Kitty Litter Killer (6 page)

“I—I told him to get lost.” Her nose was running, and I searched my pockets for a tissue but came up empty-handed. “It was like he was stalking me,” she said. “I didn’t tell anybody. Not even Eric. I just couldn’t tell him. Not yet.”

“Oh, Abs. . .” My voice trailed off. She was wrong if she thought nobody knew. Someone always knows. Especially in this town. Unfortunately, the ones who didn’t know were the people she should have told to begin with.

“What am I going to do?” She hiccupped.

“I don’t know.” I wouldn’t say what I was really thinking—like this wasn’t a good way for the detective to find out his fiancée had been in touch with her estranged ex-husband and kept it a secret. Especially so close to their wedding day.

I tugged at Abbie’s arm. “Come on. We need to go inside. We’ve already messed up the crime scene.”

“Crime scene?” Her eyes grew wide. “You don’t think this was a hunting accident?”

I glanced around. The church was in an isolated location, a no-hunting zone, next to the woods. It was hunting season. “Maybe. I guess it could have been.” But even as I said the words, I didn’t believe them. Something inside me was tingling. I wasn’t sure why, but my gut told me this wasn’t an accident.

Chapter Four

Forty minutes later, the building was crawling with deputies, emergency workers, and then the medical examiner guy. I knew the drill. We had all been separated and given an initial interview. I sat in a front room of the church hall with a bored deputy watching over me.

I kept glancing out the window. Unfortunately, the view was of the front parking lot, not the back. I watched vehicles arriving, including several state police cars. I wondered why they were here.

My thoughts were muddled. Questions tumbled one over the other in my head. Like how did Philip get here? There hadn’t been any cars in the parking lot when I came.

From the corner of my eye, I saw another sheriff ’s office car pull up. A familiar Santa Claus–like figure got out. Corporal Nick Fletcher. I had been wishing Eric was here, but the corporal was just as good. He was one of Eric’s best friends, as well as a close working companion.

He entered the building, and I hoped he’d come find me. I wasn’t disappointed. I heard footsteps outside the room, then the door swung open. He walked in, and I shot to my feet.

He nodded at the deputy, eyes dark under drawn brows and deep furrows in his forehead. “Hey, Mrs. C.”

“Corporal Fletcher. I’m so glad you’re here.”

A brief, warm smile passed over his lips. “Always good to see you, but I have to say, I don’t like the circumstances. Better if it was social. Like Abbie and Eric’s wedding.”

“Isn’t that the truth,” I said.

He shook his head. “This is bad.”

His tight inflection said it all. Anxiety clawed at my brain. “Was Philip shot by accident?”

He and the younger deputy exchanged brief glances before Fletcher answered me. “Any kind of death like this is treated as suspicious until proven otherwise.”

“Are you helping with the investigation, then?”

He shook his head. “I’m not here officially. Eric called and asked me to stop by to make sure Abbie was okay.”

“I don’t understand,” I said. “Why aren’t you official?”

The deputy behind me stared at the wall.

“You gotta understand, Mrs. C. It’s a conflict of interest. The victim is the ex-husband of my superior officer’s fiancée. I can’t be involved.”

“Does that mean Eric can’t be involved in the investigation, either?”

“Absolutely not. In fact, they’ve already brought in the state police.”

“The state police? That’s why they’re here?”

He nodded. “That way, our agency can’t be accused of conflict of interest.”

“Well, at least Abbie couldn’t have done it.” I took a deep breath. “Neither could I. We weren’t anywhere near here.”

I thought he’d look relieved, but he didn’t. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

He shifted on his feet, and his belt creaked. “Things aren’t always that easily dismissed. They’re going to be extra careful not to show favoritism since Abbie is involved and she’s Eric’s fiancée.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“She’ll be treated fine if things are as they seem, but they can’t afford to lose a case due to poor investigation. And the investigation will include looking into the lives of everyone involved. Now I’d better go see what’s going on.” His lips were set in a grim line. “You gotta stay out of this, Mrs. C. I’ve had about enough of rescuing you from the hands of murderers.”

The deputy opened the door for Corporal Fletcher, who disappeared.

“Do you know how long I’m going to be here?” I asked the deputy.

“No, ma’am,” he said.

“I need to make a phone call.”

He inhaled and frowned.

The tense atmosphere made me cranky. “I just need to tell my husband where I am so he doesn’t worry. Is that okay?”

He sighed. “Yes ma’am. I need to listen, though.”

“That’s fine. I don’t care who hears.” He’d be bored to tears by my conversation, I was sure.

When Max picked up the phone, I heard Chris crying in the background.

“Hi, honey,” I said. “Things okay there?” I wasn’t sure how to tell him I was once again involved in a crime.

“Yes.” He sighed. “I’ll be glad when teething is over. Chris is so much louder than Sammie ever was. Although I’m beginning to wonder if this is just his personality. And Charlie’s snake escaped. We’re still looking for it.”

Neither fact surprised me. “I’m sorry, honey. Chris isn’t an easy baby. And Charlie has taken to walking around the house with his snake. Then he puts it down to do something and forgets about it.” I felt the deputy’s gaze on me.

“Hang on, Trish,” Max said. I heard the muffled voices of my kids through the receiver. “Honey, I have to go. Will you be home soon?”

“I’m not sure. I have something to tell you.” I took a deep breath, worried about Max’s reaction to Philip’s murder.

“Hang on again,” he said. I heard his hand cover the receiver and then his muffled voice. “Charlie! Tell me you did not put your snake in Karen’s room.” He paused. “Go get it now.” His hand rustled on the receiver. “Okay, I’m back. Now, what?”

“Um, Max, something bad has happened.”

There was a slight pause on his end. “Worse than a missing snake, a teething baby, and an angry teenager?”

