Un-Fur-tunate Events (Vanessa Abbot Cat Cozy Mystery Series Book 4) (7 page)

“If we could connect the foundation
with the murder, Andrea would be convinced to testify,” Vanessa remarked.

Teddy meowed, and Aurora stirred. Teddy
stretched his legs and almost knocked Aurora off the chair.

“What do you mean, ask Flossy?” Vanessa
spun around and stared at him. “What does she know about this?”

Teddy meowed again, but he didn’t move
from the chair.

Vanessa dropped the wooden spoon with a
clatter onto the counter and darted out of the kitchen. She rushed down the
porch steps and started to look for Flossy. She found her stretched out on the Volvo
station wagon. “What are you still doing out here, Flossy? Have you been lying
out here since Pete left?”

Flossy didn’t lift her head from her
paws. Her eyebrows twitched, but she pretended to be asleep.

Vanessa set her hands on her hips. “Teddy
told me you might have evidence to solve this case.”

Flossy opened her eyes and regarded
Vanessa with that feline superiority Vanessa knew so well.

“Flossy, I didn’t know you wanted me to
come with you to the car earlier. I thought you were bored with our
conversation and ran off,” Vanessa told her. “We can’t let a killer run free
around town. Show me what you found, I am here now.”

Flossy let out a heavy sigh and got up.
She made an elaborate show of stretching every inch of her body. Then she
tiptoed down around the side of the station wagon. She looked up at Vanessa,
and then rubbed her body against the passenger side door.

Vanessa stood over Flossy. “Is this
what you want to show me? Is there something under the car?”

Vanessa stooped down and felt around beneath
the car with her hands. “Is the evidence under here?” Vanessa asked. “I don’t
see or feel anything. What am I supposed to be looking for?”

Flossy placed her paw on the car door. Then
she meowed at Vanessa.

Vanessa swung open the door and peered
inside. “How embarrassing. I still have all this stuff from the move in the
backseat.”

Flossy meowed even louder. Vanessa crawled
inside and rummaged through the blankets and boxes of files. “I might as well
start unpacking the car while I look.”

Vanessa began placing the boxes on the
outside and organized the backseat.

“I still don’t see anything new here,”
Vanessa told Flossy.

Flossy sneezed, and then she meowed
again. Vanessa stared at her. Flossy jumped into the backseat and laid down
flat on her stomach on the floor of the car. She extended her paw behind the driver’s
seat. Something rolled into sight, a small orange plastic bottle. Vanessa
picked it up and examined the white label.

“
Prohiborol,
” she read. “
Andrea
Morton, prescription medicine, 300mg to be taken once a day
. You are a
remarkable cat, Flossy. I just thought you were having fun knocking the pile of
receipts out of my hands earlier.”

Flossy walked away and then sat perched
on the edge of the porch.

“I was so embarrassed and apologizing
to Sabrina, I didn’t even notice you grab this bottle,” Vanessa told her. “The
entire contents of the bottle have been used. I guess Sabrina didn’t want to
take a chance with the dosage when she put the
Prohiborol
in the sandwiches.”

Flossy licked one of her paws.

“You are so helpful, Flossy,” Vanessa
exclaimed. “Now, what is Sabrina’s motive to poison Jerry? Sabrina is the
secretary. Her salary couldn’t be as large as the others in the foundation? If
the foundation was shut down, she could easily find another job making the same
amount.”

Vanessa slipped the bottle in her
pocket and walked back to the porch. “I’ll call Pete and tell him what you
found.”

Flossy continued to clean herself on
the porch.

“I did see Foxle sniffing your bowl of
food in the kitchen,” Vanessa teased.

Flossy bolted for the open door and
disappeared into the house. 

Teddy and Aurora snoozed on the chairs
in the kitchen. Vanessa finished making dinner and ate by herself at the table.
Foxle sat on her lap the way he always did, and Vanessa gazed across the table
to the empty chair where Pete Wheeler sat a few nights before. To think she
used to eat this way every night, and she never noticed the loneliness before.
Pete had come by to pick up the bottle of
Prohiborol
but he left just as quickly in order to arrest Sabrina.

She took out her phone and dialed Pete’s
mobile number. “No answer. He must be still questioning Sabrina.”

Vanessa typed a text message to Pete
asking him how Sabrina was holding up during the interrogation. She wished she knew
why Sabrina would be so heartless as to poison Jerry. Pete would have to fill
her in tomorrow. The chair shook, and she looked under the table. Tapioca and
Ambrosia lay on the chair seat in a bundle of cream-colored fur. Vanessa
smiled, but her long-time companions couldn’t distract her from reflecting on the
murder case.

She checked her phone to see if Pete
had answered her text. All the excitement of discovering the final clue to this
case had kept her up. She couldn’t wait to hear from Pete. Vanessa rubbed
Foxle’s head and gently cradled him as she stood up.

Vanessa sighed and cleaned her bowl in
the sink. There was still no answer from Pete. The silence in the house without
the presence of another person made Vanessa reflect on how the school children
infused the sanctuary with a vital surge of energy. All the cats had sensed it,
even the ones who ran and hid. Aurora wasn’t the only cat who thrived on
youthful energy and the disruptive noise of childish activity.

Now that the children were gone, Vanessa
reminisced about the long-gone days of her son Tom’s childhood. School lunches,
birthday parties and sleepovers with his friends, came back to Vanessa. No
wonder aging parents dreamed of grandchildren to bring their later years alive
once again.

