“Idiot driver and murderer aren’t exactly next door neighbors in the law books.”
Lisa sighed. “I know. It’s just, there’s something off about her. The chief won’t investigate her, not even a little bit?”
“Nope.”
“But it’s always the husband or wife.”
“Or boyfriend or girlfriend. Unless it’s not.”
“Did they teach you that last part in murder-cop school?”
Toby laughed, but then his face grew serious. “Do you have an alibi for 11 PM to 1 AM that night?”
Lisa’s laugh died. “An alibi? I was in bed. I’d had a long day with Gideon the day before, dealing with renovation stuff. I went to bed early and fell asleep right away.”
“Was Aunt Penny home?”
“No, she had some kind of regional sales goal meeting or awards dinner or something like that. She stayed the night at the Weatherford, in Flagstaff. I think they held the event at the Zane Grey Ballroom.”
“Hmm.” Toby looked worried.
“What do you mean, hmm?”
“I didn’t want to tell you this, but the chief considers you a real suspect. I hoped you’d have an easy alibi for the time of death.”
“You know the time of death?”
“Well…”
“You said 11 PM to 1 AM.”
“I’m not supposed to discuss the details of the coroner’s report.”
“But I’m right.”
“I’m not saying you’re wrong.”
“Ok, ok, I get it. I won’t push. Except I need to know things! Was it definitely murder? Was he pushed? Wait, can you even tell that from a coroner’s report?”
“The coroner’s report tells us time of death, cause of death, presence of drugs or defensive wounds or anything else of note.”
“Were there drugs? Were there defensive wounds?”
Toby made a calming motion with his hands. “Or was there anything else of note? I know, cuz, you want to know everything. But if the chief finds out I discussed the coroner’s report with a suspect, I could be in a lot of trouble. The chief is always looking for things to point at and yell ‘Corruption’. As if small-town departments are any more corrupt than the big-city type he came from.”
Lisa put her hand on Toby’s arm. “Hey, don’t worry. I didn’t kill anybody, and I’m not going to get you in trouble. When have I ever gotten you in trouble?”
Toby winced. “Yeah, I know, cuz. You’ve always had my back.”
Chapter 18
In the parking lot after dinner, Lisa pointed a finger at her cousin. “I know what you’re thinking. But just skip the cigarette. You’ll thank me later.”
Toby took out his phone. “Can I record you saying that? I sometimes need the nagging voice of my loving cousin to guide me through the long dark night.”
The sight of his phone reminded her that she’d forgotten to check her voicemail. She got in her car.
“Love you, Toby.”
“Love you, too, cuz.”
She took out her phone and went to the voice messages.
“Hi, this is Mo, um, Dr. Morris. This message is for Lisa. I didn’t know who else to call. Your cat, I mean, the cat you called me about at your house or café, um, carriage house. Your cat was brought in tonight. She was hit by a car. You can call me on my cell.”
Lisa sat stunned as she listened to him leave his cell number. Tears pricked her eyes. The mama cat had been hit by a car? She replayed the message. He didn’t say if the mama cat was ok. She replayed it again to get the cell number and dialed it.
It went to voicemail. She dialed again. Still voicemail.
“That’s it, I’m going over there.” She started the car and tore out of the parking lot, seeing the black and white cat’s face, seeing her cute little paws with their extra digit that made them look like mittens.
When she finally reached the vet’s office she put the car in park and jumped out, not quite managing to shut the door completely. The door ajar warning dinged at her as she ran into the veterinary office door.
“Where is she? Is she ok?” Lisa yelled into the empty lobby. “Please, somebody tell me!”
After an excruciating minute of waiting, the door to the back area swung open and an older woman with permed hair stepped out. Lisa stared at her, her brain not quite engaging the fact that the woman was in paw print scrubs and wearing gloves.
“Are you Lisa Chance?” the woman said.
Lisa nodded.
“I’m Shelby.”
“Ok.”
