The Trouble with Murder

by Kathy Krevat

  “You put that towel in my garbage can?” I had to keep her talking until the police got here. “But why?”

  “I just wanted to get back to normal,” she said. “But you wouldn’t stop.”

  “Okay,” I said. “I get it. I should’ve let it go. But why are you doing this?”

  I heard liquid splash and the smell of gasoline became overwhelming. I panicked. “What are you doing?” I shoved the door back and forth, but whatever she’d done had wedged it shut. A small piece of wood splintered off into my hand.

  “Because of you, Bert and I have to leave, and now I have to do this to keep the police busy until we can get across the border to Mexico.” Her voice got louder. “Because of you, Bert is at the bank right now, getting all of the money out.” She pounded on the door, shouting, “Because of you, I won’t be able to see my babies, and my grandbabies ever again!”

  “I’m so sorry,” I yelled back, crying. “I didn’t realize where this would lead. I was trying to help.”

  Without another word, she lit the gas on fire, and a whoosh of flames lit up the small room from the outside.

  “Elliott!” I yelled and joined him in the incubator room. He was still on the phone with the police and his expression grew even more alarmed. “Tell them there’s a fire!”

  I saw a small hole in the corner and started chopping at the edges of the wood with my chunk of wood, trying to make the hole large enough to escape. Elliott ditched the phone and tried to ram the back door of the incubator room with his shoulder. It was also wedged tightly shut, and he gave up and joined me, digging at the hard ground with his bare hands. He stopped, and I yelled, “No, keep digging!”

  He ignored me and tore off his shirt over his head, piling a bunch of chicks into it and returning to the corner. Smoke was coming in under the door from the coop, and he started shoving the chicks through the hole we’d made to the outside, in between my wild swings to break through the boards.

  He went back for more chicks twice, filling his shirt while he coughed, and then joining me on the floor to let the chicks escape.

  “Stay low!” I yelled, while tears streamed down my face. Smoke filled the small room, and I gasped for air as it felt like my lungs were seizing. The heat was overwhelming.

  “I hear sirens,” Elliott said through coughs, and we huddled together against the back door while flames licked up the inside wall just a few feet away.

  Suddenly, the door behind us opened and we fell out at the feet of Lani and Horace, who both looked as scared as we felt. Lani grabbed Elliott and Horace pulled me up, half dragging us as we stumbled away to a safe distance where I collapsed.

  “Mom?” I heard from a distance. I could’ve sworn I saw Trouble peering down at me right before I passed out.

  Chapter 20

  I woke up in the emergency room, with Elliott sitting up in the next bed and my dad in a chair between us. “She’s awake,” he said, relief clear in his voice.

  The acrid smell of smoke stuck to me. Both Elliott and I had oxygen masks on. I sat up in the hospital bed, feeling dizzy and confused. The sounds of hospital machines beeping came from the closed white curtains around us.

  “You’re okay,” my dad said. “And so is our boy. You just stay calm.”

  I tried to talk but just coughed.

  “Mom,” Elliott said, his voice hoarse. “I’m okay.”

  “You both be quiet, you hear?” My dad patted my arm. “And I’ll tell you all I know.”

  I nodded, that small movement causing my head to pound.

  “You and Elliott have smoke inhalation and the doctor says you shouldn’t talk much,” he said. “Elliott’s doing better than you, but both of you have irritated throats and lungs. And your hands are a mess”

  “Sharon?” I asked in hoarse whisper, starting another bout of coughing.

  “You already know most of it. Norma said that you called her and told her about Sharon and Bert’s pyramid scheme. She also said you suggested that maybe Twila confronted Sharon the night of the trade show and that Sharon killed Twila.” He shook his head as if he couldn’t believe people could do such a thing. “Sharon overheard you talking to Quincy at the grocery store and followed you home. She said she wanted to distract the police so they could get out of town.” He paused, the emotion clearly taking a toll, and then he cleared his throat. “She saw you go down to the farm and locked you in that chicken coop. She claims she didn’t know Elliott was in there with you, but he said she’s lying.”

  I nodded.

  “Lani heard through the grapevine that the police arrested Bert at the bank, and she came by to tell you the good news. You didn’t answer the door and Trouble was having a fit inside. She opened the door and your cat shot like an arrow down to the farm. Lani figured out right away that she was playing Lassie and ran after her. Horace came out and told her you guys were in there. Then she saw the fire and realized what Trouble was trying to tell her.”

  “Trouble saved us,” Elliott said in a rough whisper. “And Lani and Horace.”

  My dad bit his lip. “The firefighters didn’t know if you would’ve made it—” He cleared his throat again. “Out in time.”

  I made my hands into a small ball. “The chicks?” my dad asked. “Geez, you two. All the chicks made it out. Elliott told me what he did.”

  I leaned back into the pillows.

  My dad gently held my hand. “You two really brought a lot of excitement into my life,” he said. “Maybe you can dial that back a little bit.”

  I smiled and closed my eyes.

  “You rest, baby.” Then he sniffed a little. “I’m so proud of you.”

