Read Depawsit Slip (Vanessa Abbot Cat Protection League Cozy Mystery Series Book 1) Online

Authors: Nancy C. Davis

Tags: #Amateur Sleuth, #cats, #cozy mystery, #woman sleuth, #mysteries, #detective, #cat

Depawsit Slip (Vanessa Abbot Cat Protection League Cozy Mystery Series Book 1) (6 page)

BOOK: Depawsit Slip (Vanessa Abbot Cat Protection League Cozy Mystery Series Book 1)
11.22Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

“I don’t need a Band-Aid,” he grumbled. “What do you keep an attack cat around for? How’s anybody supposed to buy anything in this shop with these crazy cats around?”

Vanessa went over to the glassware and gathered Flossy into her arms. “She had never done that before. I don’t know what came over her. None of the cats ever attack anybody in the shop. They’re here to help and make people feel better.”

“Help!” he screamed. “That’s a fine way to help.”

“I told you, Walter,” she replied. “None of the cats ever attacked anyone before. I don’t know why Flossy attacked you now. Maybe she just doesn’t like you.”

“Obviously,” he muttered.

“Anyway, let me help you pick out your cake dish.” She set Flossy down on the front counter next to the cash register, well away from Walter. “Tell me what you’re looking for.”

He shook his hand out and turned back to the glassware. “Well, I don’t know. I’m no good at all this wedding stuff. Every suggestion I make seems to make everybody mad.”

Vanessa pricked up her ears. “You’re the bride’s brother. What are you doing making suggestions? You shouldn't even be involved.”

“I’m not involved,” he insisted. “I’m just making suggestions. It seems like they’re going about this all the wrong way.”

“You might think that,” Vanessa countered, “but it’s their wedding. How they do it is up to them.”

“Them and their wedding planner,” he corrected. “Maybe they wouldn’t be doing half the stupid things they’re doing if it wasn’t for her.”

Vanessa straightened up. “You wouldn’t be talking about Penny Cartwright, would you?”

Walter threw up both hands. “I’m not naming any names. I’m just saying you can’t trust someone who doesn’t even know you to plan a wedding for you. She might come up with the most outrageous ideas you can imagine. She might plan a wedding that was completely unsuited to the couple involved.”

“Or,” Vanessa suggested, “She might plan a wedding that is completely unsuited for the bride’s brother, but well suited to the couple involved. There’s a difference.”

“You don’t have to tell me that,” he snapped. “All I said was it could happen.”

Vanessa turned away. “I’m sure it happens all the time. What matters, though, is that you get a cake dish that suits the lunch you’re going to serve. Now, tell me. What sort of event is this bride’s lunch?”

“It’s a picnic in the park,” he replied. “Everyone is going to be sitting on blankets under the trees and eating hotdogs and hamburgers on paper plates.”

“Oh!” Vanessa exclaimed. “Then you don’t want a fancy glass cake stand. You want something sturdy and casual.”

“No, no,” he returned. “I want something impressive. I want to show everyone what style really is.”

“Walter,” Vanessa chided. “Come on. This is not about you impressing everybody. This lunch is a casual get-together in an outdoor setting. Stylish crystal has no place at this lunch. Come over here to the crockery, and we’ll pick out something better.”

Walter frowned and dug in his heels. “No. I’m taking glass and that’s final. What about this one?” He picked up an elevated cake stand in cut lead crystal. “This is perfect. It will take everyone’s breath away.”

Vanessa snorted. “It will topple over the very first time anyone breathes on it. Where are you going to put it—on the grass? Your cake is going to end up as worm food and no one will have a chance to be impressed by it. Here. Take a look at this.”

She picked up a large blue platter from the crockery shelf. Buttercups and dandelions decorated the rim, and a dainty green and white spiral graced the center where the cake would sit.

“This is what you want,” Vanessa told him. “This will never tip over. Feel how solid and durable it is. It’s big enough and rounded enough so your cake will be safe from any accident, and it’s beautiful. This is what you want to impress your guests.”

Walter kept his eyes fixed on his lead crystal cake stand. “This is the one I want. How much is it?”

Vanessa didn’t check the price tag. “Eighty dollars.”

Walter didn’t flinch. “Good.” He set it down on the counter and fished his wallet out of his pocket.

