by Kathi Daley
Back at the cabin, I fed Max and Apollo and then went upstairs to take a shower and get ready for work. I dressed in a pair of jeans and a pink Coffee Cat Books T-shirt before pulling on some tennis shoes and grabbing my Coffee Cat Books sweatshirt. I wouldn’t have time for breakfast if I didn’t want to be late, so I went directly to the cat sanctuary to feed everyone there and then load up the four cats I was bringing with me that day, figuring I’d grab a coffee and a muffin when I got to the store.
When the cats were loaded in the car I went back to the cabin to grab Travis Long’s wallet and my backpack, which I used as a purse. As I opened the door, Apollo squeezed out and made a mad dash for the car. The doors were all closed, so he jumped up onto the hood and waited.
“I don’t like to take my visiting cats to work,” I explained to him. “That increases the risk that someone will see you and want to adopt you.”
“Meow.”
“I get that you don’t want to stay home all day, but I think it’s for the best.” I leaned over to pick him up, but he bared his claws and hissed at me. “Okay, I give in; you can come. But you need to behave. Okay?”
“Meow.”
I looked down at Max, feeling bad taking Apollo but leaving him behind again. “Maybe you can hang with Cody today.” A quick call confirmed he was fine with the idea, so I opened the front passenger side door and let Max and Apollo hop in because the entire backseat was already taken up with the travel carriers filled with the four sanctuary cats. I decided it would be best to drop the cats off first, then take Max to the newspaper office, so I headed to Coffee Cat Books.
“Oh good, you’re on time,” Tara greeted me when I walked through the front door with the first of the four cats to be featured that day.
“Aren’t I usually?” I asked as I removed the cat from the carrier and headed toward the cat lounge.
“We both know you’re late more often than you’re on time, but tardiness is part of your charm. Today, I need you to run to the printer to pick up the flyers for the annual spring sale. I just got a call that they’re ready.”
“I’ll get the cats settled; then I need to drop Max off at the newspaper, but I’ll go to the printer after that.” I returned to the car for the next cat. Tara followed me out and grabbed another carrier. “You don’t happen to know someone named Travis Long, do you?”
“No,” Tara answered. “Why do you ask?”
“I found his wallet this morning. Well, Max found it. It must have washed up on the beach during the storm last night.”
“Did it look as if it had been in the water long?”
“No,” I answered. “Everything was waterlogged but mostly intact, so it probably had only been there for a day or less. I’ll drop it off at Finn’s office when I take Max to the newspaper. If I lost my wallet I’d check with the sheriff’s office to see if anyone turned it in.”
“That’s a good idea. If Finn is in and you have the chance to speak to him, let him know I spoke with Victoria Grace this morning. She was visiting her sister in Portland all last week, so it looks like we can take her off the suspect list.”
“Okay, I will. You should call Siobhan; she planned to speak to her today.”
I got all four cats settled; then Max, Apollo, and I headed to the newspaper office. As we pulled up out front, I could see Cody working at the counter through the large picture windows along the entire front of the building. Max loved hanging out with Cody, so he hopped out of the car and was headed to the front door before I had a chance to grab Apollo.
“Wait,” I yelled at the independent cat. “It’s too dangerous for you to be wandering out here by yourself.”
The cat ignored me and took off trotting on the sidewalk. I quickly let Max into the reception area where Cody was working and then ran down the street, trying to catch up with Apollo. I should have put him in a cat carrier, but there hadn’t been room on the front seat for both that and Max and me, so I’d let him ride beside us unrestrained.
“Apollo,” I called as I picked up the pace. “Wait for me. You shouldn’t be running around on your own. I’d hate for something to happen to you.”
When Apollo arrived at the corner I held my breath, afraid he would run into the street. Instead, he made the turn onto Main and headed back toward the wharf and Coffee Cat Books. I thought the bookstore was his destination, but he stopped and waited for me to catch up when he arrived at Herbalities, Tansy and Bella’s shop.
