Nozy Cat 1

by Lyn Key

  “Who’s going to chaperone them while they’re sitting in the dark movie theater?” Hope asked after covering up the smart phone. “She’ll throw a duck fit with a hole in it if I say I want to go in and sit with them.”

  Peggy Sue pointed at the one who should sneak in, and Hope nodded her approval.

  Hey, wait a minute, you said I’m the family pet. Do you mean I have to be the family chaperone, too?

  “You’re the furry agitator who started this trouble. Besides, you can see in the dark with your cat eyes for any signs of trouble.”

  “She’s got you dead to rights there,” Peggy Sue said.

  Fine, I’ll do it but you owe me extra sardines.

  “How many extra sardines would you like?” Hope asked.

  Just start forking them out into my food dish, and I’ll tell you when to stop.

  “Okay, it’s a go, Stace,” Hope said. “Just give me the departure time for the movie.”

  “Thanks, Mom,” Stacey said. “You’re the best ever. Bye.”

  Chapter 16

  “I suggest you go back out and reenter the Bootleggers’ Lair Motel,” the diminutive, slight Harvey Baker said. “While you’re at it, be sure to read the door sign I posted out there. We don’t allow any pets either in the lobby, swimming pool area, or rooms. Some of the shabbier motels permit the lodgers to board their pets, but we’re not one of those inns. We maintain higher standards, and we charge the higher rates because of it.”

  “We didn’t miss reading the door sign as we strolled into the motel lobby,” Peggy Sue said. “I told Hope to ignore it.”

  “Our being first cousins doesn’t crack any ice with me,” Harvey said. “Your cat will simply have to wait outside the lobby.”

  “Do we have to go through this rigmarole again?” Peggy Sue asked.

  “I’m afraid I must insist it can’t be avoided,” Harvey replied.

  Peggy Sue heaved out a sigh while she dug out a twenty-dollar bill from her handbag and greased his outstretched palm. “This bribe also pays for the information we need from you.”

  “Your cat may now remain with us in the motel lobby,” Harvey said.

  It’s insulting I only bring a twenty-dollar bribe. I’m thinking a C-note is more in order.

  “Just zip it before you cost us more which we can’t afford,” Hope murmured.

  Just saying.

  “What can I do for you?” Harvey asked.

  “We’re looking for a lady who’s probably been staying with you for the past two days,” Peggy Sue replied. “Her name is Sarah Caldwell.”

  Harvey put on a dreamy smile. “How could I ever forget Sarah?”

  “Let’s keep it real between us, coz,” Peggy Sue said. “You’re old enough to be her father.”

  “You should say her brother,” Harvey said.

  “You’re her brother’s age only in your wildest dreams,” Peggy Sue said. “Is Sarah still your motel guest?”

  “I put her up in the honeymoon suite,” Harvey replied. “I’m having new carpet laid in the other motel rooms, so that’s all I had available for her.”

  “Uh-huh. Did you also send over the motel’s complimentary bottle of champagne on ice to Sarah?” Peggy Sue asked.

  “Not only that but I personally delivered the champagne to her door,” Harvey replied. “Let it never be said Harvey Baker has nothing less than the personal touch with his motel guests.”

  “You’re a noble prince among the motel proprietors,” Peggy Sue said.

  Harvey smiled as he shrugged. “It’s not much but I do what I can. Why do you want to speak to Sarah if I may inquire?”

  “Hope and I wonder if she knows anything about Hugo Spangler’s murder,” Peggy Sue replied. “Her name came up during our snooping around Sweet Springs.”

  “You must be mistaken because I don’t see how that’s possible,” Harvey said, shaking his head. “Sarah is a gentle soul with a caring spirit. How did she and Hugo even know each other?”

  “She told Hope they recently spent an amorous weekend together in Baltimore,” Peggy Sue replied. “Didn’t Sarah bring up Hugo’s name?”

  Harvey scratched his balding head. “Not even once.”

  “She certainly got over his murder awfully fast,” Hope said.

  “Isn’t it the truth?” Peggy Sue said. “Sarah goes through boyfriends like I do apple pies and mystery books.”

  “Wasn’t Hugo murdered sometime during the night before last?” Harvey asked.

