The Whole Cat Аnd Caboodle

Chapter 9

Liz arrived to pick up Avery and agreed to join us all at Sam’s. I pulled her aside for a moment. “You suspected, didn’t you?” I said.

“Suspected what?’ she asked.

“That Arthur Fenety wasn’t what he seemed.”

She brushed lint off the front of her sweater. “I thought maybe he was married,” she said. “If I’d had any idea of the truth . . .” She shrugged. “I wouldn’t have killed him but he would have been singing soprano.”

I slipped away to my office and called to give Sam a heads-up that we were coming and why. I hesitated and then I punched in Nick’s number, hoping I wasn’t interfering in something that I should be keeping my nose out of. I got his voice mail.

“Hi, Nick,” I said. “It’s Sarah. Call me, please.” I hesitated. “Or just call your mom.” I recited my cell number in case he hadn’t kept it.

I looked at Elvis, who was sitting on the edge of my desk. “I suppose you really do want to come with us,” I said.

He murped his acknowledgment.

“You have to go in my gym bag.”

He blinked at me, jumped down from the desk and walked over to the nylon bag sitting on the floor of the tiny closet tucked under the eaves.

“You’ll have to stay in the truck—I mean the SUV,” I warned. He really seemed to think about it, wrinkling up his face and scrunching his whiskers.

“Meow,” he said finally. He put a paw on the top of the bag and scratched at the fabric.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” I muttered as I unzipped the top of the black gym bag and pulled out my running gear. I’d been planning to run after work today. Tomorrow, I promised myself. Elvis stuck his head through the opening and sniffed, whiskers twitching. Then he looked up at me.

“All those things were clean,” I said. “It smells fine.” He put a paw inside and gave me his best pathetic cat look, head tipped to one side so it was impossible to miss the scar on his nose.

I leaned down so my face was just inches away from his furry one. “Do I need to remind you that the only way you’re going to get to come with us is in this bag?”

He blinked, climbed into the bag and sat down, looking expectantly up at me. Some days I had the feeling the cat understood every single word I said to him. Other days I figured that while he pretty much got what I was saying, he just wasn’t listening.

When I got back downstairs Rose and Charlotte were at the cash counter with Avery. The fertility statue was unwrapped, sitting on the blue towel. Charlotte was saying something and Avery was listening intently.

Liz had been standing by the window but she walked over when I came down the stairs. “I hear you got Maddie a lawyer,” she said. “Thank you.”

“Calling Josh was Rose’s idea,” I said, watching her turn over the carved stone figure to show Avery something on the back of the statue.

“And you’re the one who made the call,” Liz said. She gave me a long, appraising look. “If Maddie needs bail you tell Josh to call me.”

“Oh, Liz,” I said, and then I had to stop because all of a sudden there was a lump in my throat.

“Don’t ‘Oh, Liz’ me,” she said, making a sweeping gesture in the air with one hand. “We take care of each other and we stick together.”

I put my arms around her and gave her a hug, resting my head on her shoulder.

She shook a finger at me. “And it goes without saying, my dear, that it stays between the two of us.”

I nodded. I had no idea exactly how much money Liz actually had. I was pretty sure it was more than her friends realized. Liz had come to the rescue with her checkbook before, without most people knowing, and I felt certain there were probably times I wasn’t aware of.

“You’re taking the cat?” Liz asked, pointing at my gym bag.

Elvis narrowed his green eyes at her as though he was offended by her question.

I opened my mouth to explain that if I tried to leave him behind the cat wasn’t above retaliating, when she raised a hand and waved my explanation away.

“No, never mind,” she said. “Taking that cat along isn’t any odder than Avery lugging that little naked statue or Rose carrying tea bags everywhere she goes.”

Everyone had to check out the new SUV before we could head over to The Black Bear. But anything that could distract Charlotte was fine with me. I set Elvis on the front seat. He immediately stuck his head out of the top of the bag and looked around, sniffing the air.

“Stay in the bag,” I reminded him.

Mac, Rose and Charlotte ended up riding with me. Liz and Avery said they’d meet us at Sam’s.

“Nonna, could I drive?” I heard Avery ask as they started for the car. “I think I know a faster way.”

