Cat Killed A Rat

by ReGina Welling

  “Oh, Lottie,” Talia’s voice broke. “I’m sorry for shutting you out.”

  “Well, you thought it might have been me who killed Luther.”

  “You knew I suspected you?”

  Lottie hugged her again. “It’s a sister thing. Luther might not have been my choice for you, but he did his best to make you happy.” Left unsaid was anything about his less than ethical business practices. “And I shouldn’t have said what I did at the funeral.”

  “It was an accident, not murder,” Talia took a deep breath to let the words sink in. “Not murder,” she repeated. Relieved of that burden, her spine straightened just a bit. “I’ve been so worried that whoever killed him might come after me next.”

  “I never thought…I mean…I have a confession to make.” Lottie let go of Talia, and walked to the table where she slumped into a chair and dropped her head in her hands.

  After a moment, when she had composed herself, Lottie beckoned Talia to take a seat.

  “Please, please don’t hate me for this, Tallie, but I was there.”

  “You…where? I don’t understand.” Dread bleached the color from Talia’s face.

  “I was at the church. Not inside, and not when Luther fell.”

  Chloe shot EV a look, and a swift but gentle kick under the table. The tipster was about to reveal all.

  “I finished the book I was reading, but I couldn’t find another one in the house that looked interesting, so I decided to walk into town and check the book boxes.” Romance novels were Lottie’s addiction. “I was just getting ready to turn on my penlight and check the box across the street from the church when I saw someone sneak into the bushes. It looked suspicious, and I was curious, so I doubled back, crossed the street, and came up on the far side of the rectory.”

  Her audience sat spellbound, so Lottie continued, “I heard Luther and Evan arguing and plotting. Evan was being blackmailed by someone to push through the Gilmore annexation scheme, and he wanted Luther to help him. I got distracted at first, but when Evan left, I remembered the person in the bushes, so I crept to the corner to see if I could tell who it was. The window was open, and there was just enough light that Ashton’s face stood out clearly. I figured he was just being nosy, so I turned around and got out of there before he saw me.”

  “So you were gone before Luther fell? Ashton said a white cat jumped through the window. We’ll never know for sure, but we think the cat either jumped onto that rickety ladder, or startled Luther. And that’s how he fell.”

  “Well, I didn’t see the cat until I found her crying in the bushes on my way home, but I did see Ashton.”

  “And you didn’t tell anyone? You could have saved Evan if you had spoken up before.” Talia’s voice rode the edge of bitterness.

  “Cut me a break, Tallie, there was no way I could have known what Ashton would do. None of us knew about Allegra. For all I knew, Ashton was the one who was blackmailing Evan.”

  “No, I guess you couldn’t have known,” Talia admitted.

  “After Evan was killed and Ashton started targeting EV, I called the Pine Cone tip line. I didn’t know what else to do. By the time I realized he might be connected to Evan’s death, you weren’t speaking to me, and I was afraid you would think I was meddling. I figured the paper must turn all the tips over to the police, so that was the easiest way to stay anonymous. I thought it was funny, though, that young Nathaniel seemed to talk to everyone but Ashton.”

  “That—” Chloe started to explain until EV delivered a firm kick to her ankle, reminding her no one was supposed to know she had access to the tip line.

  “Is strange,” she covered quickly then asked, “did you give any details on the tip line?”

  Lottie thought it over, “I said I’d seen Ashton near the church on the night Luther died. That’s pretty specific, right?”

  “Hmm, yeah. Maybe something happened to the line; some kind of technical glitch.” Chloe pursed her lips. Time to change the subject before she outed herself.

  From where she lay on the couch, a cool cloth over her forehead, Allegra spoke. “I had no idea. I know you all are wondering. Not until knitting group when something Lottie said made it all click into place. Then everything happened so fast. I called Nate, and then ran all the way here to see if I could help, but all I did was fall apart. I could have gotten you all killed. Everything that happened—it’s all my fault.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” EV injected just the right amount of scorn to push her point home. “Husbands get cheated on all the time and don’t kill anyone over it. You can’t take credit for Ashton’s choices; you can only decide to be responsible for your own.

  Epilogue

  “All in favor?”

  A chorus of ayes sounded across the room as the First Selectman called for the vote that put any further discussion of Ponderosa Pines becoming part of Gilmore to rest.

  “All opposed?”

