A Twist In The Tail

Twenty-Two

I’d been so focused on getting Stella to confess that I never heard Barbara coming in.

Meow!

Nero and Marlowe appeared behind her, blinking at me as if I was the dumbest human on earth. I guess that’s what they’d been meowing about. They’d been trying to warn me.

‘Aren’t you the building inspector?’ Ron asked.

‘Yeah, what of it?’ Barbara glared at him.

‘What do you have to do with all this?’ Ron looked genuinely perplexed and for good reason. Why would Barbara kill Charles? Was she the one poisoning the gulls? Even Stella seemed confused as she glanced from the small silver gun Barbara was waving around to Ron to me.

‘Did you know Charles from before?’ I asked. Maybe she had a grudge? Maybe she’d been one of the many he’d had an affair with and was out for revenge.

‘No. That dimwit thought he could outsmart me though. Ha!’ Barbara jerked the gun toward the door to the basement. ‘Now all three of you shuffle over toward the cellar nice and slow.’

I glanced at the door and shivered. I’d only been down in the basement once and that was plenty for me. It was an old house and the basement was dark, dank and full of spiders the size of kittens.

Meow.

Nero rubbed up against Barbara’s ankle.

She shook her foot to push him away.

‘Get lost, Kitty.’ Her face twisted even more. ‘I thought I told you not to have cats in the kitchen. It’s a code violation. I’d write you up, but after I burn the place you won’t even have a kitchen.’

‘But why would Charles blackmail you?’ Ron asked.

Barbara gestured with the gun again and we all shuffled a bit closer to the door. ‘He shouldn’t have been up on the cliff. I mean what kind of a stupid cookbook uses flockenberries? They don’t taste that good, you know.’

‘The gulls seem to like them,’ Stella said.

‘Yeah. Unfortunately. That’s how he found out.’ Barbara gestured with the gun again and we moved another half inch.

Meow!

Marlowe scratched Barbara’s ankle.

Barbara lashed out with her foot. Luckily, she missed the cat. Unluckily she kept her grip on the gun and her eyes on us. I had to wonder if the cats were trying to distract her.

‘Found out about what?’ I prompted. Maybe if she got talkative one of the others would come back and save us.

A sly look came over Barbara’s face. ‘About what I was doing to the flockenberries. Someone had to get rid of those nuisance berry plants. Still hadn’t perfected the poison though, I had a few experiments going on.’

I remembered the dead plants in her office. Had she been experimenting on those?

‘So you poisoned the berries to get rid of the gulls?’ Ron asked.

‘No. Not the gulls, but hey, they are a nuisance. Town should thank me. I was trying to save the lousewort from getting choked out. If the lousewort dies the cliff will no longer be protected and next thing you know a big giant hotel will be looming over us ruining the quaint ambiance of the town.’

‘That’s preposterous,’ Ron said. ‘Those lousewort plants must have been there for generations.’

Merooo!

Marlowe wound around Barbara’s feet and she glanced down annoyed but then looked right back up at us. Guess she didn’t want to be distracted too long for fear one of us would lunge for the gun which, of course, had been exactly my plan.

‘That’s where you’re wrong. That lousewort was never here. I imported it and planted it to stop the hotel from being built. Cost me a pretty penny and was a lot of work keeping it thriving. And you people,’ Barbara waved the gun at me and Stella as we jumped back. ‘Don’t even appreciate my efforts! Now where would the town be if I hadn’t done that!’

I remembered Jen had mentioned that Barbara got dirty packages. Had it been the lousewort? Where had she imported it from? I knew it was protected here in New England, but thought I’d heard my mother mention something about it growing like a weed in some other country. Maybe she’d sent away for it and no wonder she’d had to spend so much time ‘mothering’ it, the cliff wasn’t its natural habitat and it needed extra care.

But none of that mattered now. The only thing that did was making sure we did not get forced down into that basement.

Barbara smiled, but it wasn’t a warm and fuzzy smile, it was cold and calculating mixed with a bit of pride. She shoved the gun forward. ‘To the basement door!’

We shuffled over more. Now we were right next to the door. Time was running out. I glanced at my watch.

Barbara laughed. ‘Hoping someone will come back early from dinner? Hardly. It’s only eight o’clock and your guests will be at the Marinara Mariner for another hour at least. Guess your little plan to lure the killer here didn’t work out so well after all.’

‘Well, it did lure the killer here...’ Even facing death, I felt defensive of my plan.

‘Yeah, but it gave me an even better idea. Now that I have to get rid of you and the evidence, a nice fire will do the trick!’

My gut clenched. She was planning to shove us in the basement and set the place on fire. My mind raced. I had to do something to stop her. I glanced around for a weapon, but only saw bowls, dish towels and canisters.

