Catch As Cat Can

48

The week roared by in a welter of chores, seemingly so important at the time yet quickly forgotten. Fortunately, mail volume was light, so Harry skipped out Friday morning to do her grocery shopping. Miranda, whose refrigerator remained full, gladly gave her the time. Tracy kept Miranda company at work.

“Have you decided what color dress you're wearing?”

“The magenta, the color of my peonies.”

“You'll be the prettiest girl there.” He smiled, deciding that either a white or pink corsage would complement her dress. “I don't remember Tim O'Bannon being so interested in charitable pursuits.”

“Tim was tight as the bark on a tree. He used to embarrass Ida. When the boys took over the business they became involved in community affairs. I think they did it out of the goodness of their hearts but I don't expect it hurt business either. ‘Each one must do as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.' Second Corinthians, Chapter Nine, Verse Seven.”

“What a memory.”

“We're back!” Tucker announced gaily.

“Mom drove home, put stuff in the fridge, gave us a treat, and now I'm ready for the mail cart.” Pewter hopped in, causing the cart to roll a bit.

“I bought pork chops.” Harry sounded triumphant, up to the challenge. “I'm going to make stuffed pork chops according to your recipe. The only thing is, does Diego like pork? Some people don't.”

“Feed him a loaf of bread, a jug of wine, et cetera. . . .” Tracy slapped her on the back.

“You men. All alike.” She teased him for quoting the Rubaiyat because the next line was “and thou.” Tracy assumed all Diego needed was Harry.

“Gender wars!” Pewter called out from the bottom of the mail cart. “I pick women to win.”

“Of course you'll pick women, you twit. You're female.” Mrs. Murphy jumped in the cart, too.

A loud discussion followed, after which Mrs. Murphy jumped right out, hit the floor front paws apart, and pretended to chase a mouse into an opened mail sack.

Tucker stuck her nose in the sack. Murphy batted at the dog, who snapped her jaws, appearing quite ferocious.

“Oh, to be a cat or dog.” Harry admired their untrammeled joy.

“Your cat or dog.” Tracy waved as Coop passed by in the squad car.

Within minutes she came through the back door. “Hi. Didn't want to park out front. I'll only be here a minute.”

“More news, I hope?” Miranda offered her a cookie, which she took.

They knew about Roger. Rick had allowed Cynthia Cooper to tell them. After all, they were in on this mess. They'd helped with the safe and they'd not gotten in his way. He couldn't decide if he was mellowing or if he was too tired to bitch and moan.

“The sheriff from Washington County, Paul Carter, called. Two people at Boojum's recognized Dwayne Fuqua. Said he dropped off cars regularly. They also recognized Roger, of course, but what was interesting is that Roger would pick up Dwayne from Boojum's. Bill Boojum had to know.”

“Hi.” Susan popped through the front door followed by her youngest, Brooks.

“And why aren't you in school, young lady?” Miranda pointed her finger playfully at the high-school girl.

“Teachers' conference day.” Brooks smiled.

“They didn't have those when I was in school.” Miranda frowned. “I remember George Washington was good at math.” She broke into a tinkling giggle.

“Oh, Miranda.” Harry rolled her eyes.

“Brooks, I'm glad you're here. I was going to come over tonight and ask you some more questions. I wish they'd occur to me all at once but they don't.” Coop leaned over the dividing counter as Brooks came up to lean on the other side.

“Will you stop running around,” Harry commanded Mrs. Murphy, who had abandoned the mail sack to play tag with Tucker.

“Spoilsport.” Murphy did sit down, though, as Tucker crashed into her, rolling them both over.

“Sorry, my brakes don't work.” The dog licked Murphy's cheek to make up for the block.

“Ha, a likely story,” Pewter called out from the mail cart.

“When you brought sugar to the table, who handed you the sugar bowl?” Coop pulled out her small notepad.

“Chef Ted.”

“Did anyone stop you on the way to the table?”

“No.”

“And it was a bowl of raw sugar?”

“Uh-huh.” Brooks folded her hands, leaning harder on the divider. “I put it next to the silver creamer at the end of the table.”

“The broken sugar bowl was china.” Mrs. Murphy jumped up with a start. “China. Oh, now why didn't I notice that at the time?”

“And you weren't called in to clean up the sugar on the floor?”

“No. Someone cleaned it up. One of the guests, I guess.”

“Thomas Steinmetz. Lottie backed into him.” Coop had several eyewitnesses who corroborated that fact. “When you put the sugar bowl on the table, did you see who reached for it first?”

“Uh—Daddy. He was fixing a cup of coffee for Aunt Tally.”

“Then why isn't Aunt Tally dead?” Susan held up her hands in frustration.

“You know, people have been asking that question for years,” Harry devilishly replied.

“But that wasn't the bowl!” Murphy yowled.