  All eyes turned toward the fidgeting, bespectacled young man standing in the back of the room before turning toward Allegra Worth. The representative from Gilmore had absolutely no influence in Ponderosa Pines town business; wagers for how long Allegra planned to stick around were the current game of choice, but not a single nay was heard.

  “Motion carries.” The gavel fell with a ringing sound.

  In what Chloe declared an epically stupid decision, EV had chosen not to attend this particular town meeting. Whether her absence communicated her faith that the town would choose the right path, or that she no longer cared what happened made no difference. A number of people in this room owed EV and apology, and if they didn’t know that, Chloe intended to tell them.

  “You all are unbelievable! For weeks, you’ve been persecuting an innocent woman because she was opposed to merging with Gilmore, and now every single one of you has voted the proposal down? EV Torrence has spent the last month trying to make up for something she didn’t even do, and she’s the one looking out for your best interests. You all should be begging her to forgive you! What would you do if she decided to leave? Who would you all turn to for guidance then?” Chloe spun on her heel and stalked out the door muttering, “Ungrateful, spiteful, disappointments, the lot of you.”

  Closing the Grange Hall door behind her, Chloe leaned back against it and tried to calm her beating heart. She had never let loose like that at any kind of town gathering: in fact, Chloe was always polite and soft-spoken; never one to make waves. She imagined what the people inside were thinking and saying about her outburst; imagined the dumbfound expressions on her neighbors’ faces. That’ll teach them to mess with me and my friends.

  When she looked up, EV was standing across the street, brimming with curiosity. Chloe bounded over and wrapped her arms around her friend. “I love you, you know,” she said simply. EV’s smile reciprocated the sentiment, and so did the hard squeeze she gave Chloe before nosiness got the best of her.

  “So…”

  “Well, the rep from Gilmore—Roger something—maintains that his people were promised some kind of monetary benefit if they agreed to merge with us. He didn’t say exactly, but he hinted that some big box business is looking to build in the area. He was under the impression that Gilmore wouldn’t see any profits if it happened on Ponderosa Pines property. They don’t know their asses from a hole in the ground over there, and he seemed to think we were a bunch of idiots just sitting around waiting for them to swoop in and save us. Now the investor has disappeared, and it turns out he was using an alias. Nathaniel’s going to look into it.”

  It didn’t pass unnoticed by EV that Chloe’s tone softened when she spoke Nate’s name, but she let it go without comment. “Sounds like someone was playing them and Evan at the same time. I’d say we’ve found—and then lost again—our blackmailer.”

  “Like I said, Nate’s on it.”

  “So you don’t want to look into it?” EV smirked, she already knew the answer.

  “Research mode?” Chloe’s wheels were already spinnin
g with possibilities.

  “I’ll meet you in your backyard with the peanut butter cups.”

  * * *

  Several days after her blowup at the town meeting, Chloe was still relishing the fact that she had finally spoken out. And the best part was, nobody in town seemed the least bit mad at her. In fact, her rant actually made people like Chloe even more. The air felt considerably more friendly now that people knew she wasn’t an emotionless robot.

  As the cool autumn breezes threatened to blow in, Chloe began her annual fall cleaning spree with even more gusto than usual. Perched on a stepladder inside her backyard potting shed, Chloe scanned the floor for stray cats before reaching into the crawlspace and extracting a small cardboard box.

  A feeling of familiarity flitted through her consciousness as she lifted the lid, exposing a chunk of butternut wood, expertly carved into the shape of a hovering, open-winged fairy. Chloe remembered watching Gramps as he sat on the back porch each evening, whittling scraps of wood into any shape she could imagine.

  Flipping the fairy over, Chloe saw where Gramps had carved her own name along one wing. She knew exactly what she had to do, and fairly skipped down the path leading to the fairy garden.

  The End

  ***

  For more contact with ReGina Welling:

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  More Ponderosa Pines Mysteries

  Cat Killed A Rat

  Crafting Disorder

  Caught in the Frame

  Bait and Snitch

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  Sign up for Erin Lynn’s Newsletter

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  Also by ReGina Welling and Erin Lynn

  NEW

  Elder Witch Cozy Mystery Series:

  Murder Above the Fold

  Murder on the Backswing

  Murder Below the Waterline

  The Fate Weaver series:

  Featuring Lexi Balefire, a matchmaking witch with a certain something extra. Her story is full of magic, romance, crazy family antics, and intrigue.

