Fat Cat Spreads Out

SEVENTEEN

Chase sat back in the kitchen chair and wondered why the two sisters didn’t dry up and blow away. They had hardly touched the Chinese food she had picked up . . . and paid for. The parrot, however, should soon be waddling like a penguin. They fed tidbits, almost nonstop, to Lady Jane Grey, who perched on a corner of the table, chattering with Elsa.

“Who’s your baby?” rasped the bird. “Hello. Hello. Grey hungry. Grey hungry.”

Elsa laughed every time the parrot opened her beak, then she pushed another morsel across the table to her.

Chase eyed the trails of sauce and grease this was leaving on Anna’s table. At least it was the rustic, scarred kitchen table and not her nice maple dining room one. And the parrot did make her smile, she had to admit. Such a silly bird!

Julie said the twin sisters had told her they hadn’t eaten all day. Then they asked her to cook for them, and after Julie had come from a long day at work.

Inger made up for the sparse appetites of Elsa and Eleanor and cleaned out two cartons by herself.

“Eating for two.” Julie smiled at Inger and held out the egg rolls to her.

“Eating for two, eating for two,” echoed Grey.

Chase laughed out loud. That bird was cute.

“No, I think that’s it,” Inger said. “I’m stuffed.” She turned to Chase. “Thanks for getting this. Sorry I was snippy before. I was so hungry.”

“Hungry, hungry,” cawed the bird, who flew to the kitchen counter.

“You can feel free to help yourself to anything in my kitchen during the day,” Chase said.

Inger got a pained look on her face. “There’s not much there that I like.”

Chase decided to help clean up so she wouldn’t say something to Inger she would regret. She jumped up to carry the plates to Anna’s sink.

“I wonder if Anna ever made it to the shop,” Julie said.

Chase winced. “I should have left her phone there. I wish I had thought of that.” She got out her own phone and called the office at the Bar None.

Bill Shandy answered on the fifth ring. “Bar None. Best little shop in Minneapolis, bar none.”

Chase chuckled. “I wanted to check that Anna made it okay. I still have her phone.”

“I’ll put her on,” he said.

“Hi there.” Anna sounded much more relaxed than she had been when she’d left the fair.

“Everything okay? I have your cell. I guess Bill told you?”

“Yes, he did. Where are you and Inger?”

“We’re at your place. We had dinner with Julie and your houseguests.”

“I’m glad you came over. I think those women are driving Julie nuts. Just leave my phone at the house. I’ll get it tonight. We’ll talk later. I have some news.”

The three retired to Anna’s pastel living room while Julie and Chase finished cleaning up. When the two younger women joined the sisters and Inger, Elsa asked if there was any coffee.

Chase thought she could see steam rising from the top of Julie’s head. “That’s a great idea,” she said. “Would you like to go out and get some?”

“It’s late,” Eleanor said. “You’d better stay in, Elsie.”

“I suppose so.” She had the nerve to look put-upon because Chase and Julie weren’t acting as her minions. “Oh, Chase. I almost forgot to ask you if you saw that other sculptor today.”

“Which one? Most of them are still there, working on their pieces for the contest on Sunday.”

“That Cardiman person. I couldn’t help but wonder if he had the nerve to show up.”

“I don’t think he’s still around. I heard he quit the competition and left town.”

Elsa straightened in her chair. “I knew it. He’s fled, running from the police.”

“Not exactly.” But was he? Did they know where he was? “He decided not to compete.”

“And why would he decide that? No, he has run away because he murdered my husband. And now I suppose the police won’t be able to track him down.”

Driving home with Inger, Chase pondered Elsa’s accusation. It seemed to come out of the blue. As if she was trying to incriminate him. And why would she do that? To throw suspicion off herself?

The sound of Inger softly snoring in the passenger seat came to her. Was there a bit of a bump under the seat belt? Maybe not. It should be too early to show. Chase tried to put herself in Inger’s position.

It wasn’t a crime to fall in love. It wasn’t a crime to love the guy without protection, although it wasn’t very smart. Everything would have worked out for the best if he hadn’t been sent overseas. Even then, things could have turned out well if he hadn’t been killed. Chase reflected that the real bad actors here were Inger’s hard-hearted parents. How could they abandon their daughter at a time like this? Chase felt a swelling of protectiveness. She glanced over at Inger’s pretty face, slack in her sleep, her small mouth slightly parted, her gray eyes hidden behind her pale eyelids. She determined to find out what Inger’s favorite foods were and make sure the apartment was stocked with them. It was the least she could do.

Inger awoke when the car stopped behind the shop. She stretched and yawned.

“That was a good idea. The food was great. Thanks so much, Ms. Oliver.”

“You can call me Chase.”

They walked toward the back door, and Chase noticed that the light was on in the kitchen. She saw that both Anna’s blue Volvo and Bill’s SUV were parked near the door.

Inger went straight up the stairs, pleading exhaustion. It was after eleven, heading toward midnight, and she would open the shop alone tomorrow morning. Chase knocked on the door to the kitchen, unsure of what the newly engaged couple would be doing.

Bill’s hearty voice told her to come in. He was perched on a stool at the granite counter, and Anna was up to her elbows in soap suds at the sink.

“Come here and help me dry these and put them away,” Anna said. “Bill, you’d better go. It’s late.”

Bill tried to hide his yawn behind his fist but failed.

“Go, Bill,” Chase said. “I’ll help Anna finish up here.”

He gave Anna a peck on the cheek as he passed. She answered him with a radiant smile that crinkled the corners of her eyes.

“What’s up?” Chase asked, grabbing a towel. “Why were you so antsy all day?”

“I was nervous because, well, yesterday I saw this great deal for a space for the wedding and reception. So last night I went ahead and booked it without consulting Bill. I guess I’m so used to making my own decisions, I completely forgot that he might like to have some input.”

“Anna! You’ve set a date? And you didn’t tell me?”

“I haven’t told anyone. We had some tentative dates, but they depended on what we could book and when.”

“And when is the date?”

“December. I got the hall for Christmas Eve.”

Chase gave Anna a fierce hug. “I’m so happy for you. Does Julie know?”

“I told you. No. All day I’ve dreaded telling Bill about it. What if he got upset with me?”

“My married guy friends hate that sort of thing,” Chase said. “They would rather let their brides deal with it.”

“That’s Bill. He’s fine with whatever I want, he said.” Anna gave the ceiling a dreamy look. “I love that man.”

“You’d better. You’re marrying him. I’m relieved nothing is wrong. I was afraid something had happened between you two. Or, worse, something bad happened with Detective Olson.”

Anna gave her a blank look. “Why would you think that? I’m not involved in any of the drama at the fair.”

“I know, but it made me nervous when he talked to you earlier today. I wonder if he thinks you’re consorting with Elsa because, well, because maybe you’re helping her conceal her guilt.”

“What guilt? She didn’t kill her husband.”

“How can you be so sure?”

Anna shrugged. “I don’t know. I just am.”

Chase wasn’t sure at all.