A Whisker Оf Trouble

Chapter 12

Mac drove in behind me as we pulled in to the parking lot back at the shop. Rose got out of the passenger side of the SUV carrying Elvis.

“That cat is perfectly capable of walking,” I said.

Rose stroked his black fur. “He’s such a good boy. I don’t mind carrying him,” she said. “A couple of squirrels had set up house in the back porch. Elvis convinced them to move elsewhere.”

The cat looked at me and licked his whiskers.

“Tell me he didn’t eat them,” I said.

Mac shook his head. “He didn’t, but he did give them a pretty good aerobic workout.” He reached over and scratched the top of the cat’s head. “I found the hole where I think they got in and I filled it with steel wool.”

“Thanks,” I said.

“That’s not all,” Rose said. She held out a colored brochure. “He found this on one of the shelves of that bookcase in the living room and brought it right to me.”

I took the folded sheet of paper from her. “It’s for Feast in the Field,” I said, turning the paper over in my hand.

Mac frowned. “Do you mean that wine and spirits tasting event last fall?”

“It could be a clue,” Rose said.

I looked at Elvis. If it were possible for a cat to smile smugly, that was what he was doing. “I don’t think so,” I said. “This isn’t from last fall’s Feast in the Field. It’s from the year before.”

“It could still be important,” Rose insisted.

“See what Mr. P. thinks,” I said. I didn’t like to point out that the brochure smelled like fish, which was probably why the cat had been drawn to it. I turned to Mac. “So the kitchen is finished?”

He nodded. “And we can bring the bookcase back on Monday. We came back a bit early today because I heard from Liam.”

“You’re going to finish the drywall?” I said, looking over toward the old garage.

Mac nodded. “That’s the plan. He has some time. I wanted to take advantage of it. He should be here in a couple of hours.”

“If you can get the ceiling done, you and I could finish the rest.”

He pulled a hand over his neck. “Liam offered to help with the crack-filling, too. I told him that’s between the two of you.”

I laughed. “He thinks he’s better at it than I am. He says it’s like frosting a cake, which he also claims he’s better at.”

Mac smiled. “Sarah, no offense but do you know how to make a cake?”

“We’re way off the subject,” I said just a little defensively.

His smile got wider. “Then let’s change it altogether. How was lunch?”

We started across the parking lot toward the back door. “Useful,” I said. “Channing Caulfield definitely didn’t kill Ronan Quinn.”

Rose was in front of us. She looked back over her shoulder at me. “Why do you say that, dear?” she asked.

“Well, first of all because he told us he didn’t when Liz asked him.”

Rose immediately turned to look at Liz. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, what did you do?” she said.

“I didn’t do anything,” Liz retorted. “It was all part of my plan.”

“Your plan to what?” Rose asked. “Let a killer get away?”

Liz rolled her eyes. “You’re overreacting, Rose,” she said. “I was trying to help Sarah make a connection with Channing and I did an excellent job of that if I say so myself.” She turned to look at me. “And it seems like I’m the only one who is saying it.”

“Interesting,” Mac said, almost under his breath. I shot him a warning look and turned my attention to Rose.

“First of all, Liz is right. Like I just said, he didn’t kill Ronan Quinn.”

“Sarah dear, just because he says he didn’t doesn’t mean he didn’t.” There was just a hint of condescension in Rose’s voice, as if she were talking to a five-year-old.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Mac’s lips twitching as he tried not to laugh.

“I know,” I said. I turned my attention to Liz. “Did you notice how he went out of his way to avoid shaking hands with either one of us?”

Liz frowned. “You’re right,” she said slowly.

I held up one hand. “His finger joints were very swollen,” I said, tapping on the second knuckle of my index finger. “I’m pretty sure he has arthritis in his hands. There’s no way Channing Caulfield would be able to grip and lift the heavy wine bottle that was used to kill Quinn, let alone swing it.”

“So we’re back at square one,” Rose said with a sigh. Mac held the door open and I let her go ahead of me.

“Not entirely,” I said.

She set Elvis down on the floor. He shook himself and headed for the store. Rose looked at me, her head cocked to one side.

“Liz was right,” I said.

“Well, of course I was,” Liz said.

I put my arm around her shoulders and gave her a hug. “Don’t push it,” I said. “She did manage to create a bit of a rapport between Channing Caulfield and me. When she was away from the table, he told me that he thought he knew how Edison first got the idea to start collecting rare vintages of wine.” I told her what Caulfield had told me about the money management seminar.

“I remember when they had those seminars at Shady Pines,” Rose said. “I knew they were just a bunch of hooey.”

“You know people at Legacy Place,” I said, stressing the proper name of the seniors’ complex where Rose had lived until she’d been evicted, basically for her attitude. “See what you can find out.”

Rose beamed at me. “That’s an excellent idea,” she said. She reached over and squeezed my cheeks between her two hands. “I’m so glad you went to lunch with Channing.” She headed for the shop.

Liz looked from Mac to me. “I was there, too,” she said.

Rose was already halfway across the room.

I leaned over and kissed Liz’s cheek. “Superheroes are never appreciated by the masses, Xena,” I said.

She laughed. “You’re an irritating child sometimes, but I love you,” she said.

I grinned at her. “Everybody does,” I said.