The Cat of Christmas Past (4 page)

I turned back toward the coffee bar.

“Would you look at that?” Tara murmured as I started a fresh pot of coffee.

“Look at what?”

“It looks like you have a visitor.”

I walked over to the window and looked toward the ferry, which had just begun to unload the walk-on passengers. Ebenezer was trotting down the walkway with a tall, dark-haired young man who looked to be in his twenties following him. Ebenezer darted across the road and came directly to our door. I opened it and he trotted inside.

“Is this your cat?” the man asked after I invited him to come inside.

“No, but he likes to visit,” I answered.

“I saw him on the ferry. He appeared to be alone, so I’ve been keeping an eye on him. He sure is a friendly cat. I was afraid he was a stray.”

“Ebenezer is a very independent cat, but thank you for watching out for him. Can I offer you a coffee or other hot beverage? My treat.”

“A coffee would be great,” the man answered. “My name is Alex Turner, by the way.”

“I’m Cait,” I said as I handed him his coffee. “Are you visiting the island for the day?”

“Actually, I’m here to look for a temporary job. I attend the university in Portland, but I really want to spend my break on the island. I have a place to stay, but I’ll need spending money.”

“You don’t have family on the mainland you want to spend your break with?”

“No. Not anymore. My dad passed away when I was a baby and my mother just passed recently.”

“I’m so sorry.”

The man shrugged. “It’s been tough since Mom died. I think a change of scenery for the holiday will be good for me. This is delicious coffee, by the way.”

“Thank you. It’s our own special blend.” I glanced at Tara, who was busy with customers. “We might have a temp job available for the next couple of weeks. I’ll need to talk to my partner when it slows down a bit. If you want to either wait until the store clears out or come back in a little while, I can talk to you about it some more.”

Alex looked toward the cat lounge. “Is it okay to wait in there?”

“Absolutely. Take Ebenezer with you, but be sure he stays away from Lucy. She is our newest feline and she’s still a little edgy around new cats.”

“My mom’s name was Lucy. She had a tendency to be edgy around strangers as well.” Alex laughed.

I smiled and then returned to my job. I spent the next twenty minutes making coffee drinks and ringing up purchases for the dozen customers who had come in from the ferry. I enjoyed it when the store was busy. Not only was it good for the bottom line but it made the time go by faster.

“So who’s the guy?” Tara asked after the crowd cleared out.

“His name is Alex Turner and he’s looking for a temp job. He goes to the university in Portland and wants to spend the holiday on the island. We’d just talked about looking for some temporary help, so I asked him to wait with Ebenezer. I figure the fact that the guy hooked up with him is a sign that we should at least talk to him.”

Tara looked toward the cat lounge, where the young man was sitting on the sofa with Ebenezer on his lap. He appeared to be talking to the cat, and the cat appeared to be listening intently. How adorable was that?

“I can’t believe that cat came all the way over here on his own,” Tara marveled.

“It’s not the first time,” I reminded her.

“I wonder how he gets from Balthazar Pottage’s private island to San Juan Island to catch the ferry.”

“I suspect he stows away on the various boats that go out to the island to deliver supplies. So, about Alex?”

Tara shrugged. “We do need the help. Let’s talk to him.”

Tara and I joined Alex in the cat lounge. Ebenezer trotted over to the corner and lay down. Apparently, his reason for being there wasn’t urgent. Of course it occurred to me that his purpose for coming to the store might have been to bring Alex into our lives and he’d completed his job. At this point it was too soon to tell, but it seemed Alex was both intelligent and friendly, and we really did need some part-time help.

After chatting with him and having him fill out an application, Tara asked Alex to come back the next day, after she’d had a chance to check his references. Alex thanked us for our time and agreed to return the following day. I knew Tara liked to check things out thoroughly, but I was pretty sure we’d found the help we needed.

The wind whipped around the islands, making the trip to Balthazar Pottage’s private island less than pleasant. The ferry ride from Madrona Island to San Juan Island hadn’t been all that bad, but the water taxi from San Juan Island out to Pottage’s place was rough enough to give pause to even the most seasoned fisherman. At least the gate was open when Ebenezer and I arrived. I wasn’t looking forward to having to squeeze through the small opening in the wall again, as I had the previous week. Although we’d hired Alex and he was working out fantastically, we’d had a near record day on Saturday, followed by a long day of church and family on Sunday. I was exhausted.

Pottage must have heard the boat that brought me to the island arrive because he seemed to be waiting for me just on the other side of the thick wooden door. He opened it, greeted the cat, and ushered me inside before I even had a chance to knock. As I had on my previous visit, I followed him down the dark, cold hallway to the sitting room, where a merry fire was warming the room.

“I was surprised when Ebenezer showed up at my store,” I began.

“I told you, he comes and goes as he pleases. If he came to you, he must have had a reason.”

