Murder, She Barked: A Paws & Claws Mystery (A Paws and Claws Mystery)

Forty-two

I peered through the peephole in the door. Someone was out there. More than one someone. I couldn’t tell who they were. I heard murmuring and thought I saw Dave.

Holding Trixie back so she wouldn’t run out, I cracked the door. Dave escorted Tiny to the elevator.

Leaving Trixie and Twinkletoes cooped up in my suite, I stepped out. “Tiny?”

Handcuffed, his eyes wide with fright, he said, “They’re not my keys. I swear! Somebody mailed them to me. I didn’t murder anybody. Specially not Sven.”

Dave didn’t say a word. He pressed the button for the elevator.

“Are you the one who’s been sleeping up here?”

“I didn’t mean to upset nobody.”

“Why? Why were you sleeping in the storage room?”

Tiny lowered his voice and hung his head. “I’m next. He’s gonna kill me next. Them keys were a warning. I been hiding there.”

“Then you know who the killer is.”

His head lifted, and his eyes conveyed fresh alarm. “I didn’t say that. I don’t know. For sure I don’t know who was driving that car, and that’s the God’s honest truth.”

“Tiny!”

“Look, Holly, Dave. I’m ashamed of myself, I am. I done something real bad. I’ll fess up to it ’cause I know it was wrong. The night you drove up here, Holly, that was me you saw out on the highway. I . . .” He appeared to be thinking fast. “I was afraid the driver, you—” he pointed at me “—would recognize me, so I followed you to the inn. I looked in the glove box in your car and saw Ben’s name on the registration. When Mr. Luciano come around the corner in the fog, I thought it was Ben, and I clobbered him.” He hung his head when he said, “I meant to kill him. But I couldn’t.” He met my eyes.

“You were going to kill the person who saw you on the highway?”

“I don’t have it in me to kill nobody. I don’t. I’m right sorry about Mr. Luciano. But I didn’t kill nobody. I swear. I didn’t want nobody to know I threw the car off the mountain. That’s why I told people there was a ghost out on the highway, and he must have done it.”

“Why did you throw the car over the side of the road?”

Tiny closed his eyes like he’d realized his mistake in telling us so much. “Oh, man! I done it now.”

The elevator doors opened. They stepped into the elevator and turned around to face me.

“You gotta believe me,” said Tiny. “I didn’t kill nobody. I didn’t! I swear.”

Dave grunted with disbelief, and the elevator doors slid shut.

I didn’t know what to make of Tiny’s arrest. I returned to the suite, changed into my T-shirt, and wrapped the Sugar Maple Inn robe around me. Too agitated to sleep, I poured a glass of wine and walked out on the bedroom balcony to look out over Wagtail. Trixie and Twinkletoes came along. Their noses twitched as they caught scents on the night air.

White lights twinkled in trees along the pedestrian zone. Streetlights helped illuminate the walkways. Shop windows glowed in the night. It was enchanting.

But my thoughts kept returning to Tiny. I hadn’t anticipated that he would be the one arrested tonight. His pleas of innocence still rang in my ears. And the look on his face—he knew more than he’d said. I wished I could be in the car with them. I bet he was spilling his guts at that very moment.

I tried to piece together what I knew. If Tiny was telling the truth, then he must have done something terrible to feel he had to kill the person who saw him on the highway. That didn’t exactly bolster his protests of innocence. Surely stealing a car didn’t rise to that level.

Something else was bothering me. Something was wrong with that picture. Why would the car thief have Mortie’s keys? No one had said it was a carjacking. That meant someone had swiped Mortie’s keys to steal the car. I knew of only one person who had easy access to those keys. Kim.

Surely she hadn’t stolen her own father’s car! Had she handed the keys over to someone else? I intended to find out.

• • •

In the morning I rose early, hoping to catch a minute with Zelda before she was too busy to talk. She knew Tiny far better that I did.

A quick step onto the balcony confirmed it was a gorgeous day, but fall had arrived and brought colder temperatures with it. My sandals would have to be replaced with something warmer soon. I unblocked the pet door to Oma’s kitchen so Twinkletoes could come and go as she pleased. Dressed in the khakis and the sleeveless white turtleneck, I took Oma’s black jacket with me to walk Trixie.

Trixie and Twinkletoes scampered down the grand staircase ahead of me, stopping to sniff various spots. Even so, they beat me to the bottom. Trixie turned right and dashed into the dining area.

I could hear her barking and rushed after her. She followed Shelley’s replacement, yelping at her for food.

Swooping down on Trixie, I attached her leash and coaxed her away. “We don’t bark for food like that. As soon as we get home, you’re going to doggie school.”

