by Nic Saint
“Yeah, but she’s not completely unhinged. There are signs that something is seriously wrong here. Like that mast dropping on Marge. That was tampered with, right?”
Alec heaved a deep sigh. “I know that’s what I said but now I’m not so sure.”
“What do you mean you’re not so sure?”
“At first glance, I’d say that yes, someone sawed through that thing, but now that I think about it, it could have simply been shoddy construction. An expert will have to determine what caused that mast to collapse when it did.”
“And what about Tex and his flowerpot incident?”
“Coincidence,” said Alec. “We searched that house top to bottom. No indication anyone was even in there when that flowerpot fell down. I’m blaming it on a draft that kicked open a window and knocked down that pot. Like I said, just a coincidence.”
“And the roller skate? Or Odelia’s rug?”
“Accidents. Anyone could trip over a roller skate, or a rug. How would an attacker even know Vesta would be the one to walk by at that exact moment, and step on that exact skate? Unless he was psychic, which I think we can agree is just crazy talk. Nah. That skate was left by some kid, and Vesta just happened to trip over it. Same thing with Odelia’s rug.”
“What about Brutus almost being run over?”
“Same thing. Cats get run over by careless drivers every single day. Why would this be any different? The only thing that makes this a strange case is the fact that all these accidents happened within the space of a day, to members of the same family. That is weird. But not criminal.”
Chase nodded. “I’m glad you say so cause I think you’re absolutely right. Only thing worrying me is Vesta going off like a loose cannon, stirring up trouble all over the place.”
Alec wholeheartedly agreed with his younger colleague. Then again, Vesta would do what Vesta would do. Not a damn thing they could do about it. “All in all I’m pretty satisfied only one crime was committed here. And that’s Dany Cooper’s murder.”
“And we have her killer in custody, so case closed.”
“Case closed,” Alec agreed. The comment about the mole had been the final piece of the puzzle. Now he was fully convinced Wolf Langdon was the man they’d been looking for.
“Then I only have one question for you,” said Chase as he took a sip from his own cup and winced, then dumped it in the trash.
“Yeah?”
“Who is Ringo?”
Uh-oh. “Um... Ringo?”
“The witness you mentioned? You said a new witness came forward and he testified that Dany’s murderer had an owl-shaped mole on the back of his right hand?”
“Yeah, that wasn’t a witness, per se,” he said, backtracking.
“So what is he? And can I talk to this Ringo character?”
“Ringo is, um, not someone who reached out to us,” said Alec carefully. “He actually came to Odelia. He’s one of her sources. And you know how Odelia is about her sources.”
Chase groaned. “Not again. What is it with Odelia and her mysterious sources?”
“Reporters, Chase. That’s how they operate.”
“So when can I have a crack at this Ringo?”
“You’ll have to ask Odelia. But I think you already know the answer.”
“Dammit. I wanted to have a chat with this Ringo. Tie up the case with a neat bow.”
Alec suppressed a smile. Tough to have a chat with a Chihuahua.
Though Ringo would probably love the bow.
Chapter 37
Tex and Marge were the only ones left in the small hospital waiting room. And they weren’t going anywhere. Even though the doctor had said there was nothing they could do there, and Odelia slept peacefully, Marge couldn’t imagine going home, or going to work, while her little girl was laid up in her room. She would have preferred to sit by her side, but after the doctor had left, a nurse had told them it would be a little while before they could go back in there, as they needed to run some tests and take care of some other stuff.
“I don’t get it,” she said, rubbing her arms. “What tests? What stuff? Odelia is sleeping, the doctor told us so himself. What can they possibly be doing to my baby?”
“I’m sure they know what they’re doing,” said Tex, taking her hand and patting it consolingly.
“You’re a doctor, Tex. Can’t you ask them what’s going on?”
“You heard what’s going on. They’re running some tests and they’ll let us know when we can get in there.”
“But what tests?!”
She knew she was acting like a hysteric but frankly she didn’t care. Her only daughter had almost died today and she wasn’t going to be calm and rational for quite some time while she tried to deal with this emergency. She didn’t even care anymore that she’d only escaped death by inches herself, and so had Tex and even Vesta.
“What’s going on, Tex? Do you really think there’s a gang out there trying to kill us?”
“Alec doesn’t seem to think so,” Tex said carefully.
“But my mother does, and look how often she’s been proved right.”
“And how often she’s been proved wrong,” said Tex, still patting her hand.
She jerked it from his grasp. “I don’t understand. Something is happening and it scares me.”
“Everything will be just fine,” said Tex, though he didn’t sound convinced himself. He looked up at the nurse, but she merely passed by, without a message to share this time. “And I’m sure they know perfectly well what they’re doing,” he added.
Marge bit her lower lip. If she kept this up she wouldn’t have a lip left by the time Odelia was allowed to go home. “Remember how beautiful she was?”
Tex immediately knew what she was talking about, for he smiled. “She still is.”
“She is, isn’t she? Our beautiful darling baby girl. Oh, Tex. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to her.”
“Nothing is going to happen to her. She has her guardian angels looking out for her.”