I couldn’t imagine what that reason could be; he’d done nothing but sleep the entire weekend, but perhaps he really had brought Alex to us, or maybe he just wanted to make certain I’d return to the island today.

Pottage handed me the book and then settled into his chair. It was obvious he’d invited me to his home to finish the book, not to engage in idle chitchat. I took off my coat and hung it over the back of the sofa, then settled into the second chair that faced the fire and began to read.

The Phantom slowly, gravely, silently, approached. When it came near him, Scrooge bent down upon his knee; for in the very air through which this Spirit moved it seemed to scatter gloom and mystery.

It was shrouded in a deep black garment, which concealed its head, its face, its form, and left nothing of it visible save one outstretched hand. But for this it would have been difficult to detach its figure from the night, and separate it from the darkness by which it was surrounded.

He felt that it was tall and stately when it came beside him, and that its mysterious presence filled him with a solemn dread. He knew no more, for the Spirit neither spoke nor moved.

``I am in the presence of the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come?'' said Scrooge.

The Spirit answered not, but pointed onward with its hand.

``You are about to show me shadows of the things that have not happened, but will happen in the time before us,'' Scrooge pursued. ``Is that so, Spirit?''

The upper portion of the garment was contracted for an instant in its folds, as if the Spirit had inclined its head.

That was the only answer he received.

I continued with the book until I got to the end.

“That’s such a nice story,” I commented as I set the book aside.

“I see you brought another book.” Pottage looked hungrily at the book I’d carried with me.

“I did, but before we begin another book I think we need to talk.”

“About what?” Pottage asked.

“About the Bayview Apartments. You promised to at least consider other options to evicting the tenants if I came back to finish the story,” I reminded him.

“And I’ve done as I promised,” Pottage assured me.

“And…?” I encouraged.

“And there’s no other reasonable option. Now, start the second book.”

I stood up and faced the man, hoping my height advantage over his sitting form would make a difference. “I can’t believe you’re unable to come up with
any
other alternative.”

“You saw the estimate for fixing up the units. What would you suggest?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I do know that, if your reputation is correct, you have more money than you’ll ever be able to spend. Perhaps you can fix up the building and let the tenants stay out of the goodness of your heart.”

“You’re asking me to do this huge thing for the tenants of that building, yet what have any of them ever done for me? What has
anyone
ever done for me?”

I frowned. “How about if I continue to read to you? I can come back every Monday.”

“I would enjoy that, but we’re talking about more than a hundred thousand dollars,” Pottage pointed out.

I guess the man had a point.

“Although, there
is
something else you can do for me that might be worth that amount of money.”

I smiled. “What? I’ll do anything.”

“You can help me find out what became of my son.”

I hesitated. Find his son? Was he kidding? He had a serious look on his face, so I had to assume he was serious in making his request.

“You want me to find your son?” I asked. “He’s been missing for a very long time. How am I supposed to find him?”

“I have no idea, but Ebenezer seems to think you’re the one to help us. In fact, he’s quite insistent on it. Will you do it?”

I looked at the cat and hesitated. It did seem that we were linked in some way, and cats had helped me solve mysteries equally as impossible as this in the past. “If I help you figure out what happened to your son you’ll let the tenants stay?”

“I’ll do better than that. I’ll fix up the building and deed it to the residents. Will you help me?”

“I’ll try.”

Balthazar Pottage smiled.

“Do you have any idea where I should start?” I asked.

He stood up. “Come with me.”

The man led me to a room toward the end of the hall that looked to be used for storage. He walked over to a box and instructed me to bring it back to the sitting room. I set the box on the table and Pottage took off the top.

“Contained in this box is everything I’ve collected over the years in my attempt to find my son. There are newspaper articles, photos, police reports, and a list of everyone who was at the party on the day Charles disappeared.”

“Okay. Why don’t you tell me exactly what happened that day?”

Pottage returned to his chair and settled in, so I went back to the chair I’d been sitting in as well. I had a feeling I was in for a long and not at all pleasant story.

“It was Christmas Eve. Charles was six weeks old and we’d decided to have him baptized. After the ceremony we held a reception. Belle put Charles in the crib in his room, which was located upstairs in the nursery, next to the master suite. Later that afternoon Belle went up to check on him and found the crib empty.”

“So someone who was at the reception must have taken him,” I concluded.

“Perhaps, but the christening was heavily guarded. I made my money by cashing in on the misfortunes of others. I had a lot of enemies. Entrance to the gated estate could only be accessed by those who had an invitation. I had a security guard at the gate to ensure against those who might attempt to crash the party. There wasn’t a single person present who I could imagine would have wanted to harm Charles.”

“Someone took him,” I insisted.

“Yes, someone did.”

