Diva 04 _ Diva Cooks a Goose, The (26 page)

I dashed toward Kenner to see the weapon up close.

He grinned at me, as though he thought I was eager to see him. Trying not to meet his gaze, I focused on the crutch he held. “Is this from the crime scene?”

“Do you recognize it?” he asked. “It’s sort of peculiar.”

It would seem that way out of context but I’d seen it in a Christmas display. “It’s Tiny Tim’s crutch. That’s why there’s a metal stake on the end—to secure it in the ground. I bet Mrs. Santa hit Natasha over the head with it.”

Kenner stroked his mouth and chin. “Tiny Tim, huh?” He held it vertically. “Life-size and pretty realistic. The only place I’ve seen Tiny Tim this season is on Ginger Chadwick’s lawn.”

I was glad he figured it out, and that I wouldn’t have to rat on her. “She must have dropped it when Daisy chased her.”

“Better watch that dog. She has vicious tendencies.”

“She does not! She’s mostly hound, and she’s as sweet a dog as you’ll find anywhere. She loves everyone.”

“Apparently not me or Ginger Chadwick.”

So he thought Ginger had attacked Natasha! If they could tie her to the poison in the music box, she would be arrested and we would all breathe easier. Kenner turned to speak to another cop, and I took that opportunity to slip around the corner and down to the alley that ran behind Natasha’s house.

I spent the next half hour creeping through the withered remnants of Natasha’s garden. Bare rosebushes and twisting vines waited for spring, but no kitten hid among them. Cold air pierced my trousers, and my thighs felt leaden. Poor little Jasper. I left and walked slowly through the alley to the other end of the block, flashing my light in all possible crevices. I hoped Daisy would find him, because I was having no luck at all.

I rounded the corner and walked home. Orbs of flashlight beams skittered along my block like fireflies in the summer. I met up with Vegas, Daisy, and Mars.

“If you were Jasper, where would you go?” asked Vegas.

Good question. “I think I’d huddle under a porch, out of the wind.”

“That’s what Mars said.”

“Daisy didn’t smell him anywhere?” I asked.

Mars handed me the leash. “I hate to give up on the little fellow, but I think I’d better get Vegas and Natasha home. It’s getting late.”

Whoa! How paternal.
I wasn’t used to Mars thinking along those lines. He sounded like my dad.

“But you’ll keep looking, won’t you?” begged Vegas.

I promised I would. Daisy and I watched them walk to my front door to collect Natasha.

An hour later, my fingers grew stiff in spite of my gloves, and even Daisy had lost the spring in her step. I returned to my house and the warmth of my kitchen to thaw.

George, Marnie, and Shawna had very kindly cleaned up the kitchen. Laci stood in front of the fire, holding her hands out to warm them.

“Shawna has been telling us about her adventures in incarceration,” said George, eliciting a dirty glare from Laci.

I dropped my jacket and gloves on a chair and joined Laci in front of the fire. There was something that had been bugging me. I turned my back to the fire and faced Shawna. “Didn’t you tell the police that you regifted the music box?”

Shawna gulped. “I did, but not at first, and by the time I did, they didn’t believe me. See, when I first decided to give the box to Bonnie, I couldn’t admit to Beau that I regifted it. What would he have thought? He loved his mother so much, and I wanted to give her something special.” She lowered her gaze in shame. “I told him I found it at an antiques store just off of King Street.”

Marnie rubbed her daughter’s arm. “You know better than to regift, but under the circumstances, I think anyone would have done the same. Bonnie was hard to please, wasn’t she?”

Shawna raised her voice in her own defense. “I’d bought her something else—fuzzy sock-like booties—and put them in a Christmas bag! But Natasha has divine taste, and the music box and wrapping were so beautiful. Bonnie loves ... loved antiques, and I don’t know a thing about them, but I know when something is pretty and special. So when the police asked me where I got it, I stuck with that story. I didn’t want Beau to know the truth, and I thought it would be better to be consistent. Later, when I told the cops that Natasha had given me the box, Beau said I was lying. I guess it wasn’t until my lawyer said other people were confirming Natasha’s involvement that they checked it out.”

