A Chill Rain in January (30 page)

Annabelle rolled her eyes heavenward. She gave her daughters a gentle push. “Go on, you two. You've got things to do. Go attend to your chores.”

They left the kitchen and Alberg heard them whispering in the hallway.

“What makes you think she's got anything to do with this?” he said to Ferguson.

“I seen her lurkin' around here,” said Herman. “Drivin' her damn bike on that road out there.”

“Once,” said Annabelle. “You only saw her once, Herman. She was going up to Erna's, to buy a chicken.”

“Besides,” said Ferguson, ignoring his wife, “she's an animal freak, and we don't got another one of those around here, as far as I know. Last winter I seen her attack some poor woman wearing a fur coat.”

“What do you mean, ‘attack'?” said Alberg.

“Screeched and yelled at her, hollered, jumped up and down.” Ferguson shook his head, disgusted. “Crazy. She's a crazy person. And she's after me, and I want her arrested.”

Annabelle yawned and stretched her hands high above her head, arching her back. Then she padded across the room and sat down at the table with them. “She probably doesn't even know about your animals,” she said to Herman.

He stared at her, momentarily speechless. Then he said, “What the hell are you talking about? The whole damn town knows about my animals.” He turned to Alberg. “They're the talk of the whole town, my animals are. Why, the paper's gonna send somebody out here to do an article on my mini-zoo.” Suddenly, almost casually, he cuffed Annabelle on the side of the head. “Shut up, you don't know anything.”

“Hey,” said Alberg, grabbing Herman's arm.

Annabelle had grown very pale. “It's all right, Mr. Alberg. I make him mad sometimes.” She pushed back her chair. “I'm going to water my garden.” She left the room, and Alberg heard the screen door creak as she pushed it open.

He let go of Herman Ferguson's arm.

“She makes me mad,” said Ferguson sullenly. “She knows it, but she goes ahead and does it anyway.”

Alberg stood up.

“Can we get back to business, here?” Ferguson looked up at him plaintively.

“We don't have a hell of a lot of business to get back to,” said Alberg, and Ferguson got up, too, sputtering protests. Alberg looked down on him for a moment, liking it that he was taller and bigger than the other man. “That's not a threat you got,” he said, heading for the door.

“The hell it isn't,” said Ferguson indignantly, trailing after him.

Alberg pushed open the screen door. “Have those animals been inspected?”

“Certainly they've damn been inspected!” said Ferguson. “The damn wildlife guy's been here two, three times.”

Alberg went down the steps, looking around for Ferguson's wife, but he couldn't see her. “I'll check it out,” he said.

Ferguson came through the doorway, the screen thwacking shut behind him. “Well what the hell are you gonna check out,” he said bitterly, “if I ain't been threatened?”

Alberg stopped and turned around. “Vandalism. Theft. Intimidation. That sound okay to you?”

Ferguson frowned, uncertain, and rubbed vigorously at his thick black hair.

“I'll be in touch,” said Alberg. He rounded the corner. “Let me know,” he called out, “if it happens again.” He was pretty sure that it would.

This book is for Mary Eldridge,
and for Marti Wright

The author wishes to acknowledge the advice and information provided by Staff Sergeant Don Rowat, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and by Elaine Ferbey; any inaccuracies are her own.

This book owes much to the discernment, the patience, and the generosity of John Wright.

There is a Sunshine Coast, and its towns and villages are called by the names used in this book. But all the rest is fiction. The events and the characters are products of the author's imagination, and geographical and other liberties have been taken in the depiction of the town of Sechelt.

A CHILL RAIN IN JANUARY

A Felony & Mayhem “Foreign” mystery

PUBLISHING HISTORY

First Canadian edition (Macmillan Canada): 1990

First U.S. edition (Viking): 1990

Felony & Mayhem print edition: 2009

Felony & Mayhem digital edition: 2015

Copyright © 1990 by L.R. Wright

All rights reserved

E-book ISBN: 978-1-63194-008-8