PAWSitively Sinister (A Klepto Cat Mystery Book 11) (2 page)

Savannah nodded. “Yes, she’s quite the young lady. Great to see you, Ruth. Looks like things are going well for you.”

Ruth gazed at Arthur and Suzette, then Rupert. “Just wonderful,” she said, her smile widening.

“See you later, Ruthie,” Arthur said when another potential customer approached her.

She waved. “Yes, dinner in the dining room at seven.” Looking from Savannah to Michael, she asked, “You will join us, won’t you?”

Both of them nodded before traipsing after the younger couple. When Savannah caught up to Arthur in the east hallway on the ground floor she asked, “So you guys are living here?” “Only temporarily,” he said, emphatically. “I hope not for long.” He faced her as he walked alongside her. “I bought a mini-ranch. I can move in next month. Ruthie wants to stay at her house—but, during the estate sale, we’re all staying here. Our bedroom stuff will be the last to go because we’re using it, of course. In fact, I’m taking some of my bedroom furniture to my new place.” He stopped and turned toward Savannah and Michael, grinning. “… my ranch,” he said, faking a twang. He laughed. “I’m going to be a rancher.”

“Indeed,” Savannah said. “You can ride a horse… that’s for sure.”

“You can?” Suzette asked, wide-eyed.

“You bet yer boots, young lady,” Arthur said in his best John Wayne impersonation. He then said, feigning innocence, “but I ain’t learnt how to clean them thar corrals yet.” He winked at Suzette. “I guess yer gonna have to do it, sweet thang.”

Savannah and Michael were practically doubled over laughing at Arthur’s antics and Suzette’s obvious gullibility.

As they continued their walk down the long hallway, Savannah asked, “What about the staff? Is there anyone but Rupert helping out now?”

“Yes. We asked a few people to stay on while we’re here,” Arthur explained. “… most importantly, the cooks.”

Michael grinned and nodded. “Good move, Arthur.” He then asked in a more serious tone, “So did you sell this place?”

“Not yet. Once we get it cleaned out, I want to see about donating it to a worthy organization. My attorney is sifting through the possibilities. I’m leaning toward a children’s center of some sort—maybe a kind of rescue center for young victims of the system or of accidents. We’re seeking just the right one.” He reached out and squeezed Suzette’s hand. Then, veering left into a large suite, Arthur said, “So here are your quarters, if you like it. If not, we have others.”

Savannah and Michael stepped into the suite and looked around at the charming and elaborate but dated décor. She said, “It is lovely, Arthur. Good choice.”

“I thought you’d like it,” he said. He grinned impishly. “Guess where Suzette and I are staying?”

Before Savannah could respond, Rupert asked, “Shall I put the large bag here on the rack?”

“Yes. Thanks, Rupert,” Michael said.

“Do you want the cat to stay in here with you or shall I take him to the cat room?” He flashed a sideways grin. “Remember the cat room upstairs?”

“Sure do,” Savannah said. “ What a magnificent place for a cat, with those huge cat trees, hammocks, perches, and all.” She looked down at Rags. “But I think we’ll keep him in here with us for now.”

Rupert nodded. He edged his cell phone out of his pocket, looked at it briefly, and reported, “They need me to carry something out… better scoot.” With an offhanded salute, he said, “See you all later.”

After waving to Rupert, Savannah returned her attention to Arthur. “So where are you and Suzette staying?”

“In my former quarters. She has Ruthie’s old room.”

“Cool,” Savannah said. “Down in the dungeon, huh?”

Suzette gazed at Arthur. “I actually like spending time where he grew up.”

Arthur smiled at her. “It’s weird, though.”

“Why?” Michael asked.

“Because we can come and go as we please.”

When Rags started pulling on the leash and trying to follow Koko into another room, Savannah picked him up. She peered at Arthur. “So do you still go in and out through the turret using that precarious ladder?”

He laughed and shook his head. “We found one of the original doors to the basement. It was hidden real well inside a broom closet.” He looked at Michael. “We’re finding all kinds of things we didn’t know existed. Even as a child—before the… accident—I didn’t have the freedom to explore much around this place.” His face lit up when he said, “I found out it was built in the late 1880s and somehow survived the big Frisco earthquake in 1906. It has had only a handful of owners. Charles Peyton bought it… ” he frowned, “with my father’s money… thirteen years or so ago. It seems that there were long periods of vacancy. It had been empty for a decade when we moved in.”