  “As we can best determine, that’s the correct timeframe of his death,” Peggy Sue replied.

  “In that case she couldn’t have possibly killed him,” Harvey said.

  “You say that with firm conviction,” Peggy Sue said. “Tell us why you think so.”

  “Because she has an alibi,” Harvey replied.

  “Might you share her alibi with us?” Peggy Sue asked.

  “What’s it worth to you?” Harvey asked.

  Peggy Sue frowned. “Harvey, you’re pushing my buttons.”

  “Sarah is a registered nurse at the Saint Ignatius Medical Center up in the city,” Harvey said. “She worked a grueling twelve-hour shift on the night Hugo died.”

  “How do you know she’s an RN and where she works?” Peggy Sue asked.

  “She wrote me a personal check and showed me her employee photo badge when I asked her for personal identification,” Harvey replied.

  “It might be a fake, and she might be lying to you,” Peggy Sue said.

  “Anything is possible,” Harvey said. “But then her boss and co-workers won’t all lie to the police covering for her if she wasn’t on their shift, now will they?”

  “Sarah may’ve slipped away during her shift for a couple of hours to bump off Hugo,” Peggy Sue said.

  “You obviously haven’t been in a hospital of late,” Harvey said. “Even with their mobile computers and high tech gizmos, the short-staffed nurses are hopping every minute while they’re on duty.”

  Peggy Sue glanced at Hope.

  “Why has she been hanging around Sweet Springs if the late Hugo Spangler is no longer on her mind?” Hope asked.

  Harvey, puffing out his chest, smirked at them.

  “Good grief, now I’ve heard it all,” Peggy Sue said. She never rolled her eyes any harder. “Will wonders never cease?”

  Hope was slow on the uptake. “What’s her reason to remain here?” she asked.

  “You’re feasting your eyes on him,” Harvey replied. “I can attest to the fact the light blue pills really do work as they’re advertised on TV.”

  Hope laughed. “You’re an old tiger, Harvey,” she said.

  “It cost me a bottle of my pricey champagne, so it wasn’t just a cheap romp we had,” Harvey said. “When she asked me if I’d like to help her drink it, how could I have refused her? She was feeling so blue and could stand a bit of cheering up by a jolly soul like me.”

  “You’d better start acting more like a respectable motel proprietor and less like a jolly soul,” Peggy Sue said. “If it should get out what happened over in the honeymoon suite between you and her, I tremble to imagine what the townspeople would think and say about you and your high class motel.”

  “I don’t believe I care for the mercenary tone you’re taking with me,” Harvey said. “Am I reading something between the lines?”

  “That’s right. We can be bought,” Peggy Sue replied.

  “What’s price tag for my buying your silence?” Harvey asked. “You should bear in mind I’m not rolling in dough.”

  “Pay us the twenty dollars, we stroll out the door, and you never hear even the whisper of a rumor about it,” Peggy Sue said.

  “You drive a hard bargain,” Harvey said, returning the twenty-dollar bill to Peggy Sue.

  “I assume you’ve seen her luggage,” Hope said.

  “Naturally, but I didn’t inspect it article by article,” Harvey said.

  “Did you happen to notice if she packed a Baltimore Orioles baseb
all cap?” Hope asked.

  “Yep, she did,” Harvey replied. “She wore it and nothing else but a smile while she and I toasted the Orioles defeating the Red Sox on TV. Would you like to hear the play by play, the Orioles’ and ours?”

  “That’s quite all right, thanks,” Peggy Sue replied. “We have everything we need.”

  “Here’s a piece of advice,” Hope said. “Tell Sarah to clear out of the honeymoon suite and leave Sweet Springs. Being swept up in a small town murder investigation isn’t something a smart cookie does. Sergeant Trogg will soon find out she’s staying here, and he’s coming after everybody who has any connection to Hugo.”

  “Okay, I’ll do it, but I know I’m going to pine away for Sarah,” Harvey said. “She and I made sweet music together.”

  “Please spare us the lurid details,” Peggy Sue said. “Chin up, though. After this trouble with Hugo’s murder goes away, you can invite her back and resume playing your symphony.”

  “I’ll keep the honeymoon suite open, and the champagne chilled,” Harvey said. “The old tiger will be on the prowl once again.”

