“I hope Daniel can track Stanley down. I hate the idea that he might have killed Mabel and then run away to escape punishment.”
“He was slightly odd, but he never seemed the type to hurt anyone. Mostly, he was just lacking in social skills, which is hardly a crime.”
Fenella nodded. “What about the fight between Clyde and Donna? Do you know anything about that?”
Mona sighed. “I was there, at the funeral, and I don’t recall any disagreements, certainly not any that were serious enough to end the friendship between the two. Clyde was devastated, of course. He sat with his parents during the actual service, but he spent much of the time before it with Mabel’s three friends. They were inseparable at that point, of course. I think it’s quite sad that they’ve grown apart over the years.”
“The way Donna tells it, they simply no longer had anything in common.”
“After the church service, everyone went back to Mabel’s parents’ house. I wonder if that’s where the disagreement took place,” Mona said thoughtfully. “I remember seeing Clyde with the three women at one point. Let me think.” She stared out at the sea for several minutes while Fenella waited impatiently.
“I know you hate waiting, but tapping your foot like that isn’t helping my memory,” Mona said eventually.
Fenella hadn’t realized she was tapping her foot. “I’ll be back,” she muttered, getting up and heading to the bedroom. She gazed longingly at the king-sized bed before she freshened up in the adjacent bathroom.
Mona smiled at her when she returned. “Something happened at the house after the service,” she said. “I didn’t really notice it at the time, but now that I think back, there was some tension between Clyde and the three women. It wasn’t there when we first arrived at the house, but by the time we’d had a cup of tea and a few biscuits, it was obvious. It wasn’t just Clyde and the women, though. Mabel’s parents were clearly upset, not just about Mabel, but with the three women and maybe with Clyde, too. At the time, I believe I simply thought it was natural tension brought on by the extremely difficult circumstances.”
“And maybe it was, at least most of it. It seems whatever happened between Clyde and Donna was more serious, though.”
“Donna said she hasn’t seen Clyde since the funeral, correct?”
“That’s what she said.”
“I wonder why he wasn’t at Marilyn’s wedding, then.”
“Maybe he was but they managed to avoid one another for the day.”
“He wasn’t there,” Mona told her. “I told you that I attended, didn’t I? It was an incredibly lavish and unbelievably boring affair. I spent much of the afternoon studying my fellow guests, wondering how they’d been unlucky enough to have been dragged to such a dull occasion. Clyde wasn’t there.”
“Maybe he was sick or out of town.”
“Maybe, or maybe he was trying to avoid Donna. It’s possible he was trying to avoid all three women, of course. If I could turn back the clock, I’d make a point of watching him with the three women on the day of Mabel’s funeral.”
Fenella glanced at the clock. “I should go,” she sighed. “I’m taking the kittens to the home early tomorrow morning. I need a good night’s sleep if I’m going to spend my morning chasing them around a nursing home.”
“I’m going to do my best to remember more about Mabel’s funeral. Maybe I’ll see what Max can remember. He was with me, of course, but he probably wasn’t paying attention. He might know more about what happened to Stanley, though. He did business with Stanley’s father. I’m sure they spoke fairly regularly.”
“Great. I’ll stop back sometime tomorrow, but I’m not sure when. I believe my morning is going to be rather busy.”
Fenella let herself out of her apartment. After debating with herself for a minute, she knocked on Shelly’s door.
“I won’t stay long,” she told Shelly, “but I’m busy tomorrow morning, so I won’t get to stop to visit Katie until the afternoon.”
Shelly laughed. “I’m taking good care of her, truly I am.”
“I know you are, that’s why I keep visiting. I don’t want her to forget about me or decide she’d rather just stay here with you.”
“Tim’s here,” Shelly told her as she shut the door behind Fenella.
“Oh, goodness, I’m sorry,” Fenella gasped. “I won’t stay.”
“Don’t be silly. We were just talking. He leaves tomorrow for London.”
Feeling as if she’d interrupted something, Fenella followed Shelly into the living room.
“Hello,” Tim said brightly. “Come to visit your little darling?”
Katie was curled up on his lap. When Fenella walked in, she opened one eye and then squeezed it shut again.
Fenella laughed. “Clearly, she’s missing me terribly. I won’t stay, not if that’s the reception I’m going to get.”
“Go and say hello to Fenella,” Tim told the kitten. He picked her up and put her on the floor.
She looked around and then strolled slowly over to let Fenella give her a quick pat. Almost as soon as Fenella had touched her, Katie rushed back over to climb back into Tim’s lap.
“She’s mad at me for leaving,” Fenella said. “Never mind. I shouldn’t have bothered you tonight.”
Smokey had been sleeping near the windows. Now she jumped up and ran over to Fenella, winding her body between Fenella’s legs. “At least you’re happy to see me,” Fenella said. She crouched down and began to pet the older cat, chatting quietly to her as she did so.
“Meeroowww,” Katie said in an injured tone. She jumped back off Tim’s lap and ran to Fenella.
“Are you jealous of Smokey?” Fenella laughed, petting Katie with one hand while still rubbing Smokey’s tummy with the other. Eventually both cats seemed to get bored and they raced off together into Shelly’s second bedroom.
