by Laura Scott
“Maybe,” Noah reluctantly agreed.
“I ran after him, but it was pretty hopeless. I mean, I was sliding all over the wet grass with my flip-flops, and then I stepped on a rock that got between my foot and the sole of the sandal. He moved fast, I’ll say that for him.” Thinking back, she remembered Kevin Kuhn had the lean shape of a runner.
“Which way did he go?”
“Through that backyard, between the houses that way.” She retraced her earlier steps, showing Noah the route. “By the time Roxy and I got to the street, there was no sign of him.”
Noah looked both ways, running his gaze up and down the road. For several long moments he didn’t say anything.
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Ally asked exasperated. “I mean, something must have happened for you to come out here like this.”
“After you lost the guy, you headed back to the clinic?” Noah asked, ignoring her question.
“Yes, although I didn’t go back through people’s yards. I stayed on this street, went up to the corner and turned down the side street toward the clinic.”
“And what time did you get back?”
“About six fifty, give or take a minute.” She gestured to the road. “For one thing, my foot hurt. And staying on the street took us a little out of the way.”
Noah nodded, his expression thoughtful. “What was he wearing?”
“Tan polo shirt and blue jeans.” Ally sighed. “I saw his brown hair, but really wish I had gotten a good look at his face.”
“Me too.” Noah offered a crooked smile. “He never said anything either, right? You have no way to recognize his voice?”
“Not a word.” Ally knew something must have happened at Anita’s place for Noah to be this specific in his questioning. She turned and went back between the houses, to the spot where she could glimpse Anita’s home.
“That’s all I need from you, Ally.” Noah tucked a hand beneath her elbow and urging her forward. “Let’s get back to the clinic.”
“Why the rush, Noah? Afraid I’ll find out what happened over there?” Ally asked irritably. “I think I have a right to know if I caught a glimpse of a burglar.”
Noah still didn’t respond but dropped his hand from her arm when they reached Appletree Lane.
“Gramps will find out what happened sooner or later,” Ally said persistently. “You know he and the widows have connections all through Willow Bluff.”
“I’m well aware of their impressive communication network,” Noah said dryly. “But I can’t say anything yet.”
Ally glanced back toward Anita’s house. It wasn’t as visible from this angle, but she did see a squad sitting on the road directly in front of the place.
Okay, so for sure some sort of crime had been committed by the brown-haired guy. But what? Robbery?
Or something worse?
Her cell phone rang, and she quickly answered when she recognized Gramps’ number. “Gramps? Are you okay?”
“HAVE YOU HEARD THE NEWS?” Gramps’ voice boomed so loudly, she knew Noah, and maybe the entire town of Willow Bluff, could hear every word.
“No, what news?” Ally kept her gaze locked on Noah’s. The eye twitch was back, and in that second she knew it was bad.
Very bad.
“THERE’S BEEN ANOTHER MURDER!”
Ally sucked in a quick breath. “Who, Gramps? Who was murdered?”
“ANITA JONES. I WANTED TO WARN YOU SINCE YOU SAW THE GUY SNEAKING OUT HER BACK DOOR EARLY THIS MORNING. THE POLICE WILL WANT TO TALK TO YOU!”
“You think?” She drilled Noah with a narrow glare. “I’m here with Noah right now, Gramps. I just walked him through my route this morning.”
“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU SAW THE MURDERER!” Gramps voice rose even higher. “YOU BETTER BE CAREFUL.”
“I will, Gramps. Talk to you later, okay?”
“OKAY! LOVE YOU.”
Ally lowered her phone, never taking her gaze from Noah. “Anita was murdered and now I’m the only witness, along with Roxy?”
Noah blew out a breath. “Yes, I’m afraid so.”
Great. Wasn’t that just peachy? Ally shifted her gaze from Noah to Roxy and back to Noah. “You better find him, and soon.”
He surprised her by taking her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. “I will, but you need to be careful, too. No more walks alone.”