“Save your energy,” Tucker advised.

“I can't believe I was so stupid.” Murphy was distraught.

“Don't be so hard on yourself, pussycat. Roger O'Bannon was sprawled on the floor with Little Mim yanking on his arm. That would get any cat's attention,” Tucker soothingly said.

“Right under my nose.” Murphy bent her head, putting her forehead on Tucker's chest.

“Hey, it's right under their noses, too. They haven't figured it out and they think their intelligence is superior to every other creature on the face of the earth.” Tucker levelly offered that criticism.

“Ha,” Pewter called out.

“Do you remember party guests walking into the kitchen?” Coop asked.

Brooks thought a moment. “Mrs. Sanburne, Little Mim, Aunt Tally, Sean—”

“Sean?”

“He came in to ask when the coffee would be ready. There might have been a lot of other people because I was carrying dishes out. Action central.”

“I believe that,” Miranda said.

“Anyone going into the kitchen passes through the large pantry for china and silver. The food pantry is on the other side of the kitchen.” Coop was thinking out loud. “Brooks, do you remember if all the silver bowls were used?”

“No, ma'am.”

Coop smiled. “Well, there's no reason for you to have noticed. How were any of us to know what would happen? Sometimes I think solving a crime is like putting together a mosaic, it's thousands and thousands of tiny bits of information until finally a picture emerges.”

“What an interesting thought.” Miranda passed the cookie dish over the counter.

Brooks happily ate one. Susan resisted, willpower to the max.

“You've questioned the chef, of course?” Tracy asked.

“Yes. I was impressed with his memory for detail, especially about food.” She smiled.

“Mind if I call Aunt Tally?” Harry asked.

“No,” Coop said.

Harry dialed.

Tally picked up, greeting the caller. “Queen Bee and it better be good.”

“Hi, Aunt Tally, it's Harry.”

“Do I have a package?”

“No, I'm here in the post office with Deputy Cooper, Miranda, and Tracy, Susan, and Brooks.”

“A little party.”

“It would be much livelier if you were here.”

“You're right about that.” She laughed. “Now, what's on your mind, Mary Minor Haristeen?”

“When you hosted the tea dance, you used your own silver, china, and crystal, right?”

“Of course.”

“How many silver sugar bowls do you have?”

“Two. One for white cube sugar and one for raw sugar. I use cubes because what people don't use that day I'll give to the horses.”

“And both were in use at the tea dance?”

“My, yes, I think I had just about everything out there on that table.”

“Ask her about her china!” Murphy hopped up on the table in the back and kept hopping, up and down.

“Calm down,” Harry admonished the cat.

“I am perfectly calm,” Tally answered.

“I'm sorry, Aunt Tally, I didn't mean you. Mrs. Murphy is pitching a fit and falling in it. Would you mind terribly going into your pantry and counting your sugar bowls, including china bowls if you have any?”

“No, but it will take me a minute.”

“That's fine.”

As Harry waited the others chatted. Mrs. Murphy anxiously ran over to Harry. She sat so she could hear Aunt Tally's response. As her hearing was acute she could hear if she was close to the receiver. She didn't have to have her ear smack on it.

“I'm back,” came the authoritative voice. “I have two silver sugar bowls. Same as when I started. It's a good thing, too, because they cost far too much to replace. I also have only one china sugar bowl, my breakfast set of china. Does that help?”

“Aunt Tally, you've been a major help. I'll see you tomorrow night at the ball.”

“Won't be the same without Roger. He'd get so loaded he'd start up equipment, make a mess, pass out on the railroad tracks. Everyone else will behave reasonably, I'm afraid.”

“You never know.”

Aunt Tally laughed. “Harry, in Crozet that's the truth, absolutely! Bye-bye.”

Harry hung up. “Her two silver sugar bowls are there. Her china bowl is there yet the china sugar bowl broke. How could we have missed that? It means the broken china bowl wasn't Aunt Tally's.” She smashed the palm of her hand to her forehead.

“We all did,” Murphy commiserated.

“That doesn't solve our problem but it gets us closer to understanding just how Roger was poisoned.” Miranda sighed.

“Roger was poisoned!” Brooks's voice squeaked.

“Yes, dear, now keep it to yourself.” Susan's tone ensured obedience.

“Are you going out to Lexington? Sounds like Bill Boojum needs a face-to-face interrogation.” Tracy thought any transaction stood a better chance of success if conducted in person.

“Next week. We know the three murders are tied together. We know Boojum knows something he's not willing to share but we still don't know why. If we just knew why.”

“Always comes down to that.” Tracy nodded his head.

“Drugs. The setup was perfect but Rick's not buying that. At least, not yet.” Coop drummed the countertop. “We need one little slipup, one tiny mistake. Just one.”

She was about to get it.