Catch as Cat Can

by Claire Donally

  “Come on, Mom. When I get you on the phone, all you do is talk about Mr. Coolidge there.”

  “Mike,” Sunny’s dad said in a faint voice.

  “I mean, it’s obvious you have a relationship, and I’m glad for that—honestly.”

  Mrs. M. stared, and so did Mike. “You are?”

  “Well, sure. You ought to have someone in your life, and I have no problem with that. But . . .” Abby bit her lip, trying to find words. “When Dad got sick, you took care of him, and I know that was very tough on you.” She glanced at Mike. “Are you ready to do that again with Mr. Coolidge?”

  Mike and Helena shared a look—and a different kind of shock. They’d been enjoying one another’s company, but that didn’t mean they’d immediately started on long-range life plans.

  Sunny decided it was time for her to speak up. “You know, I’ve been taking care of my dad.”

  “From before or after you lost your job in New York?” Abby smiled at the look on Sunny’s face. “It’s amazing, the resources a law firm offers if you want to check into people.”

  “Wow, you’re a one-woman intervention.” Will shook his head in wonder. “Come here to save your mom from our clutches.”

  “But I think you’ve been in California too long.” Sunny struggled to keep her voice level. “I lost my job because I came up here to help Dad out. But that’s what we do here. We look out for our own. I help my dad. Helena helps folks who can’t put food on the table. And if she needs a hand, I’m happy to offer one.”

  Abby looked as if she’d been slapped. “Maybe I have spent too much time in Cali.” She looked down at her hands. “You see a lot of bad stuff there, greed, pretense, back-stabbing. But I worried about you, Mom.” She reached over to take Helena’s hand. “I wanted to see how you were doing.”

  That was the moment Shadow chose to make his entrance. He veered a little to rub beside Sunny’s leg, but then he headed boldly to Abby, staring up at her.

  She smiled and leaned forward. “Well, hello there, cutey. Who are you?”

  *

  Shadow hung back, watching as the two visitors arrived. One he recognized, the Old One’s She. The other was another two-leggity female, younger. Shadow wasn’t sure that was good. Some places he’d been, when there was an extra She, fights began. If Sunny’s He got too interested, that might happen here.

  That wouldn’t be good.

  As they sat down to eat, it seemed as though he was right to be worried. Shadow could feel the tension in the air, and it seemed to center around the strange new female. The Old One and his She seemed almost frightened, giving the newcomer hard looks. Shadow thought Sunny might fly from her chair, even though she didn’t have much in the way of teeth and claws.

  He did, though. And if this strange She started making trouble, she’d have him to deal with.

  Sunny spoke sharply, and Shadow got ready to jump into battle. But then the mood suddenly changed. The strange She spoke softly, taking the older female’s hand.

  Maybe there won’t be a fight after all, Shadow thought, padding forward. He stopped to mark Sunny—and to remind her that he was on her side. Then he walked up to the stranger.

  She showed teeth in that odd way humans had and bent forward, extending a hand. But she wasn’t grabby like some two-legs. She politely held it down so he could give it a sniff. Unlike the older female, who always stank of that big yellow dog who lived with her, this one didn’t smell of biscuit eater. He pushed his head against the younger one’s fingers, and she began petting and running her claws through his fur in a very well-practiced way.

  Shadow glanced around. Everyone seemed to have calmed down. It’s a shame they don’t know how to groom one another instead of making noises, he thought, closing his eyes to better enjoy Good Petter’s ministrations.

  *

  The Martinsons left soon after Shadow appeared. Mike volunteered to walk Helena and Abby home, which suited Sunny just fine. As soon as they left, she turned to Will. “Don’t think I didn’t see you checking Abby out.”

  “An investigator has to be alert for any possible evidence,” he said in his best Dudley Do-Right voice.

  “Oh yeah? And what evidence did you get from her thighs?”

  Will shrugged. “That she probably spends a lot of her free time in spinning classes.”

  His response was sufficiently out of left field that Sunny laughed. “Well, don’t go letting that old crush mislead you.”