I sat back as I considered the situation. On one hand, a limited suspect pool was going to make the investigation easier. On the other, the fact that all the suspects appeared on the surface to be family and friends of the couple was going to make things more complicated. I realized I would need to carefully comb through the facts to determine a possible motive where none was immediately apparent.

“It seems to me,” I began, “that one of your guests must have snuck upstairs during the reception, taken the baby, and then snuck back out of the house.”

“Perhaps. Although we had a guard posted at the top of the stairs. His orders were not to allow access to the second story to anyone other than Belle, myself, and the nanny. I don’t see how the kidnapper could have reached the nursery without first getting past the guard.”

“Maybe the nanny was the kidnapper,” I suggested.

“She never left the second floor. The guard verified that. They found her sleeping on the lounge in the little room just off Charles’s nursery. She swore she never saw anyone come upstairs other than Belle to check on the baby.”

It figures this would be a complicated mystery. Of course, if it hadn’t been complicated, it would have been solved years ago. I looked at the guest list. On the surface it didn’t seem likely that anyone at the party would kidnap the child, but I didn’t have anything to lose by looking into the kidnapping further. If nothing else it might buy me some time to figure out another solution for the occupants of the apartments.

“Okay, I’ll see what I can do. In the meantime, will you rescind the eviction notices? I’ll need some time to figure this out.”

“I’ll tell my attorney to put a hold on the evictions until after the first of the year. I imagine that will give you enough time?”

“Less than a month to solve a decades’ old mystery the cops couldn’t solve at the time? Piece of cake,” I said sarcastically.

“Good. Then it appears we have a deal. Perhaps you should take Ebenezer with you. I do worry about him traveling on the ferry by himself. You can return him after you’ve found my son.”

“Are you sure you want to take this on?” Cody asked later that evening as we sat at my kitchen table and sorted through the contents of the box, which Balthazar Pottage had insisted I take with me. It was still snowing outside and holiday music serenaded us. It should have been a romantic evening, but instead we were discussing a kidnapping that would probably be impossible to solve.

“I have to,” I said. “Pottage has agreed to postpone the evictions while I work on this, so at the very least the tenants will get a brief reprieve. And if I can solve the mystery, he’s promised not only to fix up the building but to sign the units over to the people who are living in them.”

“Did he sign a contract to that effect?”

“No, but I heard him call and speak to his attorney about postponing the evictions. I mean really, what do I have to lose? If I try to figure this out and am not successful, I’m out a little time, but the tenants will still have had the benefit of the delay in the eviction process. If I succeed they’ll have homes no one can ever take away from them.”

Cody shrugged. “I’m in. Where do we start?”

“I’m not sure. There’s a lot of information here. Maybe we should call the gang.”

I called Tara, Danny, Finn, and Siobhan and asked them if they could meet me at the cabin for dinner. Finn was the resident deputy for Madrona Island and Siobhan was my older sister and Finn’s girlfriend. They’d all helped me solve mysteries in the past and I hoped they could help with this one as well. They confirmed that they were free and would love to come for dinner. I whipped together a quick casserole while Cody made a salad and buttered a loaf of sourdough bread. Cody and I worked well together and it filled me with contentment as we prepared the meal for our friends.

Christmas jazz played in the background and the scent of the bayberry candles I’d bought from the bookstore filled the air. The ocean just beyond my cabin was angrier than usual, making a crashing sound that could be heard even over the music, but I chose to enjoy the steady rhythm rather than be annoyed by it.

Once everyone had arrived, we ate before we gathered in the living room in front of the fireplace and began to discuss strategy.

“How are we supposed to solve a kidnapping that happened twenty years ago?” Danny asked as he nibbled on one of the brownies I’d made for dessert.

“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “What I do know is that the crime occurred on
this
island. Someone must know something. Besides, Pottage has actually managed to accumulate quite a bit of information over the years. I’m kind of surprised he hasn’t already figured the whole thing out.”

“If he’s been working on it for twenty years and hasn’t figured it out what makes him think you’ll be able to?” Tara asked.

“Ebenezer told him that I was the key to finding the answer.”

“The cat?” Finn asked.

“Hey, stranger things have happened. Besides, what do we have to lose? If we figure this out Cody will have a fantastic story for the newspaper and we’ll all have the satisfaction of knowing we helped twelve families find a permanent home.”

“I’m in,” Siobhan assured me. “The whole thing has grabbed my interest. I say we start with everyone who was in the house on the night of the kidnapping. Someone must have seen something. We’ll need a mystery board.”

“I’ll go get Maggie’s whiteboard,” Danny offered.

Cody and I quickly did the dishes while Danny went up to the main house. The use of a mystery board while we worked through the details had been Siobhan’s suggestion when we were trying to solve a confusing series of murders in October, and it had ended up making all the difference. If there was one thing you could say about Siobhan, she was organized, and she knew how to take charge of a project. Since she’d returned to the island she’d been serving as temporary mayor and doing a fantastic job.