I set the tea tray on the low table next to the green couch, and Detective Cutter leaned over and sniffed. “I like mint tea.”
“It’s a classic,” I agreed.
“Now, let’s get down to business,” he said, sitting forward and leaning his arms on his legs. “You’re a consultant on this case at the development. The Wolf Corporation says I’m to keep you in the loop on our progress, who only ever knows why. You aren’t attached to the police force, and if there’s classified information I may choose not to share it with you. I’m doing this out of courtesy. I’ve known your family for a long time. The fact that you fraternize with reporters isn’t ideal either, but I’m willing to overlook that in this case,” he explained.
The detective was willing to overlook my reporter friend in this case because the Wolfs wanted him to keep me in the loop. As everyone in Mintwood knew, what the Wolfs wanted, the Wolfs got.
“I appreciate that you’re trying to keep me abreast of the investigation,” I told him. I did in fact appreciate it. I knew it was difficult for him.
“What have you found over the past couple of days?” Charlie asked. No beating around the bush with the Gazette’s crack reporter.
“I’ll tell you what I found,” said the detective. “The only condition is that you don’t write about it until I give you permission. I’m not here to do an interview with a reporter. I’m here to tell Lemmi the latest news.”
“Understood,” said Charlie with a nod. Greer and I were surprised at how easily she agreed to his terms. Then again, it was very clear that she didn’t have a choice.
“Where was I?” Cutter asked.
“You were going to start at the beginning, I believe,” I said.
He raised his eyebrows but didn’t argue.
“The coroner has conclusive evidence that Mr. Earle was murdered. Blunt force trauma to the back of the head. They think the object was a shoe,” he said. “The ring he was wearing was from his private high school.”
“A shoe?” Charlie asked.
“Yes, one of Mr. Earle’s own shoes, as a matter of fact,” he said. “The shoes were then put back on his feet and he was dragged across the floor and buried. That’s at least what we can gather from the evidence we have so far. It happened so long ago that it’s a little difficult to figure out. For the most part, the area hasn’t been disturbed. Little critters have gotten into it, obviously, but the bigger ones have stayed out, or been kept out by the physical set-up.”
I shuddered. I didn’t want to think about little critters in there.
“Do you have any idea who might have killed him?” Charlie asked.
He grimaced. “Not yet. We have already confirmed that the potential buyers when he was murdered were not in Mintwood at the time of his disappearance.
“There were also several other buyers that we’re trying to track down. We thought maybe one or two of them got jealous and killed him when he notified them that he would be selling to someone else. As we speak to more buyers, though, that seems far-fetched. For the most part they’re all doing well and they didn’t care that much about the property to begin with. We did think it could have been his wife. It would help if we could have talked to her. Unfortunately, someone else killed her before we had a chance,” he said.
“Do you think the same person was behind both killings?” Charlie asked.
“It’s entirely possible, but we have no evidence to prove it. They were killed in different manners. Mrs. Earle did slip and hit her head,” he said.
“So they both died of head wounds,” said Greer, speaking for the first time since Detective Cutter had sat down to talk. She knew that her presence might put the detective over the edge of tolerance and was trying to tread carefully.
He glanced at her and again took in her black garb. “That’s true. Both were head wounds. We still haven’t figured out why Mr. Earle took his shoes off in the first place. You would think he wouldn’t take them off if he knew someone was going to hit him over the head with one and kill him a few minutes later.”
“You would think,” I said.
“Anyway, that’s the easy part of what I have to say. This next bit is harder,” he shifted.
“What would that be?” I asked.
“You know perfectly well that I don’t approve of your involvement in this matter. Be that as it may, I know that I have to accept it, and accept it I will. But let me be very clear: there is to be no funny business. Do not break the law. If I catch you doing so, I won’t give you special treatment. Mark me on that.” He waggled his finger at me.
“I wouldn’t expect you to do such a thing,” I told him honestly.
“Good. And one more thing, if you find out anything that’s important I want you to tell me. No keeping secrets from the police, remember?” he said.
“We definitely remember,” said Charlie. “No secrets.”
He looked back and forth among the three of us as if he wanted to confirm that we were telling the truth.
As for me, my head was spinning. There had been a couple of days of quiet and frustration, but Detective Cutter had now given us two critical points of information. I couldn’t wait to process what we had heard.
“This is very good tea,” said the detective, who had been sipping the mint tea throughout our conversation. After that, he didn’t linger. He acted as if he was going to get the gleep if he stayed in my farmhouse too long. He set his teacup down, excused himself brusquely, and went to put on his wet jacket and hat. Paws was watching him again, having kept quiet during the entire interview. It was an astounding feat for the meddlesome ghost cat.
We thanked the detective again and showed him out. He pulled his trusty hat low over his eyes and nodded to us, then hesitated at the door. I knew he was considering giving me one more warning. Instead he just shook his head and left.
We waited in silence until we were sure he was gone.
“Are we ready to go?” Charlie asked.
“I was born ready,” said Greer.
“You almost tipped him off with that outfit if yours,” I pointed out.
