Un-Fur-tunate Events (Vanessa Abbot Cat Cozy Mystery Series Book 4) (3 page)

“You’re already a big help to me,” Pete
said, putting his hand on her shoulder. “You saw the victim fall, and you were
there when he died. You can help me sort this out the same way you helped me
with the other cases.”

“I’ll do what I can,” she replied.

“See if you can get anything out of
Flossy and Aurora.” He started to walk towards his car but turned back to
Vanessa. “I will let you know if I’ll be late for our dinner.”

“Please do.” Vanessa smiled and wave
goodbye.

Vanessa put the big stew pot on the
stove and turned on the gas. “Tell us Flossy, what were those people talking
about during their picnic?”

Flossy sat on a chair at the kitchen
table and licked her paw.

“I only wish you could tell me word for
word what they said,” Vanessa went on. “It might have sounded like a bunch of
business nonsense to you, but it could answer a lot of questions about this
case.”

Flossy finished washing herself and
tucked her paws under her body on the chair. She blinked a few times and then
closed her eyes.

“Help me out, Flossy,” Vanessa said. “I
haven’t seen Aurora since the police left the sanctuary.”

At those words, the kitten appeared in
the doorway. Aurora glanced around and then scampered toward the pantry.

Vanessa spun around and called after
her. “Please come back here, Aurora. If you know what those people said, please
come and tell me. Flossy had been more concerned with the squirrels than
listening to the group’s discussion.”

Aurora stuck her head out of the pantry
and pulled it back in again.

Vanessa stared at the empty door. “What
do you mean, Aurora? You had nothing to do with Jerry’s death.”

She waited, but Aurora didn’t show her
face again.

Vanessa reassured Aurora. “His fall was
an accident, but you might help with solving his murder. Please come out of the
pantry.”

The stew pot trembled slightly as the
water boiled on the stove. Vanessa glared at the door until a floorboard
creaked in the hall and Henry entered the kitchen. He looked around and then
crossed to the water dish near the back door.

“Of course, she would ask you what the
word ‘investigation’ meant. She’s just a kitten.” Vanessa remarked.

Henry lapped at the water and sneezed.

Vanessa went back to chopping onions
and garlic on the kitchen counter.

“What else did she ask about? An
investigation would explain why they were meeting in a secluded spot.”

Henry licked his whiskers and studied
her.

Vanessa held her knife suspended over
the cutting board. “Thank you, Henry, that was very helpful for you to bring
up. Aurora, why was the group talking about an investigation?”

Vanessa walked over to the pantry and scooped
up the kitten. Aurora blinked and turned away. Vanessa found an empty chair at
the table and placed her onto it.

Aurora placed her head between her
paws.

“It involved a list?” Vanessa asked. “That
must be referring to the network of donor recipients.”

Aurora turned around on the chair and
then changed her mind. She jumped down to the floor and walked over to the cat
door. She glanced at Vanessa over her shoulder.

“If the mention of the donor list is
what upset Jerry, I heard the rest of what happened.” Vanessa told her. “I
could hear his shouts from the porch.”

Aurora darted through the cat door and
vanished into the grass outside.

The noise of a car engine entered
through the open window, and Vanessa dropped her knife. “More visitors. I never
expected so many people on the first day.”

She dried her hands on a towel, but
when she got to the front porch, she stopped.

 “Oh, hello again.”

Andrea Morton climbed out of a bright
red Volkswagen Bug and hitched her handbag over her shoulder. She glanced
around. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

Vanessa shook her head. “I was just
preparing dinner. What can I do for you?”

“I have misplaced my medication,”
Andrea told her. “I was going to look for it where we had lunch this afternoon.”

“The police might have logged it in as
evidence,” Vanessa replied.

Andrea sighed. “That was the last of my
prescription. Do you mind if I just take a look?”

Vanessa nodded her head. “Of course you
can. You’ll have a better chance of finding it if I come with you.”

Andrea narrowed her eyes at Vanessa. “How
nice of you.”

Henry and AngelPie followed behind them
as they made their way across the lawn.

“Frank never told me the name of your
foundation?” Vanessa asked.

“It’s called the Frank Morton
Foundation.” Andrea burst out laughing. “Frank isn’t known for his modesty.”

Vanessa shrugged. “It’s not that bad.”

“It’s Frank’s foundation,” Andrea told
her. “But the people who work for him are doing important work.”

Vanessa and Andrea reached the edge of
the woods where the group had the picnic earlier that afternoon.

“Were you the one who prepared the
picnic lunch?” Vanessa asked.

“No, if it had been up to me, I would
have picked up deli sandwiches.” Andrea replied.

“Oh, someone made the lunch?” Vanessa inquired.
“That was quite a picnic. Who would have gone to that much trouble? Sabrina?”

“She couldn’t boil an egg if her life
depended on it.” Andrea snapped.

AngelPie brushed against Andrea’s legs.
Andrea stooped down and stroked the back of AngelPie.

“Steve is a great cook. He wouldn’t stop
complaining that we didn’t finish the sandwiches he made for the picnic. I
joked that the police took his sandwiches into evidence just so they could eat
them. Sometimes I think he takes his meals too seriously. For a holiday party,
I brought in a tray of cupcakes. He wouldn’t touch them when he found out they
were store bought.”

“I would prefer a homemade sandwich
over a store bought one any day,” Vanessa pointed out.

“Jerry was the same way…” Andrea trailed
off before quietly searching the grass in

front of her. “I suspect that you are probably
right. The police must have picked up the bottle. I’ll just stop by the police
station on my way home.”

“They won’t release it to you. It’s now
part of the investigation of Jerry’s death.” Vanessa informed her.