When we got there, Sam had a table saved for us. “Have you heard anything yet?” he asked.

I shook my head. “It’s going to be a while.”

He gave me a reassuring smile. “It’ll be all right. I asked around. Josh Evans knows his stuff.”

“Good,” I said, shrugging off my jacket and hanging it over the back of my chair. “Could you do me a favor?” I held out my keys. “Elvis is in the SUV—I got it today, by the way. I’m parked about three spots down on this side of the street. Could you take something out to Elvis?”

“Your cat’s in your new SUV?” he said, tipping his head to one side and narrowing his gaze at me.

I crossed my arms over my chest and nodded. “Yes, I brought my cat. People drive around all the time with dogs. Why does everyone think it’s weird if someone drives around with their cat?”

Okay, so I sounded more than a little defensive.

Sam looked like he was having a hard time not laughing. “I didn’t mean I thought it was strange that you drive all over town with your cat. I’m just wondering if you’re sure he’s actually in the SUV.”

I stared at him, a sinking feeling in my stomach. “That’s where I left him. Why are you asking?” I’d definitely locked the doors and I was holding the keys, so there was no way Avery could have “rescued” Elvis. There was no way she could have coached him to unlock the door. Was there?

Sam opened his mouth and closed it again, swallowing a laugh—with difficulty—before he spoke. “Sarah, why does Rose have your gym bag? And why is it . . . moving?”

Rose and Avery were on the other side of the round table, probably still talking about the little fertility statue. My black gym bag was on the floor next to Rose’s chair and Sam was right: the bag was, well, squirming.

I held up a finger to Sam. “Don’t move,” I said.

I walked around the table. “I know what you two are up to,” I said, glaring at Rose and Avery. Avery looked guilty. Rose, on the other hand, was the picture of innocence.

“We’re just trying to decide whether or not to split a fish platter,” she said.

“I’m talking about that.” I pointed at the nylon bag on the floor. Elvis had stopped moving, probably the moment he’d heard my voice.

Rose glanced down and then her eyes met mine again. “Oh, I guess I brought your bag in,” she said. “No harm. I’ll just keep it here with me.”

“I know that Elvis is in that bag,” I hissed.

Avery looked very uncomfortable. Her eyes kept sliding away from my face and she shifted restlessly from one foot to the other. She was an awful liar, which in a teenager was a good thing.

Rose leaned toward the bag, squinted, and then put a hand to her mouth. “Oh, my goodness, you’re right. He is.”

“This is a restaurant,” I said sternly. “If the health inspector came in and found Elvis here they’d shut Sam down. Do you two want that to happen?” I felt a twinge of guilt about lecturing them, seeing as how Elvis and I had had breakfast in the back booth just a few hours earlier. I reminded myself that the pub had been closed then, not more than three-quarters full of people, all eating.

Rose gave me a sweet smile. “Sarah, dear, that’s not going to happen. Elvis will sit right here next to me. It’s not like he’s going to get up and dance on the table.”

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Avery smirk at the idea. She had the good sense to hide it when I looked at her again.

“Elvis is not going to dance on the table or anywhere else because he’s going to be in Sam’s office,” I said.

Avery groaned. “That’s not fair. Elvis isn’t hurting anything. And . . . and it’s like you’re putting him in jail.”

I pressed my lips together, closed my eyes for a moment and mentally counted to five before I opened them again. “Sam’s office is not jail,” I said. “Elvis can have some supper and stretch out on the futon until we’re ready to leave.” I knew Sam had an old fourteen-inch TV in his office. Elvis could probably watch Jeopardy! if he wanted to, but I didn’t say that.

I bent down and picked up the bag before Rose and Avery got any more ideas. I looked from one to the other. They were both trying to look innocent, but Rose was doing a much better job of it. I frowned at her although we both knew I wasn’t really mad.

“You’re old enough to know better,” I said, sternly, raising my eyebrows at her to make my point. “And you,” I said, pointing at Avery, “are clearly the more mature person, so I’m counting on you to act like it.”

I walked back around the table to Sam. Mac and Charlotte had their heads together over a menu.

There was a mischievous gleam in Sam’s eyes. “Could I check your cat for you?” he asked.

“Very funny,” I said. “Could Elvis stay in your office?”

