The Whole Cat and Caboodle: Second Chance Cat Mystery (12 page)

“What’s going on?” I asked, even though I was pretty sure I knew what the topic of conversation was.

“We were just talking about Maddie,” Rose said. She folded her hands primly in her lap.

“Okay,” I said.

Her eyes darted to Charlotte and then Liz before she looked at me again. “Whoever killed Arthur Fenety has to be connected to those women he scammed.”

“That makes sense,” I said. The coatrack in the window display was crooked. I turned it so the vintage baby bonnets on its hooks could be seen from outside. When I turned back around I noticed that Charlotte had Tuesday’s paper on the counter next to her.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You heard what Maddie said. Josh has an investigator. He’ll look at everything.”

“One investigator,” Charlotte said. “How many clients does that office have?”

I closed my eyes for a moment. It didn’t matter how many deep breaths I took; I still felt frustrated.

“I know that you all want to help Maddie,” I said. “But you’re not detectives. You don’t have the skills to do this.”

“But we do,” Rose said. There was a determined gleam in her eyes that I knew was trouble. “Together we have more expertise that any retired police officer.” She stuck out her chin and stared defiantly at me. Charlotte folded her arms. Liz leaned against the back of the oversize tub chair and a small smile played on her lips. Avery nodded, and even Elvis got into the act, resting one black paw on Rose’s leg.

I shook my head and narrowed my eyes at them. “Okay, explain this expertise to me,” I said.

Rose pointed at Charlotte. “Charlotte was a school principal and I was a teacher. Between the two of us we’ve heard every excuse and made-up story there is, and we can see through all of them.” She looked at Liz. “Liz ran the Emmerson Foundation for years. She can follow the money trail.”

Avery raised her hand then. “And I’m a master at underhanded and sneaky.” She said the words with a certain amount of pride. “I can spot a fake a mile away.” She pulled herself up a little straighter. “And, by the way, when that Arthur Fenety guy came in here last week I said he was off, and you all said I was rude.”

Liz gave her head a tiny shake. “Next time we’ll pay more attention to your judgment.”

Avery inclined her head in her grandmother’s direction like she was royalty. “Thank you, Nonna,” she said. She glanced at Rose, who gave her an encouraging smile.

They’d practiced this, I realized. I sighed and pulled a hand over the back of my neck.

“We have life experience, Sarah,” Rose said.

They were going to do this whether I liked it or not. And whether Nick liked it or not. Maybe I could at least keep them out of trouble. I seemed to be the only responsible adult in the room.

“There’s no way I can talk you out of this, is there?” I said.

Liz and Avery shook their heads.

“No,” Charlotte said.

Elvis chimed in with a loud meow while Rose watched my face.

I sighed. “Just don’t do anything illegal,” I warned. “There isn’t enough in petty cash to bail anyone out.”

Rose beamed at me. She got to her feet and wrapped me in a hug. “You are the dearest, dearest girl,” she said.

“I’m the craziest girl,” I said.

She pulled back and smiled. “I think you should tell Nicolas. He’ll just try to give his mother orders and you know how that will turn out.”

“In other words, you’re sticking me with the job no one else wants.”

Rose put a hand to her chest and looked offended. I knew it was an act. “Of course not,” she said. “It’s just that I think Nicolas will respond a lot better to your charm than he would, say, to mine.”

I leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “I’m glad you use your powers for the good guys and not for the evil empire,” I said.

We closed the shop, and Liz gave everyone a drive home. Actually, Avery drove, sitting exaggeratedly upright with her hands at ten and two on the steering wheel as she pulled out of the parking lot, her latest act of rebellion over her grandmother’s comments about her driving.

I collected Elvis and we headed home. The first thing I did was change into the gray sweatpants I used for running and a long-sleeved orange T-shirt so I was easy to see.

“Want to come running?” I said to the cat as I tied my shoes. He yawned, flopped to the floor and rolled onto his back. “So not funny,” I said.

I stretched and turned south so I could run around the water tower. I hoped the running would help me figure out how I was going to explain to Nick that I hadn’t exactly talked his mother out of nosing around in Arthur Fenety’s murder.