“That and she brings doom,” said Paws.
“Luckily, he just thinks I’m gothic and weird. He probably thinks the same thing about everybody who works in a bar,” said Greer.
“Good point. I’m going to go change, so we can be gothic and weird together,” said Charlie. She hurried away back to her room, and I went upstairs to change as well.
I had spent the time finishing my search through Charlie’s binders of newspaper articles without finding anything of note. I was starting to worry that this mystery would prove to be impossible to solve, but Detective Cutter’s new information renewed my hope.
We reconvened in the living when we were all dressed and ready. I turned to Charlie and asked, “On the way to the development, can you recap what we know about Mrs. Earle’s murder?”
“Sure thing,” she said.
“I feel as though I’ve said this before, but I don’t like the rain,” said Paws. His tail was curled around his back and he was glaring at the world.
“I feel as though I’ve said this before, but you’re a ghost,” I told him.
“Still, will you pick me up and carry me?” he asked.
I sighed testily. “Fine. I’ll carry you. Let’s go.”
I scooped up the ghost cat and we headed out into the downpour. It was raining very hard, so hard that even a ghost might be able to tell. When we were all piled into the Beetle and I was heading down the driveway, Charlie brought us back to the case. Or cases.
“So anyway, I went to talk to the police in Applewood,” she said. “They weren’t very helpful. Hansen was there, and they didn’t even want to tell him stuff.”
“Did they tell him some stuff, though?” Greer asked.
“They told him more than they told me,” Charlie muttered.
“I’m shocked,” said Greer.
“What did they tell you?” I asked.
“She
was murdered right before we found her. She was alive for a couple of hours after we spoke on the phone,” said Charlie.
“So she could have had time between talking to you and dying to get somebody else over there,” I mused.
Driving in the dark rain was a particularly unpleasant experience. The beating sound of old wipers flashing across the windshield and the tattoo of rain hitting the roof created an annoying background to our conversation. Not only that, but it was very dark. My poor headlights were the only illumination we had. The road was slick and black in front of us, and I made sure to drive slowly.
“What do you mean?” Greer asked.
“What she means is that Mrs. Earle got the call from a reporter. She then called somebody else. Who then came over to murder her,” said Paws. “Civilians don’t understand anything,” he said to Charlie. “I only want to speak to reporters from now on.”
“Don’t let me stop you,” said Greer.
“So phone records should tell us who killed her?” I asked.
“Unfortunately, nobody could find her phone. At least for the first day. Then they found it at the bottom of the pool. The police talked to the phone company, but the phone she called from was a pay phone. It’s a dead end,” said Charlie.
“But they did confirm that she called someone after she spoke with me. She had an accomplice. That accomplice killed her,” I said.
“Nobody killed her until I called her. I was the catalyst, and that’s horrible,” Charlie said.
In the rearview mirror I saw her cover her face in shame.
“It’s not your fault,” said Greer. “Her husband’s body had just been found. Of course a reporter was going to come over and talk to her. It might have been a coincidence that she died right after that.”
“It’s hard to believe it could be a coincidence. Maybe it was a coincidence in that you called the day after the body was discovered. Maybe whoever killed Mr. Earle was afraid that his wife would talk too,” said Greer.
“That was very intelligent. Who said that? Oh, I’m shocked that it was you,” said Paws.
“Can you do a spell that keeps ghost cats from speaking?” Greer asked.
“I probably could. It’s probably in a book back home,” I said.
“You wouldn’t dare,” said Paws. “Besides, if you think I’m only annoying because I can speak, just wait until I can’t.”
“He has a point there. What else did the Applewood police tell you?” I asked Charlie.
“They didn’t tell me much else. They said she had a very full schedule coming up this month. She didn’t look like a woman who was expecting to die. The other interesting thing is that she benefited from a life insurance policy when her husband died. Maybe that policy was generous, and that’s how she was able to live so lavishly,” said Charlie.
“That sounds an awful lot like a motive,” I said.
“Doesn’t it just?” Charlie said.
“Is that a car following behind us?” Greer asked.
I glanced in my rearview mirror and made out a dark shape far behind us, driving with low headlights that were made even blurrier by the rain. Now that I thought about, it there had been a car behind us for the whole drive.
“It’s probably nothing. It’s rare to have two cars on this road at the same time, especially late at night, but it isn’t impossible,” I said.
“Maybe slow down and see if they catch up,” Paws suggested.
For once I did exactly as he said. I took my foot off the gas and let the car roll. We slowed down. I glanced back again. The car behind us had also slowed down.
“The car isn’t getting any closer,” said Greer.
“Now that seems strange,” said Charlie.
“Actually, I think it’s technically good driving,” I said.
“Who cares about technically,” said Paws.
I tried to think what was on either side of the road ahead. Was there anywhere I could pull off to see if the car behind us pulled off as well?
“There’s a gas station up there,” said Charlie.
I glanced at my gas gauge. “I could do with a fill-up.”
I drove another mile and then pulled off the road and into the gas station. I was careful to do it slowly and to keep measuring how far back the car behind me was.