  “Are you kidding?” Will said. “A cop falling for someone who works in a lawyer’s office? It’s unnatural. Plus, California hasn’t exactly given her a sunny disposition—or didn’t you notice?”

  Sunny smiled. “I may have noticed a couple of clues along those lines.”

  *

  Sunny stifled a yawn as she pulled her Wrangler into a parking space near the MAX office. She hadn’t stayed up late last night after Mike came back home. Will had left, saying it was a school night, and Sunny had turned in well before the late news. She didn’t sleep well, though, and the morning alarm seemed to go off just as she was settling in for some decent rest.

  She had to drag herself out of bed and through the morning routine. Throw in some overnight ice, a fender-bender that snarled up traffic, and she arrived late at the office.

  Good thing Ollie didn’t pick today to drop in, she thought as she crossed the street. She wasn’t the only one who was getting in late. The gate was still down over the door to Kittery Harbor Fish. Digging out her key, Sunny went into the MAX office, glad to be out of the wind and freezing weather. A hot cup of coffee would go down pretty well right now, she thought as she started the machine.

  Sunny was just getting through the morning’s emails when she heard the rattle of the gate going up next door.

  Better go play rent collector, she thought, putting her cup down. If Ollie calls, I’ll be able to tell him I did my duty for the day.

  It was just a couple of yards between doors, and Sunny was wearing a heavy sweater, but she still felt the cold as she darted into the fish shop’s entrance. Neil Garret stood in front of the counter, wheeling around as Sunny came in. “We’re not really open—” he began.

  Sunny rubbed her arms. “It’s almost as cold in here as it is outside,” she said. “Are you turning off the heat?”

  Her question seemed to shake Neil out of a daze. “No,” he replied, heading around the counter. Sunny followed him as he strode to the rear of the store—and an open back door. “Oh, no.” Neil ran to the cash register, hitting buttons to open the drawer. Sunny got out her cell phone and hit 911. “I’m at Kittery Harbor Fish,” she said, giving the address. “There’s been a break-in.”

  As she spoke, she followed Neil to the door of the walk-in freezer, nearly crashing into him as he suddenly stopped. Then Sunny saw why—the sprawled form on the floor in a puddle of frozen blood.

  “And a body,” she added.

  5

  Ben Semple, one of Kittery Harbor’s town constables, was the first law-enforcement type to arrive on the scene. When he saw Sunny, he let out a long, “Aaaahhhh, man. I was hoping I hadn’t heard the squawk on the radio right—or that this was one of those swatting things.” He was a friend of Will’s, and knew from experience that if Sunny was involved, there had to be a dead body around somewhere.

  Sunny pointed toward the freezer, Ben jumped inside and a moment later came out, keeping his back to the door. Ben was more at home writing traffic tickets for the bargain hunters racing through outlet-land, but he knew how to secure a crime scene. He got on his radio, and the street and store began to fill with people from the sheriff’s department. Captain Ingersoll, the number-two man in the department, arrived about two minutes after Will came in, accompanied by Val Overton.

  Sunny didn’t have any chance to ask about that. Ingersoll immediately buttonholed her. From the look on his face, you’d
think this place stinks to high heaven, Sunny thought. “You found the body?” he asked, his voice dropping the temperature in the chilly store a few more degrees.

  And it’s great to see you, too, that flippant voice in the back of Sunny’s head answered. Aloud she said, “We found the body,” gesturing to Neil Garret.

  That didn’t make the captain look any happier. He turned to Will. “Why don’t you take Mr. Garret here and get a statement. I’ll send Ms. Coolidge to the station with Mullen. I called the state police barracks. Their crime-scene team is on the way.”

  Typical cop procedure, Sunny thought. Splitting up the witnesses so they can’t concoct a story together. Not so typical was the fact that Val Overton accompanied Will and Neil.