He laughed. “Sure.”

I handed him the bag.

“I have some pretty decent halibut tonight,” he said. “Okay if I give him a little?”

A meow came from the bag. Luckily it was noisy enough in the pub that no one else heard it.

I leaned sideways. “He’s not talking to you,” I said quietly in the general direction of the bag. “Yes, he can have a bit of fish,” I said to Sam.

“I’ll send a waitress over,” he said, and headed in the direction of his office with Elvis.

Josh didn’t call for almost another hour. Everyone’s head came up when my phone rang. It was noisy in the bar. “Hang on a second,” I said to Josh. “I’m just going to move somewhere where I can hear you better.” I pushed my chair back from the table. “I can’t hear very well,” I said. I pointed. “I’m just going over by the washrooms.”

I walked to the back before anyone had a chance to get up and follow me, and stepped into the small hallway to the men’s and women’s bathrooms. It was a lot quieter there, but I’d also wanted to be away from the table to hear what Josh had to say without so many sets of eyes watching my face.

“Okay, go ahead,” I said, turning my back on the restaurant.

Josh was officially Maddie’s lawyer. He’d advised her not to say anything and she’d followed that advice.

“She’s going to have to spend the night in jail, Sarah,” he said.

I sighed. “I kind of expected that.”

“It’s not a night in a five-star hotel, but it’s not a hole in the ground, either. She’ll be all right and she’ll be arraigned first thing in the morning.”

I repeated Liz’s offer of bail.

“That’s good. I don’t think the judge will set bail too high, given her age and the circumstances.” I could hear him shuffling papers.

“Can we be there in court?” I asked, wrapping my free arm around my midsection.

“Yes, you can,” he said. “In fact, it would be good for the judge to see that Maddie has a support system.”

We made arrangements to meet at the courthouse in the morning. I thanked Josh again and we said good night.

I thought about Mac’s question to me earlier. Was I certain Maddie hadn’t had anything to do with Arthur Fenety’s death?

I remembered the night of my fifteenth birthday. We’d had a party in Gram’s backyard and we were making s’mores in the outdoor brick fireplace when Maddie arrived. She’d hugged me and handed me a beautiful bouquet of flowers from her garden. “I have something else for you out in my car,” she’d said. We’d walked out to the street and she’d taken a guitar case from the backseat. I’d looked at her, wide-eyed. “I can’t,” I’d started to say, knowing my parents would never let me keep a guitar. It was way too expensive a gift.

Maddie had shaken her head. “Yes, you can. Just open it. Please.”

I’d carefully unsnapped the latches and lifted the lid of the black, hard-shell case. My breath stuck in my chest and my field of vision got dark from the outside in until the only thing I could see was the guitar lying in the case. It was my father’s guitar. I hadn’t seen it in ten years.

I looked at Maddie. “How? What . . . how?”

She cleared her throat before she answered, and even then I had to turn my head to hear what she said.

“It was thrown from the car the night . . . the night of the accident. Some, uh, someone found it a week later in the . . . in the trees.” She took a breath and then swallowed. “The man who found it, he should have taken it to the state troopers, but . . . he didn’t. He took it home and it just ended up stuck in the back of a closet.”

I laid a hand on the smooth amber wood. I couldn’t keep my eyes on Maddie’s face. It was impossible to keep them away from the guitar. My father’s guitar. The words kept running over and over in my head.

“A couple of months ago I went to an estate sale over in Belfast,” Maddie continued. “The moment I saw that guitar—don’t ask me how—I knew it was your father’s guitar. You used to sit on his lap and he’d show you chords. You probably don’t remember.”

I did remember. I couldn’t say that, though, because I knew if I said a word I’d start to cry. I blinked a couple of times and swallowed hard.

“I hope this is okay,” Maddie said.

I got to my feet and flung my arms around her. “It’s the best present ever,” I’d said.

It still was.

I swallowed and blinked a couple of times. Whatever secrets Maddie was keeping, I was absolutely positive that she hadn’t killed Arthur Fenety. She didn’t have it in her.

I put my phone away and went back to the table to share what Josh had told me.

