by Cate Conte
“That’s terrible.” Maybe I had misjudged Virgil. And Grandpa’s gut wasn’t gunning for June. But I wasn’t entirely ready to let it go yet. What if she hadn’t been aware of her actions and really had done something to hurt Virgil, maybe without meaning to?
I said as much to Stewart. He considered it. “It’s possible someone could go to that extreme, Maddie, but I’ve never seen it and I’ve worked with a lot of dementia cases at the center over the years. Besides, June couldn’t have done it. She was at her support group at the center the night Virgil was killed. I can personally vouch for her because I was working, and I called her friend to pick her up when the police called over.”
And Grandpa’s gut struck again. That was a rock-solid alibi, I realized with a sinking feeling. The list of suspects was dwindling. “Which friend?” I asked.
“Edie Barnes. Far as I knew, she was the only one who knew the real deal about June. Aside from Virgil and their son, of course. Edie was June’s secondary emergency contact.”
I leaned against the counter, feeling some of the wind leave my sails. If anything, June’s illness was just another reason why Virgil might have been looking for some comfort outside of his real life. Which brought me full circle back to Katrina. I still didn’t believe she’d killed him, but if she’d been seeing him, she needed to come clean now.
“Hey, Stewart,” I said as he prepared to usher his charges back to the bus. “How do you know all this? About Virgil?”
He grinned at me. “We’ve been playing poker together for years. You learn a lot about a guy during an all-night card game.” But then his smile faded. “Sure am gonna miss those card games.”
Chapter 39
Friday, January 1: ten days after the murder
6:00 p.m.
I didn’t want to alert her that I was coming, so I showed up at Katrina’s house with no advance notice. I figured she’d be home. She hadn’t been out much lately. Not that I blamed her. She’d basically had her job taken away and has a murder charge hanging over her head.
I was right. Her car was in the driveway, and her lights were on. She answered the door right away. I knew she wasn’t feeling great, but I was shocked at how terrible she looked. She’d lost weight, and she had been thin to begin with. Her sweatpants hung off her, and her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail. Her bangs were too long, and dark circles under her eyes aged her by at least five years. She didn’t look thrilled to see me, which made me sad. At the same time, I felt a surge of anger. If she’d just confided in me in the first place, maybe we could’ve avoided a lot of this mess.
“Hey,” she said listlessly. “What’s up?”
“I need to talk to you,” I said, moving past her.
“Well then come on in,” she said sarcastically to my back.
Fred jumped down from his window perch and raced over to me, rubbing against my leg. I bent to pet him, giving me a moment to get myself together. Finally I rose and turned to face her. She stood against the door, arms crossed over her chest, watching me as one would an animal they were wary of. She didn’t ask me to sit.
“So what’s going on?” she asked finally.
I took a deep breath. “I need to ask you something, and I need you to be honest with me. Because I’m really trying to help you.”
She winced a little at that, probably remembering the last time we had something to ask her. “Go on.”
“Katrina. You know I love you like a sister. And I know you didn’t hurt anyone. But you have to tell me. Were you having an affair with Virgil?”
By the range of emotions that raced across her face, I could tell that whatever she’d been expecting from me, it wasn’t that. Her reaction was so shocked, I realized it couldn’t be true. I’d known her a long time and she wasn’t that good of an actor.
“Was I … having an affair … with Virgil?” she repeated, as if tasting the words, finding them disgusting, and trying to spit them out. She looked like she didn’t know whether to laugh or come after me. “Maddie. Did you seriously just ask me that question?”
I stood my ground. “What am I supposed to think? You guys were calling each other all the time. You admitted you were at his house that night, although you never actually said why, aside from some story about checking on a cat that makes no sense. June had serious problems, and they clearly weren’t acting like a married couple. So”—I lifted my arms, palms up—“what would you think?”
“What would I think?” Katrina walked slowly around her kitchen. “I’m not sure. But I certainly wouldn’t jump to conclusions, especially ones like that, and run around accusing someone—my friend—without gathering the right information. But I guess you and I are different.”
The way she was looking at me made me want to crawl into a hole, but I kept my gaze on her. “Then why were you at Virgil’s house that night, if you weren’t seeing him? Because I know you weren’t murdering him.”
“Well,” she said, “thanks for the vote of confidence.” She yanked her door open, eyes flashing with anger. “I think you should leave.”
“Katrina, come on. Talk to me.”
“You don’t want to talk, Maddie. You just want to point fingers. Listen, I would appreciate it if you just stayed out of it. I know I asked for help, but I changed my mind. I don’t want your help. I’ll take my chances with the lawyer. And I’ll pay your grandfather back every cent for that as soon as I can, believe me. But in the meantime, just forget about all of it. Now please leave.”
That wasn’t what I was expecting. “You can’t—you need our help. I know you didn’t kill Virgil. The police aren’t interested in looking at anyone else. Just tell me what was going on, Katrina. Whatever it was, we can figure it out.”
“I asked you to leave.” Her eyes were so cold. “Now.”
