The Whole Cat Аnd Caboodle

Chapter 26

“No sh— No!” Avery said.

Charlotte stared at me, stunned. “Daisy?” she said.

Only Mac seemed to have all the pieces put together. “I heard most of your conversation,” he said. “She saw Mr. P., didn’t she?”

I nodded.

“But the timeline’s wrong.”

“It is,” I said.

Charlotte looked confused. “I don’t understand,” she said.

“Daisy saw Mr. Peterson when he walked down the hall in his—”

“Naked glory,” Avery finished. “I told you someone would see him.” She had a very self-satisfied grin on her face.

Mac shot her a look and she wiped the smile off her face.

“If Daisy’s appointment was when she said it was, she would have been finished and long gone when Alfred did his little walk of shame,” I said.

“But I thought Alfred checked on that appointment time?” Charlotte said.

“He did,” I said. And I was really hoping he’d done it more or less legally. “But he checked the computerized appointment schedule. It’s possible there’s a daily paper schedule that they use in the office and it has cancellations and any other changes.”

“I’ll call Rose,” Charlotte said. “Maybe she and Alfred can find out.”

“Good idea,” I said.

Charlotte headed over to the counter.

“I’ll close up,” Mac said.

I nodded. “Thanks. There’s something I need to do.”

“What?” Avery asked.

“Let’s just say Mr. P. isn’t the only person who knows how to use Google,” I said.

In the end it took a lot less time than I’d expected. When Mac tapped on my door I was leaning back in my chair, looking at the computer screen, with Elvis sitting on the desk, craning his neck sideways so he could see, too.

“Any luck?” Mac asked.

“Yes,” I said.

“What did you find?”

“Arthur Fenety Senior—actually he was Edward Arthur Fenety—was a groundskeeper at a cemetery. He would have likely used pesticides. Years ago most people did. Daisy could have known about the napthathion. If Liz could find out that a lot of people still have it in their sheds and garages, so could Daisy.”

“Are you going to call the police?” Mac asked.

“I don’t really have a lot of proof,” I said with a sigh. “Mr. P.’s backside isn’t really evidence.”

Mac smiled. “No, it isn’t.” He studied my face. “So, what are you going to do?”

“Gram says you catch more flies with honey than you do with brown sugar.”

“You’re going to sweeten the pot,” he said with a smile.

I smiled back at him. “More like the gravy boat.”

• • •

Daisy Fenety arrived at the shop at twenty minutes after eight. I should have worn a track in the floor, I’d walked back and forth so many times after I hung up the phone.

“I can’t believe you got an answer so quickly,” she said to me as I let her in.

“Well, between you and me, money is a little tight for my customer.”

The china gravy boat was nestled in a box of paper shavings. Daisy smiled when she caught sight of it and walked over to the counter.

“I really do have to thank you, Sarah,” she said as she picked up the box. “The gravy boat is a very difficult piece to find.”

“You’re very welcome,” I said. I reached under the counter for the fake bill of sale I’d prepared.

“I’m actually a tiny bit sorry that I’m going to have to shoot you,” she said.

I turned around to see a small silver gun pointed at my chest.

“Take it easy, Daisy. You’ve been under a lot of stress in the past week,” I said, slowly taking a step backward. “Put the gun down and we’ll talk.” It sounded lame even to my ears. Could I run to the storage room before she could shoot me? I got a crazy mental picture of myself bobbing and zigzagging my way to the double doors. Panic was making me stupid. I took a shaky deep breath and let it out.

She shook her head. “You’re a tedious young woman,” she said. “Although you are loyal, I’ll give you that.”

“Shooting me isn’t going to fix anything,” I said, putting my hands in my pockets so she couldn’t see them shake. “How do you know I haven’t already gone to the police?”

“And told them what? You think I killed my brother because I told you I saw a naked man when I went to the dentist?” She gave me a condescending smile. “Do you know what happened after I got home this afternoon?” she asked. “I had a call from the dentist’s office. The receptionist had e-mailed a statement that showed exactly when my appointment had been and how long it had lasted, but she wondered if I wanted to stop by the office for a copy signed by the dentist himself.” The smile reminded me of a crocodile. “Such a conscientious girl.”

That had to have been Rose who had called for the statement. There was no point in bluffing anymore.

“Why did you kill your brother?” I asked. I glanced at the front door.

“You can try to run if you’d like,” she said. “Daddy taught me how to shoot when I was a little girl. I won’t miss.”

I took a shaky, deep breath. “You didn’t answer my question. Why did you kill Arthur?”

