The Cat of Christmas Past (6 page)

“Jane works over at the Cove,” Doris supplied, mentioning a lodging property on the east shore.

“And Phillip Preston is the man who owns that guns and ammo shop in Harthaven,” Ruth added.

“Thanks to all of you for taking the time to share your memories.”

“Any time, dear.” Marley patted my hand. “I just wish we could have been of more help.”

I knew exactly where the guns and ammo store was, even though I’d never been inside it, and I figured it wouldn’t take long for me to have a chat with the man, so I decided to approach Phillip Preston next. If everyone who both arrived and left the house had to drive past him, he must have some insight as to who was still inside at the time Charles’s disappearance was discovered.

Like Pelican Bay, the village of Harthaven was decorated for the upcoming holiday. Although I enjoy living on the peninsula and working in Pelican Bay, Harthaven was the place that most felt like home. I was born and raised in the predominantly Catholic blue-collar fishing village. I attended Harthaven Elementary School and Madrona Island High School and I’d spent almost every Sunday of my life worshipping with my family at St. Patrick’s. In some ways I felt Pelican Bay represented my future, while Harthaven held my past and the roots of my family.

Phillip Preston was there when I arrived at the guns and ammo shop, as Ruth had indicated he probably would be. He confirmed that both Mayor Bradley and his wife and Father Kilian had left the Pottage estate before the discovery that Charles was missing. He also assured me that no other guests arrived or departed during the time period between when Charles was taken upstairs and the discovery of the kidnapping. I doubted either Father Kilian or the mayor had kidnapped the child, so had the kidnapper gotten away?

Preston also confirmed that Pottage was concerned for his family’s safety because he had received threatening letters, after which he’d hired several security guards to man the gate 24/7. Preston just happened to be the guard on duty at the time of the kidnapping. The only other item of interest Preston offered was that after the threats began coming in, neither Belle nor Charles left the estate for any reason, and poor Mrs. Pottage hadn’t been permitted any company after Charles was born with the exception of the staff, who came and went on a daily basis, and the guests who arrived for the christening.

I still had a little time before I had to get back to the bookstore, so after I left Preston, I headed over to the church to speak with Father Kilian. I doubted he could add much that I hadn’t already verified, and he’d left before the kidnapping occurred, but he was an intelligent man with a keen eye, so it couldn’t hurt to have a chat with him.

I explained to Father Kilian why I was there and he escorted me into his office and closed the door behind us. He offered me a glass of water before he began.

“I remember the day of the baptism well,” he began. “Normally we hold christenings in the church, but Mrs. Pottage insisted that her husband would never allow a ceremony there and she really wanted to have the baby baptized, so I agreed to go to their home. When I arrived I could sense the tension between Mr. and Mrs. Pottage. I wasn’t able to speak to them alone because there were others around, but the fact that they were clearly not getting along was evident to everyone.”

“Did you see anything at all that might offer a clue as to what could have happened to Baby Charles?” I asked. “Someone who didn’t belong? An extra vehicle? One of the guests acting out of character?”

“You’re probably the tenth person who has asked me those same questions in the past twenty years, but no, not really. I arrived early to set up for the ceremony and left shortly after it was over to prepare for Mass. It was a pity to have to leave. I managed to get a look at the buffet table and it looked as if the caterer had done a fantastic job.”

“The party was catered?” Father Kilian was the first person to mention caterers.

“Yes, and quite lavishly.”

“Do you remember the name of the catering company?”

“The caterer was a woman, but I don’t recall her name. She didn’t stay long after she delivered the food. The Pottage cook was on the premises that day. I understand, based on what others have said, that it was the cook who served the food and then stayed to clean up.”

“Why didn’t they just have the cook prepare the food?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know. I didn’t speak to the cook and I only spoke to the caterer for a moment. I noticed her packing her van to leave when I walked out to my car after the christening, so I stopped to compliment her on the beautiful spread.”

“Do you know how long that was after Mrs. Pottage took the baby upstairs?”