“Fascinating,” Savannah said.

Suzette winked. “Wait ‘til you hear some of the rumors.”

“Rumors?” Michael asked.

Arthur hesitated, then said to Suzette, “You know, they’re probably tired. Let’s let them get settled and we’ll tell them the juicy stuff over dinner tonight.”

Michael chuckled. “Sounds good.”

“And I want to show you that… strongbox, coffin, or whatever it is… after a while,” Arthur added. “Shall we meet in the living room around three thirty?”

“Sure. That’ll give us a chance to put Lily down for a nap and rest a little,” he said.

****

“Is she all rested?” Arthur asked, when he saw the Ivey family appear in the living room two hours later.

Savannah nodded. “Looks like the sale’s still going.”

“Yes.” Arthur glanced around the room. “Still a lot of stuff here and more coming out of the closets and the barn each day.” He focused on Lily. “Want to go for a walk, little one?”

“Good idea,” Michael said, handing the baby to Savannah. “I’ll get her stroller out of the car.”

“She might need her jacket,” Savannah said, turning to head back to their suite.

Arthur held out his hands. “Here, Suzette and I’ll entertain her until you get back.”

When Savannah noticed the Siamese cat batting a wad of paper around Suzette’s feet, she asked, “Is Koko going out with us?”

“Yes,” Arthur said. “Want to bring Rags?”

She nodded. “Might as well let him out for a stroll.”

Within a few minutes, Savannah returned with the large grey-and-white cat dressed in his blue harness attached to a matching leash. Arthur picked up Koko and the two couples walked together out through the kitchen door and along a cement path—Michael pushing Lily in the stroller. Michael chuckled. “Arthur, I get a kick out of the way Koko rides draped across your shoulders.”

“Yeah, good thing she’s a lightweight,” Savannah said. “I don’t think I could carry Rags around my neck like that.”

“He’d probably get altitude sickness riding on either of your shoulders,” Arthur said, laughing. “That would be a long jump for him if he wanted to get down.”

“Oh, I’m not that much taller than you are,” Savannah said.

“What are you,” Suzette asked, “five foot ten?”

Savannah smiled. “Close. My friend Iris is five ten. I’m half an inch shorter than she is. Most of our friends and even the rest of my family are all shorter—five four, five five, like you are, Suzette. Iris and I… and Michael… are known as the tall people.”

The younger woman stood erect. “I’m actually five six,” she said.

Arthur smiled. He rubbed one cheek affectionately against the Siamese cat, then said, “What I want to show you is near that old incinerator.”

“Gosh, that’s quite an antique, isn’t it?” Michael said when he spotted the large, crudely constructed cement-and-iron waste burner. “I didn’t notice it when we were here before.” He glanced toward the row of bungalows. “Well, it wasn’t visible from our bungalow, was it?”

“No,” Arthur said. “Plus, this whole area was hidden behind a dense row of shrubs on that side. They were dying and full of stickers, so I had them taken out and hauled away.”

Michael examined the structure more closely. “I’ll bet this was built around the same time the house was—you say the late 1880s?”

“Yeah, I read that people used to burn their garbage and trash in these things.” Arthur chuckled. “I guess they didn’t have trash pick-up in the horse-and-buggy days.”

Michael squatted in order to examine the incinerator more closely, remarking, “Gosh, this is really something.”

“I know,” Arthur said. “When I was a kid, I used to think it would make a great fort. But I wasn’t allowed to get dirty to find out,” he lamented.

Michael stood and began walking around the ornate object, shaking his head and chuckling every once in a while. “It’s an interesting piece of work,” he muttered, as if to himself. Looks like you could use it for burning even today.”

“Maybe. But that’s not what I wanted to show you,” Arthur said, walking about twelve feet west of the burner. “Look at this.”

The others caught up to Arthur, who had stopped next to a large, two-foot high, circular rock wall.

“Wow, this is old, too, isn’t it?” Savannah remarked. “What was it? A wishing well… koi pond?”

“Fountain?” Michael suggested. He scanned the area. “Looks like this was one of those outdoor rooms or garden rooms that are so popular now. See there,” he pointed, “that’s the remnants of something—probably seating—cement benches—and what might have been a wooden pergola.”

“Probably,” Savannah said. She pointed. “There’s a gnarled trunk from an old wisteria or climbing rose. I imagine this was a really pretty area at one time.”