  “The old tiger might also first want the doctor to recharge the battery in his pacemaker, and the chiropractor to realign his spine bone,” Peggy Sue said, walking out the lobby door with Hope and Nozy Cat close behind her.

  Chapter 17

  “How did Stace’s first date go for her?” Peggy Sue asked. “Was she excited about it?”

  “She didn’t say much, but I take it Rudy Smith didn’t wow her enough for a second date,” Hope replied.

  “What does her assigned chaperone think about it?” Peggy Sue asked.

  Stace said the buttered popcorn was tasty.

  “That’s it?” Peggy Sue asked.

  She also said she loved Rudy’s sky blue eyes and adorable dimples, but he turned out to be a freeloader on top of the lad has appalling taste in film. I also don’t think she’ll be dating him again.

  “Rudy Smith is the first boy in a parade of them who’ll move in and out of Stace’s life,” Peggy Sue said.

  “I can’t wait,” Hope said. “Strike up the marching band.”

  “I’d love to revisit my wild and crazy teenager years just for twenty-four hours,” Peggy Sue said.

  “You and Travis were high school sweethearts,” Hope said. “You never dated much less looked twice at a different boy that I ever knew about.”

  Peggy Sue smiled. “It was true love at first sight with Travis and me. I remember feeling the butterflies in my stomach and turning giddy as my heart raced like a—”

  Sorry to horn in on your mushy love story, but may I ask a question.

  “When did you suddenly turn shy?” Hope replied. “Speak up.”

  Why are we huddled in a dark car parked next to the cemetery?

  “I already told you we’re conducting a stake-in,” Hope said. “Cammie Jenkins remains on our murder suspects list.”

  “The correct term is a stakeout, not a stake-in,” Peggy Sue said. “Travis would know since he’s addicted to the TV cop shows. I only half-listen to them while I sit there on the sofa beside him and knit away on my projects.”

  Stake-ins are done to terminate evil vampires, so maybe you had Buffy the Vampire Slayer on your mind.

  “Perhaps I did,” Hope said. “What are you making with this yarn project, Peggy Sue?”

  “It’s another afghan I’ll donate to the women’s center when I finish knitting it,” Peggy Sue replied. “My progress has slowed down since the summer started.”

  “Maybe I’ll take up knitting and help you,” Hope said. “Is it hard to learn?”

  “I’d be happy to teach you how to knit in a few easy lessons,” Peggy Sue replied. “I find it relaxing while also fun to do at the day’s end.”

  “I might take you up on the offer,” Hope said. “Maybe Nozy Cat would like to join us, and we’ll form our own knitting circle. He can knit the smaller projects like the toddler booties and mittens.”

  “We’ll customize a pair of knitting needles so he can fit them in his forepaws,” Peggy Sue said. “What do you think, Nozy Cat?”

  Yawn. Anyway, did you confirm with Travis if he lost his bookshop key?

  “I fussed with him to look once more,” Peggy Sue replied. “He searched in every nook and cranny he could think of both at home and the office, but he didn’t have any success.”

  “I have to suspect the key lies at the bottom of Cammie’s handbag,” Hope said.

  “Surely Cammie wouldn’t hold on to it after she used it to get into the bookshop,” Peggy Sue said.

  “Who throws away a key?” Hope replied. “We hang on to them like we do old hats and umbrellas.”

  I like to save my old catnip toys and have a trove of them squirreled away somewhere.

  “Is that a fact?” Hope said. “Then you must be a stealthy cat.”

  Not to brag too much, but you’re talking to the one who wrote the book on stealthy cats.

  “Then we should reconsider the idea of you slithering down the chimney over there and prowling around in Cammie’s place,” Hope said. “Look for the bookshop key in her stuff, beginning with inside her handbag.”

  I don’t think so. Why can’t you snoop inside her handbag while I distract her with my cutie pie act?

  “She’ll never let her handbag out of her sight except when she’s asleep,” Hope replied.

  Were you able to figure out how Hugo died?

  “I didn’t notice any bullet holes or scratch marks on him,” Hope replied. “I didn’t see a speck of blood anywhere, and Sergeant Trogg has never given me the cause of death.”

  Presumably then, Hugo could’ve been fatally poisoned.