“Do you think that if Max and Dooley hadn’t been there, she would have taken an even nastier fall?”
“I’m sure of it. Somehow—and I don’t know how any of this works—this gift you and Odelia share—and Vesta,” he added grudgingly, “not only gives you the power to communicate with cats, it also seems to have transferred to you certain qualities cats have. Amongst them the whole nine lives thing.”
“You don’t think that’s just a myth?”
“No, actually I don’t. Cats are notoriously hard to kill, and so are you and Odelia.”
“And Mom.”
“And your mom,” he said reluctantly.
Marge smiled. “You don’t really believe we have nine lives, do you?”
“Why not? You can talk to those sweethearts, why not share other traits as well?”
It definitely was a comforting thought.
“Do you think Chase knows?” she asked.
“Knows what? That you can talk to cats? I don’t think so.”
“I forgot he was there for a moment. In Odelia’s room? He was giving me some very strange looks.”
“We can simply ascribe that to your general state of mind. You were very distraught, honey. We all were.”
“True, but maybe it’s time we told him? I told you at a certain point, remember?”
Tex smiled at the memory. “I didn’t believe you at first. I thought you were pulling my leg.”
“Chase will, too. But we still owe it to him to know the truth about this family. Especially if…”
“He and Odelia end up together.”
“Which I’m starting to think they will.”
“I think so, too. He seems really smitten with her.”
“And she with him.”
She was feeling calmer now. Talking things through with her husband always had that effect on her. She looked up into his face. “You know? You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, Tex. And I don’t say this near
ly often enough.”
“You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, too, Marge,” he said.
They kissed, and didn’t even hear it when the nurse walked up to them, on those rubber-soled nurse’s sneakers of hers. But when she cleared her throat, and said, “You can go in now,” Marge’s heart jumped. Maybe Tex was right, and things would be just fine.
After all, weren’t they always?
Chapter 38
There was a knock at the door of Odelia’s room and a man poked his head in. He wasn’t a doctor or a nurse but still seemed vaguely familiar to me. When he saw that the couch was covered in cats, he smiled. Immediately I warmed to him. I can never dislike a cat person, and this man obviously was one.
Odelia opened her eyes and stared at the man for a moment, then also smiled. “Conway. How did you know I was here?”
“A member of the crew heard you had an accident, so I made it my mission to find out which hospital you’d been taken to.”
“That’s very sweet of you.”
He strode further into the room, and spirited a large bouquet of flowers from behind his back and offered it to Odelia. She was almost hidden behind the huge selection of blooms.
“They’re lovely,” she said, taking a sniff. “You shouldn’t have.”
“They’re from the entire crew, wishing you a speedy recovery.”
He took a seat next to the bed, then a tentative peek at the bandages that covered the right part of Odelia’s head. “So how are you feeling?”
“Oh, it looks a lot worse than it is,” she assured him. “Just me being clumsy, I guess. Tripped over a carpet, if you can believe it. Silly me.”
“Could happen to anyone,” he said. “In fact it happened to me once. I broke an arm in the process.”
“In that case I guess I was lucky.” She waved her arms. “No broken bones.”
He laughed and settled back in his chair, which creaked. “I have a proposal for you, Odelia.”
“Oh, not a wedding proposal, I hope. I’m afraid I’m taken already.”
He laughed again, throwing his head back.
He looked like a nice person, I thought. He had one of those rolled-out-of-bed hairdos and a three-day beard that made him look what most women would consider extremely sexy. He was dressed in a black leather jacket, skinny jeans, and cowboy boots. The ultimate bad boy. I wondered if he was an actor, too.
“No, nothing like that, I’m afraid,” he said. “The thing is, we’re going to continue the Hampton Cove Bard in the Park shows. We’re actually going through with it. We had a big meeting this morning at the manor and it was decided we don’t want to give this up. Even Don agreed, if you can believe it. Though he demanded a bigger part for himself, of course.”
“Of course. So you found another director.”
“We have. I don’t think you know her. Vita Bogdanovich. She’s very good. Not like Wolf, of course, but she’s one of the best at what she does. The thing is, Emily and I have been thinking things through. What with Wolf being in jail and all, and in light of the terrible things he’s done, we’re going to rename the company, and do some restructuring. We’re also going to have to reconsider our production slate, and now I’m finally getting to the point,” he said when Odelia yawned.
“Don’t mind me. It’s the stuff they put in my drip. It just makes me woozy.”
What made Odelia woozy was probably the slight concussion she’d suffered, I thought, but my own eyes were also drooping closed. The hospital room was nice and warm, and the couch soft and comfy.
“The thing is, we’re staging a production of Mary Poppins in the spring, and Wolf had been looking for someone to play Mary. He’d mentioned a couple of times how he thought Dany Cooper was perfect for the part. So now with Dany gone—and Wolf…” He looked at Odelia expectantly. “I was hoping that you’d be interested.”
“You want me to help you find your Mary Poppins?”
“As far as I’m concerned, we’ve found her already, and with your permission I’d like to make it official. I talked to Emily, and showed her some of your footage, and she agrees.”