I left the warmth of the fire to take the last container of ice cream from the freezer to thaw enough to slice it.

“Natasha is such a celebrity, too,” said Marnie. “Saying she gave you an expensive gift was like saying a movie star gave it to you. No wonder they didn’t believe you.”

That figured, but if the gas was already present, why didn’t it kill Shawna? “Didn’t you play the music?”

“I turned the little handle, but it seemed sort of stuck, and I didn’t want to mess it up since it looked like an antique. Besides, I didn’t have it very long. I barely had time to rewrap it, though I thought I did a good job of using Natasha’s fancy gift wrap.”

It all sounded plausible to me. I sliced the ice cream and pressed it across the top of the bombe, which would actually be the bottom of the bombe when I turned it out onto a serving dish.

Shawna had been desperate for Bonnie’s approval and a marriage proposal from Beau. Even if she had meant to kill Bonnie, which I doubted, she had been with George and Laci when Natasha was attacked, so it seemed more likely that Ginger might have been the clever person who installed the poison in the music box. I replaced the top of the bowl and slid it into the freezer to firm up for serving the next day.

Shawna and Marnie went up to bed, leaving Laci, George, and me to worry about little Jasper.

“I thought you were going home,” I said to George.

He rinsed a glass at the sink. “Jen has three competent and doting grandparents keeping her busy. Laci is the one who needs me most right now. I’m sleeping with one ear open, just in case Marnie and Shawna try to pull a fast one and leave for Pennsylvania.”

Laci held Alice on her lap and stroked the tiny kitten with a gentle hand. “Do you think Jasper can survive the cold?”

I opened my mouth to say “no way” but George spoke first. “Animals have instincts, honey. He’ll curl up somewhere. For all we know, someone might have found him and right now he’s fast asleep in a cozy bed.”

Laci nodded and headed up to bed with Alice.

I wanted to think George was right. “Do you really think that?”

He looked out the window. “Don’t you see the hollows under Laci’s eyes? She has to get some sleep.” He turned to face me, and patted Daisy. “The only thing we have going for us is that Marnie and Phil live in another state. I can’t wait until they pack up their problems and take them home, and my family can get back to life without constant drama.”

I checked the doors to be sure they were locked, and the two of us walked upstairs, followed by Daisy and Mochie. I changed into warm flannel pajamas that my mother insisted would keep me single for the rest of my life, and snuggled under the down comforter on my bed. Mochie walked over, settled on my chest, and purred. As I ran my hand over his silky fur, I wanted to cry about Jasper. I knew it wasn’t Natasha’s fault that someone bashed her over the head, causing her to drop the basket with the kittens, and I felt
sooooo
guilty for worrying more about Jasper than about Natasha, but she was probably in her bed, all toasty, and poor little Jasper might not survive the night. If she hadn’t been so furphobic and hadn’t carried the kittens back and forth, Jasper wouldn’t be out in the freezing cold. Mochie had enough petting and stretched out near my feet. For one hour, I tossed and turned.

If there was anything I hated, it was being totally exhausted and unable to sleep. I finally gave up when I heard the front door shut. Hannah must have come home. Daisy bounded down the stairs ahead of Mochie and me, but when we reached the foyer, there was no sign of Hannah.

We walked through the dark kitchen and the sunroom, but I didn’t see anyone. What if Marnie and Shawna had slipped past George?

I dashed up the stairs to the room I’d prepared for Shawna. Opening the door ever so quietly, I peered inside. A lump lay in the middle of the bed. That was an old trick. Every kid in the world knew to plump up pillows so it looked like someone was in the bed. I tiptoed in for a closer look. Shawna slept, emitting tiny little snores.

So why had I heard the front door shut? I returned to the foyer and opened the door to look outside. Laci scurried up to the door, holding her coat closed against the blustery weather. The wind blew wild snowflakes inside, prompting me to shut the door quickly behind her.