  * * * *

  The next time I woke up, I was being transferred to another bed and Lani was with me. “Elliott was released,” she said. “But you, my dear, are spending the night.” She followed alongside me into the elevator and up to a regular hospital floor. “I convinced your dad that I’d take care of you while he takes Elliott home for dinner and a shower.”

  I held my own hair out.

  “You are getting a shower as soon as possible,” she said. “But I’m not sure how much that will help the smell.” She waved her hand in front of her face as she followed along with the attendant pushing the bed.

  When we waited for an elevator, I grabbed one of her hands with both of mine. “Thank you,” I whispered and coughed.

  Lani’s smile wobbled. “It’s the least I can do after getting you into this mess. If I hadn’t pushed you…”

  I raised my eyebrows and pointed to myself the best I could.

  “I know,” she said. “You probably would have done it anyway, but I can’t help feeling responsible.”

  I shook my head, which made me feel nauseous. It must have shown on my face because the attendant pushing my hospital bed gave Lani a look.

  She pushed down on my shoulder. “Just lay back and rest or you’ll get me kicked out.” She stayed until I was settled into my room.

  “Sharon?” I whispered.

  “Oh, she’s in jail,” she said. “The first fire truck blocked her car in, and Norma saw her as soon as she arrived.”

  I lifted my hands and gave her a “what the hell?” gesture.

  “I don’t know what she was thinking,” Lani said. “But she and Bert are already spilling their guts and trying to pin the murders on each other.”

  I raised my eyebrows.

  “Yeah, can you believe it? That other guy who was murdered was Bert’s business partner, Oliver Voss. And get this.” She paused for dramatic effect. “He’s tall and bald.”

  My eyebrows shot up.

  “I know!” He wasn’t bald when they questioned him the night of Twila’s murder and he had a thick beard. That’s why no one recognized him from your sketch, plus you were kind of off. Anyway, Bert says that Sharon killed Oliver because he black
mailed her. She had to give him all their money or he was going to tell the police she and Bert killed Twila. And Sharon is saying that Bert did it for the same reason.”

  I heard movement at the door and saw Joss standing there, holding flowers and looking awkward.

  “Oh,” Lani said. “I have to…” She didn’t even finish the sentence, just dashed out of the room.

  “I’m so sorry.” His voice was thick with guilt. “I had no idea someone could get locked in that chicken coop.”

  “Not your fault,” I whispered, wishing Lani had already arranged my shampoo. I thought about how bloodshot my eyes must be. Maybe Lani could get me a complete makeover. “You couldn’t have known a crazy person was after me.”

  He moved closer. “I can’t believe you saved all the chicks.”

  “You’ll have to thank Elliott for that,” I said, and coughed. “I was just trying to save him.”

  He didn’t seem to believe me.

  “Hey, are you allowed to be here?” I intended it to be a joke, but with my voice barely a whisper it sounded more serious.

  He looked down at the floor. “I was going to wait till you were better to talk to you about that.” Then he met my eyes. “I decided I have to stop giving into my ex-wife’s emotional blackmail. When I heard what almost happened…” He paused, his expression growing intense. “It made me realize I didn’t want to lose you. I know that’s stupid. We haven’t even had a date or anything. But I’m going to fix that, I mean, if you want to.”

  Then I noticed his pocket move. “What’s that?”

  “Oh.” He brought out a chick, looking over his shoulder to make sure none of the hospital staff saw his contraband. “I thought Elliott would get a kick out of it.”

  “Aw,” I said, as he put the chick in my hand.

  It promptly pooped.

  * * * *

  Elliott and my dad were back right after dinner, and Elliot was delighted to see the chick.

  When the nurse left, my dad went out to the waiting room and brought Lani back in with Trouble. I started to cry a little when Lani took her out of the carrier and handed her to me. “My hero,” I said. She sniffed me all over and meowed. You stink but I love you anyway.

  Then she turned her attention to the chick in Elliott’s hand.

  “I better get this little one home,” Joss said.

  “Where are you keeping them?” I asked.

  “The spare bathroom,” he said. “I may never get the smell out of there, but that’s where they’re staying until I get another coop built.”

  He patted Elliott on the shoulder. “Thanks again for saving my chicks.”

  * * * *

  Less than a week later, we were all in the Sunnyside Rec Center auditorium waiting for Elliott’s play.

  The week had been filled with depositions and requests for interviews from across the country. Norma had stopped by often, letting me know about the progress of the case against Bert and Sharon.

  Sharon was charged immediately—arson with special circumstances. And every day seemed to bring additional charges as new information was uncovered, including more details about the murders of Twila Jenkins and Oliver Voss. Bert revealed that until a year before, his business had been on the up-and-up. But then Sharon’s closet company had taken a hit and he’d lost a big chunk of money in the market, when other companies had not. He’d come up with the scheme of the new fund to cover his losses, and the whole thing had snowballed.

  Norma verified that the phone call Twila received the night of the trade show was from Tod Walker. She had asked him to look at the prospectus and treat it as a puzzle. He’d called to let her know that the puzzle didn’t work, which is what he told police. As I suspected, Twila confronted Sharon who decided to shut Twila up, permanently, and my Meowio knife was convenient. Then Sharon called her husband to help her clean up the mess.