“She’s going to spend the night in jail?” Charlotte said, twisting her napkin in her hands.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “Maddie will be arraigned first thing in the morning and Josh doesn’t think there will be a problem with bail. We can all be there.”

Liz was sitting to my right. “Maddie will be okay,” she said. “She’ll be in a cell by herself, unless there’s some kind of a crime wave tonight. The cells are small, but they’re clean.”

She looked around for our waitress, and when she caught the young woman’s eye Liz gestured at her coffee cup.

“I don’t even want to know how you know that,” I said to Liz.

She gave me a sly smile. “No, Sarah, you probably don’t.” She looked across the table at Charlotte. “Maddie will be fine. We’ll all be at the courthouse in the morning, and she’ll be out of there long before lunch.”

“I’ll open up tomorrow,” Mac said.

He was sitting on my left side and I shot him a smile of thanks.

“I can take the morning off school and help,” Avery offered, leaning forward and propping her elbows on the table.

“No, you can’t,” Liz said firmly.

Avery made a face at her grandmother, who made one back at her.

“I appreciate your offer,” I said, “but we’re not that busy in the morning. So go to school, but I could use you in the afternoon, if you really want to help.”

“I do,” Avery said, tucking a strand of cranberry-colored hair behind one ear.

“Good,” I said. “If you’re finished, how about you go find Sam, collect Elvis and wait by the front door?”

“Are you just trying to get rid of me so you can talk about stuff you don’t think I should hear?”

“Because that’s worked so well in the past,” Liz commented.

I picked up my coffee cup and shook my head. “I’m not. I’m just trying to get Elvis out of here without anyone noticing you brought him in here in the first place.”

“Okay, then,” she said, pushing back her chair and getting to her feet.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Liz extend her arm under the cover of the tablecloth and brush Avery’s hand with her own.

“Keep him out of sight, Avery,” I said.

“Yeah, I know.” She flapped a hand at me as she headed in the direction of the kitchen.

My coffee was cold and I was about to drink it, anyway, when our waitress came over with a fresh pot. “Could you bring our check when you have a minute, please?” I asked as she poured.

“It’s already been taken care of,” she said with a smile. She moved around me to top up Mac’s cup.

I turned to Liz. “You didn’t have to do that,” I said.

She smiled and shrugged. “Sorry, kiddo. I didn’t. Someone else beat me to it.”

“Sam,” I said, reaching for a little paper packet of sugar.

“I don’t think so.” Liz pointed a perfectly manicured nail toward Mac. He had one elbow leaning on the table as he talked to Charlotte and Rose.

“Mac?”

Liz added cream to her cup. “When he excused himself to wash his hands just after we got here, I saw him speak to our waitress.”

I leaned back in my chair and folded my hands around my own cup. “That’s really, really . . . nice.”

“Mac’s a pretty nice man,” Liz said. “In case you hadn’t noticed.”

Before I could answer her I caught sight of Avery coming from the direction of Sam’s office. My gym bag was over her shoulder and at least it didn’t seem to be moving. I decided the rest of us should get moving. I didn’t want to push our luck.

I took one last drink of my coffee. “You ready to go?” I asked Liz.

She nodded.

I leaned over and touched Mac on the shoulder. He turned. “Ready to leave?” I asked.

“I am,” he said.

I looked at Rose and Charlotte. “Ready to head home?”

Charlotte glanced at her watch. “I’m ready,” she said. Was she wondering why Nick hadn’t called either one of us? I was.

Rose had started putting on her coat. I heard her make a comment to Liz about Liz’s faux-snakeskin shoes. They weren’t at all practical, waterproof or sensible. Then again, none of Liz’s shoes were. They were gorgeous, though.

Mac was pulling on his jacket. “Thank you for supper,” I said.

There was just a bit of a smile playing on his lips. “How did you know?”

“I have my sources,” I said with an offhand shrug.

“Could we keep it between us?” he asked, checking his pockets for his keys.

“Why don’t you want the others to know you paid for dinner?”

He ducked his head and smiled. “I just don’t want to make a big deal out of it.”

“All right,” I said, pulling on my own jacket. I understood not wanting to make a big deal about some things.

We collected Avery and Elvis and stood outside on the sidewalk to make plans for the morning. “I’m picking up Rose and Charlotte. I can pick you up, too,” I told Liz.