I took a shower when I got back, pulled on jeans and a sweater and sat down to make the promised phone call to my grandmother. I could hear the relief in her voice when I told her Maddie was out on bail and staying with Charlotte. After I talked to Gram I tried my mom and dad but the call went to voice mail. The same thing happened when I tried my brother, Liam. I knew Jess was on a date, although I couldn’t remember who with. Elvis was watching
Jeopardy!
I was restless, wired, with no one to talk to, and when I looked in the refrigerator I remembered that I still hadn’t gotten to the grocery store.
Maybe I should take Rose up on her offer of cooking lessons,
I thought. I was getting tired of scrambled eggs and toast. I grabbed my jacket and purse. “I’m going out,” I called. I felt a little silly letting a cat know I was leaving. Then I heard an answering meow and it didn’t seem quite so ridiculous.

I was hungry, thinking more about Sam’s chili over a bowl of rice than I was paying attention to where I was walking, which was probably why I turned the corner and walked smack into Nick Elliot.

Both of my hands landed on Nick’s broad chest. “Are you okay?” he asked, putting a hand on my shoulder.

“I’m fine,” I said. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going.” I realized I still had my hands on his chest. I dropped them and took a step backward, almost tripping over a crack in the sidewalk. I reached out, just out of reflex, grabbing his arm.

“I’ve got you,” Nick said, tightening his grip on my shoulder.

I caught my balance, giving him a sheepish smile. I let go of his arm, but I couldn’t help noticing the bulge of muscle under the sleeve of his jacket.

“Thinking deep thoughts?” Nick asked, dropping his hand from my shoulder.

“Only if you consider daydreaming about a bowl of Sam’s chili to be thinking deep thoughts,” I said, brushing a stray strand of hair off my cheek.

He frowned. “So, you haven’t had supper yet?”

I shook my head. “I went for a run. You know, something that you couldn’t do because you were so busy.”

“Oh yes, I was busy,” he said solemnly. “Very, very busy.”

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. He reminded me of a teenage Nick.

“I haven’t eaten, either,” he said with an easy smile. “Have supper with me. We said we were going to have dinner and catch up. I’m assuming you weren’t going to just eat and run.” He waggled his eyebrows at me when he said
run
.

“You are so, so not funny,” I said shaking my head. “So, I’m going to take pity on you and have supper with you.”

We fell into step and walked maybe ten feet before I stopped. Nick got a couple of steps ahead of me before he noticed I wasn’t beside him.

He turned to look at me. “Sarah, is something wrong?”

“I couldn’t talk them out of it.”

It took a second for what I meant to register. He looked skyward for a second, shaking his head. Then he looked at me. “What happened to your powers of persuasion?”

“Rose’s logic,” I said.

“Which is?”

I stuffed my hands in my pockets and shifted from one foot to the other. “That their combined life experience makes them better at investigating Arthur Fenety’s murder than anyone else.”

Nick put both hands behind his head, lacing his fingers together. “They’ve lost their minds,” he said. “All three of them—my mother, Rose and even Liz. They have some kind of age-related cognitive impairment.”

“No, they don’t,” I said. “They’re trying to help a friend. They haven’t gone senile.”

“My mother and her friends seem to think they’re some kind of geriatric version of Nancy Drew.” He exhaled loudly. “How exactly is their life experience going to help them investigate a murder? That’s a job for the police.”

I didn’t like the way he was selling his mother and Rose and Liz short. “Of course,” I said. “Because the police have done such a good job so far.” I tried to keep my voice even and nonjudgmental, but a little snark still snuck in.

His mouth moved as though he were trying out the feel of what he wanted to say before he said it. “They’ve somehow convinced you that this is a good idea,” he finally said. “Are you out . . . ?” He had the good sense not to finish the sentence.

I waited, arms folded, to see what he’d say next.

He let out a breath and studied the stars overhead for a moment. “I should just stop talking, shouldn’t I?” he said, when his gaze finally dropped to my face.

“I’m thinking it would probably be a good idea,” I said. My momentary anger was gone, like a match that had been struck and immediately blown out. I didn’t want Charlotte and the others investigating Arthur Fenety’s murder any more than Nick did.

“Still want to have supper with me?” he asked.

“As long as we talk about anything except Maddie’s case.”

He nodded. “Deal.”

We fell back in step again.

“Nice weather we’ve been having lately,” Nick said after a too-long awkward silence.

I stopped walking again. Nick stopped as well. “Sarah, at the rate you’re walking we’re going to be having breakfast instead of dinner.”

“Do you really want to spend the next hour talking about the weather?” I asked.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Well, I don’t want to argue with you.”

“So what do you suggest?” I said, smiling so he’d know I didn’t want to argue with him, either.