I walked slowly to the door and turned around to try one more time, but she slammed it in my face. I had to take a step back so it wouldn’t hit me. I could hear her throw the deadbolt in place on the other side.
I waited a moment, my face burning despite the cold, then walked slowly toward my car. I’d been so sure I’d found at least one of the answers, but now I mostly just felt like a jerk. And like I’d lost one of my best and oldest friends.
Chapter 40
Saturday, January 2: eleven days after the murder
Morning
I couldn’t sleep. Which was nothing new lately, but last night it was particularly bad. I kept replaying the scene with Katrina over and over in my mind. I still felt like there was no other obvious conclusion I could’ve come to given the information I had, but either she was a really good actress or my conclusion was flat-out wrong.
This thing was getting crazier and crazier. I’d excluded June as a suspect given her situation and alibi, but aside from that development, I hadn’t narrowed my list down any further. And whether Katrina and Virgil were having an affair or not, I know she didn’t kill him. There had to be something I was missing. Finally around five a.m. I gave up, grabbed a notebook, and sat down on my bed, opening to a fresh page. I felt like Grandpa, but I needed to see all of this in one place.
I made a numbered list and added Katrina next to number 1. I hated to do it, but I needed to sort through the facts and, like it or not, she was a big part of the story. I jotted down a few notes—“seen in the area the night he died”; “lied about it”; her number in his call logs.”
Next I wrote down Whitney’s name. Whitney loved the cats and hated the Prousts, and she’d been lying about her injury. Which meant it was a lot easier to get around then she wanted people to think. And I’d heard her sort of threatening the Prousts. Well, June, but since Virgil was protecting June, he wouldn’t have taken too kindly to that. Plus, her boyfriend—whom she’d also lied about—was Virgil’s art agent. I wrote Paul Durant as number 2A. Had something happened there? Some kind of professional dispute that had driven him to murder? He’d seemed like a nice enough guy, but if enough money was involved, people could flip on a
dime. Money was always a great motivator. I made a note to see what I could find out there and circled it.
Number 3 was Harvey Hackett. Harvey, who I’d thought was an ally for the cats, had actually tried to convince people to poison them. And he’d been seen fighting with Virgil in the street, and Virgil had actually threatened him. Maybe Harvey had gotten really angry about that and decided to pay Virgil back? It seemed extreme, but it was still a possibility. And there was the conversation between Harvey and Monica about him “giving Virgil a hard time.” Whatever that was, they hadn’t wanted the police to know about it.
Then there was Trey Barnes. I underlined and circled his name. Virgil had called the cops on him. He didn’t seem like the type who would’ve taken kindly to that. And if he was hanging out with sketchy characters like the ones at the bar the other night, who seemed to have a not-so-great relationship with law enforcement.… I thought of Jade’s harsh words about him and his friends. Nothing much fazed Jade, so the fact that she’d reacted so negatively to these guys was a red flag.
For the heck of it, I googled Trey’s name. I didn’t find much. A guy who worked at CrossFit in Colorado; a financial advisor in Connecticut. Nothing on any social profiles for a Trey Barnes who fit his description and location. He appeared to be tagged in a couple of images from other social accounts with shoddy privacy settings, one at a gym and another at what looked like a party on a beach. On the third page of the search, I found a small marriage announcement. Edie Wright married Trey Barnes on February 19, 2016. So they hadn’t been married very long. But there was nothing else on the Trey I was interested in.
I skimmed through the rest of the pages, then sat back, thinking. I wondered if Trey had any kind of an arrest record. Grandpa hadn’t found one in Turtle Point—the only mention he’d found was the time Virgil had called the cops on Trey.
But maybe he was doing his partying and subsequent bad behavior in other places. Like the old adage about not going to the bathroom where you ate.
I wrote June’s name down too, then crossed it out. She had an alibi and I needed to accept it and let it go no matter how much I didn’t like the woman, illness aside.
I waited until six—a much more civilized hour—then picked up my phone. I hadn’t talked to Craig since he’d broken the news about Lucas. Or since I’d spoken to Jade. I wondered if he had heard about that yet … and if he was still talking to me.
But after a moment, he answered.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey.”
He sounded fine, so I jumped right in. “You ever heard of a Trey Barnes being arrested in Daybreak Harbor?” I asked.
“Barnes? I’d have to look. Common name. Why?”
I gave him a quick overview of the situation in Jade’s bar the other night, and what I knew about Trey. He didn’t say anything when I mentioned Jade, so I didn’t either.
“I’ll look into it,” he said.
“Really? You promise?”
“Yes, of course. I’ll check when I get into work today.”
I thanked him and hung up, pondering my next move. I’d been thinking about Leopard Man at Virgil’s funeral. While I knew Leopard Man probably knew everyone on the island and then some, he wasn’t friendly with everyone. And he certainly wouldn’t be friends with a cat hater.
So why had he been there?
Well, wondering wasn’t going to get me anywhere. I needed to ask him, and luckily I had an idea of where I could find him. I just had to wait until an even more civilized hour.