“Yes. Much worse.”

He inhaled. “What?”

“Philip is dead.”

Max didn’t say anything for a second. I could almost hear his brain clicking.

“That’s Abbie’s ex-husband,” I said.

“Oh, wow.” Max paused. “That’s too bad. Was he in an accident?”

“No.” I glanced up at the deputy and decided not to say anything more about Abbie.

“What happened?”

I swallowed. “He was, ah, shot. Killed.”

“You mean, on the job? He was still a police officer, right?”

“I think he was, but no, it wasn’t job related—that I know of.”

Max’s breath hissed in the receiver. “He was murdered?”

“I don’t know.”

“You mean, he was in town?” Max asked. “Here?”

The deputy cleared his throat.

“Max, I have to go.”

“Wait. Tell me you didn’t find the body. Please?”

I picked my nails. “Well, not exactly.”

“Not exactly?”

“No.” Movement in the parking lot caught my attention. Another police car had arrived. This one unmarked. A woman built like a bulldog stepped from the vehicle. I watched her stride toward the building.

“Where are you?” Max’s tone was a mixture of concern and irritation.

“I’m at Ma’s church fellowship hall. And no, I didn’t find Philip. My mother found him.”

“Your mother. . .what? She found him at church?” Chris’s wails in the background grew louder.

“Yeah. He was in the back on the pavement behind the church hall.”

“Shot?” I heard Charlie’s voice in the background and Karen yelling at him. “There’s no way you could have been involved, right?” Max asked breathlessly.

My poor husband. He’s always having to pick up the pieces when I do something outrageous.

Somebody walked into the room behind me, but I didn’t pay attention. “No. No way.” “Good,” Max said.

“Mrs. Cunningham, you need to get off the phone,” the deputy said. “We need to take you to the sheriff ’s office for questioning.”

My stomach clenched, and I nodded. “Max, I’ve got to go. They want to question me at the sheriff ’s office.”

“Do you want me to come down there and meet you?”

“No. I’m fine.” I stood to follow the deputy. I could just imagine Max in the foyer of the sheriff ’s office with a screaming baby, Sammie, Charlie, and a snake.

“All right, baby. Call me as soon as you can. I love you.”

“Okay, and I love you, too.” I hung up and stuck the phone in my pocket.

Quite awhile later, at the sheriff ’s office, a deputy walked me to an interview room. Having been involved with two other murder investigations, I knew the drill. But the bad thing was, I’d finally gotten used to Detective Eric Scott, and he wasn’t there. I was going to have to deal with someone new.

I waited for a few minutes, biting my nails, wondering where Abbie was. Then the woman I’d seen exiting her car at the church hall rolled into the room like a Mack truck, shutting the door behind her. She carried Abbie’s book in a plastic bag.

The skin on her face had seen more sun than moisturizer or makeup. I imagined she intimidated most people with her size and her attitude. When I meet someone with a chip on their shoulder, I always want to knock it off, and hers was so large, it would be a fun challenge.

I had a sudden, vivid memory from high school, when I rumbled with a girl who reminded me of this woman. She had insulted Abbie, who was shy and wouldn’t stand up for herself. Although bruised and a little bloody, I’d prevailed in the fight, despite our differences in size, much to my delight and my parents’ chagrin.

Given that I felt the same way about the woman standing in front of me right now, I could tell the Lord still had a lot of stuff to work out of me.

“Mrs. Cunningham?”

I stared up at her. “Yes?”

“Thank you for waiting for me. I’m Detective Reid with the state police. We’re temporarily using the sheriff ’s office for interviews.”

“You’re welcome.” Like I had a choice? My antenna was up. Her eyes were flat and unemotional, and she eyed me like a praying mantis would size up its prey. She was a force to be reckoned with, and I hoped I was up for the job.

She yanked out a chair and sat down. Then she pulled out a notebook and pen from her pocket. She ran the tip of the pen slowly down several pages, as though reading her notes. I knew she was faking.

“So, Mrs. Cunningham.” She glanced up quickly. “Did you know the deceased?”

“Yes, I did.”

She stared at me. “How did you know him?’

“He is. . .was. . .the ex-husband of my best friend, Abbie Grenville.”

“Uh-huh.” She ran her pen down the list again. Then stared at me from eyes untouched by makeup. “How well did you know him?”

I shrugged. “I hadn’t seen him in years. So—not well anymore, I guess.”

“Years,” she repeated. “So that means you haven’t seen him lately?”

“Yes. That’s what that means.” I wished with all my heart that Eric would walk into the room and take over the questioning.

“Were you aware of his recent whereabouts?”

“If by that you mean, was I aware that he was in town? Yes. But I hadn’t seen him.”

She continued her interrogation, asking me detailed questions about my steps from the time I arrived at the church to the time the first deputy came on the scene. I had to describe Philip’s body and what Abbie had done when we were outside.

When I was done with my recitation, she inhaled and exhaled slowly and then dangled Abbie’s novel in the plastic bag in front of my eyes. “Is this yours?”

“No,” I said. “It isn’t.”

It wasn’t Abbie’s. It wasn’t mine. It wasn’t my mother’s. Whose was it? I wondered if the detective was going to read it. If so, it wasn’t going to look good for Abbie. An ex-spouse shooting an ex-spouse?

“What time did you arrive at the church hall?” she snapped.

“Around four,” I said.

“When you arrived, was Abbie Grenville there?”

“No,” I said.

“When did she arrive?”

“About fifteen minutes after my mom and I got there.” I met Detective Reid’s cold, watchful gaze.

“And had she been there earlier?”

“Yes,” I said. My thoughts dropped in-line like playing cards in a game of solitaire. Of course Abbie had been there earlier. That meant she theoretically could have killed Philip.

The detective stood. “Thank you. That will be all.”