Midnight Paws

by Jessica Beck

  I felt relief when I learned that the café owner next door hadn’t poisoned her late husband. Celeste and I had gotten off to a bit of a rocky start, but I was finding myself drawn to her the more I got to know her.

  “You might as well strike a line through the mayor’s name as well.”

  “Did he confess his indiscretions as well?” I asked.

  “Oh, no. He was still denying it when his wife caught him in a pretty compromising position with their neighbor. They’re heading to divorce court, and I have a hunch that we’re going to be getting a new mayor soon,” she said with a wicked grin. “Even so, there’s no secret to protect there, at least not anymore.”

  “We’re making some real progress,” I said. “Anything else?”

  “I shouldn’t say anything, but I’ve never been a fan of David Whitman. We dated in high school, and let’s just say that it didn’t end well. He was a momma’s boy then, and he’s still one today, as far as I’m concerned. I’ll look into his liquidity to see just how desperate he is for money. As for Sandy or Mandy, neither one of them has the gumption to confront anyone directly. I doubt they had the nerve to confront Cora in her shop, no matter what their incentive might be. Now I full well believe that they’d sue anyone for anything, but face to face? I don’t believe it.” Trudy studied the list again, and then she said, “I seem to have left you with four names. I can surely do better than that.”

  “You’ve been a great help so far,” I said, and I was about to add something else when the door opened and an older woman with a curler hanging from her hair hurried in.

  “I’m so sorry I’m late,” she said as she put her oversized handbag on the counter. “I don’t know how time got away from me.”

  “It’s fleeting for us all, Elizabeth,” Trudy said as she gently removed the offending curler.

  “Thanks,” Elizabeth said, finally managing to catch her breath a little. “I have a date,” she said, the words exploding in the small space.

  “That’s wonderful,” Trudy said in a soft and even voice. “Who exactly is the lucky fellow?”

  Elizabeth’s tone matched the librarian’s when she replied. “Nathanial Church,” she said. “After all these years, he finally got up the nerve to ask me out.”

  “Good for you,” Trudy said. “Would you excuse us, Elizabeth? We have to finish something before Christy opens Memories and Dreams.”

  “Of course,” Elizabeth said as she gathered her handbag up. As she did, one handle came loose from her grip and spilled an enormous amount of flotsam and jetsam onto the counter and the floor below. “I’m such a ditz sometimes,” she said as she knelt to start collecting some of her spilled belongings.

  As Trudy and I began to help, she said, “I meant that we were going to step outside. Would you watch the desk?”

  “I can do that,” Elizabeth said. Then she turned to me and added, “I’m usually not so scattered, but there’s a great deal riding on this tonight.”

  “It’s fine,” I said. “He must be a special fellow.”

  “He’s absolutely dreamy,” she said, and then asked me, “Do young people still describe beaus as dreamy?”

  “If the shoe fits,” I said with a smile.

  “I bet you’ve got someone dreamy yourself,” she said.

  “Elizabeth,” Trudy said sternly. “I’m sure that Christy’s love life is none of our concern.”

  “Or lack thereof,” I said with a grin.

  “Don’t worry, dear,” she said as she patted my hand. “Your time will come. I’m sure of it.”

  Trudy started to laugh at the gesture, but she somehow managed to hold it in until we went outside. “That woman is something else.”

  “She’s just excited about her big date,” I said.

  “She shouldn’t be,” Trudy said. “Nathanial Church is as dry as dust. I have no idea why she’s so thrilled about dating him.”

  “To each her own,” I said. “Thanks for the help.”

  “I’m not finished yet,” she said. “I’ll call you later after I’ve done a little digging.”

  “I don’t want to take you from your work,” I said.

  “It will give me an excuse not to listen to Elizabeth’s ramblings,” Trudy said with a smile. “I should be the one thanking you for the distraction.”

  “Call me any time,” I said, and then I glanced at my watch. “I’ve got to get over to the store so I can open it on time. Cora was a real stickler for regular business hours.”

  “I suppose that’s your decision now,” Trudy said.

  “Maybe, but it will always feel like her shop. I’m a caretaker at best.”

  “I’m sure things will find a way of working themselves out. They often do.”

  “I hope you’re right,” I said.

  “I often am,” she answered with a smile. “Why should things be different this time? I’ll call you soon.”

  “Thanks so much,” I said.

  As I started back to the shop, I pulled out my phone and called Marybeth. “Hey, do you have a second for a quick update?”

  “You bet. Was she able to help us any?”

  “More than I could ask. It turns out that Kelly Madigan shoplifts, but you’ll never believe who keeps bailing her out.”

  “I don’t have a clue.”

  “Jim Hicks. It turns out that he’s her uncle.”

  “Is he the thief Cora claimed?” Marybeth asked.

  “She’s not sure, so Trudy’s going to dig into it a little more, as well as research Professor Jenkins.”

  Marybeth asked softly, “What about Celeste? Is it possible she killed her husband?”

  “No, but I can see how Cora might believe it. Trudy told me that Celeste’s husband was dying, and he refused to take his meds. She slipped them into his food, and he caught her. Evidently by the time this happened he was pretty far gone, so he started accusing her of trying to kill him.”

