I swung by my favorite grocery store to replenish my cupboards. I planned to serve fondue before our trek down to the New Year’s celebration. Fondue occupied guests and made for a fun leisurely dinner with lots of laughs. Gruyère, white wine, steak to cut into cubes, veggies, and the Sterno that I usually forgot went into my shopping basket. I stopped in front of the cat-food section. I’d been so absorbed in Bonnie’s murder that I’d forgotten about Jasper and Alice. It was odd that no one had taken credit for giving them to me. If I had dropped kittens off, I would have called to check on them. As much as I would love to keep them, Mochie didn’t seem to be adjusting to their presence. I plunked canned cat food into the cart and was selecting coffee and chocolate ice cream for my bombe when my phone rang.
“Sophie!” Laci sounded excited. “I need a favor. A huge favor. Anything you want, I’ll do it—I promise.”
Why did I suddenly find it difficult to swallow?
“In light of the new information about Ginger, Emma, and Dasher, the police are letting Shawna out on bond!”
“That’s great news!” It was. Unless they expected me to put up money for her bond.
“There’s a teensy provision, though. She can’t leave Alexandria.”
“Isn’t her apartment in Alexandria?” I asked, afraid I knew what was coming.
“Just across the line in Arlington, actually. Could she stay with you? Please?”
What could I say? I didn’t really mind, and if the shoes were on my feet, I’d be forever grateful if someone did the same for Hannah. It would be cruel to leave Shawna in jail. “Sure. Should I pick her up?”
Laci squealed and then said, “No, no, no. We’ll arrange everything and bring her over.”
She clicked off and I hurried through the grocery store, picking up extra supplies in case the whole family descended upon me a day early.
The car loaded with groceries, I drove home, past a Santa Claus who’d lost his hat. I pulled over and got out to have a closer look. Sure enough, someone had also removed his jacket. When Daisy and I walked tonight, we would have to bring Santa’s clothes back. Next to him, Mrs. Claus had also been stripped of a few items. Her white locks were missing, as was her skirt. I grimaced. Looked like Marnie wasn’t the only one out pilfering Santa’s threads. The owner of the cute Claus display must be irate.
I took note of my location, and walked to the nearby intersection. To my left, Bonnie’s house was only a couple of blocks away. Immediately to my right and two doors down was the empty building where I’d run into Forrest the day Bonnie died. The fact that Forrest and Marnie had both been in the vicinity of Bonnie’s house around the time of her death seemed significant, but I couldn’t tie the facts together in a way that made sense. They could have been there at different times, though I’d thought Forrest might be waiting for someone. Had he planned to meet Marnie?
Ohhh, I did not want to go there
. Surely there wasn’t an affair brewing between the two of them.
Marnie had acted devastated by Phil’s attraction to Bonnie. Could her odd behavior have been due to guilt over an affair with Forrest? What if he had tampered with the music box to kill Ginger so he could be with Marnie? It was the perfect setup. He could have ditched the deadly music box before the police came and they never would have known the source of the poison gas. The mere thought made my head spin.
“Hi.”
I looked up to find Forrest standing next to me, and shrieked like I’d seen a killer. “Oh! I’m so sorry. You surprised me.”
“We have to stop meeting this way.”
It was a joke, of course. Or was it? Could he mean it in a threatening way?
He carried a bulging environmentally friendly grocery bag. Biting the tip of the finger of a glove on the free hand, he pulled off his glove, unwound the muffler from his neck, and casually stuffed it on top of the bag as if he wanted to hide the groceries that peeked out of it. The palm of his hand glowed red—much as Laci’s had from making the Red Velvet Cake.
“Thanks for being so nice to Edward today.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“Just taking the time to listen is something, especially since he feels like his entire life is falling apart. Having his mother and sister accused of murder will mar him for life, and I don’t know how to make it any better for him.” Forrest certainly seemed sincere. Rather abruptly, he said, “I’d better get going.” He crossed the street, going back the way he came, away from the building where I’d seen him before.
That man was hiding something. I just hoped it wasn’t murder.