“Thank you,” Fenella told Shelly. “I’ll get out of the way now.”
“You weren’t in the way,” Shelly replied firmly. “You’re welcome to stay for a drink or even come with us to the pub, if you’d like.”
“I wish I could, but I’d better get back to the kittens,” Fenella told her. “I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”
She’d left the kittens outside the playpen when she’d gone out. When she arrived home, three of them were curled up on the rug near the door. The fourth was tucked up inside the playpen with the mother cat.
“How are you doing that?” Fenella demanded as she put the other kittens into the pen. She wasn’t even sure if it was the same kitten getting in and out each time. What she needed was colored collars, a different color for each animal. Then she’d know if she had one escape artist or more.
All four kittens were still where they belonged the next morning. After everyone had had breakfast, Fenella packed up everything she thought they might want or need for the morning and put it all in the car. Then she went back for the kittens and their mother. Everyone seemed happy enough to climb into the carriers for their trip to the nursing home.
“Ah, you must be Fenella,” a pretty blonde woman who looked around twenty-five said as Fenella walked into the nursing home with the two carriers a short while later.
“I am, yes,” she agreed.
“I’m Crystal Hall. Do you need a hand with anything?”
“I have their litter tray, bowls for food and water, and food, of course. If I can leave the cats with you, I think I can manage everything myself.”
“I’m happy to keep the cats,” Crystal told her.
Fenella put the carriers on the counter Crystal was standing behind and went back out for everything else. When she came back inside, Crystal was holding the mother cat.
“She’s going to need some careful handling, isn’t she?” she asked Fenella.
“Yes, she just had surgery over the weekend.”
“I know just the resident to take her to,” Crystal said. “We have a lovely older woman who would love to fuss over her, I’m sure.”
>
“The kittens have a lot more energy,” Fenella said, nodding toward the carrier where what looked like dozens of tiny paws were poking in and out of the mesh door.
Crystal laughed. “We’ll take them to the residents’ lounge. They’ll have room to run around and lots of laps to snuggle on if they want a rest.”
Crystal carried the mother cat while Fenella followed with the carrier full of kittens. Another member of the staff helpfully brought the supplies along for them. After checking that all of the doors and windows were shut, Crystal had Fenella release the kittens. The smiles that crossed the residents’ faces as the tiny balls of fur began dashing around the room made Fenella glad they’d come.
“Now, if you’d like to come with me, we can introduce the mother cat to Marilyn. I’m sure she’ll love her,” Crystal said after a few minutes.
Crystal led Fenella down a short corridor. She stopped and knocked on a closed door.
“I don’t want breakfast,” a voice shouted from inside the room.
“I don’t have breakfast. I have a visitor for you.”
“I don’t want visitors, either,” the voice snapped. “My relationship with God is just fine and I don’t need a doctor today.”
Crystal laughed. “How about cats? Do you need a cat today?”
“A cat? What are you on about?”
Crystal winked at Fenella and then pushed the door open. “I’m sure I told you about the new program we’re starting,” she said to the woman in the wheelchair near the window. “We know you all miss your pets, so we thought we’d try bringing in a few cats or dogs for you all to cuddle.”
“I never had any pets,” the woman replied.
“So I should take this poor dear back to the lounge?” Crystal asked, holding up the mother cat.
“She’s ugly,” the older woman said.
“She’s had a hard life,” Crystal told her. “She was found in a storage shed on the promenade. Mr. Stone had to do emergency surgery to keep her alive. He believes she had to fight off other cats or maybe something else to protect her kittens.”
“She has kittens?”
“Four of them. They’re currently trying to destroy the residents’ lounge, but I thought things were a bit too crazy in there for the mother cat.”
The woman in the chair looked at the cat and then nodded slowly. “She’s still recovering from her surgery.”
“She is indeed. I thought maybe you could cuddle her for a short while. I think she needs some extra love.”
The woman frowned and then nodded slowly. “Maybe. If she behaves.”
“This is Fenella Woods,” Crystal replied. “She’s been looking after the cat and the kittens since they were found. I’ll leave her here with you and the mother cat, if she doesn’t mind. She can take the cat away if necessary. Fenella, this is Marilyn Coleman. Would you mind sitting with her and the cat for a few minutes?”
Fenella shook her head. “Not at all.”
Crystal handed the cat to Marilyn, who took it eagerly. Within seconds, the cat had curled up and was purring softly as Marilyn gently petted her.
“I’ll be back in half an hour,” Crystal told Fenella in a low voice. “I hope you truly don’t mind.”
She was gone before Fenella could reply.
“Sit,” Marilyn told her. “I’d rather stand, but that’s something that’s been denied me for the last ten years or more. You don’t appreciate some things until you lose them.”
There was a single chair opposite Marilyn. Fenella sat down and glanced around the room. It was simply furnished with the single chair, a hospital bed, and a small wheeled table. It looked like a hospital room rather than someone’s home.
“I was in a car accident,” Marilyn told her. “At the time, I was relieved that my miserable life was finally going to be over. That was ten years ago and my doctors keep telling me that I’m strong enough to carry on for another ten years or more.”