He laughed, pulling a hand down over his chin. “I don’t know.”

I laughed, too, because the whole situation was kind of funny when you thought about it. Or maybe I was just tired and hungry. “Look, Nick,” I said, “There isn’t anything either one of us can do about your mom and Rose and Liz. They’ve decided they’re going to investigate and it doesn’t matter what either one of us says. I’ll do what I can to keep them out of trouble. And you try not to huff and puff when you talk to your mother.”

“I don’t huff and puff,” he said, a little indignantly, it seemed to me, until I saw a glint of humor in his eyes. “Maybe I growl a little.”

I tried not to laugh, but I couldn’t help it. “So, do we have a deal?” I asked.

He nodded. “We have a deal.”

We started walking again. “What exactly are they planning to do?” Nick asked after a moment.

“I don’t know,” I said with a sigh. “Not for sure. They think Fenety’s death has to be connected to all those women he scammed. Which makes sense to me.”

Nick turned to look at me, narrowing his eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Arthur Fenety was poisoned. That takes planning. It’s personal. It’s hard to poison someone without thinking it through.”

“You’re right,” he said, stepping behind me for a moment to let some people pass us. “A death like Fenety’s—just one person being poisoned—he was targeted. It was very personal. But Fenety’s victims are spread all over New England.”

“Nick, you don’t think Maddie killed him, do you?”

This time it was Nick who stopped walking. “Good Lord, no,” he said. “I’ve known Maddie my whole life. She couldn’t hurt anyone or anything.” He raked a hand through his hair. “When I was five she paid me a nickel a bug to pick aphids off of her rosebushes. I don’t see her poisoning a person when she wouldn’t poison a bug.”

We were in front of The Black Bear and Nick held the door open for me. “What I meant was that a lot of Fenety’s victims that we know about are in other states. Maybe there’s at least one we don’t know about who’s a lot closer.”

“Maybe,” I agreed as we stepped inside. I was remembering being at the pub with Jess and seeing one of the women who had been married to Arthur Fenety. Maybe his other victims weren’t so far away after all.

Sam was standing by the bar when Nick and I walked in. He turned around as if somehow he’d known we were there and smiled as he walked across the room to us.

“Nick Elliot! How the heck are you?” Sam said. They shook hands and grinned at each other.

Nick exhaled loudly and looked around. “I haven’t been here in years,” he exclaimed.

“I’m glad you decided to change that,” Sam said.

“Please tell me you still have live music,” Nick said.

Sam gestured at the corner stage.

“The good stuff?” Nick asked raising an eyebrow.

Sam held out his hands. “I like that old-time rock and roll.”

Nick laughed. “You know,” he said. “It’s good to be home.”

“Did you bring a guitar home with you?” Sam asked. “Tomorrow’s Thursday.”

“You still have Thursday-night jam?” Nick glanced over at the stage again. I wondered if he was remembering the first time he took his guitar up on the stage in here and sat in with the band. “I haven’t played much lately.”

“It’ll come back,” Sam said. “Or you can do what the rest of us do: make it up as you go along.”

Nick laughed. “Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve done that.”

Sam showed us to a table near the front window, grabbing a couple of menus as we passed the bar. “I’ll send Adam over.”

I slipped off my jacket and hung it on the back of my chair.

“I’ll be up in the morning to pick up the Rickenbacker,” Sam said.

“Okay,” I said. “I put it in my office. Mac knows, in case I happen to be out.”

Nick looked at me. “Sam bought the Rickenbacker? The one I played?”

I nodded.

“Nice,” he said, nodding, and I wondered if Nick was sorry he hadn’t bought the guitar.

“Think about tomorrow night,” Sam said. “Sarah and Jess are coming, and I’ll probably have the Rickenbacker.” He laid a hand on my shoulder for a moment and headed for the kitchen.

Nick pulled out his chair and sat down. “You and Jess are still friends.”

I smiled. “I think we’re like Gram, your mom, Rose and Liz. I think we’re friends forever.” I traced the edge of my menu with a finger. “She makes me laugh. She nags me about working too much, and I still can’t get her to come running with me.”

“She’s probably busy,” he said, completely deadpan.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Uh-huh. There’s a lot of that going around.”

“You and Michelle didn’t reconnect?” he said, opening the menu.

I shook my head. All these years later I still didn’t know why Michelle had stopped being my friend, all but stopped talking to me.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw our waiter on the way over. “What about you?” I said. “Did you keep in touch with anyone?”