  Maybe they’re using the same car. She didn’t get a chance to check. Ingersoll put her in the custody of a sheriff’s deputy she didn’t know. He looked at her as if he were afraid she was going to pull an Uzi from under her sweater and try to shoot her way to freedom. Mullen almost refused to let her into the MAX office to get her coat—kind of unfair, considering the way he was bundled up in a green sheriff’s parka. But Ben Semple intervened, accompanying them as Sunny got her coat, turned off the coffeemaker and the computer, and locked the office door.

  Well here goes a day shot to hell, Sunny thought as they headed to Mullen’s car. She knew how long it could take getting out of police clutches. Good thing there’s nothing urgent going on, or Ollie would have a fit.

  Thinking of Ollie reminded her of the whole rent question, which had gotten sidetracked when they’d found the body in the freezer. It won’t be easy to scratch up the money for Ollie if the place is closed, she thought. Even though the outer door stood open, it was pretty clear no business would be transacted today.

  Deputy Mullen offered no conversation during the trip to the sheriff’s office in the county seat. As soon as Sunny arrived, she was conducted to an interrogation room and left to marinate. Well, Sunny thought, I expect they’ll be busy with the dead guy. And let’s face it, considering my popularity with Ingersoll, he’ll leave me at the end of his list.

  So she was surprised when the door opened and the sheriff herself walked in. As the widow of the former sheriff, Lenore Nesbit had ridden a wave of public sympathy after her husband’s death in the line of duty, trouncing Will in the primary and winning in the general election for the office. What she lacked in police skill she more than made up for with a shrewd sense of politics. In the light of her own painful experience, Lenore had promoted Will, admitting that the county needed more investigative capacity to deal with new kinds of crime. She relied on Ingersoll for administrative matters.

  Sunny smiled at the sheriff, but couldn’t help thinking, Either they’re really pressed for personnel, or they don’t think I have much to offer if Lenore’s going to question me.

  “How are you feeling?” Lenore Nesbit asked.

  “Not too bad,” Sunny replied. “Lucky, I guess, because I only got a quick look at the body—just enough to be sure he was dead.”

  Lenore shuddered. “I saw the crime-scene photos on the computer. Don’t think I’ll have anything with tomato sauce for a while.” She paused for a second. “Why don’t you take me through what happened?”

  “Traffic was bad, so I got to work a little late.” Sunny began the story, but Lenore soon interrupted. “You say you got in late, but the fish shop was still closed.”

  Sunny shrugged. “Maybe the traffic made Neil late, too.”

  “You’re sure the place was closed?”

  “The gate was down. I could see that from across the street.” Sunny explained that Ollie had given her the responsibility of reminding Neil about the rent. “So, when I heard the gate go up—”

  “When exactly was that?”

  “A few minutes after I got in,” Sunny replied. “I’d gotten a cup of coffee and just started the day’s routine. Anyway, I figured I’d get over there and take care of Ollie’s errand. I found Neil in front of the display case and asked him why it was so cold.” She went on to describe how they’d found the back door open.

  “How was Mr. Garret acting?” Lenore asked.

  “Spooked,” Sunny said. “I guess he knew something was wrong the moment he stepped in. He tried to tell me the store wasn’t open yet. Then, when we found the door open, he checked the cash register and then the freezer. That’s when we saw the body. I was already on the phone to report the break-in, and added that fact. Then we waited until Ben Semple arrived.”

  “Neither of you went into the freezer?”

  “I didn’t see the need, once I saw all that blood. It was like a sheet of red ice on the floor.” Sunny took a moment to call up her memory of the grisly sight. “Whoever it was must have been there for a while. The store was cold enough that you could see your breath in the air, and I wasn’t seeing any around the guy down there.” She stopped for a moment, struck by something else in her mental picture. “The dead man wasn’t dressed for Maine weather,” she said. “He was wearing some kind of light-colored raincoat, so he must have been half-frozen before he wound up in the freezer.”

  That sparked another memory. “I didn’t get to see the guy’s face. Did he have a beard?”

  “He was pretty scruffy,” Lenore said. “Why do you ask?”

