Murder Most Howl: A Paws & Claws Mystery (23 page)

“Wagtail friendliness. It even extends to the cats and dogs.”

“I love Wagtail. I love everyone!” she shouted.

Maybe she’d been drinking.

I tried to find the right words. Ones that wouldn’t be construed as offensive. “Can I help you get somewhere?”

“No. Thanks for offering. I like being outside. The snow has started again. Everything is so crisp and clean. I feel . . . I feel like . . . No. I
know
that my troubles are over. I never have to be afraid again. You can’t imagine what a liberating feeling it is to be free of torment.” Blanche gazed at me. “I hope you never have to know.”

“Does this have something to do with Norm?”

“It has everything to do with Norm. I’m sorry, you were probably under his spell like most people are. You only saw the candy-coated outside and never knew what he was really like.”

“I didn’t know him well at all.” What a remarkable difference from the sad Blanche I’d seen the day before. It was as though she was glad to be alive. “I have to walk over to Hair of the Dog for a minute. Feel like walking with Trixie and me?”

“Sure! It’s probably better than twirling in the snow and getting dizzy anyway. Though I still want to make a snow angel. Did you do that when you were a kid?”

“I did! Not in years, though. Maybe I’ll join you.” We started walking toward the other end of town.

“That would be fun. I’m sorry. I’m a little giddy. I’ve been on an emotional roller coaster this weekend. Ian, Geof, Robin, and Char think I’m off my rocker.”

“I’m sure they understand. Norm’s death must have hit you hard.”

“Hit me. Yes, that’s a good way to put it. I was stunned. There was a time when I thought he was charming. He had that delicious Southern accent and exquisite manners! Oh, gosh. He had manners that no one teaches their sons anymore. He swept me off my naive little feet. We married, and he acted as my manager. He took care of everything for me. At the time I thought it was marvelous, but it turned out to be my big
mistake. I was making a lot of money back then.” She sighed. “I never expected him to take everything. The day I left him, he reported our credit cards stolen. I couldn’t even check into a hotel. He cleaned out the bank accounts. I had nothing. You cannot imagine the horror. And New York City is so expensive! I slept in my car. It was terrifying. I will never forgive him those nights of terror. Really, I was worried about moving the car because I might run out of gas, and I had no cash to pay for more, and if it got towed, then I wouldn’t have a safe place to cower.” She paused. “I never hated anyone so much in my life.”

“Then why did you come here?” I asked. “Didn’t you know that Norm lived in Wagtail?”

“Of course I knew. I didn’t want to come. But Geof and Char were all excited about adopting a dog. And then Geof told Ian about Murder Most Howl, and the two of them pushed and pushed me. They love games. Don’t get me wrong, Ian has always been wonderful to me. I think Ian, Geof, and Char never met anyone like Norm. They didn’t mean to dismiss me and my fears, but they tended to think I was a bit of a drama queen when it came to some things—like Norm. They just didn’t have a frame of reference and thought I was embellishing.”

She stopped walking and turned toward me. “Oh, look! Leo’s following us. I love that crazy cat. Holly, I’m sorry I didn’t want to stay at your inn. It’s lovely. I’ve been in Char’s room and in Robin’s. So quaint and charming.” She reached over and placed her hand on my arm apologetically. “I had so many stupid men follow me to my hotel room when I was a model. Men who worked for hotels and inns used to bring me things I hadn’t ordered, just as an excuse to get into the room and meet me. It was awful.”

We started walking again. “Ian found a house for rent in Wagtail. The kind of place I’ve always wanted to live. Big and beautiful with a history.” Blanche pulled her hair back off her shoulders. “Every time we drive by one of those places that’s for sale, I bug Ian about it. So he found one in Wagtail
to lure me. ‘All the glamour, none of the upkeep or cost,’ he said.”

Blanche took a breath and looked me in the eyes under a streetlamp. “To be honest, Ian, Geof, and Char thought it would do me good to see Norm. That it would give me some kind of closure to know that he couldn’t hurt me anymore. That I am in control of my own life, and he is nothing to me.”