Odelia frowned. “With my permission? Why do you need my permission?”
“Because you’re she. You’re our Mary Poppins. Only if you want, of course.”
Odelia let out a little squeak of delight. “Me? You want me to play Mary?”
He was grinning widely. “Yes, we do. We can’t think of a better person to embody the spirit of Mary, and from what we’ve seen you’re born to play the part. A natural.”
Odelia didn’t know what to say, that much was obvious. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, but her eyes were sparkling, which probably meant she liked the idea.
“Who’s Mary Poppins?” asked Dooley, who’d been listening intently.
“She’s a governess who can fly and do all kinds of magic,” I said. “Don’t you remember? We saw the movie just the other day. The one with Emily Blunt.”
“Fly? A governess who can fly?”
“She’s from England,” I said, and he nodded, as if that explained everything.
Brutus yawned. “So Odelia is going to be an actress. Cool. I just hope she won’t have to travel the world. I hate to travel.”
“And who says she’ll take us along on her travels?” said Harriet. “I know for a fact that actors never take their cats along with them. Shanille’s human has a sister whose second cousin twice removed is an actress and when she flies out for some movie she’s shooting up in Canada or wherever, she always asks Father Reilly’s sister to take care of her cats for her.”
“She’s not going to take us along with her?” asked Dooley. “But that’s just wrong.”
“Cats don’t travel,” said Harriet decidedly. “Everybody knows that. Dogs do, which is why many people who travel a lot prefer to get a dog and dump their cats at the pound.”
“I travel,” I said. “I would love to travel with Odelia.”
Frankly, I wouldn’t. I like my home, I like my couch, I like my backyard, I like my friends and I like my routine. Traveling simply seems like a terrible way to occupy your time, not to mention having to sleep in strange beds, and meet a lot of strange people. If Odelia insisted, I’d do it in a heartbeat, of course. But after Harriet’s words I was starting to think she wouldn’t insist.
“So what do you say?” asked this Conway person. “Say yes,” he added with a twinkle in his eye.
I had to hand it to him. He was very charming, apart from being very handsome.
“I’ll have to think about it,” said Odelia. “And discuss it with my boyfriend, not to mention my boss.”
“Your boss? Oh, right. The reporter thing.” He seemed to figure that wasn’t a big deal. “You can take a leave of absence, though, can’t you?”
“I’m Dan’s only reporter,” Odelia explained. “If I take a leave of absence he’ll have to hire another reporter, and there aren’t that many reporters in Hampton Cove.”
She was the only one, I knew. Reporters don’t grow on trees in small towns like Hampton Cove. It was a miracle Dan had found Odelia. If not for her he’d probably have had to close down the Gazette when he decided to retire. Now she was poised to take over when he did.
Conway seemed displeased for some reason. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Odelia.”
“I know it is. And I’m very excited. But I’ll still need time to think.”
He frowned, clearly not used to being turned down like this.
“Have it your way,” he said a little grumpily. “I thought you’d jump at the chance, but clearly I was mistaken.”
“Oh, but I think it’s a wonderful opportunity. It’s just…”
He silenced her with an imperious gesture. “Don’t think too long. This offer is time-sensitive.”
It sounded a lot like a threat, and suddenly I liked handsome dude a lot less.
Being the diplomat she was, Odelia decided to change the subject. “So have you visited Wolf i
n prison?”
“No, I haven’t,” he said. “I don’t know what I’ll say to him when I do. He’s just…” He raked his fingers through his shaggy mane. “He’s one of my oldest friends. I just can’t believe he’d do a thing like that.”
“I know,” she said. “He never struck me as the murderous type. Then again, you just never know, do you?”
“No, I guess you don’t. Is it true that you’re the one who caught him?”
She nodded. “Me and Chase—that’s my boyfriend. He’s a local detective.”
“Oh, I’ve seen him. Talked to him, even.”
“That’s right. Chase interviewed everyone.”
“He was very thorough.” Conway frowned. “Just tell me one thing. Simply to satisfy my personal curiosity. The papers never mention stuff like that. How did you know it was him?”
“A witness came forward. She said the killer was wearing a yellow jacket—a yellow parka, as a matter of fact. And then we found a yellow parka hanging in Wolf’s closet. It still had Dany’s blood on it.”
“Terrible,” said Conway, shaking his head. “That’s just terrible.”
“Also, another witness said the killer had an owl-shaped mole on the back of his right hand, and Wolf has just such a mole.”
“A witness said that?” Conway seemed surprised by this.
Odelia nodded. “She saw the killer and even though she didn’t get a good look at his face, she did see his hand.”
“So this second witness is a she, huh? And will she testify in court?”
Odelia cast a quick glance in my direction, and I shook my head. No, Rita would definitely not testify in court, that much was obvious, and neither would Ringo.
“You’ll have to ask my uncle,” she said, still the diplomat. “He’s the chief of police.”
“Right.” He flashed her a quick smile. “You’re something of a sleuthhound, aren’t you, Odelia?”
“Reporter, sleuth—this girl wears many hats, Con.”
“She does. And now she’s going to be a star on the stage, too.”