“I’m not alone, I have Roxy.” Ally tried not to give in to the wave of fear. Should she ask Noah to have an officer stationed outside her clinic? “And from the way Roxy growled at the guy, I’m pretty sure she’ll protect me.” She swallowed hard. While she knew Roxy would protect her, it was difficult to comprehend that she’d caught a glimpse of a murderer.
Noah needed to find this guy before he decided to do something more drastic than throwing a rock at her clinic or running her off the road.
Like trying to kill her and Roxy.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Ally’s intent had been to cook her own meals, making healthy choices like grilled chicken breasts and steamed broccoli, so that her jeans wouldn’t be so snug around the waist. But after hearing about Anita’s murder, she packed Roxy in the back of her car and headed over to the Legacy House.
Comfort food and being with other people was important in times of crisis.
And she desperately wanted to talk to Gramps about this latest news.
“Ally, it’s great to see you.” Harriet’s greeting was a little less enthusiastic when she saw Roxy. “Come in, dear. You’re just in time for dinner.”
“Thanks, Harriet.” Ally went inside, the coolness a welcome relief from the summer heat. She was glad Gramps had central air. What would the widows think if she asked to sleep on the sofa?
“What’s for dinner?” Ally asked. The mouth-watering scent was a new one.
“Another of my mother’s famous recipes,” Harriet said with a broad smile. “Jägerschnitzel with mushroom sauce.”
“Smells great.” Ally had no clue was jägerschnitzel was, but anything that smelled that enticing had to taste good.
“It’s just a fancy way of saying breaded pork chops,” Tillie said in a sarcastic tone. “Harriet likes to make herself sound like a famous chef.”
“It’s not my fault that our mother taught me to cook better than you, Tillie,” Harriet shot back. She lifted her voice. “Oscar? Ally’s come for dinner.”
Ally heard the thump of Gramps’ cane as he made his way in from the living room. He surprised her by coming over to give her a hug.
“Good to see you, Ally.”
Ridiculous tears pricked her eyes. “Back at you, Gramps.”
“Such terrible news about Anita,” Lydia said after they’d all taken their seats. “I couldn’t believe it when Rosie Malone called to tell me.”
Ally choked on a mushroom. “How did Rosie Malone hear about it?”
Lydia frowned. “Let me think. I believe Rosie heard it from one of Anita’s neighbors, Evelyn.”
“Who is Evelyn?” Ally asked. There were so many people in town she didn’t know on a first-name basis.
“Evelyn Rawson lives next door to Anita,” Gramps said.
“Yes, and apparently she grew concerned when she hadn’t seen Anita come out to tend to her garden. Anita is crazy about flowers and normally comes out first thing each morning before the temperature gets too hot.”
The jägerschnitzel congealed in Ally’s stomach at the thought of the brown-haired guy running away from her and Roxy after murdering Anita. “She called the police because Anita didn’t water her flowers?”
“She waited until later in the day, but when Anita still didn’t show up and the flowers were wilting badly in the heat, Evelyn tried calling her. When Anita didn’t answer the phone, she called the police.”
“They can do what’s called a wellness check,” Gramps offered. “Make sure Anita wasn’t lying on the kitchen floor with a broken hip or something.”
Ally stared at her pork chop
for a moment. “Did Rosie know how Anita was killed?”
“No, just that the police came, broke into the house, and then began stringing up crime scene tape.” Lydia leaned forward. “Imagine two murders two houses apart on the same street!”
“Yeah,” Gramps echoed. “What are the chances of that?”
Ally didn’t want to know.
As the conversation turned away from murder, Ally managed to finish eating.
“Who wants dessert?” Harriet asked with a beaming smile. “I made strawberry cheesecake.”
No dessert, no dessert, Ally told herself. But when Harriet brought out the beautiful cheesecake topped with fresh strawberries, she caved.
“I’d love some, thanks.” Ally ignored the pinch at her waist as she took a bite.
It was the most incredible cheesecake she’d ever tasted.
After dinner, Ally insisted on helping clear the table, then took Roxy outside to sit with Gramps on the patio.
“You’re right, Gramps. I should have called the police earlier today.”