Fenella wasn’t sure how to respond. “I can’t imagine how difficult your life must be,” she said finally.
“Difficult? I’m not sure that’s the word I would use.” Marilyn sighed and then looked around the room. “I had dreams once. Things haven’t gone at all the way I’d imagined they would. My mother ruined my life, of course, but I let her do it, so it’s my own fault.”
A single tear slid down Marilyn’s cheek. Fenella held out the box of tissues from the table. The silence that followed seemed to go on for hours before Fenella couldn’t stand it any longer.
“I believe I met someone you know last night,” she said eventually.
“Did you?”
“I’m taking a class in reading old records. Donna Cannon is taking the class as well.”
Marilyn froze for a moment, looking stunned. “Donna?” she repeated in a whisper. “You met Donna last night?”
“Yes. She mentioned your name, you see. That’s why I recognized it when Crystal introduced us.”
“Donna mentioned my name? Why? We haven’t spoken in a great many years.”
“Someone else in the class mentioned seeing Donna’s name in the local paper. It was all to do with the police reopening the investigation into Mabel Gross’s murder.”
Marilyn seemed to lose what little color she had in her cheeks as she stared at Fenella. “The police, they were here yesterday. When Crystal knocked, I was afraid it was them again.”
“Afraid? They’re simply trying to work out what happened to Mabel.”
“Someone killed her,” Marilyn said flatly. “They investigated when it happened and never managed to solve the case. There’s no way they’ll be able to solve it now, not after all these years.”
“Aren’t you happy that they’re trying?”
“All they’re doing is stirring up a lot of bad memories for me and for everyone else involved. I’m sorry that Mabel is dead, but she did manage to escape from the many and varied horrors of adulthood. Perhaps she was lucky for getting away at twenty-five.”
“I’m sorry you’ve had such an unhappy life.”
Marilyn shook her head. “I’m just an old and bitter woman. I married the first man who asked me, mostly to annoy my parents, although my father couldn’t have cared less. My mother simply spent the rest of her life making me pay for my transgression.”
Feeling as if she didn’t want to hear the whole sad story from Marilyn herself, Fenella tried to change the subject. “Who do you think killed Mabel, then?” she asked.
Marilyn looked surprised and then began to chuckle. “It would be very clever of the police to send you here with a cat to try to trick me into a confession,” she said. “If I’d killed Mabel, I might even be willing to confess now, after all these years.”
“I wasn’t trying to get a confession, and I’m not from the police. I was just curious what you thought.”
“I think the police should concentrate their efforts on Clyde.”
“Clyde? Mabel’s brother?”
“Mabel was seeing someone, but she wouldn’t tell anyone about him. Clyde always knew more about her than anyone else did. He’s been keeping Mabel’s secrets for fifty years. If anyone is going to solve this case, they’re going to need to get Clyde to talk.”
“I hope you told the police that when they questioned you yesterday.”
“I may have,” Marilyn shrugged. “You should go and talk to Clyde with your cat. Maybe she’ll convince him to talk.”
Before Fenella could reply, there was a quick tap on the door and then it swung open.
“How are we doing?” Crystal asked brightly.
“I’m feeling much better,” Marilyn told her. “In fact, I think I’d quite like a visit to the lounge to see the kittens, if that’s allowed.”
“Of course it’s allowed,” Crystal told her. “I’ll just get someone to take you down there.”
“I was telling Fenella that she should take the mother cat down to see Clyde,” Marilyn continued. “I thought he might like to meet her.”
/> “That’s an excellent idea,” Crystal exclaimed. “I’m sure Clyde would appreciate a visitor.”
When a woman in uniform walked in a short while later, Crystal asked her to take Marilyn to the lounge.
Marilyn handed the cat back to Fenella before she went. “You might tell Donna that I don’t get many visitors,” she said in a low voice. “After all these years, it might be nice to see her again.”
Fenella nodded. “I’ll tell her,” she promised.
“And now, let’s go and see if Clyde is up to company,” Crystal said brightly as Marilyn was wheeled out of the room.
9
“Clyde is usually in the sunroom,” Crystal told Fenella as they headed back down the corridor. “It’s his favorite place to sit, even on rainy days like today. Most of the other residents only sit in there when it’s sunny, so he’s probably on his own today.”
Fenella nodded. Having seen the noisy and fairly crowded lounge, she didn’t blame Clyde for wanting to be somewhere on his own. She could even understand why Marilyn preferred to stay in her room.
“Clyde, there you are,” Crystal said as she and Fenella walked into the small sunroom at the back of the building. Glass walls all the way around gave everyone an excellent view of the large parking lot behind the building. Beyond the parking lot, Fenella could see a busy road. There were large fields beyond the road, although Fenella was sure she could see a “For Sale” sign in at least one of them.
“Yes, here I am,” the man sitting on the couch replied. “Were you looking for me?”
“We have special visitors today,” Crystal told him. “Ms. Woods has brought her cat and kittens to play.”
Clyde looked over at Fenella and then smiled tentatively at the cat. “I used to have cats,” he said softly.
“Do you want a cuddle?” Crystal asked in a syrupy voice.
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