Vanessa put the platter away with a sniff and returned to the cash register. She searched under the counter for some paper and a bag to wrap the cake stand. But before she could find anything, Flossy jumped up onto the counter again and sent the cake stand crashing to the floor. It shattered into a million tiny shards of sparkling glass.

Vanessa gasped. Walter yelled out, “Hey!”

Vanessa stared at the confetti of glass on the floor. Then she smiled. “See what I mean? Now, how about that platter after all?”

Walter narrowed his eyes at Flossy. “Don’t think I’m paying for that.”

“Of course not,” Vanessa replied. “I saw the whole thing.” Vanessa tapped Flossy on the back, just next to her tail. “Bad girl, Flossy. You’re supposed to be helping in the shop, not destroying the merchandise.” Then she burst out laughing.

“This isn’t funny,” Walter bellowed. “Now what am I going to put my cake on?”

Vanessa stopped laughing. “If you really don’t want that platter, and if you really have to have a fancy cake stand, why don’t you drive into the city and get something at one of those expensive department stores? We’re a secondhand shop, not an events center.”

Walter glanced around the shop. “I don’t see anything else here that will work. Now that I’ve seen that one, I know what I want.” He nodded and headed to the door. “I’ll get another one in the city.”

Vanessa let him leave without saying good-bye. After he turned the corner out of sight, she chuckled to herself and patted her cat. “Good girl, Flossy. You showed him.”

She went to the back of the shop to get the broom. She smiled at Henry and Aurora still curled up together. Henry could cure any ill. Flossy went back to her post among the vases. AngelPie mewed down from her shelf.

“But Walter’s not a Mafioso,” Vanessa remarked. “Then again, neither was Alfred. Maybe Penny only used the word Mafioso in a figurative sense.”

Flossy sat down and licked her back. Vanessa swept up the mess.

“What I mean is,” she explained, “maybe she meant this bride’s brother was a Mafioso in the sense that he demands everybody do things his own way. Demanding—you know what I mean.”

AngelPie hopped off her shelf and mewed up at Vanessa.

“Yes, I know it’s lunchtime,” Vanessa told her. “Just let me finish cleaning up here and then we’ll eat.”

She dumped the broken glass into the trashcan and started serving cat food.

“Here’s what I don’t understand,” she went on. “If Penny was complaining about Walter interfering with his sister’s wedding, then what connects her to Alfred? We keep assuming she was complaining about Alfred, and that’s what gave her a motive to kill him.”

Teddy rubbed against her leg.

“Oh, I know making a pest of yourself at someone else’s wedding doesn’t constitute a motive for murder,” she remarked. “But stranger things have happened. Maybe she had some other reason to hate him.”

Chapter 7

Vanessa locked up the shop and hurried down the street toward the bank. She made the usual evening deposit and started to head home. When she got to the bottom of the front steps of the bank, she slowed down when a familiar figure approached out of the foggy dusk.

Pete Wheeler greeted her. “Good evening, Vanessa. How are you?”

She couldn’t help but smile. “I’m just fine, Detective—I mean, Pete. How are you this evening?”

“I’m just fine.” he replied. “Do you mind if I walk you home?”

“Not at all.” They started down the street side by side. “How’s the investigation going?”

Pete made a face. “Not very good. I’m afraid there’s just not much evidence to connect any of the suspects to Alfred Botchweather. Either everyone in this town kept their noses clean, or somebody’s lying to me.”

Vanessa hummed in answer but didn’t look at him.

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “Have you found out anything? Have you had any opportunity to talk to the suspects about the case?”

Vanessa stopped in front of the Opportunity Shop with her keys in her hand. “This is my place.”

He frowned. “Is something wrong, Vanessa?”

She waved her hands. “It’s been a long day. Don’t you have a home to go to?”

Pete stiffened. “Are you trying to tell me something, Vanessa?”

Vanessa sighed. “Listen, Pete. I really appreciate you taking me into your confidence about this case. I’m really flattered that you want my help. But maybe we should keep things professional between us. After all, I’m one of your suspects.”

He brightened up. “Oh, I think I know a murder suspect when I see one. I think I can safely rule you out for the Botchweather murder.”

Vanessa’s shoulders sagged. “If you want to talk to me about this case, why don’t you come inside?”

His face broke into a glorious smile. “I’d love to. I thought you’d never ask.”

“Don’t sound so thrilled,” she shot back. “Just be prepared for wall-to-wall cats.”