“Out here next to the incinerator?” Arthur asked, frowning.

“Yeah, they may have used it as part of the design,” Michael said. “See?” he gestured, showing the possible borders of the outdoor room. He motioned toward the incinerator. “This was probably the focal point—they might have burned it to keep warm out here while entertaining.”

“Or they just used it as a conversation piece,” Savannah suggested.

Michael shrugged. “Maybe.” He looked out over the expanse of land toward the ocean. “What a great view on a clear day.” He then glanced down at the circular rock wall. “And this provided the serenity. Water is calming. Maybe it was simply a pond… a lily pond,” he said, emphasizing Lily’s name by tickling her. He laughed when she giggled.

Arthur nodded. “But it appears to have been abandoned for a long time, wouldn’t you say so?”

“Oh yeah,” Michael agreed, “… a long time.”

“Well, check this out,” Arthur said, climbing into the cement ring and pointing at a piece of rusted iron protruding from between two partially buried river rocks.

“What is that?” Michael asked.

“I don’t know.” Arthur faced Michael. “Suzette and I go walking every day and this morning, we saw Koko inside here pawing at something.” He motioned toward a pile of rocks. “It was filled almost to the top with those stones.”

“We figured she was after a lizard or maybe a snake,” Suzette said, shuddering at the thought.

Arthur grinned at her before continuing. “So I climbed in here with Koko and started moving the weeds and rocks out of the way.” He pointed. “That’s when I saw this piece of metal poking out. It looks to me like a handle, and I’m curious as heck to find out what it’s attached to.”

“I’m betting on a hidden treasure,” Suzette said.

Michael stepped into the circle and peered down at the protrusion. Running his hand through his straight dark-brown hair, he muttered, “Interesting.” He squatted and tugged on the piece of iron, then sat back on his heels. “It looks to me like it’s been buried there for decades.” He squinted up at Arthur and Suzette. “Are there any tools around here?”

“Here are a couple of screwdrivers we found,” Arthur said. “We used them to dig some of the dirt out. But they weren’t strong enough to pry those rocks loose.”

“I saw a bunch of bigger tools in that shed over there,” Suzette said. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

In the meantime, Savannah saw someone moving around near one of the bungalows. She shaded her eyes from the sun and squinted. “Oh, there’s Ruth. What’s she doing?” After staring at her for a few moments, Savannah aimed the stroller in that direction and called out to Michael, “I’ll catch up with you later. I’m going to go talk to Ruth.”

“Sure, honey,” he said, continuing to walk off with Arthur and Suzette.

“Want a ride, Rags?” Savannah asked, motioning for him to hop into the carry basket on the back of the stroller. The cat looked at the basket and then up at Savannah. “Hop in, Rags,” she urged a couple of times, gesturing with one hand. Finally he decided that a ride would be nice and he stepped in and sat down. Koko trotted along behind the stroller, keeping a curious eye on Rags.

Ruth looks upset,
Savannah thought, as she drew near.
Who are those women she’s talking to and why are they behind the bungalows?
She stopped and considered turning around.
Looks like a personal conversation.
But when she saw the other two women walk away and climb into a parked taxicab, she decided to approach her friend.

“Hi, Ruth,” Savannah said.

The pert woman turned quickly toward Savannah, her short dark bobbed hair swinging to one side. “Oh, you startled me! Hi, Savannah.”

“Are you okay? You look a million miles away.”

“Yes, more like a thousand
years
away.” Ruth stood quietly for a moment, staring off in the direction the cab had gone, before saying, “That was my sister Matilda… Mattie.”

“Oh?” Savannah glanced at the dust cloud in the distance. “The homeless sister you told me about?”

“Yes, she came here with a friend—someone she knows from the streets—and she happened to see me.” She shook her head slowly. “I did not recognize her. I… have not seen her, except briefly a few times, over the last thirty years. She only came around when she wanted something from our parents. In fact, it must be twenty years since I have seen her at all. My God,” she said, “she looks awful. It is a sin what living on the streets can do to a person.” In her slight Mexican accent, Ruth continued, “She is so old; some of her teeth are missing. She is not healthy. If I had any sort of emotional connection to her, I would be terribly sad.” She pressed her lips together. “As it is, I am sad just because she is a human being. I am sad for my parents, that they lost two daughters the way they did—one to death and one to drugs.” She slumped into a deck chair and stared down at her lap.