Barbara moved forward, stepping on Nero’s tail and earning a screech and hiss from him. ‘Open the basement door and shove those cats down there first.’

Nero looked up at Barbara and wrinkled his nose, then glanced at me.

My heart clenched at the thought of the cats burning in a fire. At least maybe I could save them. ‘Not the cats. Let them go, they’re innocent.’

‘Yeah,’ Stella agree. ‘Killing us is one thing but not innocent kitties.’

I glanced at Stella. She actually had a heart?

If the cats could understand Barbara, they were being awfully calm about their fate. Marlowe stretched and Nero trotted over to the cellar door. He glanced up at me and then at the doorknob. Suddenly I got an idea.

‘Ok. I see we have no choice but to go down there. Stand back though. The door sticks and I need some room.’ Stella and Ron stood back and I grabbed the knob.

The cats sat to attention, eyes on Barbara, tails swishing on the floor.

I planted my feet and tugged. I twisted the knob. I made a show of trying to open the door holding my breath and letting my face turn red. I glanced at Barbara. ‘It won’t open.’

Barbara rolled her eyes. ‘Figures. This old place isn’t even worth fixing up. Good thing I wrote all those violations. I’m doing the town a favor by burning it down.’ She stomped over to the door. ‘Let me try. You’re wimpy.’

But just as she reached me, I whipped the door open. The movement surprised her and she teetered at the opening. Marlowe and Nero sprang into action. Weaving around her feet. I gave her one hard shove.

She stumbled forward, tripping over the cats and losing her grip on the gun.

The gun clattered to the floor.

And then, as she was teetering at the top of the stairs, Stella gave her one last push and she fell down into the dark hole of the basement.

‘I’ll get you for this!’ Her words were punctuated by Ouch! And Dang! As she hit each stair going down.

Ron dove for the gun and I slammed the door shut just as the kitchen door burst open and Mike and Sheriff Chamberlain ran in.

They skidded to a stop, taking in the three of us standing there and the two cats planted firmly in front of the door, calmly licking their paws and washing behind their ears as a fresh string of curses drifted up from the basement.

Sherrif Chamberlain’s eyes were wide, his gun held straight out in front of him. He glanced at Mike. ‘Well? Which one of them is the killer?’

Seth Chamberlain hauled Barbara out of the cellar, slapped the cuffs on her and shoved her in the squad car with the energy of an eager rookie. We were standing in the driveway, the cats preening around us as if they’d been the ones to capture the killer. Inside the car, Barbara pounded on the window.

‘You let me out of here Seth Chamberlain. I’ve done a lot for this town and don’t you forget it!’

We moved away from the car so we couldn’t hear her.

‘Sorry for acting like I suspected you, Josie,’ Seth said as he fished some cat treats out of his pocket and flipped them to Nero and Marlowe.

‘What do you mean acting?’ I asked.

Seth smiled and for a second I could see what Millie saw in him. Even though he had to be in his late seventies, the dimpled smile and intelligent twinkle in his eye gave him a boyish charm. ‘Heck, I knew it wasn’t you all along. That was just an act. I would have arrested you if I had really thought it was you seeing as there was evidence pointing in your direction. I didn’t want the real killer to know I was on to them until I got solid evidence.’ He glanced uneasily at Ron and Stella.

I sensed that Seth was telling the truth about not suspecting me, but I doubted he’d known who the real killer was. More likely he’d suspected Ron or Stella just as I had. After all, he had asked Mike which one the killer was when they came bursting in. At least he’d ruled me out early on.

Speaking of Mike, he’d been fussing around me ever since they’d arrived and I wished he’d stop.

‘I knew you were up to something when I ran into you in the post office,’ he said. ‘I figured you were luring the killer in with that trumped-up story and it was a good ploy. I just wish I’d gotten here sooner. It took me a while to explain it to Seth and get him moving.’

‘My gut instincts were spot on, but I didn’t think anyone would believe me so I had to do something to flush the killer out.’ I didn’t mention I had actually thought it was Stella.

He stepped closer and tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear. Stella scowled at us.

‘You could have been hurt. I wouldn’t have liked that very much,’ he said softly.

Yeah, me either. ‘Why not?’

‘Well, for one your brother would kill me and for two...’ He hesitated then shoved his hands in his pockets and stepped back. ‘I’m kind of getting used to you being back in town.’