She adjusted her glove. “I can’t tell you how much I dreaded this trip. I thought maybe they were right. Maybe I needed to face Norm and take control. I never expected to be so sad when he died. There’s something so final, so irreparable, about death. Dear heaven, how many times did I wish that man a hideous death? And now I find myself in the oddest conundrum of feeling both sorrowful and shamefully giddy at the same time. Freedom from Norm is engulfing me in huge waves. At long last, he truly is in my past. I never expected it to happen like this, though.” She stopped talking for a moment. “Thank you for letting me dump my troubles on you. Hey, would it be a big imposition to stop by our rental house? I’m a little damp from the snow, and I probably ought to change for dinner anyway.”

“Sure, no problem. Where are Geof, Ian, and Char?” I asked.

“Upstairs in Geof and Char’s room. They’re studying the clues about the Baron von Rottweiler. I slipped away by myself.” She smiled. “I just needed a little time enjoying the fresh air and the falling snow, and proving to myself that I have nothing to fear anymore.”

“Is that why you asked to leave the inn by a back door?”

“Thank you for showing us the way. I was terrified of running into him in the dark. That was probably silly of me.”

“What did you think he would do to you?” I asked.

“Call me a cow. Berate me. Make me feel ashamed. Lock me in a closet. Norm could make an angel into a devil just by twisting words. When I think about it now, I don’t understand how he had so much power over me when all the while he is
the one who lived off of me and took the money I made. Ian thinks he felt entitled because he was raised in a mansion with cooks and housekeepers. I certainly wasn’t. I worked hard for every penny I ever made.”

We walked up to the black front door of Randolph Hall and Blanche unlocked it.

Given Blanche’s horrible past with Norm, I couldn’t help wondering why they were staying in a house that belonged to him. Even if Randolph Hall was a fancy mansion, why would they have anything to do with Norm?

She switched on a light in the entrance hall, which wasn’t at all what I had expected.

The black and white marble floor suited the grandeur of the house. But the switchback stairs could have been in any house. They led upward on the right, with white pickets and a black handrail.

I assumed stairs to the basement must have been located beneath them. A small table to my right held a tasteful arrangement of winter greens and bright red berries.

“I’ll just be a minute,” said Blanche.

“Do you mind if I look around?”

She headed up the stairs and called, “Make yourself at home!”

I used my hand to wipe Trixie’s feet. Just in time because she tagged after Leo, who strolled into the living room like he thought he lived there. I wiped my boots on the mat. Who knew when I’d get another chance to see the mansion? I peeked into the living room. It was massive and decorated with beautiful antiques and old-fashioned seating upholstered in faded velvet. I noted that someone had truly loved columns because there were more inside the house.

I walked through it and found myself in the dining room. A bay window gave it charm. The brass chandelier strung with chains of hundreds of crystals took my breath away.

The kitchen on the other side of the house was a strange mix of ultramodern stainless steel and old-fashioned
cabinets. With a start, I realized that this was the room where Shadow had allegedly poisoned Juliana’s food.

Leo startled me by jumping onto the breakfast table next to me. He purred and rubbed his big head against my sleeve. I ran my hand over his head and back.

Things had probably been changed around since that terrible day but my guess was that the commercial-looking stainless steel–topped table in the middle of the room was where the packing had probably taken place.

I peered out the window in the back door. A long garden, now covered in snow, stretched to the rear of the property.

Trixie raced into the kitchen, which excited Leo. He leaped to the floor and darted in and out of the kitchen in a kitty frenzy. Trixie stopped cold, not sure how to play that game. Suddenly, she barked and chased Leo.

“Trixie,” I hissed. “Stop that. Behave yourself.”

She reluctantly returned.

But I noticed that Leo came back, searching for her.

Trixie’s entire body tensed, ready for more fun.

“No!” I said it firmly.

But Trixie still watched Leo’s every move.

And then in one swift motion, Leo batted a toy out from under a pie safe so hard that Trixie’s pent-up readiness finally exploded.

She barked and raced after it.

I followed her. “Give, please.”

Trixie shied away from me.

“Trixie . . .” I warned.

She dropped it on the floor. I picked it up in a hurry before she could change her mind or Leo could bat it again. It was nothing important. Just a blue plastic top to something. I set it on the kitchen counter in case anyone was looking for it.

