Deadly Diamond

“Any cat that misses a mouse pretends it was aiming for the dead leaf.”

––Charlotte Gray

CHAPTER ELEVEN: Family Portraits Arouse Suspicion

Alyx and Maggie were having breakfast, and Maggie asked when they were going to start evaluating Althea’s things.

“I was thinking of going over there tomorrow for a preliminary inventory. Her niece made it very clear she wants this wrapped up as soon as possible,” said Alyx.

They discussed what they were going to do and decided to buy the antique pieces and conduct an estates sale for the rest of the items on the premises. Alyx said she would mark the pieces accordingly.

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“No, I think I can handle it alone.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind being there by yourself?”

“I’ll be fine. Besides, you have plans for the day. You don’t need to be spending your time babysitting me.”

“Okay, if you’re sure. Too bad her cat never turned up.”

“Yes, it is. I hope someone found him and gave him a home. He’s a handsome cat, and I know you don’t usually hear this about cats, but I thought he had an intelligent look in his eyes.”

“I think a cat is a cat except for Murfy––he’s something else––my imagination doesn’t take me farther than that.”

That observation of my special skills was fine with me––the less people suspected, the better I could do my job.

First thing the following morning, Alyx drove to Althea’s condominium with me riding along in my carrier. Althea’s car was gone, so Alyx parked in the driveway. I assumed someone had moved Althea’s car into the garage––more than likely, her niece had sold it.

As Alyx headed for the front door with me in tow in my carrier, she greeted an elderly man sweeping his driveway.

“No one’s home,” he said as he leaned on his push broom and squinted at Alyx. “I don’t think I’ve seen you before. Are you a relative?”

“No, I’m a friend. I’m the one who found her body.”

“I heard she was murdered. Why would anyone want to kill her? I don’t know. This is such a crazy world; can’t trust anybody, no more. Most residents living here are over 65-years old, you know, and this has us all scared. I don’t like it when you have to be suspicious of everybody.” He shook his head, “No, sir, I don’t like it one bit.”

Alyx stepped over the strip of grass separating the two driveways and introduced herself to the stooped gentleman who had a full head of white hair and cloudy blue eyes––remnants of a once young, handsome face.

“My name’s William, William Emmett. You can call me Bill.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Bill. How well did you know Althea?”

He shrugged his bony shoulders, “She wasn’t very friendly, kept mostly to herself except for when that cat of hers ran out. That’s when she’d talk to the neighbors––when she went looking for him.”

“That’s what I was going to ask you about. Apparently, the cat ran away again. He wasn’t in the house when I found Althea. A friend of mine has been checking every day, with no sign of Simon. Have you seen him by any chance?”

“No, I didn’t know he was missing. I thought someone had taken him in.”

“Well, I know Althea would want someone to take care of her cat, so if you do see him hanging around, I’ll appreciate it if you give me a call.”

She pulled a business card from her purse and handed it to him.

“I’ll be sure to do that.” He squinted at the card and put it in his pants pocket. “Did her niece inherit everything?”

“That’s what she said.”

“So she’s gonna sell this place?”

“Yes, I think so.”

He rubbed the top of his head in a circular motion. “Now…doesn’t it take some time for all that to go through the court and all before she can do anything?”

“All I know is that she’s the executor of the estate, so I think she can do whatever she wants.”

He nodded, not fully convinced. “Didn’t mean to be nosy. I was just wondering that’s all.”

Bill was quite a talker, and I realized that if Alyx didn’t make a move soon, she’d become his captive audience, so I let myself be heard.

“That’s my cat Murfy letting me know he wants to be let out of his carrier. Nice talking to you Bill. My friend Maggie and I own Antiques & Designs on Ocean Street. Althea’s niece has asked us to dispose of the contents of her condominium, so you’ll be seeing me again.”

She unlocked the front door of Althea’s house, and froze to the spot for a moment. It was evident the police had not conducted a neat and orderly investigation. It was disappointing that they had not shown a little more respect for the dead woman. Then again, maybe this was as neat as they were when they searched for evidence.

Alyx let me out of the carrier before she took the self-adhesive tags out of her tote bag and started inspecting each piece of furniture, marking those that Antiques & Designs wanted to buy for re-sale in the store, the first piece being the slant-front desk. Did Althea really think it was the same desk that she’d purchased all those years ago in Sierra Leone? Apparently, her story about the desk burning when the house caught fire was a lie.

Eventually, Alyx finished tagging items on the first floor and we moved on to the second floor. I was right behind her. Alyx looked confused as she stood in front of the portraits still hanging in the guest room. She took them down and put the portraits in the truck when she finished tagging the estate sale items on the second floor. Then, she took a walk around the outside of the building; I presumed she was looking for Simon. When she came around to the front, she waved at Bill, and we left.

When we returned to the shop, it was late morning, and Maggie hadn’t left for the day yet. Alyx asked if she had time to discuss a figure for Althea’s furniture and pick a date for the estate sale. Maggie said she did and when they decided that they couldn’t do it for another three weeks, Alyx told her about the family portraits that had been left hanging on the wall.

“Do you think you can get along without me tomorrow? I’d like to take the portraits to Althea’s niece and I don’t know how much time I’ll need.”

“Sure, that’s fine, except … why are you going?”

“Okay, I think there’s more to this than it appears. Don’t you think it’s odd for Carole to leave the family portraits for the estate sale?”

“Not really. Maybe she didn’t know the people.”

“Yes, she did, Althea told me who they all were. One is Althea and her husband on their wedding day and the other is Carole’s grandparents.”

“Alyx, not everyone has an appreciation of their ancestry, you know.”

“I know, yet something doesn’t seem right. I learned from her next-door neighbor that Althea had several visitors the day before I found her body.”

“Really. Who were they?”

“Carole and her son, Carole’s son and another man, and a different man whom he couldn’t identify––he only saw him from the back as he was leaving.”

“Do you even know where Umatilla is?”

“I know that it’s west of here. I have a GPS, I’m sure I’ll find it.”

“Okay, Alyx,” Maggie sighed, “No use trying to talk you out of it. Drive carefully; you know how bad the highway traffic can get.”

“Yes, I know. Unfortunately, it’s the only east-west highway. It seems that road has been under construction forever––long enough to build a new one, I’d say. Of course, by the time they finish the new road, traffic will have doubled again.”

The rest of the day at the store was uneventful. On the way home that evening, Alyx stopped at the supermarket and came out with a bag of unknown cat food. She filled one of the bowls at home with the new food, and we ran to sniff and taste. Misty and I agreed it was pretty awful, turned tail, and left Pooky crunching away as if it was her last meal. Her behavior was understandable though––she’d experienced hunger and nearly starved to death when her humans abandoned her by the side of a busy road. Misty and I have never experienced hunger; our bowl is always full. We let Alyx know when it isn’t.