by Edie Claire
“Everybody take a sign, too!” a cheerful voice called out from near the porch. When Leigh moved close enough, she could see that Ginny Ledbetter had set up a card table in Maura’s front yard. In front of her were photocopied sheets of bright yellow paper adorned with thick black marker. On the top of each was a copy of the skull and knife drawing that formed the signature on Ginny’s ransom note. “Hey, Bonehead!” the signs proclaimed. “We’re watching YOU!!!”
“It’s a little crude,” Ginny said apologetically as Leigh approached the table. “My grandson did it. But it gets the point across, don’t you think?”
“Perfectly,” Leigh agreed, reaching down to pat Lucky. He sat on the grass by Ginny’s side, attached to her wrist by a leash.
“I brought him home,” Ginny said proudly. “We’re not going to let that weaselly fiend scare us anymore!” She leaned in toward Leigh and lowered her voice. “Besides which, the Jack Russell was a terror and my sister thinks she can cook.” She rolled her eyes toward heaven. “Mercy, I’ve never had such indigestion!” Her voice got louder again. “Everybody take a sign!”
Leigh took a sign, figuring she would put it up at the clinic as a show of solidarity. Then she gradually made her way up onto the porch towards Maura. Baby Eddie was kicking up a storm, energized by the buzz of activity around him. He stared out at everyone with a look of fascination until Leigh approached and smiled at him, at which point his expression turned dour.
“Hey, Koslow,” Maura greeted. “What do you think?”
“I think it’s great,” Leigh agreed. “You think it will work?”
“Can’t hurt. It’ll certainly make the perp think twice about picking another victim from this area. And between these tips and what’s been coming into the clinic, we could get lucky.”
Leigh staked out a spot on the porch and waited until the crowd had dispersed and the Avalon policeman had taken his stack of tip sheets back to the station. Although several clusters of citizens remained nearby, talking and making plans for sign postings, Leigh did finally manage to steer Maura far enough out of anyone else’s earshot to speak privately.
“I was there when Olan came for his bird,” Leigh said, figuring the other officer had already filled Maura in on the basics. “Morgan found it, actually. But unless she’s a better actress than I think she is, she didn’t know what bird we were looking for until I told her.”
“What makes you so sure?” Maura asked.
Leigh explained how Morgan had helped to clip Zeus’s wings.
“Interesting,” Maura replied, playing absently with Eddie’s feet while she mulled the thought over. “What’s more interesting is how a flightless bird ended up there in the first place. Olan lives in McKees Rocks. However the bird got loose, it didn’t fly over the river. Somebody snatched it there and drove it over here, then lost it. And it was found wandering not two blocks from where you found Lucky — which was right outside the clinic.”
Leigh groaned. “I do not like the way that sounds.”
“Neither do I. But it’s bound to cause talk.” Maura’s forehead furrowed with thought. “Do you think anyone at the clinic is aware that they’re being considered as a potential suspect?”
Leigh considered. “I don’t think so. I haven’t noticed anyone acting paranoid. But we did get that one accusatory note in the mail, and after it gets around where Zeus was found, more people could start to wonder. Then the staff are bound to get sensitive and start looking over their shoulders.”
Maura nodded in agreement. “McCleary said there was blood on the bird?”
Leigh’s stomach soured. She didn’t like thinking about bloody feathers. No matter whose blood it was. “Yes, but the bird didn’t appear to be injured. Zeus is a pretty aggressive cockatoo. I’ve seen him take stabs at people before. My guess is that whoever kidnapped him got a little more trouble than they bargained for.”
Maura considered. “Olan believed the bird was tempted from its cage and into a carrier with a food lure. He didn’t think anyone else would be able to handle it otherwise.”
“I’d say he’s right,” Leigh agreed. “Maybe after they stole the bird, they tried to move it to another cage, and it attacked. That could explain how it got away.”
“And Lucky,” Maura added. “The kidnapper most likely tried to lure him off the same way, then made the mistake of trying to pick him up.”