“You see anything?” I asked.
“Not yet. I hope you really need gas,” said Greer.
“Whoever was behind us, whether they were tailing us or not, they must realize by now that we’ve seen them,” I said.
“There they are,” said Greer. There was a car coming down the road. I parked and got out to fill up the tank. It was lucky that I did in fact need gas.
The car drove slowly past. Unfortunately for the driver, I recognized the vehicle. So did Charlie. “That’s definitely the detective,” she said, gazing through her window.
“Without a doubt. And he was following us,” I said.
Chapter Fourteen
There was nothing else for it. We had to go home. To make all this believable, I went into the gas station and bought some milk. If only I had a real cat to drink it. Maybe I could use it for the stray across the street.
“What do we do now?” Charlie asked.
“I think we should come out again early in the morning. I know we usually do the sneaky stuff late at night, but for now, let’s go home and get some sleep. We can try again at five a.m.. We just have to make sure Cutter isn’t around,” I said.
“Maybe you could cast a spell,” said Greer.
“You’re really enjoying that suggestion today, aren’t you?” Paws asked.
“Yes, thank you for asking. I do care about my enjoyment as well,” said Greer.
We headed home.
We saw no sign of the detective’s car on the way home. I figured he’d probably pulled over to wait for us a little way past the gas station, and when we didn’t pass him he knew we had gone back in the direction we’d come from in the first place.
When we were nearly home, I saw the lights of his car, recognizing the shape and brightness this time. Okay, so he wanted to make sure we were returning to the farmhouse, and I humored him by turning in. Now he didn’t have to come looking for us. He would know right where we were.
“I can’t believe he was tailing us. I can’t believe her outfit gave it away,” said Charlie, glaring at Greer.
“I would think that our past behavior as much as what I was wearing gave it away,” she said dryly.
“You might have a point there,” I said. I hated to admit it, but the detective didn’t trust me. He hadn’t trusted me when I moved back to Mintwood and he didn’t trust me now. The fact that he didn’t want me working on this case any more than he ever wanted me anywhere near a case was just icing on the cake.
“Do you think it calls into question everything he’s told us about this case?” I asked.
“Some of those details we can check and some of them we can’t,” said Charlie. “I don’t think he’d lie to you, though. That would be inappropriate even for him. What I think is more likely is that he didn’t tell you everything. He knows some crucial detail that he’s decided not to share with you.”
“And that’s a problem,” I said.
“Tell me about it,” said Charlie. “Now I’m going to have to find it out for myself.”
It wasn’t hard to fall sleep that night. I was very tired. I set my alarm for four o’clock, figuring that if we hurried, we’d have just enough time to get over to the development before daylight. We still needed to find the ghost of Mr. Earle.
Charlie and Greer were waiting for me when I got downstairs. Greer was looking distinctly displeased.
“He’d better not be waiting for us again. I have to sleep sometime. This is going to drive me crazy,” she said.
“If only it would drive you out of the county,” said Paws.
“Let’s go,” I said. “I’m sure he’s gone to bed by now. He’s not some sort of hardened detective, he’s a nice
old guy wants to be able to guard Mintwood and drink coffee.”
Charlie, Greer, and I headed back out to the car, with Paws following closely behind. It was still dark out, and very cold, but at least the rain had stopped.
I kept blinking to try to wake myself up. This definitely was not my favorite way to break the law.
And that was another thing.
Detective Cutter had told me not to break the law, as if that was something new and unusual for me. I broke the law at least once a week when I was investigating a case, sometimes every day.
“I really don’t see why he can’t leave you alone,” said Charlie. “He should just accept that you’re part of the process of investigating crimes in Mintwood.”
“I know, right? He should totally just accept a civilian working with him,” I said.
“Exactly,” said Charlie.
We drove to the development in silence, but I could feel everyone’s nerves. I kept looking in the rearview mirror on what I thought was a tiny chance that Cutter would be following us again. As it happened, there wasn’t a single other car on the road. We got to the development without any fuss at all, only to find a locked gate blocking the entrance.
“Do either of you have any idea of another way we can get in? Preferably where we could hide the car,” I said.
“There’s the lookout,” said Greer.
“I’ve never been there. I didn’t go there in high school and I’m not going there now,” said Charlie.
“I thought you would do anything for a good story. This is a good story. That means you have to go,” said Greer.
“I don’t have to do anything. It’s not a place for someone like me,” Charlie complained.
“You mean someone who doesn’t make out on the first date, right?” said Greer.
“Something like that,” Charlie grumbled.
“If I go park up there and somebody sees my car, they’ll think I’m the one making out,” I said.
“They’ll wonder why Jasper doesn’t take you somewhere nicer,” said Paws.
I rolled my eyes. It had been a long time since Jasper and I had kissed, but I didn’t want to think about that drought right now. “Let’s get going,” I insisted. “You’re right, Greer. I think we have to park up there. Charlie, you can get out of there as quickly as possible and your reputation will remain unstained.”
Miraculous Mintwood Magic Page 10