“You want to see Tansy?” I asked.
“Meow.”
I opened the front door and Apollo darted inside. Bella was dusting shelves, but I didn’t see Tansy.
“Good morning, Cait,” Bella greeted me with a smile. “This must be Apollo.”
“It is. It seems he wants to see Tansy. Is she here?”
“I’m afraid she’s ill. She didn’t come in today.”
“Ill? Do you know what’s wrong?”
Bella’s smile faded. There was concern in her bright blue eyes. “I’m not sure. When she came home from the hollow on Monday she looked pale and worn out. I asked what was wrong, but she just said her energy was off and went straight to bed. When I checked on her yesterday morning she said she was feeling worse, so I suggested she stay in. She was still sleeping when I left today, but I’d already assured her I could handle things in the shop on my own.”
“I’m so sorry she’s feeling under the weather. Please tell her that I hope she feels better soon.”
Bella bent down to pick up Apollo, who had wandered over to her.
“I don’t suppose Tansy has had any further thoughts about what’s going on in the hollow?” I asked.
Bella hugged the cat to her chest. “Not that she’s said. I did have a vision last night, but I’m not certain it had anything to do with the disturbance in the hollow. Normally, everything cat related is Tansy’s forte.”
“What was your vision?” I asked.
“Tansy was standing on the beach, looking out toward the sea. I was looking at her from a distance, but I could feel her fear. I wanted to approach, but for some reason all I could do was observe. After a short time, an owl appeared from out of nowhere and landed on her shoulder.”
“Do you think that means something?” I wondered.
“The presence of an owl can have many meanings. Generally, owl energy has been associated with intuition and the ability to see what others can’t.”
“That sounds like Tansy.”
“Yes, it does. And that may be all my vison of the owl represented. But owl energy can also signal change, and the traditional meaning of the arrival of an owl is death.”
“Okay, that’s sounding less positive. Should we be doing something?”
Bella held the cat out and looked it in the eye. “I think Tansy’s energy is tied to the hollow. If we can fix the imbalance there Tansy will be fine as well.”
“It seemed the imbalance Tansy sensed was the tainted water. What if we can’t fix the problem and the cats don’t return?”
Bella bowed her head. “We can’t allow that to happen.”
I watched as Apollo jumped down and walked to the door. It seemed he was ready to leave. “We’ll figure this out. Tell Tansy not to worry.”
Apollo and I walked back toward Finn’s office, which was next door to the newspaper. I wanted to give him the wallet I’d found, and it couldn’t hurt to check in with him to see if he’d had any news regarding Thea’s death since last night. If Tansy was sick because of the imbalance in the hollow I needed to solve Thea’s murder quickly so I could work on that. I was beginning to wonder where my energy should be focused. Initially, I’d assumed finding Thea’s killer was the priority, but now I wasn’t certain.
I stopped at my car to put Apollo inside before grabbing the wallet from my change tray. I wouldn’t be long, and the last thing I wanted to do was give Apollo the opportunity to take off again.
Finn was on the phone when I arrived, so I took a seat in the reception area and waited.
He joined me there a few minutes later.
“Am I to assume you have information regarding Thea’s death?” he asked.
“Not since last night,” I said. “Tara found out Victoria Grace was out of town last week, so we can take her off the list. This is the reason I’m here.” I handed Finn the wallet.
He opened it and looked at the ID. “Travis Long.”
“Do you know him?” I asked.
“Mr. Long’s girlfriend reported him missing yesterday. He’s a student at the University of Washington and came to the island to do some research. He had a date with the girlfriend on Saturday night, but he never showed.”
I frowned. “I suppose the fact that Max found his wallet on the beach isn’t a good sign.”
Finn pursed his lips. “No, I don’t suppose it is. I’ll follow up with the girlfriend to see if she’s heard from him since we spoke. If she hasn’t we’ll need to consider the possibility that foul play is involved in his disappearance.”