“You’re here about the cat that was brought in tonight.” Shelby’s voice was low and soothing. “We were worried at first, but she came through just fine.”
“She did? Oh, she did.” Lisa found herself slumping into a chair in relief. A tiny part of her mind wondered when she’d become so attached to this cat, but the rest of her mind was all warm fuzzy thoughts of a purring kitty twining between her legs in the kitchen of the Folly.
“Are you ok?” Shelby said.
“Yes, I’m fine, sorry. Dr. Morris’s message didn’t say if she made it or not. I was so worried.”
Shelby shook her head. “That’s Mo, always leaving out the crucial detail in his voicemail messages. You know, one time he left out the fact that the animal we were rescuing was a fully grown python? I showed up at the house with a regular sized cat carrier, and he just looked at me like I’d grown a third arm and stolen his hat with it.”
“Can I see her?”
“Hmm? Oh, yes, momentarily, although she is sedated still.” Shelby smiled at Lisa again, went behind the desk and started fussing with some paperwork.
The door to the back opened again and Dr. Morris came into the room. He smiled when he saw Lisa. His face had healed more, and he was undeniably handsome.
“Oh, good, you came.”
“You need to leave better messages.”
“Sorry, I know, Shelby tells me that all the time. But no one wants to get the bad news in a voicemail message, which means that leaving the good news in a voicemail message means that the absence of good news is itself getting bad news.”
Lisa squinted at him. “I can see your point, but I was still worried sick.”
“She came through treatment like a champ. That is one tough kitty you’ve got.”
“What happened to her?”
“She was hit by a car in the street by the town square. The driver kept going, but a pedestrian saw it, called us and stayed until I arrived.”
“Who would do something so despicable?”
“I don’t know, I’m not there to investigate. I have the good Samaritan’s number, if you want it.”
Lisa nodded. “I do, thank you.”
“Your cat has a broken leg, some scrapes and contusions, and some minor internal injuries. I doubt she would have made it if she hadn’t been brought in.”
“That sounds like a lot.”
He nodded. “There’s more. She’s going to need time to recover. I’ve prescribed an antibiotic and a painkiller. But she isn’t in any shape to take care of those kittens.”
Lisa blanched. “The kittens! I’d forgotten about them. They’re too little to be without their mother, aren’t they?”
“Far too little. I’m afraid if we leave them there, they’ll end up as owl chow.” He scratched his head. “Though I suppose eagles and raccoons are also an issue.”
Lisa scowled at him. “We’ve got to get those kittens before any kind of wildlife gets to them.”
“Do I have your permission to go on the property and retrieve them?”
“Uh, I don’t exactly have the right to give that permission just now. It’s complicated. But we have to get them. Can’t you, like, do some kind of eminent domain public necessity kind of thing? I mean, it’s an emergency.”
He thought for a moment. “I do occasional part time work for the county’s animal control department.”
“Do you have a badge?”
“Actually, yes, I
do.”
“Then that’s it. You go down there and flash your badge and tell anyone with questions that you’re there from the county.”
“That’s technically not allowed.”
“If you won’t go, then I will. I’m not leaving those kittens to be owl chow.”
He sighed. “I’ll do it. But I’ll need a foster home for these kittens.”
“I’ll take them, of course.”
“Do you know how to foster kittens?”
“No, but I know a veterinarian who can teach me.”
*
Lisa dialed the number Dr. Morris had given her for the good Samaritan who’d called to report the accident. After a few rings, someone picked up.
“Hello?” the voice on the line sounded frail and hesitant.
“Hi, is this Mrs. Romero?”
“Is this a sales call?”
“No, ma’am, I’m calling to thank you for what you did for my cat this evening.”
“Oh, my dear, is she ok?”
“She is, thanks to you.”