  “I can see that happening,” Marybeth said. “How about the rest of our list?”

  “Trudy doesn’t think the sisters would have the guts to confront Cora directly. She’s not at all surprised by the lawsuit they’re contemplating against me, by the way. Evidently that’s the way they work. She thinks that David Whitman might be capable of it if he were desperate enough for money. Trudy’s going to dig into that, too.”

  “Is she even going to have time to do her real job?” Marybeth asked.

  “She swears that she’s going to be able to fit it in, and I wasn’t in any position to say no. We need her help. She’s got the connections that we don’t.”

  “Then bless her for doing it. Oh, we can strike the mayor’s name off our list. I made a few phone calls myself, and it turns out that he just got caught with his neighbor the night before Cora was murdered, so there wouldn’t be any secret for him to protect at that point. That’s some real progress, isn’t it?”

  “You bet it is. As things stand now, we’ve still got Jim Hicks, David Whitman, Barbara Hastings, and Kelly Madigan on our list of suspects.”

  “I’m not sure why Kelly is on there. She might be a petty thief, but I doubt that makes her a killer.”

  “I’m not ready to rule her out yet,” I said. “What if Cora caught her stealing and threatened to turn her over to the police? Kelly might have done it to keep from going to jail.”

  “Maybe. Listen, try not to do anything crazy until I get back, okay? We can’t forget that we’re dealing with a murderer here.”

  “It’s not about to slip my mind,” I said, thinking of not just Cora, but Midnight as well.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by that.”

  “No worries,” I said. “Let me know when you get back into town.”

  “I will,” she said, and we hung up.

  I’d been hoping for a little quiet time before I had to o
pen, but when I saw who was waiting for me outside Memories and Dreams, I knew that wasn’t going to happen.

  It appeared that one of my suspects had decided to visit me today before I even had the chance to unlock the front door.

  “Hello, Jim,” I said as I fumbled for my keys. “I’m sorry, but I’m not open for business quite yet.”

  “I’m not here to shop,” he said. “I’ve been speaking with a first-class attorney, and he assures me that we can circumvent whatever clauses Cora inserted into the will. You’re free and clear to sell the place.”

  “Unlike you, I’m not interested in going against Cora’s last wishes. I’m not selling, and that’s final.”

  Jim clearly didn’t like that. “You know, it’s not that easy running a business like this. Bad things can happen.” The last bit was said with a chilling tone that I didn’t care for at all.

  “Is that a threat, Jim?” I asked.

  He frowned, and then shook his head. “I don’t threaten. I just think you should be aware of the downside of hanging onto this place.”

  “Funny, that sounds an awful lot like a threat to me. Is that how you got away with stealing so much money from your former business partner?”

  His gaze narrowed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Oh, I sincerely doubt that. How much did you clear after all of the dust settled in the end?” I was pushing him hard, and I knew it, but I needed to get things rolling. I knew that the longer it took to solve the murders, the harder it was going to be.

  Jim took a step closer to me, and for one crazy second I thought he was going to hit me. Instead, in a voice that was barely containing his rage, he said, “You need to drop it, and I mean now.”

  “What if I don’t?” I asked, hoping that someone was nearby if I needed some help.

  “This is your last chance,” he said.

  The words reminded me of the note I’d found that someone had written to Cora. “Is that what you told my friend just before she was murdered? Were you trying to force her into selling, too? Is that what happened when she refused you?”

  I knew I’d pushed too far with my last statement. Instead of protesting or trying to deny anything, Jim turned and walked away without another word. If he was the killer, I’d just given him enough incentive to get rid of me. Nice going, Christy.

  My hands were shaking as I fit the key into the lock, and I wondered if my last mistake of pushing the man too hard would end up being a fatal one.

  Chapter 13

  Things were quiet at the shop for the next hour, and I was beginning to wonder if there was any reason to stay open when the front door opened. When Kelly Madigan walked in, my spirits fell a little. After the confrontation I’d just had with her uncle, I wasn’t in the mood to deal with her at the moment.

  She approached me, her gaze downward. “Christy, I came by to apologize for being so snippy with you before.”

  That was a surprise. “I appreciate that,” I said.

  “Good. Now, if you don’t mind, I think I’ll look around a little.”

  “That’s fine. After all, that’s why we’re here.”

  It wasn’t that funny, but Kelly managed to laugh too long and too loudly, and it made me wonder if there was something else on her mind. I started rearranging some of the jewelry in the display case when I happened to glance up just in time to see Kelly tucking a black beret into her purse. It was marked for sale at a dollar, and she was stealing from me! I fought the urge to confront her on the spot and pretended not to notice what she’d done. After a few minutes, Kelly approached me and smiled. “Nothing struck my fancy today, but who knows? I’ll be back tomorrow. See you.”

  She was nearly out the door when I reached out and grabbed her shoulder. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

  “What are you talking about? I already apologized,” she said defensively.

  “Yes, and I accepted it. What I refuse to accept, though, is someone stealing from me. I saw you take that beret, Kelly.”

