A Purrfect Alibi

Twenty-One

Nero eyed Jed. “Really, don’t you think the ghostly moans are a bit much?”

“I beg your pardon.” Jed swirled indignantly. “That wasn’t me. You think I’d stoop to those sorts of theatrics, do you? No self-respecting ghost would make noises like that.”

“You did push the figurine off. I saw you,” Marlowe said.

Jed crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s because that pompous bore Victor was arguing with my Esther.”

“Your Esther?” Maybe Jed was getting a little too attached to Esther. “Well, I don’t want to presume, but we have had some lovely conversations through her crystal ball. I think she really cares for me.” Jed got all moony-eyed and Nero tried to steer the conversation in a more productive direction.

“If it wasn’t you, then who was it?”

“Probably that fraud Victor trying to sensationalize things for that producer. He was out by the gazebo earlier.” Jed’s expression turned pensive. “Is that where the sound came from? Maybe he was hiding something out there that could produce sound? I know you have all sorts of devices in this day and age and I’ve heard sound come out of that small box Josie always seems to have in her hand.”

“Her phone?” Nero asked.

“If that’s what you call it,” Jed said. “Anyway, wouldn’t be hard to have something make those sounds. Someone should tell the person that ghosts don’t actually sound like that, though.”

“So it’s not another ghost?” Marlowe sounded relieved.

“Of course not. If another ghost were here, I’d know,” Jed said.

“What about your wife?” Nero asked. He hadn’t fully dismissed the idea that she might have come here for some sort of revenge on Jed, but it didn’t really add up. Why would she wait all this time and why try to frame him for killing Madame Zenda? He was already dead so nothing would happen to him. No, it was more likely the culprit was of the human form.

“My wife?” Jed ducked behind a chair. “You haven’t seen her here, have you? I don’t want to run into her.”

“Haven’t seen her,” Nero said. “Thought maybe you could sense her.”

“Thankfully not. That woman might have done me in. Though I think we’ll find out about that soon.”

“We will?” Marlowe asked.

Jed looked uncertain. “Maybe. Then again, maybe I don’t want to know who killed me. I might just want to stick around on this plane.” Jed sent a lovesick glance at Esther who was walking back to the table with her crystal ball. The group of humans were splitting up. Victor was heading upstairs to his room and Rose, Millie, Josie and Mike looked to be heading to the kitchen. It appeared as if everyone in the house was going about their business, despite the ghostly sounds. Wait… not everyone. Someone was missing.

“Where is Gail Weathers?” Nero asked.

“The tea-leaf lady?” Marlowe glanced around. “Don’t know. She wasn’t here when we heard the sounds.”

Nero looked at Jed. “You haven’t seen her around the place in your ghostly travels, have you?”

Jed shook his head. “Nope. Been busy watching over Esther. She’s getting my communication nicely now and let’s just say she might scratch my back if I’ll scratch hers.”

“Ohh, that sounds lovely.” Marlowe scratched at her ear. “Summertime can be very itchy, what with the pesky gnats and all.”

Nero didn’t take Jed’s words so literally. It sounded like Jed was up to something and Nero wasn’t sure he would like it. “What do you mean by that?”

“Don’t you go getting your whiskers in a bunch. Josie will benefit from it too,” Jed said. “Now, about that Gail Weathers. Isn’t she the one who always has a cup in her hand? I did see her out at the gazebo earlier today, shortly after Victor made that ridiculous announcement.”

Nero and Marlowe exchanged a glance.

“Do you think the noises could have come from the gazebo?” Marlowe asked.

Nero bestowed a fond look on the young cat. She might be prone to jumping to conclusions, like thinking there was a second ghost, but she was picking up the clues nicely. “I do think it could have. Looks like we better get out there and investigate.”

Millie’s ample back end stuck out of the fridge as she rummaged for food. “If I was going to fake a ghost, I’d do a much better job than that clichéd moaning.”

“Well, it scared Myron. He ran out of here like his pants were on fire.” Mom pulled a box of crackers out of the cabinet. “Come to think of it, that might not have been such a bad thing if his pants did burn. Did you see all the cat hair on his cuffs?”

The fact that Myron had run out like that made me nervous. Apparently he was terrified of ghosts. Now it made sense that he’d been making a big deal about the ghost affecting the financial future of the guesthouse. “I just hope he didn’t run straight to the bank to rip up my loan papers.”

Millie backed out of the fridge with a handful of various cheeses. “Now, don’t you worry about him. I know his grandmother and if he does anything to hurt the guesthouse I’ll have her give him a talking to.”

I doubted Myron would keep the loan on his grandmother’s say-so, but at least that was something.

“He wouldn’t take the loan away, would he?” Mike’s velvety eyes were oozing with sympathy, which made me feel all funny inside.

I looked away. “I don’t know, but if he does I’m in a bit of trouble.”

“Not to worry.” Millie pulled a cheese knife out of the drawer and started cutting. “Once we find the killer and prove this ghost business is a hoax, Myron will forget all about this.”

“Don’t be too sure about that, he’s stubborn and he’s been threatening Josie.” Mom brought the cheese tray to the table and we all sat down.

“Speaking of which.” I turned to Mike who had sat beside me. “What exactly did you tell him about the gazebo? He mentioned something about it when I saw him at the bank earlier and he did not seem happy.”

Mike blushed. “Yeah, sorry about that. Anita Pendragon was nosing into the building permits and she saw my notes about the gazebo not being safe and making sure guests knew it was off limits. I guess he overheard us talking. I didn’t realize he’d think it was a big deal, because it’s not.”