  “We had something weird happen outside the office a couple of evenings ago.” Sunny described what had happened to Shadow. “I didn’t see it, Zach Judson broke it up. But he said the guy with the noose had a beard—and was wearing a raincoat. Maybe if you showed him a picture . . .”

  Lenore Nesbit shook her head. “Trust me, Sunny, what’s left of that face is nothing you’d want to look at.”

  The sheriff asked a few more questions, but Sunny didn’t have anything to offer. Then she thanked Sunny, saying, “I’ll need you to write up a statement—I’m sure you know the drill.”

  Sunny knew it only too well. She sat cooling her heels in the little room until a deputy finally came with a legal pad and a pen. Sunny wrote an account of what she’d seen and done since getting out of her Wrangler, and waited again until somebody came and picked it up. Then more waiting until it got typed up. By the time she finally got to sign her statement, the day was pretty well shot, and she was starving.

  The day brightened a bit when Will Price stopped by the desk where she was signing off on the paperwork. “I wrangled the job of getting you back to your car,” he said.

  They went outside and got into an unmarked car. Will pulled out of the sheriff’s department parking lot and headed for the interstate.

  “Well, it’s nice that you’re allowed to talk to me again,” Sunny said. “Did Ingersoll give the okay?”

  Will grimaced for a moment. “He wasn’t exactly subtle, was he? But he had a point. My job is to investigate now. And we do have a connection.”

  “Yeah, we’ve investigated a lot of things together.”

  “But now I’m supposed to be doing it officially.” Will didn’t look happy at the expression on her face. “Have I ever told you how to write stories when you do them for the Harbor Courier?”

  “No, but then I’ve read the way you write reports.” Sunny looked around the car. “I was almost expecting to see your friend Val Overton in here.”

  “Why would you say that?” Will said sharply.

  “She was at the crime scene with you,” Sunny pointed out. “Apparently it was okay for her to be around.”

  “Val is a trained investigator,” Will explained. “We worked together on a fugitive task force when I was with the state police up by the border.”

  “We seem to keep bumping into people from your past,” Sunny said. “First Abby Martinson, and now this federal marshal. Did you have a crush on her, too?”

  Will laughed. “You haven’t seen Val in action. She’s a big gal, and I’ve seen her take down even bigger guys than me.” />
  “Somehow, that doesn’t reassure me,” Sunny told him.

  “Strictly business,” Will assured her.

  Sunny decided to change the subject. “So, did you find out who the dead guy was?”

  Will shook his head. “No wallet, no ID.”

  “So you have to go with fingerprints.”

  He nodded. “Which always takes a lot longer than it does on the TV cop shows.”

  “I thought of something when Lenore Nesbit was questioning me. The guy in the freezer was wearing a raincoat. So was the guy who went after Shadow.”

  Will glanced at her from behind the wheel. “You think the two may be connected?”

  “I don’t know,” Sunny replied. “But I do know better than to stroll the streets of Kittery Harbor in just a raincoat during winter.” As if to underline her thought, a sudden blast of wind actually made the car shake a little. “Did the body in the freezer have a beard? Maybe you could have Zach Judson take a look at him.”

  “Zach told me he only got a glimpse of the guy outside your office,” Will said. “As for the fellow in the freezer, his face isn’t exactly recognizable. He took two shots in the back of the head. The exit wounds—trust me, you don’t want me to draw you a picture.”

  But Sunny was thinking of something else. “Shots in the back of the head. Execution style. In a fish shop? Why break in there in the first place?”

  “Well, it’s quiet, and the freezer would be pretty much soundproof,” Will said. “I hate to tell you this, but the New Stores are hardly Fort Knox. Why did Ollie put the gate on the store next door to your office? Or did Neil do it?”

  “Ollie had it installed, hoping to lure a better class of tenant.” Remembering the elaborate shutters protecting stores in New York, Sunny shrugged. “It’s window dressing really. Or rather, it only protects the door, not the windows. If anybody really wanted to get into those stores, they could do it pretty easily.”