“That’s all right with me,” he replied. “I like cats.”

She slid her key into the lock. “That’s what everybody says.”

She led him up the back stairs and into her apartment. The cats called out to her the moment she opened the door. She pushed them out of the way with her foot to make room for Pete to enter.

“You see what I mean?” she asked.

Pete laughed. “You said they were wall-to-wall.”

She put her handbag on the hall table and hung her keys on the hook. Then she took off her scarf and coat and hung them up as well.

“Just wait a minute. I’ll light the fire and then we can settle down and talk.”

Pete took the chair by the fire. He smiled at Henry and Aurora curled up in their place by the hearth. He put out his hand to pet them. Henry raised his head and locked his eyes on Pete. Aurora stared at him, but she didn’t hiss.

Vanessa caught him by the wrist. “I wouldn’t, if I were you.”

Pete retreated to his chair. “Why not?”

“I just got Aurora today,” Vanessa replied. “She was abandoned by the side of the road, and she still doesn’t trust people.”

“Which one is Aurora?” he asked.

Vanessa smiled. “Sorry. I forget sometimes that other people don’t know my cats as well as I do. Aurora is the kitten. The spotted tom is Henry. He’s the one that sleeps in the book section in the Shop. He’s nursing Aurora back to health.”

“What’s wrong with her?” he asked. “She looks happy enough to me.”

“She’s extremely dehydrated and malnourished,” Vanessa told him. “ This morning, she ate her first meal in I don’t know how long. That’s why she looks happy. That, and Henry’s with her. Henry always knows what’s good for everybody.”

“Maybe he can help me solve this case,” Pete suggested.

Vanessa put a log on the fire and sat back in her own chair. Cats immediately swarmed into her lap and shortly after, eight cats rested on top of her thighs and in the pockets at her sides. Ambrosia and AngelPie took a chance with Pete and got into his lap. He stroked and scratched them, and they purred and rubbed him back. He smiled down at them.

“Listen, Pete,” Vanessa said at last. “I really would like to talk to you about this case, but the truth is, that I’m not all that innocent when it comes to Alfred.”

His head shot up. “What do you mean?”

Vanessa blushed. “I lied to you at the bank. I had some unpleasant dealings with Alfred Botchweather. I wish I’d never seen his face, but I’m afraid I have as much of a motive to kill him as anybody else.”

Pete clucked his tongue and shook his head. “You better tell me everything.”

“That’s why I invited you up here,” she replied. “I told you my son Tom knew Alfred at school.”

“Yeah,” he prompted.

Vanessa took a deep breath. “Well, my son made the mistake of borrowing money from Alfred. Money he couldn’t pay back. He got into serious trouble and had to leave town.”

Pete’s eyes blazed in the firelight. “What do you mean by serious trouble?”

“I don’t know what you’ve got in that file of yours downtown,” she went on, “but I suppose I could be the first person to tell you this about Alfred. When Tom didn’t pay his debt, Alfred sent some heavies around to our house. They threatened Tom—and me.”

“Did you tell the police?” Pete asked.

“Oh, wait. Don’t answer that. If you had, there would be a record of it, and there isn’t. So you didn’t tell the police.

What did you do?”

“I paid him off,” Vanessa replied. “I dipped into the Cat Protection League bank account, and it took me almost five years to pay the money back. But I did it, and I sent Tom to live in Montreal where he wouldn’t have anything more to do with Alfred.”

Pete nodded. “Thanks for telling me. I won’t tell you that you should have told me at the bank, but it doesn’t matter. Even if you told me before, I would still think you’re innocent.”

Vanessa’s eyes popped open. “You would?”

“Sure,” he replied. “I know an innocent person when I meet one.”

BOOK: Depawsit Slip (Vanessa Abbot Cat Protection League Cozy Mystery Series Book 1)
11.22Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Peter Pan in Scarlet by McCaughrean, Geraldine
Seeking Carolina by Terri-Lynne Defino
The Best of Galaxy’s Edge 2013-2014 by Niven, Larry, Lackey, Mercedes, Kress, Nancy, Liu, Ken, Torgersen, Brad R., Moore, C. L., Gower, Tina
Bet Me (Finding My Way) by Burnett, R.S
Now and Forever by April King
Stars! Stars! Stars! by Bob Barner
The Long Way Home by Tara Brown