Smiling, she unfastened her coat and revealed Jasper. “I can’t believe it. I went out to look for him again, and when I called his name, he came running up to me!” Tears rolled down her face. “You knew I would be looking for you, didn’t you, Jasper?”

Daisy wagged her tail in approval, but Mochie hissed and shot up the stairs.

I had a feeling Laci’s tears were for more than the kittens, but I didn’t mind one bit, especially since I had a feeling Jen would finally be getting the kittens she’d wanted so badly.

When Laci could bring herself to release him, Jasper chowed down on kitty tuna until I thought his little tummy couldn’t hold any more.

“Everything is going to be okay now,” murmured Laci. “This is a sign. My family will be fine.”

I’d never heard Laci talk about signs. She always had her lists and seemed so no-nonsense. Maybe she had another side that she didn’t show as often.

The kitchen door banged open and Hannah burst in, bringing a cold gust with her.

“It’s horrible out there!” Laci shielded little Jasper with her hands.

“Is it?” said Hannah. “I hadn’t noticed.” She dropped her coat on a chair and floated to the fridge. “White wine, anyone?”

Laci’s eyes met mine and we giggled. There was no denying the dreaminess of a new infatuation.

“Actually,” said Laci, “I’d like more of the glühwein if there’s any left.”

“I missed that?” cried Hannah.

I poured the leftover wine into a pot to warm. “You missed more than wine.” I placed gingerbread dogs and heart-shaped Linzer cookies on a platter and set it on the table. While Laci brought Hannah up-to-date about the kittens and Natasha, I revived the fire from the embers.

I divided the spiced red wine into three glass mugs, turned on the tiny Christmas lights, and doused the other lights. The fire crackled and cast shadows on the walls in my cozy kitchen.

“
Mmm
, I love the raspberry jam in these Linzer cookies.” Hannah took another bite. “Well, I have to say that I never expected anyone to go after Natasha. This changes everything.”

I gripped the mug in my hands to warm up. “Unless Natasha was attacked by someone who doesn’t agree with her proclamation that pink and turquoise are the new red and green, I think the killer might have made a big mistake tonight. If we can find out who doesn’t have an alibi, we’ve got him.”

“Or her,” added Hannah.

“Yes, please! Let’s do that. If we could just nail the real killer, Shawna would be totally cleared.” Laci sat back in her chair like she was tired. “And we know she didn’t try to strangle Natasha because she was in the car with George and me at the time.”

“Forrest and Ginger were in the area, because I saw both of them.” I tried one of the gingerbread dogs, savoring the mild tang of the spices.

“And Tom was here to visit the kittens,” mused Laci. “Who does that leave?”

I ate more of the cookie quickly so I wouldn’t be tempted to mention her mother. Marnie had been mercurial at best, and I wasn’t about to eliminate her from my private list.

“We can write off Emma and Dasher. They’ve been gone for days,” offered Hannah.

“Tyler?” I said.

Laci frowned. “I have trouble imagining that Tyler or Edward could be involved.” She raised her eyebrows and cocked her head. “But that’s the point of all this. Maybe we can’t cross them off as suspects. We can ask around, find out where they were when Natasha was attacked.”

“Have we missed anyone?” I sipped the wine, thinking I should make some for Wolf when he came back.

“Uh, what about Phil?” Hannah leaned a bit like she thought she might have to duck.

Laci must have been more tired than I thought. She barely fought back. “Dad? I don’t think so. He’s such a teddy bear.”

“He was with Mom and Dad shortly before the attack on Natasha. He probably could have made it here, time-wise, but they would have noticed that he left. I suspect Mom will confirm he was with them the whole time.” Now if only we knew where her mother had been.

Agreeing that we would ask some discreet questions in the morning, I tamped out the fire and Hannah cleared the table, while Laci looked for Jasper. She took him up to bed with her. Daisy and I walked upstairs, followed by Hannah, who whispered, “I thought Laci didn’t want any pets.”

“Sometimes they wriggle into your heart when you least expect it.”

Hannah continued up the stairs and I peeled off to my bedroom, where I snuggled under my down comforter with Daisy and Mochie curled on top of it.