He’ll take your face off. Leigh remembered the colorful warning associated with both animals. “So the petnapper had both animals in his control, at least for a while, then was startled by a surprise attack and lost hold of them. Lucky ran off and headed towards home. But the bird couldn’t go far even if it did know which way to go. It was just wandering around, scared and looking for food.”
“Which means both animals were being held at some point near the clinic.”
Leigh shook her head. “Not necessarily. I saw Lucky’s paws. He had run a long way.”
Maura’s lips pursed. “It will look bad for the clinic, just the same.”
“Fabulous,” Leigh said with a sigh.
Maura’s phone buzzed, and she looked down at the number. “Hang on, Koslow,” she ordered, answering it. “Hey there, deputy! What’s up?” She listened a moment. “Well, as a matter of fact, we have had a few developments. Olan’s bird wandered into somebody’s backyard here in Avalon this morning. The bird’s back with his owner now, safe and sound. Can’t say as much for our petnapper. The bird evidently had some secondhand blood on its feathers.”
As Maura described the scene Leigh had just described to her, followed by an accounting of the community gathering, Leigh wondered to whom Maura could be talking. Was the county sheriff’s office involved now, too? The many and overlapping divisions of law enforcement in Pittsburgh were beyond mind-boggling.
“No, haven’t had a chance to look into that yet,” Maura continued. “But I’m definitely not ruling it out.” Leigh puzzled over Maura’s tone, which was warmer than her usual detective voice. “Oh, really? Not sure about that. You want to ask your mom? She was there.”
Leigh stiffened. Allison? Maura had been talking all this time to Allison?! She fixed the detective with a glare even as she reached for the phone.
Maura handed it over with a smirk.
Leigh took it. “Allison?”
“Hi, Mom. Don’t freak out. I just wanted to know if any other pets had been stolen… or anything. You could have told me Zeus was okay,” Allison added with a touch of hurt. “I was worried about him too, you know.”
“I know,” Leigh defended. “I’m sorry. But I came straight over here afterwards and wound up in the middle of a citizens’ rally. You would be proud of Skippy. She was brilliant.”
“Can you get me a sign?” Allison asked. “And also, I was wondering, did Olan say what kind of food the petnapper used to lure Zeus out of his cage last night?”
Leigh perked an eyebrow. When Allison started asking weird questions Leigh didn’t understand, trouble generally followed. “Fruit. Why?”
“What kind of fruit?” Allison persisted.
Leigh considered. “Mango, I think. Why?”
“Just wondering. Can you put Aunt Mo back on?”
Leigh’s teeth gritted. “Not until you tell me what you’re thinking.”
“I’ll explain it all when you get home,” Allison assured, “but I really need to talk to Aunt Mo again.”
Leigh debated.
“Mo-om!” Allison begged. “I’m sitting here at the house, and I’m not going anywhere, and I’m perfectly safe, and so is Ethan. We’re not stupid. But if Aunt Mo can use some help, shouldn’t I at least be able to talk to her?”
Leigh blew out a breath and handed the phone back to Maura. She hated it when her kids played the logic card.
Maura listened a moment, her brow furrowing. “Is that right? Well, that is interesting.”
Leigh tapped her foot nervously. Maura’s end of the conversation was mostly silence.
�
��It’s possible. You know that for a fact? I see. Okay. No, probably not. The news about Zeus’s recapture will be all over town by nightfall — too many people involved to have a prayer of keeping it quiet. Okay, you see if you can confirm that. Call me if you do. Right. Thanks, Allie.”
Maura hung up and pocketed her phone. Baby Eddie looked at Leigh and made a gurgling sound.
“Lydie come home yet?” Maura asked, changing the subject with infuriating nonchalance.
Crap! Leigh thought miserably. She was supposed to relieve Bess ages ago. It was a wonder her aunt hadn’t sent a stream of obscene texts already. “Not yet,” she answered. “I’ve got to get back over there.”
Maura played with Eddie’s feet again. He looked back up at his mother and made a sound suspiciously like a giggle. “Tell your mom I owe her a housecleaning sometime this weekend,” Maura offered.
“Oh, you do not want to do that,” Leigh warned.