“Not long. Maybe fifteen or twenty minutes.”

I looked at the clock. I really needed to go if I hoped to be back at the bookstore in time to help Tara with the three o’clock ferry passengers.

“Well, thank you for taking the time to share what you remembered with me. If you think of anything else please let me know.”

“I will. I hope you find the answer Mr. Pottage is seeking. It can’t have been easy to live with such uncertainty for so many years.”

“It’s a good thing you thought to borrow Danny’s truck,” I said to Cody later that evening as we loaded the six Christmas trees we’d just purchased into the bed of the vehicle.

It had been Mr. Parsons’s request that had led to the picking up of the trees. He wasn’t able to get around all that well and had asked Cody, who lived with him, if he would be willing to fetch him a tree. Cody had promised to pick one up for him that evening; he’d been thinking about getting one for his third-floor apartment anyway.

Cody had called to ask me to come along with him, and because I didn’t have a tree yet, we decided we’d just pick up all three. Then my mom called while I was waiting for Cody to pick me up, and when I mentioned where I was going, she’d asked if I could pick up a tree for her as well. That brought us up to four.

The fifth tree came into play when Cody went downstairs to tell Mr. Parsons he was leaving. Francine Rivers was visiting and asked if he could pick one up for her too. We were just pulling away from my cabin when my Aunt Maggie came by and asked if we could get a tree for her as long as we were at it.

“I feel like Santa loading up to make his deliveries.” Cody grinned as he tied a rope around the full load to prevent it from shifting during the drive.

“You make an adorable Santa.” I smiled as I pulled on the end of Cody’s red and white Santa hat before leaning in for a quick kiss.

“What do you say we deliver these trees, pick up a pizza, and then decorate yours?” Cody suggested. “I’m feeling downright festive tonight.”

“Sounds good to me.” I opened the door for Max to jump on to the bench seat before me. “The secret to the success of our plan is to somehow prevent my mother from roping us into a long conversation when we deliver her tree. She seems more amped up than usual about the holiday this year. Every time I see her she asks about the various family events she has planned for the holiday weekend.”

“I’m quite enjoying your mother’s enthusiasm,” Cody commented. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had the opportunity to enjoy a good old-fashioned family Christmas.”

“Yeah, I guess Christmas must not be quite the same when you’re stationed overseas.”

“Not at all,” Cody confirmed.

“I’m looking forward to spending Christmas with my family, but it will be nice to spend a quiet Christmas Eve together. Just the two of us.”

“Yeah, about that…I wanted to talk to you about our plans.”

“Our plans?”

“I know we discussed spending the evening alone together, but because I’ll be at your mother’s with you on Christmas Day, I thought maybe we could make dinner for Mr. Parsons on Christmas Eve. He doesn’t have anyone else and I hate to think of him not having a Christmas.”

“That’s a wonderful idea.” I smiled. “Maybe we should invite Francine and Banjo and Summer as well. It will feel more like a celebration with a houseful of people.”

Cody leaned over and kissed me. “That’s why I love you. You’re always willing to think of the happiness of others.”

“Hey, it was your idea. It’ll be fun.”

“It will. Let’s deliver your mom’s tree first and then we’ll drop off Francine’s. We can ask her about Christmas Eve while we’re there.”

“Sounds like a plan. Besides, I’ve been wanting to talk to Francine about Charles Pottage’s christening. I’ll ask her a few questions while you set her tree in the stand for her.”

“How’s the investigation going?” Cody asked as he pulled out of the tree lot and into traffic.

“Slowly. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to solve this one. I’ve spoken to about half of the people on Pottage’s list and no one seems to have seen anything. It appears as if Baby Charles simply disappeared.”

“Have you spoken to the nanny?” Cody asked as he turned off the main street and headed toward the highway that would take us to my mother’s house. “She was the only one, other than the guard at the top of the stairs, who was upstairs the entire time. It seems reasonable that she would have seen or heard something.”