  I really had heard him type in the security code that sounded like Beethoven’s Fifth that night. He’d wiped Sharon’s fingerprints from the knife and they were driving out when we drove in.

  They thought they had the perfect fall guy, or girl.

  In the wake of all the publicity, Twomey’s Health Food had announced that Meowio Batali’s Gourmet Organic Cat Food was going to be sold at their stores. Quincy had sent me a tongue-in-cheek text, “Congrats on the great marketing idea! All you had to do was almost get burned alive!” when he heard the news.

  I’d texted back, “Funny! No need for an encore.”

  My dad convinced me to allow Quincy to invest and become my official business partner as well as advisor. As soon as everything was back to normal, we were going to start increasing production and go from there. And my dad suggested I ask Elliott if he wanted us to stay in Sunnyside with him for as long as we wanted. “Only if he, and you, want to,” he’d said.

  Which was smart, because Elliott had said yes, giving us both a way to save face and be together.

  Twomey’s had taken care of the nasty dude leaving bad reviews. He produced his own organic pet food and thought leaving bad reviews would lead to more business for him. Twomey’s lawyers had sent him a cease and desist letter and all the bad posts had disappeared overnight.

  Norma had verified what I guessed about Tod, that he was agoraphobic and a total shut-in. He’d loved solving Twila’s puzzles.

  When I was allowed to drive, I’d gone back to visit him. This time he let me inside the building when I hit the button for 3B. I sat down against the wall by his door.

  “You’re back,” he said through the door. It sounded like he was sitting on the floor too.

  “I’m back.” I wasn’t quite sure what to tell him. “I wanted to thank you for helping me.”

  “You found Twila,” he said. “You figured out who killed her.”

  “Did you hear that on the news?” I asked.

  “Yes,” he said. “And Norma told me. I’ve been calling her. Every day. She answers my questions.”

  I couldn’t help but smile. “She must like you better than me.” Even though Norma had finally been telling me what I needed to know.

  “She likes you,” he said.

  “How do you know?”

  “She’s my friend. She told me you’re her friend, too.”

  * * * *

  I was happy to put it all behind me for Elliott’s play, something that gave me pure joy. I couldn’t stop beaming. Hank sat beside me, with Sue, Annie, Lani, and Piper on one side. Joss and his delightful daughter, Kai, sat on the other side of me. And Kai was chattering away to Norma’s daughter with her mom on the end.

  The opening, and closing, of the Sunnyside Youth Theater Group’s presentation of Seussical the Musical finally arrived. All the people who loved Elliott the most were together in the front row. Lani had used her position as costume chair to sneak in and put reserved signs on our seats.

  The musical was charming, and the innocence of the children’s voices of all ages harmonizing to create beautiful music warmed my heart. The colorful designs of the set and the costumes created the world of Whoville and Jungle of Nool and the other weird and wacky places of Seuss. The actors danced, with varying degrees of grace—the smallest making us all smile at their earnest and cute efforts.

  Elliott’s voice was lovely, along with all the leads. I was amazed at all the talent these young actors demonstrated, but today, it was more special than ever.

  By the end, with the moral of the story shining through, because of Horton’s devotion, A person’s a person no matter how small, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

  I was always emotional during junior theater shows, but after what we’d been through, I was almost overcome. I must have made a sound, because both my dad and Lani reached over to grab my arm and squeeze. They both looked like they were holding back tears too.

  I let mine fall but smiled through
them. The cast took a bow and then moved to the side to highlight the stars. The entire audience came to their feet in a standing ovation. The look on Elliott’s face—pride and joy—would stay with me forever.

  My dad grabbed my hand. “Good job,” he said, with so much emotion that I knew all the levels he meant, but most important, good job on raising such a great kid.

  Elliott scanned the crowd and waved at his little fan club. Then he stared at me, made a little heart with his hands and smiled, his love shining through. I sent a heart back.

  I looked up and down the row of Elliott’s little fan club and saw the look in Kai’s eyes when she watched Elliott and the other actors. Hunger mixed with hero worship. The same look Elliott had at his first musical. Another theater kid was born.

  The whole gang headed over to Pico’s to celebrate when it was over, even Norma. I looked around. “The only one missing is Trouble,” I said.

  My dad laughed. “I think we’ve had enough Trouble for a lifetime.”

  Don’t miss the next book in

  The Gourmet Cat Mystery series:

  The Trouble with Truth

  By

  Kathy Krevat

  Coming to your favorite booksellers

  and e-tailers in

  August 2018!

  About the Author

  Kathy Krevat is the author of the Gourmet Cat Mystery series featuring cat food chef Colbie Summers and her finicky cat Trouble. She also writes the bestselling Chocolate Covered Mystery series under the pen name, Kathy Aarons.

  A long-time California resident, Kathy lives in San Diego with her husband of twenty-five years, close to the beach, their two grown daughters, and Philz coffee.