Slipping on Oma’s jacket as we went, I led her out the front door. Even in the cold at that early hour, some guests sat on the porch, bundled up with steaming coffee in their hands and dogs in warm coats at their feet or on their laps.

I hurried Trixie past The Blue Boar and along the sidewalk to the inn’s doggy-duty zone. Oh no. I bet Tiny usually maintained it. Fortunately, it appeared that most people were pretty good about cleaning up.

Trixie led the way back to the reception desk, clearly used to the doors that opened automatically. I kept her on her leash, though, so she wouldn’t run straight to the dining area again.

Zelda had just arrived and still wore a blue fleece jacket. Casey hadn’t left yet.

“I guess you heard about Tiny?” I asked.

Casey puffed up his chest. “I was here last night with the backup guy. Tiny went with them peacefully, though. It was pretty anticlimactic.”

“Zelda?” I prompted.

Her brow wrinkled. “Something stinks to high heaven. Tiny would never have hurt your grandmother. Quite the opposite—I think he would have protected her. It doesn’t add up for me.”

Casey’s eyes opened wide behind his glasses. “I never thought of that. You’re right! But why did he have the keys to the car?”

Exactly what I had suspected. Oma’s employees seemed to adore her. They were like a big extended family. Something wasn’t right. But I knew who held the missing link. Kim. Her only connection to the murders was the car. Somehow, Kim and Brewster had to be involved.

I skipped the inn breakfast, which I hated to do since I’d become spoiled by it, and headed to the Sweet Dog Barkery on the theory that one ought not go empty-handed to beat information out of someone. I bought three large lattes and a selection of croissants and muffins as well as two miniature peanut butter cookies for Trixie.

Borrowing Oma’s golf cart, we tootled out to Mortie’s cabin for a confrontation with Kim.

Picturesque against the pines, the cabin lay in stillness, interrupted only by the occasional chirp of a bird. The sun glinted off the water like sparkles undulating with the current.

I knocked on the door and waited.

Ben answered, rubbing his eyes. “What are you doing here?”

Kim shuffled out of a room. “It’s the middle of the night! What’s going on?”

I barged past Ben, who wore only a pair of jeans. “Good morning. I brought caffeine and goodies.”

Ben yawned. “I’ll just put on a shirt.”

He stumbled toward a different door. I wanted to think that detail wasn’t of interest to me, but I took note. Someone had been sleeping on the sofa.

Kim had wrapped herself in a sheet again. She reached out for a muffin. “These look good! Is that cinnamon I smell?”

“I think those are cinnamon pumpkin.”

Trixie barked. She wagged hopefully and tried to reach the box.

I didn’t like the way Kim looked at Trixie. Was she thinking of stealing her?

I held up the peanut butter cookie. “Sit.”

Trixie barked again.

“Sit.” I pressed down on her rear delicately and put her in a sitting position. “Good girl.” I broke off half of the cookie for her.

Kim bit into a cinnamon pumpkin muffin. “Mmm. Delish!” She popped the top off a latte. “To what do we owe this surprise visit?”

Maybe it was best if I hurried and got her to talk while Ben was out of the room and couldn’t stop her from blabbing. I thought fast. What would produce a response from her? “I know about you and Brewster.”

She spewed latte all over the sheet she wore. “Please don’t rat me out. Oh, please, Holly! I’ll break up with Ben if that’s what you want.”

From the looks of the sofa, I wasn’t sure there was anything to break up. But that was beside the point. I had to get her to tell me what was going on. I kept my question open-ended. “Why did you do it?”

She dabbed at the mess with a corner of the sheet. “I had to. I didn’t know what else to do. Brewster insisted on collateral, but I had already sold almost everything. He was my last resort. I rue the day I went to him for money.”

I heard Ben’s electric razor whirring. I had a few more minutes. I took a guess. “Day trading?”

Kim collapsed on the sofa and held her forehead with one hand. “I lost so much money. You can’t even imagine. I borrowed from everyone I knew, even Ben! When Brewster offered me a loan, I jumped at it. But he wanted collateral, so I borrowed Dad’s car and gave it to him.” She sat up. “You have to believe me, Holly. I never thought anything like this would happen. I thought I’d make a few trades, pay off Brewster, the car would be returned, and everything would be fine.”

“You stole your father’s car?”

She winced. “Borrowed, really. Who knew my dad would go and file a police report?”

What had she expected? Wouldn’t most people report a stolen car? “Then why did Tiny have your dad’s keys?”

She emitted a little shriek and sat up straight. “Tiny? He must be the one who stole the car from Brewster.”