In the meantime, I had cats to feed. I threw on some clothes, brought JJ downstairs to feed him, then hopped in Grandma’s car. Instead of heading straight to Sea Spray, I drove to Cass’s shop first. He owned the building and lived in the apartment above it, so I figured chances were good he would be there.
He was already in the shop—the lights were on. I got out and went to the door. When he unlocked it, I handed him one of Ethan’s muffins. “Time to take a quick drive?”
Cass looked completely unfazed at the fact that I’d shown up at barely six thirty in the morning. He blew out his incense, picked up his coat, and put his arm around me. “For you, anything.”
Once we were in the car, he glanced over. “Where are we going?”
“I have to feed the ferals,” I said. “You don’t have to get out of the car.”
“I am always happy to help.” He unwrapped his muffin and took a bite. “Delicious.”
“I’ll tell Ethan you said so.” I pulled up at a red light and glanced over at him. “Craig found out Lucas was in jail while he was away.”
Cass’s face didn’t change. He was so good at the Zen thing. “What happened?”
“I’m not sure. Craig couldn’t get the full file.”
“And you haven’t asked Lucas to explain?”
I hit the gas a little too hard when the light turned green. “No.”
“Do you think you might?”
“I don’t know,” I muttered.
Cass continued to eat his muffin. At least when he judged me, he didn’t show it. “That’s probably the only way you’re ever going to know,” he said.
“What if he lies?” I asked. “How will I ever know if he’s telling me the truth?”
Now he did look at me. “Because I taught you how to know. And because you didn’t really need me to teach you in the first place. You always know, Maddie.”
Chapter 41
Saturday, January 2: eleven days after the murder
Late morning
With Cass in the woods with me, feeding the cats went quickly. It was actually nice to have him there. No one would mess with Cass, so I wasn’t worried about running into anyone with bad intentions. I finished up by filling the water bowls in Whitney’s shed. Cass had gone back to warm up the car. As I came out of her backyard and slid into the driver’s seat, I saw Edie Barnes up at the end of her driveway in a robe and slippers despite the snow still on the ground. For someone usually so put together, she looked like she’d gotten no sleep last night. Her usually perfect shoulder-length hair was flat on one side. She was peering into her trash can. I wondered if she’d lost something, and if so why she hadn’t sent Trey out to find it.
“Mind if I stop?” I asked Cass.
“Of course not.”
I rolled up to Edie’s driveway. Cass rolled down the window and leaned over to smile at her. “Morning, Edie. Everything okay?”
She, in turn, glared at me and then turned a suspicious look on Cass. “Everything’s fine. Why?”
“I didn’t see you at Virgil’s funeral,” I said.
The fact that I was at Virgil’s funeral seemed to surprise her, but she recovered quickly. “I wasn’t feeling well.”
“Well, I hope you’re feeling better. Is Trey ill too? He left the bar so quickly the other night.”
Now her face went a sickly gray. “The bar?” she asked in a deadly quiet voice.
I nodded. “Jade Moon. New Year’s Eve. I guess because you weren’t feeling well he was out with some friends.”
Her mouth was working but no sound came out. I felt a little bad now. She clearly had no idea what her husband had been up to, or that he’d been out at Jade’s.
“He’s fine. Thanks for asking.” She turned to head back to her house, sliding a little on the slushy snow as she hurried away.
Cass and I looked at each other. “She certainly didn’t seem very happy to speak to you,” Cass said.
“No,” I murmured. “She certainly didn’t.”
* * *
I dropped Cass off and arrived at the library around ten. I was relieved to see that Ellen St. Pierre was working. She was not only one of the librarians, but more importantly, Leopard Man’s girlfriend—a recent development. She stood in the lobby speaking to a harried-looking woman with two young children. She pointed upstairs, and once the woman walked away dragging the kids—one of whom was throwing an impressive fit—she shook her head and came over to give me a hug.
At least one good thing had come of this whole Lucas ordeal. “I am, Ellen. I just needed to lose a few pounds.” I smiled reassuringly. “I’m looking for our favorite leopard. Is he here?”
“In his favorite chair,” she said, pointing to a small reading room off the main room. “Waiting for me to get done. We have a hot date tonight,” she said with a wink.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to know about that. “Didn’t you just open?” I asked, glancing at my watch.
She nodded. “He just likes to be around me.” She clasped her hands together and brought them to her lips. “It’s so sweet.”
That it was. “Thanks, Ellen.” I hurried into the other room.
Leopard Man was in a chair next to the window. He had an open book on his lap, but he wasn’t reading it. Instead, he was gazing out the window. He turned when I came in and smiled.
“Ah, Maddie. I bear a charmed life.” He closed his book and rose to kiss my cheek. “To what do I owe the honor?”
“I’m sorry to bother you,” I said. “But I had two questions for you.”
“Delightful!” He clapped his hands. “What’s the first? I hope I know the answer.”
“Are you the one giving Katrina anonymous donations for the ferals out on Sea Spray? And paying the vet costs?” Something else I’d been wondering, although I wasn’t sure it was related.
“Alas, that is not me. Although it’s a lovely idea,” he mused. “I should do in the future. And the second question?” He waited expectantly.