Andrea’s eyes widen. “Why wouldn’t they
release it? Jerry died of a seizure.”

“The police suspect that he was
murdered.” Vanessa replied.

“Who would want to kill Jerry? He worked
so well with everyone.” Andrea gasped.

“What was Jerry’s role in the foundation?”
Vanessa asked.

“He was the CEO. Jerry had been part of
the foundation since the beginning.” Andrea turned to walk back to her car.

“Did Jerry and Frank work together
before the foundation was created?” Vanessa asked.

“No, Jerry was hired by Frank because
he worked at an organ donation center. Jerry had years of experience working
directly with hospitals. He had made connections with hospitals all over the
country.”

“Can I ask you a question, Andrea?”
Vanessa asked. “How does the foundation actual work?”

“We help connect the hospitals who have
potential donors to the patient candidates who have been waiting sometimes
months for a viable organ replacement.” Andrea said.

“So, you have a list of patients?”
Vanessa asked. “Who is the one responsible for that?”

Andrea stopped in front of her
Volkswagen Bug and turned to Vanessa. “Jerry organized the list for the
foundation. He and Frank would work out the logistics of linking transplant
recipients with hospitals.”

“Do you assist them with talking to patients
or hospitals?” Vanessa asked.

“No, I just take care of our public
relations.”

 “Maybe
you could explain something to me,” Vanessa went on.

“I’ll do my best,” Andrea replied, “but
I can’t make any promises.”

“You must understand how the foundation
makes its money,” Vanessa remarked.

Andrea cocked her head to one side. “We
are a non-profit foundation.”

“I must be confused.” Vanessa returned.
“I heard Frank tell Jerry he would receive a big payout.”

Vanessa waited, but when Andrea didn’t
answer, she tried to explain further. “What I mean is, Jerry was ready to quit
the foundation. He seemed upset about how the foundation was making its money.”

Andrea stopped, and her focus moved
away from Vanessa. She stared into space. Then she flew into action and whirled
away. “Jerry was the best part of the foundation. Without him, it’s going to be
hard to do our mission. I really must be going.”

Andrea raced to her car. A moment
later, the buzz of the Bug faded down the road. AngelPie slid her shoulder
across Vanessa’s shins. Henry stepped out of the bushes on the other side of
the yard. He glanced down the driveway where the red car had disappeared. Then
he trotted up the steps and jumped up onto one of the deck chairs. “Well, I
just don’t know what to think of that.”

Vanessa stood at the empty driveway
with the conversation still running in her head.

Henry stretched and yawned as he sat
atop Vanessa’s cookbook.

“I asked you before, Henry,” Vanessa
minced. “I need to read the last part of that recipe.”

Henry jumped up and settled down on the
chair and started licking his chest.

“If you know something, just tell me.”
Vanessa directed, “You’ve been acting strange every since Andrea left.”

Henry fixed his green eyes on her and
stared her down without blinking.

“How exactly do you know that?” Vanessa
asked.

Henry closed his eyes and tucked his
head into the fur on his side.

“I have to finish preparing dinner,”
Vanessa told him, “I don’t have time to chase down Andrea and start asking
personal questions.”

Henry didn’t move. He showed no sign of
hearing her. His ears didn’t even twitch.

Vanessa looked at him and waited, but
when he didn’t respond, she sighed and turned away.

“Okay, I’ll head down the road to see
if I can catch up with her.”

She ducked into the front hall and
grabbed her car keys. She left the door open and jumped off the porch without
using the steps. Flossy sat up from where she lay nestled in a flowerpot in
front of the house. “Keep an eye on things, will you Flossy? I’ll be right
back. No, I turned the saucepan off before I left. Nothing’s on. Just look
after the other cats. I know you will. That’s my girl.”

Vanessa jumped into her car and started
the motor. While she buckled her seat belt, AngelPie came over to the open
driver’s door and meowed up at her.

“Do you want to come?” Vanessa asked.
“All right. Come on. But sit tight, because I need to concentrate on the road.”

AngelPie jumped into Vanessa’s lap and
found a place in the passenger’s seat. Vanessa slammed her door and peeled out
of the driveway with a cloud of dust rising in her wake. She hit the main road
and dropped her foot on the accelerator pedal.

“Now,” she told AngelPie, “keep your
eyes open for a red Volkswagen Bug.”

AngelPie looked up at her face.

“I know you can’t see through the
windows,” Vanessa told her. “I’m just talking to myself.”

AngelPie lay down on the seat and dozed
off. Vanessa scanned the road ahead, but she hadn’t gone more than a mile or
two when she spotted the car parked by the side of the road.

“I can’t believe Henry was right. I
will have to make him something special when I get back.”

She pulled to a stop behind the Bug and
stepped out.

Andrea looked up with her eyes red from
crying. “What do you want?”

 “When you left, I felt that something might be
wrong.” Vanessa explained as she approached Andrea who sat on the back bumper
of her Bug. The headlights of the station wagon illuminated Andrea as she wiped
her eyes and sat up right.

“It just hit me on the way back to
town. Jerry’s dead.” Andrea stressed as tears swelled up.

AngelPie strolled from the car and jumped
onto Andrea’s lap. Andrea looked down and ran her hand along the top of AngelPie’s
back.

“Was Jerry more than a co-worker?”
Vanessa spoke softly.

Andrea scratched AngelPie behind the ears.

“Jerry and I had been having an
affair.” Andrea revealed.

“Did Frank know about it?” Vanessa
inquired. “Could he have been jealous enough to kill Jerry?”

Andrea was shocked. “No. Frank barely
comes home anymore. He is too busy with the foundation, sometimes working late into
the night, or who knows what else?”