  If she’d been the one who had attacked Cora and Midnight, I was pretty confident that I’d see something now.

  I braced myself for an attack, so I was quite surprised when she started crying. They weren’t soft and simpering tears either, but a deluge that nearly doubled her over.

  “Get control of yourself,” I snapped. Was I going to have to slap her to get her to stop crying?

  “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I have a sickness. Call my uncle, he’ll tell you.”

  The last thing I wanted was to invite Jim Hicks into my shop. “I think I’ll call the police instead,” I said.

  That pushed her the rest of the way over the edge. Kelly collapsed on the floor, and I raced around to see if I could help her. Based on her reaction to our confrontation, I couldn’t imagine that she’d attack Cora or Midnight under any circumstances. The real question now was what was I going to do with her?

  “Get up, Kelly,” I ordered. I gave it every ounce of command I could summon in my voice, and something in my tone hit home.

  She stood, retrieved the beret, and then put it on the counter, along with a twenty-dollar bill. “Can I go now?” she asked as though she were a child asking permission to leave the table.

  “Not quite,” I said, refusing to touch the beret or the money. “You can’t keep stealing, you know that, don’t you?”

  “I try to fight it, but sometimes it’s too hard, especially when I’m so stressed out.”

  “You’re going to have to figure out a better way to cope with it than shoplifting,” I said.

  “Please don’t call the police. I’m begging you!”

  I had my hand on the phone, but could I do it? She sounded so pathetic, but then again, she’d tried to steal from me, and as the shopkeeper, I couldn’t allow that. Then again, if I had her arrested for a beret that cost a dollar, what might that do to my business? Morally, I wanted to call the sheriff, but pragmatically, I didn’t really need the hassle of having her arrested in my shop over such a trivial amount. I finally came to a decision, and took the beret, but left the twenty.

  “Go on. Take your money.”

  She looked at me, trying to see if I was messing with her, but when she saw my expression, she took the money and raced for the door.

  Before she could get there, though, I said, “You are not allowed to come back here, and I mean ever. If you step across that threshold again, I’ll call the police and have you arrested. Do you understand me?”

  Kelly looked shocked by the banishment. “You can’t do that!”

  “You bet I can,” I said.

  “You don’t even have any proof that I took anything,” Kelly said, her voice a bit cloying as she spoke.

  “You must not have seen my new security camera,” I said as I pointed to the ceiling. She looked up, and I could see her shake her head in disbelief. I smiled at her, but there was no warmth in it. “Oh, yes.” Had I remembered to even turn it on this morning? I wasn’t sure, but then again, as far as Kelly was concerned, her theft had been captured there.

  She left the shop without another word. I was having second thoughts about just letting her go like that, but maybe my punishment had been more severe than what the police would have done over a dollar item. In my view, stealing was stealing, but this was the best compromise I’d been able to come up with. One thing was fairly certain. Kelly wasn’t a killer, at least not according to what I’d seen earlier. I felt confident taking her off our list. I had a hunch she’d been upset about the necklace I was now wearing because she’d lost her opportunity to steal it for herself. If she wouldn’t pay a single dollar for a cheap beret, she wasn’t about to fork over a few hundred for a necklace.

  Thinking of the necklace made me suddenly realize that there might be a way to eliminate or highlight another one of our suspects. I decided to phone David Wh
itman and see just how desperate he was to get it back.

  “Mr. Whitman, this is Christy from Memories and Dreams.”

  “Who? Oh, the girl I spoke to before. What can I do for you?”

  “I’m calling about the necklace your mother sold us,” I said. “I’ve been able to track it down, and the buyer is willing to sell it back to you for what she paid for it.” Of course I was lying through my teeth, but David Whitman had no way of knowing that. If he was agreeable, I’d broker a deal without taking a profit, and then I’d see if I could pick something a lot less volatile, with Lincoln’s permission.

  “Thank you, but after speaking with my mother, we’ve decided not to pursue it,” he said.

  I hadn’t been sure what kind of reaction I’d get from my offer, but I certainly hadn’t been expecting that. “Are you sure?” I asked.

  “I’m positive,” he said. “Now, if there’s nothing else, I’m late for a meeting.”

  “That’s it,” I said.

  After we hung up, I tried to figure out why he’d changed his mind so abruptly. And then one scenario came unwillingly to mind. What if David Whitman was going to report that the necklace in question had been stolen, and not sold? It was outright fraud, there was no doubt about that, but I couldn’t prove anything unless the insurance adjuster came to me and asked about the necklace, and that wasn’t going to happen. They wouldn’t even know that Cora had bought it. What was wrong with these people? I suddenly didn’t want to have anything to do with the necklace anymore, even if Lincoln wouldn’t allow me to change my mind. It had bad karma as far as I was concerned, and I didn’t want to wear it a minute longer. I took it off, and as I did, the phone rang.

  “Hello?” I asked as I put it in the display case.

  “It’s David Whitman. I’ve changed my mind. How much are you asking for it?”

  What was going on here? I decided to push things a little to see what he’d say. “You’re going to have to double the original hundred we paid for it,” I said.