“I’m starting to get a bad feeling about things. First Tansy senses a disturbance in the hollow and we find out the cats have been leaving. Then we go to check it out and find the water has been tainted. The next thing we know, Thea’s dead. To top it all off, I just found out Tansy is sick and Bella had a vison of an owl, and now the man whose wallet Max found is missing. What on earth is going on?”
“A vision of an owl?”
“It’s a spirit animal thing. Apparently, it can represent insight and enhanced vision, or it can represent a change or death.”
“So, which is it?”
“Bella didn’t know. At this point all I can say for sure is that something bad is going on and it’s up to us to identify and fix it.”
Chapter 6
Apollo and I returned to Coffee Cat Books just as the first ferry of the day was about to dock, so I knew Tara and I would be busy until the crowd thinned out. Working in a location where most of our business came from passengers coming and going on the ferry, it seemed our work flow was feast followed by famine until the next ferry arrived and we did it all over again.
“Did you remember the flyers?” Tara asked.
I cringed. “I’m going right now. Can you keep an eye on Apollo for me?”
“I’ll just put him in the cat lounge with the others for now. If anyone asks about him, I’ll let them know he isn’t available.”
I left Coffee Cat Books for the second time that morning and headed to the printers. Tara had come up with the idea of running a huge sale at the bookstore each spring to clear out the old inventory and make way for the new, which we hoped to sell over the busy summer months. The sale had become a popular event, bringing visitors from the larger cities across the channel, which gave a boost to our bottom line.
The printer was in Harthaven, about a ten-minute drive from Pelican Bay. Harthaven was established by Madrona Island’s founding fathers to serve the community that had developed when the island was first settled and was home to businesses that supported the local population to this day. Pelican Bay, on the other hand, was a new development that was born from the tourism that resulted from the ferry stopping on the island daily.
“Morning, Diane,” I greeted the woman who owned Harthaven Printing. “I’m picking up the flyers Tara ordered.”
“I have them right here. I can’t wait for the sale. Last year I bought enough books to last the entire summer.”
“I expect this year’s sale to be just as awesome, but you should plan to come early. It seems we sold out most of the stock Tara had tagged for the sale within the first couple of days.”
Diane handed me the order form to sign, indicating I had received the order.
“Is Coffee Cat Books planning to sponsor a booth at the Easter fair this year?”
“I’m sure Tara is, but I’ll verify it and let you know for sure.”
“It’s on Saturday, March 31, and there are only two spots left, so have her call me this morning. We had a slow start getting folks to commit, but now that it’s getting closer people have been bringing in their deposit checks at a steady pace.”
“Hang on and I’ll call Tara.” I dialed my partner, who confirmed that she did plan to reserve a booth. I asked Diane to save us a spot and I’d be back with a check later that morning. I was about to leave with the flyers when Jared Pitman walked in. I remembered Pam had said she’d seen Jared with Thea at O’Malley’s, so I waited while he picked up a box of envelopes and followed him out.
“I guess you heard about Thea,” I began as we walked down the sidewalk toward the parking lot.
He nodded. “I’m sorry about what happened, but I’m not surprised. I tried to warn her, but she wouldn’t listen.”
“Warn her about what?”
Jared paused as he reached his car. He opened the back door and set the box on the seat. “Thea had been working on some sort of secret project. She told me that she’d stumbled onto some information a couple of months ago and insisted she knew things that could get some influential people into a lot of trouble. I told her it was best to forget what she knew and mind her own business, but she kept saying knowledge was currency and she was going to cash in.”
“She was going to blackmail someone?”
“That was my take, although she never told me exactly what sort of information she had or who she planned to blackmail with it. I don’t know for certain that her cockamamy plan was behind her death, but I won’t be surprised if that’s how it turns out.”
“Did you tell Finn that?”
“Yes, I did. He said he’d look in to it.”
“And you don’t know anything else? Where she stumbled onto this information, what it pertained to, or who if anyone else she’d already shared the information with?”
