The Purr-fect Crime

Chapter 13

Monday was my other day off at the vet clinic – except for emergencies which went straight to my cell – and so I took the opportunity to go visit Chief Gary while Charlotte was at school and Sophie went to do some grocery shopping. We wisely decided that I should be the one to go see Chief Gary, since he had always had that soft spot for Charlotte and I.

“Hey Chief!” I greeted him when I walked into his office, handing him a cup of coffee that I’d picked up at Betty’s on the way over, remembering what she’d said about him being a bit stressed over the case. And as soon as I saw him, I knew she was right.

Chief Gary looked like he’d aged about ten years since the last time I’d seen him. His normally brown hair now had streaks of grey around the edges, he had big bags under his eyes, and it looked like it physically pained him to look up from his desk. But, when he saw me coming into the office, he perked up, and even more so when I put the coffee down in front of him.

“Thought you could use a pick-me-up,” I said in way of greeting, and he gratefully took a long sip of the warm beverage.

“You’re a lifesaver, Angela,” he told me, leaning back in his chair. “What can I do for you today?”

“Oh, well, I was mostly just curious about how things are going with the Tony Nyman thing. I know I didn’t know him, but I still feel a bit of a connection, having found the body in my clinic and all.”

Chief Gary sighed.

“You know, I’m really not supposed to talk about open investigations. But as long as you can promise you won’t go around town telling everyone this – though I know you’ll tell Charlotte and Sophie – I can tell you that we’re not really getting anywhere fast. We have a few suspects, but virtually no evidence. It’s not exactly an ideal situation. I’ve been talking with the guys from Portland, but they’re pretty stumped as well.”

“That’s really too bad,” I told Chief Gary. And I meant it. The sooner anybody found who was behind this murder, the sooner the town could move on.

“It is,” he continued. “I’ve been getting a whole bunch of calls from panicked people asking if it’s safe to go out at night. Of course, most of the calls come in from people who don’t tend to go out that much anyway, but they’re still freaked out.”

I nodded. “I can understand that.”

“Exactly. This sort of thing never happens in Willow Bay; it’s so completely out of the ordinary.”

“You’re right. We were at Tony’s funeral yesterday, and it seemed like the whole town turned out. Not that I’ve met anyone who admits to knowing him as more than just a vague acquaintance.”

Chief Gary chuckled. “That sounds about right. We sent a couple officers down yesterday to have a look, they said the same thing. Everyone turned out to gossip about the poor guy.”

“Well that was another thing. When we were down there, Sophie saw a few guys that didn’t really belong, like we’d never seen them before, and there was just something… off about them. Sophie took their pictures and sent them to me, we were wondering if you could do some like, facial recognition magic on them, or something like that.” I opened up the photos and handed him my phone.

Chief Gary laughed good-naturedly. “I wish we had access to stuff like that here. But let me have a look anyway. I can get these photos to the guys from Portland, they’ll be able to access that kind of stuff.”

He studied the photos. “Something about these guys looks familiar though. You’re right that they don’t look like they’re from around here. Look at those suits! Thanks for showing me these, Angela,” he told me, forwarding them on to his own phone.

“No problem. I heard Tony Nyman’s house got broken into too, the other day,” I added casually, hoping to get out any information Chief Gary might have about Sophie and I being in the area that day.

“Yeah. His study was totally ransacked. I don’t know what they were after. The best guess is a will, we haven’t been able to find one yet.”

That piqued my interest. “Really?”

“Yeah. We spoke to all the lawyers in the area, and the county offices. There’s never been a will filed in his name, so we have to assume he didn’t have one.”

“Well then what happens to all his stuff?”

“After thirty days his property all gets transferred to the state, unless we find one among his possessions, which we haven’t done yet.”

“Weird, it didn’t seem to me like Tony Nyman was one of those secretly super rich dudes, and even if he was, it wasn’t like taking his will benefits anyone except the state, and I doubt the Governor is out there killing residents of Willow Bay for their 50s two-bedrooms.”

Chief Gary snorted. “Yeah, I think we can rule out the Governor as a suspect in this murder,” he replied. “You’re right though. Nyman had the house, a tiny bit of cash, and a few other properties in the area here and there, scattered around. None of them were developed or anything. He just seemed to spend his money buying up random parcels of land. Maybe to sell to condo developers in the future. Who knew? Either way, in 27 days it’s going to belong to the State of Oregon, unless we find a will somewhere.”

“Hmmm,” I replied.

“Oh no,” Chief Gary told me.

“Oh no what?” I asked, looking innocent.

“Absolutely not. Do not get involved. I don’t want you, your sister or Sophie anywhere near this case.”

“What? Why would you think we’re doing anything?” I asked, trying to look shocked he’d even ask something like that.

“Because I know you. I know you, and I know your sister. And I know your sister is a much more reasonable person than you, and I know you and Sophie especially would absolutely be the types to try and decide to solve a murder on your own. And I’m telling you, it’s a bad idea.”

“I promise you, Chief, we’re not doing that,” I reassured him, crossing my fingers behind my back. Yeah, I’m pretty much still twelve years old.

“Good. You girls are too smart for that sort of thing.”

I smiled at Chief Gary. “We wouldn’t even dream of it.”

“Excellent. Now, thanks again for the pictures of the men at the funeral.”

“No problem. I hope they help, and I hope you find whoever killed Tony.”

“Me too, Angela. Me too.”

I left Chief Gary to his work, leaving the police station with more answers, but also more questions than ever. This whole murder thing was starting to give me a headache.