Millie waved her hand dismissively, the chunk of cheese atop her cracker wobbling precariously as she did so. “Of course it’s not a big deal. Anyone can see the place is falling down so anyone with half a brain would steer clear.”

“Yeah, except I saw footprints near there. The ground is a little muddy and the mud was tracked onto the boards. So, it appears someone was there recently,” Mike said.

“Victor mentioned something about talking to Jed at the gazebo. Maybe he was scoping the place out,” I said.

“Probably trying to make sure the setting was dramatic enough. Wouldn’t put it past him to be the one that made the fake ghost noises. You know, to set the stage, so to speak,” Millie said.

As if on cue, Nero and Marlowe appeared, circling us like vultures waiting for a morsel of cheese to drop. Mom snuck a pinch of Gouda to them.

Mike shoved a cracker in his mouth. “So that’s why Anita was so interested in the gazebo. I’m sure she’s planning on trying to get a scoop.”

“She mentioned that she was in cahoots with Victor,” I said.

Millie’s left brow quirked up. “They’re working together?”

I nodded. “To get in on this movie deal apparently.”

“Ha!” Mom said. “I don’t trust either one of them. I once heard Anita say she’d kill for a big scoop and I wouldn’t put anything past Victor.”

“I don’t think Anita killed Madame Zenda though, because they were working together in the beginning. She was Anita’s ticket to the big scoop.” I reached down to pet Nero, who was tapping at my ankle. He dodged my hand and trotted toward the back door. Just like him to pretend like he wanted something, then walk away when you gave it to him.

Millie snorted. “So Anita says…”

“Let’s consider this logically,” Mike said. Mom and Millie looked surprised at his words. It almost sounded like he wanted to help us investigate. Odd, because the last two times there was a murder he seemed against our involvement. Maybe he was mellowing. “Who are your suspects and what are their motives?”

“Well, there’s Anita because she wants a big story,” Mom said.

Meow.

Meroo.

The cats were meowing at the door so Millie got up to let them out. “And Victor, of course. He wants a movie deal or something.”

“And let’s not forget Esther,” I said, glancing out the window to see the cats sitting in the yard staring at me. “She seems nice, but she also seems very competitive with Victor about talking to Jed’s ghost.”

“So you think the motive is this movie?” Mike pressed his lips together. “Seems kind of far-fetched, doesn’t it? I mean, it’s not even a done deal. Murder is pretty extreme.”

“You might be right,” Mom said. “Didn’t all these people know each other before? Esther knew Madame Zenda’s name was really Betty Sue Lipowitz.”

Mike nodded. “Ahhh so a previous connection. Maybe the death had more to do with that. Some kind of revenge?”

Meroooolow…

The cats muted meows filtered through the window and I saw them pacing back and forth near the overgrown grass at the edge of the lawn. “But she’s not the only one who knew her. Look.” I got my laptop from where I’d stashed it on the counter in the butler’s pantry. The picture of the cruise was still up on the screen. “This cruise was a few years ago. You can see in the picture right up front, the featured psychics are Madame Zenda, Esther Hill and Victor Merino.”

“Huh, how about that.”

“Yeah, and Esther was at the bank. Did you know they have a display of older items there? It’s bank history and such.”

“You mean like buckles?” Millie asked.

“No buckles, but Belinda May gave me an envelope for Esther.” My attention was drawn to the window again. Now the cats were twitching their tails and looking over their shoulders at me. I had the feeling I should go out there but not until we were done going over the clues.

Millie’s brows shot up. “What was in it? Buckles?”

“No, just paper. I’m not sure exactly what was on it though because I was trying to get that out of Esther when the ghostly moans happened.”

“Speaking of which.” Mom stuck a slice of Swiss on a round cracker and then topped it off with another cracker. “Where did the ghostly noise come from?”

“Sounded like it was from outside. In the back,” Mike said.

“How would someone do that? We were all in the foyer.” Mom bit into the cracker sandwich.

“Remote control?” Millie turned to Mike. “Is that possible?”

“Yeah, sure. Lots of things are possible these days. There’d have to be a speaker of some sort though, to allow the noise to carry.”

“That sounds like a lot of trouble to go to, and how would they work the remote without us seeing them?” Millie asked.

“Maybe they put it on a timer?” Mom suggested.

Millie squinted at the picture on my laptop. “So Esther and Victor knew Zenda…”

“And that tea-leaf lady, Gail.” Mom pointed to a face in the back row of the picture and Millie squinted even harder. It was Gail.

“I didn’t even notice her!” I said. “I was so focused on the names of the other psychics listed on the bill and she isn’t one of them.”

“Yeah, what is she doing lurking in the back there?” Mom asked.

Speaking of lurking, she’d been doing that in the butler’s pantry too. She’d said she was looking for tea, but now I wondered. “She seems to lurk a lot. And Anita thought it was suspicious that she didn’t have much of a history as a psychic.”

“That is a bit odd. Maybe she’s new? I mean, people have to start out somewhere. Look at Millie and me. We weren’t ace detectives last year. We had to learn the ropes.” Mom chewed a piece of cheese thoughtfully. “Then again, Gail was the only one who wasn’t in the foyer when the ghostly noises happened.”

Millie, Mike and I stared at her. She was right. I glanced out the window to see the cats trotting down the path that led to the gazebo.

“Maybe she wasn’t there because she was at the gazebo orchestrating the noises.” I pushed up from the table and headed toward the door. “And if she was, she might have left some evidence!”