“Why not?” Maura insisted. “She certainly helped me out enough times when I was on bedrest. My house hasn’t been as clean before or since.”
“There is nothing to clean in my parents’ house,” Leigh explained. “A certain minimal amount of dirt has to accumulate before it becomes visible to the naked eye. My mother never lets that happen. The dust is all in her mind.”
Maura chuckled. “Well, that should make things easier for me. Gerry’s off Saturday; I’ll give her a call.”
Leigh shook her head. “Your funeral.” She held her friend’s eyes a moment.
Maura sighed. “Koslow, will you stop worrying about nothing? Allison’s a smart girl, she’s very observant, and she has good ideas. You know I’d never encourage her in anything that was dangerous, any more than I would little Eddie, here. But she’d be a lot happier if you stopped actively discouraging her.”
“I don’t want her to go into police work,” Leigh said flatly.
“She’s not signing up for the academy,” Maura argued. “She’s only trying to use her brain on an otherwise dull summer day. She has great instincts, you know.”
Leigh frowned. “I have good instincts. About… you know… crime stuff.”
Maura’s eyes flickered with amusement. “I didn’t know this was a competition, Koslow.”
Leigh’s face flared with heat. She opened her mouth to fire back the perfect snappy retort, but the perfect snappy retort eluded her.
She shut her mouth and started back down the street.
Chapter 21
Leigh was just pulling up at her mother’s house when her cell phone rang.
“Hey there, kid,” said a tired-sounding voice. “Can we talk?”
“Oh, we are most definitely going to talk,” Leigh replied, getting out of the van and shutting the door behind her. “Where are you, Mason?”
“The airport,” he answered. “Where are you?”
“My parents’ house. I’ll be here all day. Can you come over?”
He hesitated.
“My mother will not bite you,” Leigh said irritably. Her head was still whirling with the events of the morning, and the week, and every time she thought of him spending that time gambling merrily away on the high seas, her jaws clenched. Now her teeth were sore.
“You sure about that?” Mason asked skeptically.
“Just get over here,” Leigh ordered. “I’ll meet you out front if you like.”
A beat passed. “Okay, kid,” he agreed. “I guess I owe you that much.”
You think?
Leigh hung up before she could say anything she would regret later. She knew that Mason had nothing to do with the petnappings, much less the murders, even if he did consider Kyle a friend. But she wasn’t above resenting the mess he’d gotten her — and by extension the Pack — into. A mess that surely could have been straightened out earlier if he hadn’t been so out of touch.
Leigh thought with trepidation of poor Lenna, who was at this very moment probably lying in bed cuddling the three-legged cat she had fallen in love with. But had Peep been stolen from her real owner, too? There was no question that Kyle had been up to his neck in the petnapping operation. What was strange was how little his demise had seemed to affect it.
Leigh stomped up to her mother’s door. She dreaded the earful she was about to get from Bess, and she had come prepared with a credible-sounding explanation. She was surprised, upon entering, to discover that it wouldn’t be necessary.
Bess was still passed out on the couch, snoring. Her Pekingese mix lay sprawled across her stomach. The dog was snoring, too.
“Pathetic, aren’t they?” Frances called from the kitchen table, which was now completely covered with paperwork. “I told her she was drinking too much. And she stayed up too late besides. Watching some ridiculous movie on that device she calls a phone up until the wee hours of the morning… I mean, really. On a Thursday night! At her age!”
Leigh chose not to comment. “Have you talked to Aunt Lydie?”
“She’s guessing she’ll get here between seven and eight this evening,” Frances reported. “Depending on the Turnpike traffic.”
“I see,” Leigh replied, stressing over the prospect of providing another dinner. She couldn’t possibly ask Bess to cook again, and Warren deserved a quiet evening at home. Perhaps she could guilt-trip Mason into bringing something?
She smiled. Now that would be justice.
Frances began muttering something about “utterly ridiculous credit extension,” and Leigh removed herself to the living room so that she could keep an eye out for Mason through the front window. When his banged-up old Corolla pulled to the curb, she called to her mother. “I’m going to sit outside for a bit. If you need anything, just yell.”