  A Match Made in Spell

  All Spell is Breaking Loose

  To Spell & Back

  No Chance in Spell

  Spell Hath No Fury

  Other Books by ReGina Welling

  Psychic Seasons Series

  Rings on Her Fingers

  Bells on Her Toes

  She Shall Have Music

  Wherever She goes

  Earthbound Bones

  Earthbound Wings

  Erin Lynn

  From the author:

  First and foremost, I want to thank my amazing co-author and mother for bearing with me through this process. It's been an incredible experience, and I absolutely could not have done it without you!

  To my precious boys, Kash & Wyatt: this is, as are all the things I do, for you.

  Thank you Alexander, for also bearing with me, and being there for me always.

  To all my family and friends, who provide me with unending inspiration (though I fully maintain that any similarities are purely coincidental), I love all of you with all my heart.

  Finally, thank you to everyone who read this book, especially those of you who don't know me at all, but are still taking the time to read this paragraph! |

  ReGina Welling

  From the author:

  Thank you to my daughter, my heart, my co-author. This was fun, let’s do it again! A bunch.

  Thank you to Alan for putting up with my weird schedule and inattention when the muse is on me.

  Thank you to my family and my hometown for providing a certain amount of fodder for this story.

  Thank you to Peggy for making our words more sensible.

  Hugs to you all! |

  From Crafting Disorder

  “I blame you.” Chloe LaRue brandished a fist-sized pumpkin at her best friend, EV Torrence. “I know I never agreed to this.” She added the pumpkin to the growing pile in the back of EV’s rickety pickup bed.

  “You love this kind of crap. You live for decorating the town for the ‘hoopla of the month’.”

  “Yeah, but not at the butt-crack of dawn.” Chloe’s clenched teeth clipped the words short.

  “Can’t have the kiddies losing faith in the pumpkin fairy, now, can we?” EV’s hand snapped up to catch the tiny pumpkin flying toward her head.

  “Pumpkin fairy.” Chloe snorted. If it weren’t so early, the mental image of the pair of them in tutus and wings, with wands that disgorged orange globes, would have made her laugh out loud. “Too bad there’s no coffee fairy.” If Chloe had her way, morning people would all fall off the face of the planet and leave her in peace until a respectable hour. EV would be the first to go. She’d miss her best friend, but at least the mornings would be quiet.

  EV flipped the driver’s seat forward to reveal a small cooler—one of those that plugs into the cigarette lighter, and can also keep things warm--and pulled out two thermal coffee cups. Chloe nearly pounced on hers, decorated in a pink paisley pattern. “You were holding out on me.”

  “It’s the good stuff. Perked in that old enamel camp pot.”

  Chloe had emptied the cup and returned it to the cooler before enough caffeine coursed through her system to burn away the fog.

  Even at this ridiculous hour, the town of Ponderosa Pines captivated Chloe with its rustic honesty. What passed for downtown was little more than a short street lined with several locally owned businesses. Each building sported either solar panels or small wind turbines—sometimes both—a familiar sight in a town dedicated to eco-friendly, green living.

  This mid-September morning, the leaves, taking on the tints of autumn, looked as though their edges had been airbrushed with color. Pale morning sun drew diamond sparkles in the heavy dew that lay on each leafy tip. The pale morning sky that hovered over the town, Chloe knew, would darken to a perfect, robin’s-egg blue over the next hour or so. She sighed and bent to set another small pumpkin into place in a window box full of cheerful mums in full bloom. EV was right: she did feel like the pumpkin fairy, leaving her bounty to decorate the world. The fanciful notion surprised her. What had EV put in that coffee, anyway? Goofy juice?

  Chloe’s blond hair spilled out in soft waves from under a bright pink knit hat, framing a heart-shaped face, and full, pouting lips. In the three years since she had returned to the Pines, Chloe had exchanged her jet-set attire for a style more conducive to country living. A puffy vest over a long-sleeved, thermal tee kept her warm in the crisp autumn air, and form-fitting jeans tucked into well-worn faux-leather boots completed the ensemble. Years of traveling the globe had netted Chloe a myriad of colorful accessories, which she used to add a little something extra to every outfit. Today, the vibrant hat—along with a matching scarf and hand-knit boot cuffs—melded the two styles seamlessly.

  Looking around the small town of Ponderosa Pines, Chloe once again felt grateful that she had made the inspired decision to settle back into provincial life. Surrounded by friends she considered family, Chloe felt a swelling of happiness and contentment; it would be hard to pick any single thing to be appreciative of this Thanksgiving.