He closed the menu and pushed it aside. “No,” he said, picking up his knife and setting it back down again. “I kept saying I’d get back for a visit but it didn’t happen that often.” He shrugged. “Time would just get away from me. You know how it is.’

I nodded.

“Mom kept me more or less up-to-date, though.”

“Yeah, so did Gram when I was away.” I didn’t say that listening to my grandmother talk about what people were doing in town—and sometimes who they were doing—after I’d lost my job kept me from falling down a rabbit hole of depression.

Nick ordered a Bear Burger, Sam’s take on a cheeseburger made with fresh mozzarella cheese, a tangle of sweet fried onions and a spicy mayo-mustard blend that was Sam’s own creation. I ordered what I’d been craving: chili over rice.

We talked about the town while we waited for our food, and then as we ate.

Neither one of us felt like dessert. Nick picked up both checks when Adam brought them to the table.

He smiled at me. “Don’t waste your breath, Sarah,” he said. “I asked you to join me and I’m my mother’s son. That means I’m paying.”

“Which way are you headed?” I asked when we were outside on the sidewalk again.

“I’m walking you home,” he said, zipping his jacket. It had gotten a little cooler and there was a breeze coming in off the water.

“You don’t have to do that.”

He smiled down at me. “I know, but, like I told you, I am my mother’s son.”

I tipped my head to one side and studied him for a moment. “You are, you know,” I said. “You both get that same look when you’ve made up your mind about something.”

He winced. “Is that good or bad?

I bumped him gently with my hip. “From my experience it depends on whether someone’s on the same side or the opposite one.”

We walked along, talking about some of the differences of opinion Nick and his mother had had over the years.

“You know, the most humbling thing is when I look back I see that most of the time she was right.” He shook his head ruefully.

“Keep that in mind,” I said.

We were in front of my house. “This is home,” I said.

“Oh, you’re living in Isabel’s place while she’s on her honeymoon.”

I shook my head. “No. I’m not in Gram’s place. The main-floor apartment is mine. Actually the whole house is mine. Gram was living here to keep an eye on things for me when I was away.”

Nick took a step backward and looked up at the house. “It’s beautiful,” he said. “How did you end up owning a house here?”

I brushed my hair back off my face. “It’s a long story, but basically I cleaned out a barn.”

His eyes darted uncertainly from side to side. “And what?” He gestured with his hands. “You found this in an old cardboard box?”

I shook my head. “No, I found a Volkswagen bug that hadn’t been driven in twenty-five years—maybe longer. The woman who owned the barn said if I could get it out of the building I could have it. So I did.”

Nick glanced at the house once more and then his gaze came back to me. “And then the car magically turned into this house? What? Were there magic beans in the glove compartment or something?”

“You’re not that far off,” I said with a smile. “I did a little work on the car—well, I bribed Liam to do a little work on the car. Then I traded it for an old MG.” I ticked off the trades on my fingers. “I traded the MG for a camper van, which I lived in for six months. I traded the camper for a one-room cabin”—I shook my head—“and when I say
cabin
, I mean ‘shack’—that Jess and I lived in for our last year of college. I used the cabin as a down payment on this house.” I held out my hands. “Ta-da!”

“Wow,” Nick said, shaking his head in amazement. “Why didn’t I know any of this?”

I shrugged. “Well it didn’t happen overnight.”

“I guess I should have come home more often.”

I smiled up at him. “You’re here now. You can catch up.” I looked at the stars overhead. It was a clear night, and away from the water there wasn’t any breeze. “Thank you for walking me home,” I said.

Nick smiled. “You’re welcome. I’m not on call tomorrow night. Maybe I’ll see you at Sam’s.”

I nodded. “Maybe you will.”

He took a step toward me and I thought he was going to kiss me, but all he did was lay a hand on my shoulder for a moment.

“Good night, Sarah,” he said, and then he headed down the sidewalk. I stood there for a moment, feeling oddly disappointed that he hadn’t at least tried to kiss me. Not that I wanted him to. At least that was what I told myself.

I opened the store in the morning, and once Rose arrived I printed out a copy of the offer for the pieces I wanted to buy from the Harrington property and got Mac to take a look at it. He leaned against the counter by the cash register, rapidly scanning everything I’d printed, Elvis at his elbow. The cat’s furry black head was bent over the pages like he was reading, too.

“It’s fine,” Mac said, after a few minutes.