“I’m so glad. I was taking my evening constitutional — I circle the town square ten times each morning and evening no matter the weather; it keeps you young, you know — when I saw the most adorable black and white cat. She had a bird in her mouth, and from the way she was walking you could tell she was proud of her hunting prowess. Now, she went to cross the street toward the old Comstock place, and all of a sudden this car comes out of nowhere and just,” she sniffled in the phone and took a deep breath before continuing, “the car just hit that poor cat. I thought the driver was going to help. She stopped the car for nearly a minute. But then she just swerved into the middle of the street and kept right on going. That’s what comes of these out of towners coming in.”
“Out of towners?”
“Yes, dear, that’s right.”
“How could you tell she was from out of town?”
“From her license plate, of course. She had Kansas plates.”
“Kansas!”
“Kansas,” Mrs. Romero said firmly.
“Did you get much of a look at the driver?”
“At first I thought it was a teenaged boy. Small stature and short hair, you know. But when she turned I saw she had her hair pulled back in a bun.”
“Hmm, brown hair in a tight bun?”
“That’s right, how did you know?”
“I’ve seen her around town, making trouble.”
“Oh, no.”
“Oh, yes. If you see her again, I would steer clear. She might be dangerous to more than just innocent cats.”
“Thank you for the warning, dear, but I can take care of myself. I have my cane. And my grandson showed me how to use it for self-defense. He also got me this phone to call for help.”
“Thank you again for saving my cat’s life. If it weren’t for you, she might not have made it. You’re a hero, Mrs. Romero.”
Lisa hung up the phone and stared at the wall of her mother’s living room. Dr. Morris had said he would come by when he had the kittens. Until then, she was stuck here thinking about her thwarted life plans and the fact that the chief of police considered her a murder suspect.
How could the chief think of Lisa as a suspect when a street-screaming, cat-running-over nutjob like Mrs. Robert de la Croix was running around Moss Creek? It was infuriating. It was confusing. It was something that Lisa just couldn’t let slide. The chief might think that woman was innocent, but Lisa was sure she was guilty of something. But how could she prove it?
Moss Creek had only one motel inside the town limits, the Lucky Horseshoe Inn. Mrs. Robert was probably staying there. If Lisa went and staked it out, maybe she could figure out what that woman was up to.
The doorbell rang, and Lisa leaped up off the couch and ran to answer it.
Dr. Morris stood outside holding a cat carrier. A tiny mew came from inside.
“Come in, come in. I got the supplies you recommended. How many kittens are there?”
Dr. Morris followed Lisa inside and upstairs to her room, where she’d set up the secure kitten area. He looked at it with a critical eye before nodding and opening the carrier.
Lisa crouched down to look inside. Dr. Morris took out three black and white kittens and put them on the fuzzy blanket on the heating pad.
“Three kittens,” Lisa breathed, looking at the tiny helpless babies.
“Three kittens,” he confirmed.
“Are they girls or boys?”
“All boys.”
Lisa stared at the adorable kittens, finding herself making an involuntary aww noise as she looked at their little faces and tiny paws. “Do they have extra toes like the mama cat?”
“They do.”
“They’re so little.”
“Kittens this small need a lot of care. Did you read the brochure I gave you?”
She nodded. She’d read the kitten fostering brochure in the store while buying supplies, once more in the car before coming home, and three times after that.
“Ok, then I guess I’ll leave you to it.”
Chapter 19
The next morning, after finishing her deliveries and feeding the kittens again, Lisa drove to the Lucky Horseshoe Inn and parked across the street. The little motel was not only named Horseshoe but was shaped like a horseshoe, with two stories of motel rooms opening onto a sidewalk below and walkway above, all around a little swimming pool that looked marooned in the middle of the parking lot. Would-be swimmers were wise to wear shoes for the walk between their room and the pool, as the parking lot sparkled with shards of broken beer bottles.
Lisa peered at the cars in the lot, dismissing the station wagon from Colorado and the pickup truck from New Mexico and fixating on the sedan with the Kansas plates. Mrs. Robert de la Croix was indeed staying there.
Lisa settled back into her seat, watching the doors to the rooms nearest the suspect’s car. After ten minutes she yawned and blinked, realizing her concentration had started to waver. She took out her phone and texted Olivia.