I returned to my car and drove to the intersection where I’d spoken with Forrest. I stopped for the light behind another vehicle just in time to see Forrest, wearing a big cat-ate-the-canary smile, striding briskly across the street past the spot where we’d spoken, in the direction of the empty building where I’d seen him before.
TWENTY-FIVE
From
“Ask Natasha”
:
Dear Natasha,
My wife watches your show faithfully and strives to do everything you suggest. Perhaps you could help me with her car. The passenger seat is piled with makeup and jewelry. The gearshift acts as a holder of necklaces and bracelets. The backseat is loaded with children’s books, toys, assorted shoes, lost French Fries, and half-eaten chicken nuggets, not to mention the packets of ketchup that fly around.
—Wiseguy in Wiseman, Arkansas
Dear Wiseguy,
Cars are not moving closets. They should contain a flashlight, a small first aid kit, no more than three CDs, and a blanket in the winter. Anything else left in the car should go into a trash can—even if you have to do it for her. She will soon learn to remove extraneous items each time she comes home and won’t have a problem with clutter anymore.
—Natasha
The light took forever to change. By the time I turned right and cruised by the empty storefront, Forrest had disappeared. I didn’t know what bothered me more—that he felt he needed to deceive me, or that he was clearly up to something.
I drove home and unloaded groceries, promising Daisy we would go for a walk very soon. I had to get my New Year’s Bombe started first. A Bauer family favorite, the bombe featured a frozen raspberry interior covered with layers of coffee ice cream and chocolate ice cream. When sliced, the pink center surrounded by the café au lait color and then the deeper chocolate made for a beautiful presentation. I’d left the chocolate ice cream on the counter while I put away groceries. It had softened enough for me to run a knife around the edge of the containers and slide the cylindrical chunks of ice cream onto a cutting board. I sliced them into half-inch rounds and pressed the frosty chocolate into a bowl, starting with the bottom and working my way to the top, until the entire bowl was lined with a layer of ice cream. Working fast, I pressed a top onto the bowl and stashed it in the freezer to firm up.
Daisy sprawled on the floor, her eyes half-closed, so I took a few extra minutes to work out the path the music box had taken.
It appeared that Emma had bought it. There was the possibility that she had unwittingly purchased a music box that already contained poisonous gas. Unlikely, but still a possibility. While it was in Emma’s possession, Dasher, who had every reason to dislike Ginger, could have installed the poison. I didn’t know why I was so reluctant to imagine that Emma could have wanted to kill her mother. Maybe I felt sorry for her because of the way Ginger treated her. I had to face facts, though. Emma could have installed the poison herself.
Emma sent it to Tom Thorpe, who made no secret of his hatred for Ginger. Tyler could have had access to it during that time, too.
Tom delivered it to Ginger, after which Forrest and Edward could have tampered with it.
Ginger rewrapped it and gave it to Natasha, in spite of, or possibly because of, their disagreements about decorating the community center. While it was in Natasha’s possession, Mars could have tinkered with it. But I felt certain I could scratch Mars off the suspect list. I knew my ex-husband well enough to know he couldn’t hammer a nail in the wall, much less set up poisonous gas inside a music box.
Natasha gave it to Shawna, who rewrapped it with Natasha’s snowman. Shawna left it on the table at Bonnie’s party where anyone could have picked it up and fooled with it. Actually, wasn’t that when Marnie went missing?
Soft mewing complaints attracted my attention. I followed the sound into the sunroom and caught Mochie in the act of carrying Jasper. Just like a mother cat, Mochie held Jasper by the scruff of fur on his neck and was depositing the kitten in the basket in which they’d arrived.
Utterly surprised, I waited to see what would happen. Mochie scampered away and returned with Alice, whom he also placed in the basket. When he was finished, he sat next to the basket, washed his front paws, and then stared at me.
I wished I could see inside his little cat head to know what he was thinking. I had the notion he thought he’d packed up his cat company and it was time for them to go home.
In any event, I didn’t think I should leave him alone with them. I took the basket to the sofa in my den and left the kittens there, safely behind closed doors. Mochie rubbed against my ankles. I picked him up, and for the first time in days, he head-butted me and purred.