‘Thanks.’ For once I was at a loss for words. I felt like something had happened between us. Not sure what, but it wasn’t entirely unwelcome. It was just too soon. For a second I regretted hiring Ed O’Hara to do the rest of the renovations so I wouldn’t have to keep Mike on. I was going to miss having Mike at the guesthouse. It was probably for the best though, I still needed to prove that I could be good on my own before I was ready to add another person to the mix. Plus, Ed charged a lot less.

Millie’s 1970s Dodge Dart careened into the driveway and Mom and Millie spilled out, cell phones in hand.

‘Did we miss it?’ Millie asked.

‘The police scanner app never went off!’ Mom scowled at her phone.

Seth walked over and gave them a stern look. ‘We didn’t put in a call this time. Now you ladies can’t be using some app to go to all the crime scenes, it’s dangerous.’

Millie drew herself to her full height. ‘Why Seth Chamberlain, you know darn well that without us, most of the crimes in this town would go unsolved. Besides, the crimes scenes are not dangerous because the crime has already been committed.’

‘That’s right,’ Mom chimed in. ‘And crimes scenes are swarming with police, therefore very safe.’

Seth closed his eyes and I pictured that he was mentally counting to ten. I couldn’t blame him, I’d had to do that myself a few times when dealing with Mom and Millie. Then he smiled at Millie. ‘It’s true that you help immensely, but I would appreciate it if you don’t broadcast that all over town. I have a reputation to protect.’

Mom and Millie looked contrite. ‘Of course, sorry.’ Millie patted his arm. ‘There will be an extra dozen chocolate chip cookies for you this weekend.’

Seth’s smile widened and he covered her hand with his.

Millie grinned up at him, batted her eyes a few times and then slid her hand out from under his and tore away. ‘I’m glad you understand, but now we have to go get the scoop from Josie!’

They scurried to my side. Mike was still standing there and Mom beamed at him. ‘I see you’re watching out for my girl.’

Mike smiled. ‘Can’t let anything happen to her.’

I bristled. ‘I’m a grown woman and don’t need anyone to watch over me.’

‘Never mind that,’ Millie said. ‘Tell us all about it! How did the killer end up being Barbara? I thought it was Stella!’

By the time I was done telling them what had happened, the other guests were pulling into the driveway. Iona rushed to Ron to get the lowdown from him, and they beckoned Tina to join them, which she did reluctantly.

Mike had drifted off and was chatting with Stella. I didn’t really mind – I mean, he was free to talk to whoever he wanted, but for some annoying reason I kept glancing in their direction as if I cared. A few times I caught Mike’s eye. He had a smug expression every time he caught me looking, which I ignored.

Ava strode over to us, nodding her head as if she’d known what was unfolding the whole time. ‘Well, things sure are interesting at the Oyster Cove Guesthouse.’

‘Never a dull moment,’ Millie said.

‘I knew something was going on,’ Ava said. ‘It’s good to know my reporter’s instincts are still working. Too bad people don’t give a monkey’s banana about society happenings anymore. It’s okay though, I have something better in mind.’

Ava walked off with a satisfied look on her face and I got a little worried.

‘I hope she’s not going to write some sensational newspaper article about this,’ I said to Millie.

Millie’s brows drew together. ‘Me too. Then again, maybe it would bring in business. You know how morbid people are.’

‘Hmm… you have a point.’

‘Never mind that,’ Mom tugged on my arm. ‘Mike’s leaving. You’re not going to let him get away, are you?’

I glanced over at his car, half expecting to see Stella inside, but she wasn’t. ‘Yes, I think I am.’

‘Are you sure? Could be your last chance to get him to ask you out on a date,’ Mom said. ‘Millie said he finished up the last task on his list today.’

‘I’m not in the market for a date,’ I said. ‘Besides, it’s probably for the best if he doesn’t hang around here too much. The way he calls me Sunshine is annoying.’

As I watched his truck turn onto the road, I felt a little tug of regret. Now that he wouldn’t be working at the guesthouse, I probably wouldn’t see him much, but surely that was for the best?

Meow!

Meroo!

Nero and Marlowe joined our circle and Millie and Mom bent down to scratch their ears. The two cats strutted around, tails in the air and heads held high.

‘Sheesh, by the way they’re acting, you’d think they’d caught the killer,’ Mom said.

‘They sure do look proud of something,’ Millie glanced up at me, her brows raised in a question.

I looked down at the two cats. They met my gaze with intelligent, luminescent eyes. ‘Funny you say that. I think they did actually help out. It was due to them getting underfoot, that I was able to push Barbara into the basement.’

Millie looked adoringly at the cats, a proud smile on her face. ‘Well then, I say they are certainly taking good care of the guesthouse and their new human. What do you say, Josie?’

‘I agree, in fact I’m getting used to their company. I can’t imagine the guesthouse without them.’

Meow!

Meress!