“That’ll be fine,” she said. She held out her car keys to Avery, who had Rose’s towel-wrapped statue under one arm. “You can drive, but no shortcuts this time.”

“My way is faster,” Avery said, taking the keys. “You just don’t want to admit that.” She stood up a little straighter. “Young people have good ideas, too, you know.”

Liz rolled her eyes. “Here we go,” she muttered. She leaned over, nudged my shoulder with hers and said, “I’ll see you in the morning.” Then she started down the sidewalk with Avery. “I didn’t say your ideas were bad,” I heard her say. “I said your shortcuts are bad.”

Mac touched my arm. “It’s a nice night, Sarah,” he said. “I’m going to walk.”

“Okay,” I said. “Thanks for coming and . . . everything.”

“You’re welcome,” he said with a smile. It struck me that Mac should smile more often. “Don’t worry about the shop in the morning. Take as long as you need.”

I tucked my hair back behind one ear. “Thanks,” I said. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

He shrugged. “Well, luckily, you don’t have to find out.” He said good night to Charlotte and Rose and cut across the street. I was guessing he’d take a walk along the harbor front before he went home.

“Sarah, I’m not going home. I’m going to Charlotte’s,” Rose said as I pulled the SUV away from the curb. She was in the back, with Elvis on the seat beside her. Charlotte was in the front passenger’s seat.

“You are?” Charlotte said, half turning around to look at her friend.

“I am,” Rose said firmly. “I know you’re worried about Maddie. So am I. We may as well worry together. Unless you’d rather come stay at Shady Pines with me?”

I glanced at Rose in the rearview mirror. I knew that look on her face. Once she made up her mind about something it was a waste of time trying to sway her.

“I don’t suppose I could just say ‘I’m fine, go home,’” Charlotte said.

“You can say it all you want,” Rose retorted. “I’m still spending the night, unless you think Shady Pines would be more fun.”

“You have to stop calling Legacy Place Shady Pines. They’re going to sue you for slander.”

“Ha!” Rose snorted. “It’s not slander if it’s true.”

“Merow!” Elvis chimed in.

“See?” she said. “Elvis knows I’m right.”

“Elvis is a cat, Rose,” I said, taking my eyes off the road for a split second to look in the rearview mirror again.

“Doesn’t mean he’s not smart,” she countered. “Cats pick up on things we miss. They have very keen powers of observation. He knows there’s something fishy going on at that place.”

Elvis meowed again, probably because he’d heard the word fishy.

“‘Legacy Place, when you’re here you’re home,’ my aunt Fanny,” Rose grumbled.

“You can drop us both at my house,” Charlotte said quietly, the corners of her mouth twitching.

“How early do you think we should be at the courthouse in the morning?” I asked as I waited to turn left at a stop sign.

“I’d like to be there early enough that we can be close to the front, so Maddie can see us,” Charlotte said. “If that works for you.”

“Okay. What if I picked you up at nine thirty? Is that early enough?”

“You’re changing the subject,” Rose said from the backseat.

“Well, I certainly am trying,” I said. I wiggled my fingers at her in the rearview mirror.

She gave me her best angelic little-old-lady smile. “I can take a hint,” she said.

I dropped off Rose and Charlotte, and drove home with Elvis. He stayed in the back, perched in the middle of the seat like he was royalty.

“What is this? The feline version of Driving Miss Daisy?” I asked as I turned onto our street.

He bobbed his head and gave a sharp meow. Okay, so he liked the idea. Why didn’t that surprise me?

I kicked off my shoes and dropped onto the sofa when I got inside my apartment. It had been a long day and I was tired.

Elvis jumped up and stretched out on my chest. I eased my cell phone out of my pocket. Still no call from Nick. I hoped he’d at least called Charlotte by now.

I stroked Elvis’s fur with one hand. “I still think there’s something Maddie’s not telling us, but she didn’t kill Arthur Fenety. Not on purpose. And if she’d killed him by accident, she wouldn’t lie about it.”

He murped his agreement. Or maybe he just liked having his fur stroked.

I folded my other arm under my head. “So, who did kill him?”

Elvis blinked his green eyes at me. Clearly he had no idea.

Neither did I.