Frances harrumphed. “You’d hear me before Bess would, I’d wager.”
Leigh cast a glance at her still-prone aunt, whose only response to the women’s voices was to snort, turn sideways, and pull the little dog against her chest. Leigh made sure the front window was open, then walked outside and closed the door behind her.
She met Mason on the sidewalk and they leaned against the side of the Corolla. He was dressed in clothes equally dapper to those she had seen him leave in, except that this outfit was rumpled. He seemed haggard, as well.
“You don’t look so good,” Leigh noted, thinking she sounded about as tactful as Morgan.
“I’ve been better,” Mason said sadly. “They told me about Kyle this morning.”
Leigh felt a strong twinge of guilt. It hadn’t occurred to her that Mason would be upset about the murder, but of course it should have. “I’m sorry,” she commiserated.
Mason nodded. “He was a good kid. A mess at the end, but a good kid.”
Leigh puzzled over the statement. “You do know that the cockatiel in his apartment was stolen from a man in Bellevue? Kidnapped for ransom?”
Mason shook his head. “Kyle wouldn’t have anything to do with something like that.”
“Oh no?”
“No,” Mason repeated. “I know he was desperate for money, but Kyle just wasn’t wired for a life of crime. He was a computer geek, for God’s sake!”
“Seriously?” Leigh asked with surprise.
Mason nodded. “He started playing online poker when he was a teenager, and he was amazingly good at it — a natural talent. But just when he started to make some real money, the industry got shut down. He turned his hand to live play, but at first he was terrible. Learning to read other people, being up close and personal with your opponents — it’s a whole different game. But he and I traded some secrets, and we both got better. He just never got quite good enough.”
“And he got into debt,” Leigh declared.
“He was an idiot with money,” Mason explained. “Always risking too much, never seeing the consequences if he lost. He was all about statistics and calculations, but he never really seemed to grasp that just because the odds are with you doesn’t mean you’re going to win, eventually or otherwise. Improbable stuff happens. And it kept happe
ning to him.”
Leigh sighed. “So he borrowed money from the wrong people, and then he got scared.”
Mason nodded solemnly. “They were just messing with him. They might have roughed him up a bit, but they wouldn’t have killed him — all they wanted was their money back. But he was terrified. And convinced that he could win it all back with one really good, high-stakes game. So he went illegal, despite my warnings,” Mason’s face crinkled with pain. “And that did kill him.”
“I’m sorry,” Leigh repeated, feeling more like a heel by the second.
“I tried to help him,” he continued. “I made good on his rent a couple times, but I’ve been down this road before — you can bail water all day and night, but you can’t keep a man’s boat from sinking if he keeps poking holes in it.”
Leigh studied Mason’s face. It was obvious that he really did care about Kyle. Which made her wonder how objective Mason could be about his friend’s character, now that Kyle was dead.
“Did he have a girlfriend?” she asked tentatively.
Mason chuckled sadly. “Um, no. Kyle was a little shy around women. You could say he had some ‘social anxieties.’”
Leigh frowned. This conversation wasn’t tying things up nearly as neatly as she’d been hoping. In fact, it wasn’t helping at all.
“If Kyle wasn’t involved in the petnappings,” she insisted, “why would he have a stolen cockatiel in his apartment?”
Mason shrugged. “Maybe he was keeping it for a friend. He liked animals.”
“Keeping it for a friend?” Leigh repeated skeptically. “How would you word that request, exactly? ‘Hey bro, I’ve decided to kidnap pets for ransom, but I ran out of space. Could you keep this one for me until its loving owner pays up?’”
Mason’s expression was patient. “How about, ‘Hey, Kyle — I’m getting paid to watch my buddy’s bird, but my girlfriend’s allergic. Can you keep him over at your place for a couple days? I’ll pay you what he’s paying me.’”
Leigh’s lips pursed. Mason was right. Bad as it looked, a guy like Kyle could have gotten the bird from just about any acquaintance and still been clueless as to its origins. It was possible.