I wished our music-box problems could be solved as easily. I fed Mochie some leftover turkey and put on my coat. Grumbling about the number of people who could have arranged for the poison in the music box, I grabbed the Santa hat and jacket that Marnie had worn, latched a leash to Daisy’s harness, and struck out for the Santa and Mrs. Claus who were missing clothing.
We had just crossed the street that ran along the side of my house when I pulled Daisy to a halt. No doubt about it—Ginger Chadwick was driving her vanilla latte-colored Cadillac along my street at a snail’s pace. I didn’t think she noticed me, even though she leaned forward and appeared to be scoping out the area. She’d mentioned an interest in a house for sale in Natasha’s neighborhood. Had she turned her attention to moving in order to get her mind off her other troubles?
I gave the leash a little tug, and Daisy gladly resumed forward movement with occasional stops for particularly enticing scents.
To an outsider, the Chadwick family seemed to have everything. Forrest was employed and, from the looks of things, made a considerable income. They lived in a nice house and neighborhood. Yet trouble clearly brewed under the surface. Edward was a sweet kid, but saddled with the burden of hiding everyday activities from his mother so he wouldn’t incur her wrath. Forrest didn’t agree with his wife’s tough-love attitude toward their daughter, and Emma suffered from her mother’s contempt. And then there were Forrest’s mysterious repeated appearances in Old Town.
Daisy and I reached Santa and Mrs. Claus. I stepped behind a small red sleigh. The Santas and their sleigh were neatly displayed in the curve of elegant stairs that led to the front door of a historic town house. Working fast, I stuffed Santa’s arms into the sleeves of the jacket, pulled it up over his shoulders, and buttoned it. I slid the belt around his middle and fastened it, glancing at the window of the house in the hope no one would catch me.
So far, so good. I jammed the hat on Santa’s head and had a feeling that it ought to be secured with a pin or something, but I hadn’t come prepared. I hoped a strong wind wouldn’t carry it away. Poor Mrs. Claus still wore exposed bloomers since her skirt had disappeared, and underneath her hat, her cloth face was bald as it could be. At least this time around, I didn’t think Marnie had anything to do with the missing clothing.
I thought I heard footsteps inside the house. “Quick, Daisy!” We ran for the corner and turned right without looking back. Breathing hard, I paused and leaned against the brick wall of a building. Daisy wagged her tail, and when I bent to pet her, she licked the tip of my nose.
I slid down the wall a bit and hugged her. When I stood, she tugged me along the street, and stopped in front of the empty building where I’d seen Forrest the night of Bonnie’s death.
The early dusk of winter had begun to descend on Old Town. I peered through the plate glass storefront but couldn’t see much. Daisy’s ears perked up, though, and I listened. Was that laughter?
Hurrying, Daisy and I jaywalked across the street. From our new vantage point, I had a better view of the second and third floors of the old building. In the semidarkness, white woodwork glowed against the redbrick walls. The glass panes shimmered, almost black, so the flash of a light inside was shockingly obvious. My breath caught in my throat, and I waited for another sign that someone was on the second floor. I was about to give up when I saw it. This time more than a flash—one window glowed with a warm light, steady and continuous, and then, the light clicked off.
I continued watching, thinking about Forrest—and Marnie. I pulled out my cell phone and called George’s house. My mom answered the phone and launched into an excited discourse about Shawna.
“Mom,” I interrupted. “Is Marnie there?”
A moment of silence followed on her end. “What do you want from Marnie?”
“Nothing. I just want to know if she’s there.”
More silence. “I don’t understand you, Sophie, but I’m sure you have your reasons. Dad and Phil and I are here with Jen. We’re playing Cat-opoly. Santa brought it to Jen for Christmas, well, late of course ...”
“Mom!”
“George and Laci went to arrange for bail and pick up Shawna, but they told Marnie she couldn’t go with them. I think Laci was afraid her mother might act up again—she’s been so unpredictable. She’s supposed to meet them in Old Town at your house. Isn’t she there yet?”
“I’m out walking Daisy. Guess I’d better get home.” I promised to call her later and hung up. With a last lingering look at the window, I hurried along the sidewalk with Daisy. Though if Marnie was where I thought she was—with Forrest—there really wasn’t any need to rush home.