Jared shook his head. “Thea refused to say anything else. We had some fun together, usually met for two-for-one Thursdays at Shots, but we didn’t have the sort of relationship that led to the sharing of intimate secrets. We were just bar buddies. I’m not sure she would have told me anything at all if she hadn’t been drunk at the time.”
“Okay, well, thanks, and if you think of anything else call me or Finn.”
“I will. I hope you catch the coward who hit her when she wasn’t looking.”
Jared got into his car and drove away, and I continued to my car and drove back to the bookstore. I gave the flyers to Tara and she sent me back to the printer’s with our check. It was a beautiful sunny day, but the island was still recovering from the storm; schools had remained closed for one more day and Cassie had come in to help Tara and make some extra cash. When I brought the check to Diane she was standing at the counter chatting with Pam Wilkins.
“Oh good,” Diane said. “Pam is here to drop off a check for Shells and Sunshine, so the booths for the Easter fair are officially sold out. When I agreed to take charge of registration, I had no idea how much time it would require.”
“I think that’s true of volunteer endeavors in general,” Pam commented. She turned to me. “Do you have any news regarding Thea’s death?”
“Not really. I’ve spoken to some people, and Finn’s been looking into things, but neither of us has stumbled across anything conclusive. Thea was killed in her home and we didn’t notice any sign of forced entry, so it appears she may have known her killer. Finn is waiting for a report from the crime lab. If he’s lucky they’ll come up with fingerprints or some form of physical evidence to point us in a direction.”
“Have you spoken to Lilly Kent?” Pam asked.
“Not yet, but she’s on my list. Do you know something about her?”
“It’s not so much that I know something, but after we spoke yesterday I sat down and tried to make a list of who I thought would have had a strong enough motive to kill Thea and Lilly popped into my head. After Thea and I had our falling out Lilly asked me out for lunch. I guess she felt she’d find a sympathetic ear in me after what Thea had done. She told me that while she was in love with Steve and wanted to marry h
im, she was hesitant because of the tie he still had with Thea. I pointed out that even though they weren’t married anymore their divorce seemed to have been amicable and they’d remained friends, but Lilly insisted that because they didn’t have children together, they had no reason to communicate with each other on a regular basis, yet Thea still called Steve at least a couple of times a week, asking for help with one thing or another.”
“Did Lilly say whether she’d spoken to Steve about the situation?” I wondered.
“She said she had, but he told her that Thea wasn’t the handy sort and needed help with things around the house. I’m not saying Lilly would actually have killed Thea to get her out of the picture, but I’m betting she’s pretty happy now that she no longer has to compete for attention from her own fiancé.”
“I guess I can see that. I’ll mention this to Finn, and if he hasn’t already spoken to her, I’ll see if I can track her down.”
“Please don’t tell her that I told you what I have. I don’t need her angry with me. She seems like she might play dirty, if you know what I mean.”
I was about to agree that Lilly did appear to have a temper when Diane jumped in. “Lilly told me that Thea was fired from her temp job with Caldwell and Benson.”
“Caldwell and Benson the attorneys?” I clarified.
Diane nodded her head.
“I did hear that Thea had been fired from one of her temp jobs for inappropriate conduct, but I wasn’t aware it was Caldwell and Benson,” I commented.
“Keep in mind, my source is the local gossip network, which isn’t always reliable, but you might want to talk to some of the employees at the law firm. They might have more insight regarding what really happened.”
“Thanks. I will.”
I left the printers and went directly to Finn’s office. I didn’t want to take time out of my day to reinterview the same people he’d already spoken to, but it was sounding more and more as if Lilly might have the strongest motive for wanting Thea out of the way. Of course, the blackmail tip Jared had provided was pretty juicy too. When I arrived at Finn’s door it was locked, the sign he put on the door letting people know he was in the field and to call him if they had an emergency in place. I didn’t think what I had constituted an emergency, so I headed next door to say hi to Cody only to find he was out and about as well.