“If I’m not back in two hours, please feed kittens.”
A message came back almost immediately. “Can’t. Lunch date in one hour. Sorry xoxo.”
Lisa felt a mixture of irritation and relief. She needed to stake out Mrs. Robert to get the goods on her, but stakeouts were much more boring than she’d expected. If she had to go back and take care of the kittens, so be it.
She had to go back and take care of the kittens. The kittens took ages to drink their kitten milk from the bottle.
Three hours later she was parked across the street from the Lucky Horseshoe once again. The sun was starting to set, and the car with the Kansas plates still hadn’t moved.
The setting sun dipped behind the Lucky Horseshoe’s west wing, casting the swimming pool into darkness. Not a single swimmer had approached the pool all afternoon while Lisa had kept watch. An autumn breeze whipped by, depositing an early leaf onto Lisa’s windshield.
A tap on her window startled Lisa out of her reverie. A white-clad torso, half in shadow and half bathed in the orangey sunset glow, stood outside. She rolled down her window and craned her neck to see who it was.
“Please tell me you haven’t been sitting outside this motel all day like some jealous wife, making the family look ridiculous.”
“Hi, Mom,” Lisa said.
“You have, haven’t you,” Penny scolded.
“Technically, no. I had to go back and feed the kittens every two hours.”
Her mother sighed.
“How did you know I was here, anyway?”
“I received a call.”
“What? Someone saw me here and called my mother on me?”
“You’re running a business now. You can’t afford to make yourself a laughingstock.”
“I’ll be a lot worse than laughed at if I’m,” Lisa lowered her voice to an angry stage whisper, “charged with murder.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I think I know
who the real killer is. I’m on her trail.”
“Your cousin is in law enforcement, not you. You should leave this to the police.”
“In case you hadn’t noticed, Mom, I don’t exactly trust the police. Toby excepted.”
Her mother sighed again. “I know your history with the authorities is not exactly perfect. But Lisa—”
“Mom—”
“Be careful. A small town can have a long memory.”
Lisa winced. “Oh, I know.”
Penny started to speak again and Lisa glanced across the street, then did a double take. The car was gone.
“Mom, I’ve got to go.” She started the car.
Her mother stepped back onto the sidewalk and Lisa took off down the street, hoping Mrs. Robert didn’t have too much of a head start.
She did a loop around the town square, looking for the car with the Kansas plates. Nothing. She turned onto one of the side streets and did a wider loop. Still nothing.
Driving a third, even wider loop, she got lucky. The car was parked outside the package store. Lisa parked a block back and waited. A moment later, Mrs. Robert stepped outside, got in, and headed toward the entrance to the highway. Lisa rolled up her window, waited long enough to sing the alphabet song, and followed her onto the highway.
The sun slid all the way below the horizon, leaving the last brush of blue fading to indigo. Twilight was the worst time for accidents with animals. Did Mrs. Robert know that? Probably not. She wasn’t from the mountains, where every teen is given a lecture about watching for deer at the margins of the forest before getting behind the wheel.
Flushing with renewed anger, she remembered that Mrs. Robert had already hit one animal in the evening. Lisa thought of the mama cat, hunting to take care of her kittens, callously struck in the road and left there. A person who would do such a thing could definitely be the murderer.
The car with the Kansas plates got on I-40 toward Flagstaff. Lisa followed, closing the distance a little bit on the interstate to ensure her quarry didn’t vanish in the heavier traffic.
In Flagstaff, she followed her to the far side of town and watched as she turned into the parking lot of a church. Lisa parked across the street and watched.
Other cars turned into the lot, and people started getting out and going inside. Mrs. Robert greeted some of them and went in, too. Heart pounding, Lisa got out and ran across the street to join them. She didn’t know if there would be enough people to avoid being spotted, but this looked promising. What if Mrs. Robert was here to meet an accomplice?
Last Chance for Murder (Lisa Chance Cozy Mysteries Book 1) Page 11