“You’re right, I didn’t answer you,” she said. The hand holding the gun didn’t waver and I knew she had every intention of shooting me. I, on the other hand, had every intention of getting out of this alive, and part of that meant keeping Daisy talking. “He’d gone soft. He’d fallen in love for real with that little Florence Nightingale and her organic garden.” She rolled her eyes.

“For years I’d kept the money safe. I invested it. I turned it into more money than any of those vapid women he romanced would have.” Her blue eyes flashed with anger. “He wanted to give it all back. With interest. I was his sister but his newfound conscience didn’t have a problem leaving me with nothing.”

“You set up Maddie.”

She shrugged. “It seemed appropriate. The whole thing was her fault.”

I tried to swallow down the lump in my throat. “Where did you get the bottle of pesticide?”

She gave me a smug smile. “The little stone church down the street from my house.” She shook her head. “The things they have in the groundskeeper’s shed. Heavens. Someone could take out this entire town.”

“So, you followed Arthur to Maddie’s?”

“Yes, I did,” she said gesturing with the little gun. “And I did a much better job of it than that young man Arthur dumped into the bushes.” She smiled. “I waited until Madeline went into the house, and then I went to speak to Arthur.” The smile faded. “I was fair. I gave him a chance to change his mind. He wouldn’t. So what else could I do?” She shook her head. “He was never very observant. He was so busy proclaiming his true love for her that he didn’t see me slip a little something into his coffee. I just walked back through the park and went to the dentist.” She gave me that confident smile again. “I told them I had car trouble. I was very upset. They were very accommodating.” She studied my face for a moment. “Your grandmother isn’t moving, is she?”

“No, she’s not,” I said.

She nodded. “I thought about that afterward. I’m slipping, almost getting taken down by that repugnant, naked little man and you.”

“There’s nothing repugnant about Mr. Peterson,” I said. “But there’s a lot repugnant about you.”

“You’re getting on my nerves, Sarah,” Daisy said, frowning at me.

She was getting on my nerves, as well. My stomach had tied itself into a knot. I heard a sound behind me and Elvis came into the room. He had something large . . . and furry in his mouth. He headed right for Daisy and dropped the furry present on her foot.

She screamed. I dove for the cover of the counter. And Michelle and two other police officers came through the front door, guns drawn.

It was over.

I got up slowly. I’d banged both knees and scraped my hand. But there were no bullet holes in me. Or Elvis.

Nick hurried across the floor to me as I unbuttoned my sweater and pulled at the tape holding the microphone hidden just below my collarbone. “Are you all right?” he asked, putting a hand on my shoulder. He was present only as a civilian and I was surprised that Michelle had agreed to let him be involved at all.

I nodded. “I’m okay,” I said. “Did the police get it all?”

He smiled. “Every incriminating word.”

Michelle was reading Daisy her rights while Elvis watched, one black paw on what I could now see was a stuffed toy, not a real mouse.

The two other officers led Daisy out and Michelle came over to Nick and me, trailed by Elvis.

“You okay?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” I said, buttoning up my sweater again. “Is Maddie in the clear?”

“Yes.” She handed me the china gravy boat. I set it on the counter behind me and bent down to pick up Elvis.

“What did you do?” Michelle asked. “Why did Daisy scream? I thought we agreed no heroics.”

“It wasn’t me,” I said. I gave Elvis a scratch under his chin and he sighed. “It was him.” I pointed to the stuffed toy on the floor. “He came in with that in his mouth and dropped it on Daisy’s foot.”

Nick leaned sideways and squinted at the furry gray lump.

“It’s just a toy,” I said.

“No,” Nick said slowly. “It has feet and they’re moving.”

I took a couple of steps backward. Elvis gave me a self-satisfied smile. It was the only way to describe it. Then he licked my chin and wriggled to get down. I put him on the floor and he walked over to whatever was lying there, picked it up and headed for the front door. No one stopped him.

“Smart cat,” Michelle said to me.

“Don’t tell me you think it brought that mouse in on purpose to distract Daisy Fenety?” Nick said. “C’mon. It’s a cat.”

“I know,” I said. If Elvis could tell when someone was lying—and I was convinced he could—then it wasn’t that much of a stretch to believe his little stunt with the mouse was more than a coincidence.

Nick must have seen something on my face.

He shook his head. “Seriously, Sarah. You don’t really think that cat knew you were in trouble, do you? What? You think Elvis is Lassie and you’re Timmy stuck down a well?”

I frowned at him. “Of course not,” I said. “Elvis is much smarter than Lassie.”