Gramps waved her remorse away. “Keep in mind, we both thought she was having an affair, not that she’d been murdered.”
“But they would have found her much sooner if I’d reported it.” It bothered Ally to know that Anita had been dead all day with no one knowing because of her.
“I wonder if Noah ever headed over to talk to her the way I suggested?” Gramps asked. “He should feel guilty, not you.”
“Maybe he did head over. And maybe that was about the same time they heard from the neighbor about Anita not watering her flowers.” Ally stroked Roxy’s fur. “I can’t believe we chased a murderer.”
“One good thing about that is the guy ran away because he was afraid of Roxy.” Gramps smiled at the boxer. “Probably knows Roxy would take a piece of his hide if she could.”
“That’s a good point.” Hadn’t she basically told Noah the same thing? Still, being a witness made her very uneasy. “I want you to be careful too, Gramps. We don’t know anything about why Anita was murdered—it could be this guy has more than a couple of screws loose.”
“I was wondering about the motive myself.” Gramps gazed off in the distance. “I go back to the way Anita gave Marty a list of people to talk to about his will/trust services. If the motive for killing Marty was about the scheme, then maybe the motive for killing Anita runs along the same lines.”
Ally tried to follow Gramps’ twisted logic. “You mean someone, either Kevin Kuhn or Eli White, found out after the fact that Anita was the one who sent Marty to talk to them? That would make the motive to kill her nothing more than simple revenge.”
Gramps nodded. “Which takes me back to the anger expressed by Kevin Kuhn that day in the clinic.”
Ally was having trouble seeing it. “Revenge alone doesn’t seem enough to kill over.”
Gramps reached over to pat her knee. “You should watch an episode of Dateline some time. People have killed for far less.”
“When I relocated to Willow Bluff, I’d assumed I’d left the big-city crime in Madison behind.” Ally shook her head sadly. “Now we’ve had two murders in two weeks? In a town of about four thousand people? It’s crazy.”
“Crazy kills,” Gramps pointed out.
“Hardly the motto we want for Willow Bluff.”
“True.”
“I guess this means Nick Calderone isn’t our murderer,” Ally mused. “It isn’t likely he’d come all the way up here from Chicago to kill Marty anyway, but if this is really about Marty’s client list, then Nick and Sheila probably had nothing to do with it. And Nick would really have no reason to kill Anita.”
“I wouldn’t take Calderone off the list yet,” Gramps protested. “Unless your detective has already cleared him.”
“You can ask Noah yourself, the next time we see him.” She forced a smile. “I need to get going. I appreciate you having me over this evening, Gramps.”
“Anytime, Ally. You’re always more than welcome.”
She leaned over to give him a hug and a kiss. Then she took Roxy’s leash and stood. “If Lydia or anyone else hears more about Anita’s murder, will you let me know?”
“Of course.” Gramps eyed her thoughtfully. “But being a witness and all, you’ll likely hear more from that detective of yours before we do.”
She wasn’t sure she agreed with his logic. “Later, Gramps.”
Ally walked Roxy to the car and drove back to the clinic, where she parked and took Roxy upstairs. The apartment was warm; the only window air conditioner she had was in the master bedroom to help her sleep. She crossed over to open the living room windows, to encourage the lake breeze.
It wasn’t that late, barely eight o’clock in the evening, but she was exhausted from being up early. Still, she thought she might watch some television before heading to bed.
Not Dateline. Something light, funny.
Nothing that would give her nightmares.
Roxy stretched out at her feet, seemingly content.
At the end of the comedy she’d picked at random, she clicked the television off. “Okay, Roxy, we should head out one last time before going to bed.”
Roxy lifted her head, looking around with interest.
It occurred to Ally that she should take up jogging if she was going to keep eating meals and desserts at the Legacy House.
Either that or find the willpower to resist going there in the first place.
Before she took two steps toward the kitchen where she kept Roxy’s leash, her phone rang. She glanced at the screen with a frown. A transferred call from the veterinary clinic? She quickly answered. “This is Dr. Winter, can I help you?”
