke my fall—so I didn’t break anything.” She shook her head. “We weren’t walking all that fast. Tody was a making a new path through fresh snow. I guess I didn’t watch where I was going. All of a sudden my feet were off the ground—and then the rest of me was hitting it.”

“You scared the hell out of me, going down like that,” Mike told her. “I was afraid you’d cracked your head.”

“But I’m fine now,” Mrs. Martinson insisted. “Let’s not make a big deal out of it.”

“Okay,” Sunny said. “But you are getting a lift home.” She made sure she had her car keys and pulled on her parka.

Mike wanted to come, too, but Sunny told him to stay home and warm up. His exposure to the cold had left him looking pale instead of pink.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Sunny said. Then she, Helena, and Toby headed out to the Wrangler parked in the driveway.

As they pulled onto Wild Goose Drive, Sunny said, “You’re sure you’re all right?”

“Just a little shaky,” Mrs. Martinson admitted. “I didn’t want to say so in front of Mike. You know how he’d worry.” She rubbed her right knee. “And I guess I took a good knock here when I hit the ground. I’ll probably have a bruise to show for it tomorrow.”

She smiled down at Toby, who sat in her lap and worriedly licked her fingers. “I’ll be fine with my little friend here.”

“Just don’t expect him to dial 911 for you if you end up feeling worse than you think,” Sunny warned. “You can call us—we’re not that far away.”

That was true. A couple of turns, a few blocks, and they were pulling up in front of Mrs. Martinson’s house. Sunny insisted the older woman hold her arm as they came up the walk. She tried to lighten things up. “After getting you through all of this, I don’t want you to skid and fall at your own doorstep.”

Sunny got Helena inside, out of her coat, and installed in her favorite chair. Toby resumed his place in her lap. After brewing some tea and making sure Mrs. Martinson was settled in, Sunny was ready to head home. Before she left, though, she had one question. “Did you have the hood on your parka up when you went out before?”

Mrs. M. nodded. “The snow might have stopped, but the wind was pretty bad.” She looked up at Sunny. “Why do you ask?”

“I just think it’s a problem with these parkas,” Sunny said. “You wind up with a kind of tunnel vision when you pull the hood up.”

“I’ll try to be more careful,” Mrs. Martinson promised. They said good night, and Sunny went out to her car. She frowned as she got behind the wheel. The snow may have stopped now, but the wind had picked up, sending showers of newly fallen flakes whipping around. It felt as if the temperature had dropped, too. Sunny had to concentrate on getting home along much more slippery roads.

When she arrived, she found that Mike had made a simple supper—soup and grilled cheese. He growled about the need for more salt—not on his food, but on the roads and sidewalks around town. After skidding her way home, even in the Wrangler, Sunny wasn’t about to argue with him.

They finished and did the dishes. Mike headed for the living room and the television. “There’s a good game on tonight.”

Sunny begged off. “I want to do a little research,” she said, going up the stairs. Once in her room, she fired up her laptop and got on the Internet.

I asked Mrs. M. to get some personal information on Dawn Featherstone, Sunny thought. Maybe I s hould have gotten some public info first.

All through dinner, she kept remembering Ken Howell’s comment. “You do crazy stuff for something you love.” But Sunny also knew that people did crazy things for people they loved.

She’d had a theory that Dawn tried to pin the blame on Jane for a simple reason: Dawn had committed the crime and was looking for a patsy. But what if Dawn was afraid that someone else had objected to her relationship with Martin Rigsdale and had taken him out? A father, a brother, an old boyfriend? Dawn might have been trying to cast suspicion on Jane—and even Sunny—to protect somebody close to her.

Using tricks she’d learned in her first weeks as a reporter, Sunny dug up the basics on Dawn—make that Dora—Featherstone. Here was a birth certificate from the right time frame. Not too many babies named Dora these days. That gave Sunny the names for both parents. She also learned that Dawn was an only child.