“Holly?” called Blanche. “Ready to go?”

I whistled for Trixie and hurried back to the foyer. “This is a fascinating house. The chandelier in the dining room is incredible.”

“You know what I like about it? These stairs could be in a farmhouse. There’s an odd mix of country casual and mansion chic in this place. Leo! Here, kitty, kitty!”

Leo came running.

When Blanche opened the door, he seemed to understand that it was time to go and stepped outside. But this time, when we turned toward the pub, he must have had other plans because he scampered in the opposite direction.

We strolled quietly for a moment. “How did you meet Norm?” I asked.

“He came to New York to find his fortune. I just didn’t realize that he thought he’d found it in me. Norm’s family lost everything when he was fifteen. His father had a gambling problem and squandered their money. He went from being the kid who lived in the fancy house and attended private school where he was king, to being the kid in a small apartment with his mother. Suddenly, he was the new kid in public school. That’s where he learned to get by on charm.”

“I had no idea. Must have been hard for him.”

“He kept that part of his life to himself. He tried to cultivate the image of the rich kid.”

“No wonder he bought Randolph Hall. Savannah said he wanted to live there.”

Blanche stopped cold and looked at me, her mouth open. “He owned Randolph Hall?”

“You didn’t know?” I asked.

“I did
not
. I don’t think Ian knew that, either. We never would have stayed there. We picked up the key from a real estate office here in town. Well, well. Isn’t that interesting? It’s a beautiful place. I can see why he would have wanted to live there. It would have been as though he regained the mansion his family lost.” She closed one eye suspiciously. “Wonder how he could afford it. Probably stole money from some other unsuspecting schnook like me.”

Aunt Birdie had said something about a lawsuit. I wasn’t sure I should repeat it. It was probably idle gossip.

“But you were never afraid of him.”

“Physically? Yes, I was. Funny thing—we had been in town about an hour before his current wife showed up. Have you met her? Darling girl.”

“Savannah?”

“That’s the one. The poor child wanted to leave him. Do you know what she said to me?”

I couldn’t imagine. I was stunned that she wanted to leave him.

“She said, ‘You’re the only one who got out alive. How did you do it?’”

“What did you say?”

“Run. I told her to run. She thought that was a joke, so I told her the truth about how I left him. I guess I’m not a very good role model.”

“What did you do?” Illegal ideas flashed through my head.

“When I wasn’t on top of my game anymore, someone turned me down for a shoot because I was too old—sadly still in my twenties—and too fat. I weighed a lot less then than I do now. Norm locked me in the bedroom for three days with nothing but bottled water. I’m lucky I was his meal ticket. He had to let me out because he needed me to work. That was the day I left him. He went with me to a shoot. When I spotted him flirting with some young girl, I took the opportunity to run like crazy. I’ll never forget the panic when I was waiting for the elevator. I thought he would walk out and nab me any second.”

“That’s awful!”

“All those feelings came right back. We saw him standing outside of Randolph Hall while Savannah was there with me. Ian had gone out for a run with the dog, so it was just Savannah and me, cowering inside the house. Well, I was cowering. Savannah seemed a lot braver than me.”

“Did you confront him?”

“No! It wasn’t too long before Ian returned and that coward, Norm, gave up on lurking in a hurry. Will you listen to me? The man is dead and gone, and I’m still talking about him.”

“I guess you always will. He put you through terrible times.”

“And stole all the money I made.”

“But surely you recovered some of your money in the divorce.”

“Not one penny. He had spent every last dime and tried to convince the judge that I should pay back the money he borrowed and conned from other people. It was a hot mess.”

“But you still felt sad when he died.”

“You know, I’m beginning to think it was more shock than sadness. I really hated him. That relationship has haunted me since the day I left him. And now that he’s gone, it’s as though someone opened a window and let in fresh air and sunshine. This will sound corny, but I feel like someone finally lifted a burden off my soul.”

I held the door open for her at Hair of the Dog. Trixie scampered inside, followed by Blanche, and I had one of the weirdest experiences of my life.

Everyone, every single eyeball in that pub, turned to stare at us. The chatter stopped. People whispered and pointed. I’d never been through anything quite like it.