  “I suppose it’s quite possible he was,” Hope said, nodding.

  Let’s proceed on the assumption he died from a lethal dose of a to-be-determined poison.

  “We face the problem of determining how did either Dan or Cammie find the opportunity to administer the poison to Hugo,” Hope said.

  “The furtive Dan could’ve done it, no sweat,” Peggy Sue said. “We know he’s a clever schemer.”

  Cammie probably is, too, if she wants to be.

  Hope wanted to close the loop on a different matter. “We owe Harvey a phone call,” she said to Peggy Sue. “Ask him if Sarah has checked out of the Bootleggers’ Lair Motel and left Sweet Springs. If she hasn’t, tell him it’s imperative she leave at once.”

  Peggy Sue got in touch with Harvey and asked Hope’s question.

  “Yeah, Sarah just packed her suitcases, pecked me goodbye on the cheek, and peeled out of here for home,” Harvey replied. “I haven’t felt this glum since my hound dog Homer Roy up and died. I think I’m going to burst out crying any second now.”

  “Dry your tears,” Peggy Sue said. “Sarah will be coming back to you.”

  “But what if she doesn’t? Have you taken a close look at me lately? I’m getting so long in the tooth I look like a two-legged walrus. Just toss me a fish after I flap my flippers and bark at you.”

  “Take heart, coz. Looks aren’t so important when it comes to true love.”

  “Who gives a fig leaf about true love? I’m talking about naked lust.”

  Peggy Sue closed her eyes as she wagged her head. “I’m not going there with you, Harvey. You’ll have to tough it out. Bye.”

  “Cammie just darted out of her house and jumped into her car,” Hope said.

  “All right, follow her,” Peggy Sue said.

  Giddy up then and let’s get a move on.

  Hope started up the engine and shadowed Cammie’s twin red taillights moving into downtown Sweet Springs.

  “Be careful not to ride up on her rear bumper with your headlights glaring in her rearview mirror,” Peggy Sue said. “We don’t want to spook her, and she takes off on us.”

  “No worry because I won’t be taking up any chase scenes,” Hope said. “I’ll leave doing those to the women stunt car drivers.”

  However, Cammie didn
’t act as if she were in a hurry to be anywhere. Likewise, Hope kept an even pace to stay several car-lengths behind Cammie who next led them out to the bypass. When the brand spanky new Cordelia’s Expresso popped into view, Hope did a double take at its neon tube sign glowing cream white and guacamole green. She really needed to get out of town more often.

  The only noise besides the running engine was Nozy Cat’s animated purr. Hope knew the keen excitement incited him to purr so loud. She wondered if Peggy Sue also heard it. Next Hope worried if Stacey had gone to bed. Tomorrow was a school day, and she had to get her rest to rise and shine in her academic classes.

  College loomed ahead of her. The thought of Stacey’s college education triggered Hope’s anxiety over her money shortfall. If the Brontë Bookshop didn’t generate a profit, she faced a crisis. The faithful legions of readers had better rally fast and furious to save their only bookshop.

  “Why are you so quiet and pensive sitting over there?” Peggy Sue asked.

  “I can’t quit brooding over our bookshop possibly closing its doors,” Hope replied. “It’s never been far from my thoughts.”

  The Brontë Bookshop is your baby. We can understand how tender you feel about it.

  “Stace is my only real baby,” Hope said. “The Brontë Bookshop is a space full of marvelous books on shelves I’d dearly love to make turn a profit and pay off our creditors. I’ve been racking my brain to find a way to save it.”

  “I know what let’s do,” Peggy Sue said. “When things calm back down to a dull roar, we’ll sit at the table and brainstorm for the fresh ideas on how we can shore up the bookshop’s financial woes. We’re creative thinkers, so I’m confident we’ll hit on an effective way to accomplish it.”

  “You’re the optimist in bleak times,” Hope said. “It does my heart good to have a friend with your can-do spirit.”

  Peggy Sue shrugged to deflect the compliment paid her. “What other choice is there, Hope? Considering the alternative is unthinkable.”

  We’re not going to lose the Brontë Bookshop. I give you my solemn pledge on it.

  “How can you be that sure we’ll continue selling books?” Hope asked.