“No, not yet,” I answered. “I’m hoping to track them both down in the next day or two. Juggling the investigation with my job at the bookstore and the upcoming holiday is proving to be a bit of a challenge. By the way, did you ever find out if the costumes for the play are going to be finished on time?”

“I called and spoke to the woman who agreed to make them. She promised me that we’ll have them in time for the dress rehearsal.”

“Good. I was worried we’d have to throw together makeshift costumes at the last minute.”

Our conversation paused as we pulled up in front of the house where my mother lived with my younger sister Cassie and my older brother Aiden, when he wasn’t away fishing. Luckily, Aiden was home and available to help Cody carry the fifteen-foot tree into the living room, where the tree stand was set up and waiting. Mom insisted that Cody and I stay for a cup of hot cocoa, but happily she didn’t launch into a long discussion that would require us to stay for longer than it took to drink our beverage and eat one of the cookies she’d baked that day.

Next on our list was Francine Rivers. Cody unloaded her six-foot tree while I followed her into the kitchen, where she’d headed to make coffee.

“I really appreciate you and Cody bringing the tree for me. I wasn’t sure I was even going to get one this year. The man who used to deliver mine closed his lot and moved off the island and there was no way I could fetch a tree in my little car.”

“We were happy to do it,” I assured her.

“Would you like a cookie? I just made them today.”

“Thank you,” I said, politely taking one. “As long as I’m here, I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about Charles Pottage’s christening.”

“Mr. Parsons mentioned you were investigating his kidnapping when I was at his place earlier today. I’m not sure I know anything that will help you, but ask away.”

I set my half-eaten cookie down on the Santa napkin Francine had provided.

“I’m curious why you were at the baptism in the first place.”

“I met Belle Pottage when she joined the garden club I belonged to with your Aunt Maggie and a few others. Maggie was invited to the christening as well.”

“Yes, I spoke to her about it, but I didn’t realize you were a member of the same club. What can you remember about Belle?”

“She was a nice woman who seemed a little lonely. Her much older and very busy husband moved her to the island shortly after they married. His business was based in Seattle and I don’t think he visited his bride all that often. Belle hadn’t made a lot of friends, but she seemed to really appreciate those she had. After she became pregnant her participation in the garden club lessened considerably, but there were a few of us—myself and Maggie and a couple of others—who stayed in touch with her.”

“I heard that once Balthazar Pottage began getting threatening letters he basically limited her movements to the estate.”

“Yes, that’s true. I felt bad for her. She seemed very unhappy. It appeared that she adored her baby, but I had the feeling she regretted marrying such a forceful and controlling man. In many ways he treated her more like a child than a wife.”

I took a sip of the coffee Francine had set in front of me before continuing.

“Did you notice anything at all odd on the day of the christening that might lead to a clue as to what happened to Baby Charles?”

Francine paused, I assumed to consider my question. “No. It was the oddest thing. There really is no logical explanation as to how the baby could have turned up missing. We were all downstairs during the ceremony. When the baptism was over Belle took Charles upstairs to feed him and put him down for a nap. The only person up there at the time was the nanny, who, based on what I’ve heard, was napping herself in the little room just off the nursery. There was a guard at the top of the stairs to ensure that no one who wasn’t authorized to do so accessed the second story of the house. There’s simply no way anyone could have taken that baby, but apparently someone did, and right under the nose of a houseful of people.”

“Do you know if there’s a back staircase?”

Francine thought about it. “Not that I know of, but I didn’t search the entire house, so maybe. I guess that would be a good question for Balthazar Pottage.”

“Did you notice anyone acting oddly during the christening?”

“No, not really. Once it was over and Belle took Charles upstairs everyone else helped themselves to the delicious buffet lunch. After she’d gotten the baby to sleep Belle joined us and actually seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood.”

“And Pottage?” I asked. “What was he doing during the luncheon?”

Francine frowned. “I don’t recall. I imagine he was mingling with the guests, but I didn’t speak to him myself. I’m sure he must have been there, though.”