“Ally? It’s Erica.” Her former high school friend sounded tearful. “Tink was attacked by a coyote. It was awful, and she has several bite marks. She’s shaking and scared, and so am I. Can you please see her?”
“Of course, bring her in right away.”
“Thanks, Ally.” Erica didn’t waste a second disconnecting from the call.
Ally realized she should have taken Roxy out earlier, but it was too late now. “Sorry, Roxy, I have to take care of Tink. Behave yourself up here, okay?”
Roxy wagged her stumpy tail as if understanding there was a four-legged emergency.
Ally left the boxer upstairs and hurried down to unlock the clinic door and to wipe down the exam room. How awful that her friend Erica had to go through something like this. Coyotes have been known to kill small dogs like Tink the schnauzer, but at least Tink was still alive.
When Erica arrived, her face was red and splotchy, her eyes puffy from crying. She carried Tink close to her chest as if she couldn’t bear to let the dog go.
“Are you okay?” Ally asked.
“Not really. It happened so fast! I mean, I had her on a leash and we were walking along the lakefront, which has always been safe enough. But tonight the coyote came out from beneath a willow tree and attacked her!”
“I’m so sorry. Bring her into the exam room so I can check her out.” Because of the late hour, Ally locked the clinic door before following Erica inside.
“It’s okay, Tinker Bell. You’re going to be okay,” Erica whispered.
The poor dog was trembling with fear, clearly traumatized by the attack. Ally felt bad for both Tink and Erica. She donned gloves and filled a stainless steel basin with water to clean the cuts.
There were several lacerations made by the coyote’s teeth, mostly smaller in nature, but one was long enough to require closure, either with sutures or maybe glue. Thankfully, the laceration was long, but not very deep.
“What do you think?” Erica asked. “Will she be okay?”
“Yes, Tink will be fine,” Ally assured her. “None of these cuts are too deep. After I clean them all, I’ll glue this one here.” She pointed to the open gash on Tink’s flank.
“Glue?” Erica looked surprised.
“Wounds actually heal better with glue than sutures,” Ally said with a sm
ile. “And Tink will need to take a ten-day course of antibiotics to ward off infection.”
“Poor Tink,” Erica murmured, stroking the schnauzer’s fur.
“Antibiotics aren’t that big a deal. I’ll inject her first dose here, the rest can be given via pill.” Ally heisted, then added, “Oh, and she’ll need to wear a cone for a few days, but after all of this, she should recover without any long-term problems.”
“Thank you,” Erica closed her eyes for a moment. “I wasn’t sure who was more upset by all this, me or the dog. I have to tell you, Tink fought back, probably in an attempt to protect me, which scared the coyote off.” Erica shivered. “I’m not sure what would have happened if the coyote had stayed to fight.”
“Try not to think about it,” Ally suggested. The way Erica was talking, she was bound to suffer nightmares after this.
“I’ll try, but it was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me.”
Ally could understand, although seeing what turned out to be a murderer escape through the back door of a house was a close second.
“I wonder if it was a young coyote.” Ally frowned as she continued cleaning Tink’s cuts. “They normally travel in packs, so having just one is unusual. Unless it’s infected with rabies.” She met Erica’s gaze. “Good thing you brought her in for her shots when you did, or I’d have to treat her for a possible exposure.”
“I know. Imagine if her rabies vaccine wasn’t up to date?” Erica shuddered. “I need to do a better job of staying on top of things.”
“Cut yourself some slack, Erica. You’re juggling kids, a dog, and a job. You’re doing fine.”
Erica’s eyes teared up. “That’s the nicest thing anyone has said to me in weeks.”
Really? That about broke Ally’s heart. “What about Jim? I’m sure he understands.” When the cleaning was finished, Ally took a device not unlike a hot glue gun, but one that was for medical use rather than art projects, to close the laceration on Tink’s flank.
“He does, but he’s too busy with his construction business to worry about how I’m managing at home.” Erica grimaced. “And since I only work part time, he thinks I should have everything under control.”