Vanessa yawned and realized how
exhausted she was. It was time to curl up in bed with her cats and go to sleep.
Vanessa looked at her phone one last time but was disappointed at the lack of a
reply.

Vanessa changed into her nightdress and
pushed her way into her bed. Her cats crowded around her body and sealed her
into her place. She turned off the light and lay back on the pillow. Foxle
squirmed between her feet, and Porcupine took his place in the center of
Vanessa’s chest. She closed her eyes and relaxed into sleep.

The cats purred into her ears and
drowned out the night noises outside Vanessa’s window. All of a sudden, her
eyes snapped open and she strained her ears to catch the slightest sound.
Porcupine's head shot up, but none of the other cats moved a muscle. Vanessa
lifted her head to hear an unfamiliar clinking.

Yes, there it was again. The chain on
her driveway gate tinkled ever so slightly. It didn't rattle the way it did
when the gate moved in the wind. One link touched another and fell silent. If
she hadn't been lying awake in the quiet moments before sleep, she never would
have heard it.

No other sound came to her ear, but she
couldn't relax again. She maneuvered around the cats and heaved herself out of the
bed. Some of the cats woke but soon settled back down to sleep, but Vanessa
breathed a sigh of relief when Henry and AngelPie got up and followed her
downstairs.

She paused in the front hall and
listened again. Something rustled in the grass outside in the driveway, and she
knew it couldn’t be a cat. She flicked on the porch light and pulled the front
door open with as much noise as she could manage. She stepped out onto the
porch to discover Sabrina staring up at her in the glare of the blinding
lights.

Vanessa stood up straight. “What are
you doing here, Sabrina?”

Sabrina stared at her. “You have it,
don’t you? If you give it back to me, I won’t have to hurt you.”

Vanessa frowned. “Are you talking about
Andrea’s medication? I don’t have it, Sabrina. It is now evidence in the case. Detective
Wheeler was going to have you arrested. I know you had a role in Jerry’s death.
You should turn yourself in to the police.”

 Sabrina
shook her head. “I’m not going to do that and I am certainly not going to leave
here now.”

Vanessa took a step out onto the porch.
“Where's your car? I am not the one you should be concerned about. It’s over. I
don’t know why you killed Jerry but the police know it was you and turning
yourself in may help in some way.”

Sabrina waved back over her shoulder.
“I parked it out on the road. This is now between you and me.”

“The police know about the
Prohiborol
and the investigation of the
foundation. I don’t know if you conspired with Frank or Steve to stop Jerry
from testifying. Was it about the money? Were you having an affair with Frank?”
Vanessa took another step towards Sabrina.

Sabrina stood in silence.

“Why are you here?” Vanessa demanded.

Vanessa’s phone rang within the house.

“You don’t know anything.” Sabrina
yelled. “I’m not having an affair with Frank! He didn’t make me do anything,
and Steve was already scared of being arrested by the feds. He would never take
action like I did.”

Vanessa's mind whirled. Her phone rang
out again.

“That must be Pete. Maybe he is on his
way here to update me on this case,” Vanessa blurted.

“He is probably still out looking for
me,” Sabrina reached into her purse. “And look at you, you are still in your
pajamas, it doesn’t look like you were expecting anyone tonight.”

 “I have been phoning and texting Pete all
night. He will probably be here any moment,” Vanessa muttered. The phone
continued to call out from its perch on the console table in the hallway.

Vanessa turned toward the door. Sabrina
sprung into action and pulled a revolver from her purse.

“Don’t take another step, Vanessa.”
Sabrina hissed and pointed the barrel of the revolver at Vanessa.

Vanessa stopped before she could reach
the door and from the corner of her eyes, she spotted AngelPie at the window
looking out.

“Sabrina, I don’t have the bottle of
Prohiborol
. There is nothing here,”
Vanessa urged.

The phone stopped ringing and the house
fell silent.

“Pete probably thinks your fast asleep.
I guess he won’t be driving out here until tomorrow,” Sabrina snorted.

Vanessa slowly turned back to Sabrina.
“What are you doing here? I’ve have done nothing to you.”

“Peter is dying and he needed me to
save him,” Sabrina growled. “I spoke to Frank this morning about moving him up
the transplant list. Now, because of you, that isn’t going to happen. It is all
your fault!”

“That wasn’t my intention to prevent
your boyfriend from receiving a transplant. I only wanted to do what was right.
Jerry was poisoned on my property. I feel responsible to resolve this case,”
Vanessa pleaded.

“Your meddling is going to make me lose
the only thing important in my life,” Sabrina bellowed. “You are responsible,
Vanessa. I am going to make you pay for my loss.”

The phone rang out again and Vanessa
spun and sprinted through the doorway. A shot rang out and Vanessa flung
herself to floor of the hallway. She gathered herself up then jumped to close
and lock the front door.

Vanessa looked into the living room.
The cats stood silent and gazed up at her. 
What could she do to protect the cats? Sabrina banged on the door and
shouted. “Vanessa, where are you going to go? There is no escape.”

Vanessa grabbed the phone as it rang
out again. Vanessa picked it up and Pete’s voice called out from the speaker.
“Vanessa, hello…we haven’t found Sabrina. I am on my way. Frank informed me
that Sabrina asked him to have her boyfriend moved up the donor list. If she
has discovered the missing bottle from her purse, she will be coming for you.”

“She’s here, Pete. She’s outside my
door. My cats…” Vanessa sputtered.

“I am on my way,” Pete assured Vanessa.
“Keep safe until I get there.”

Sabrina’s banging stopped and three
shots blasted through the front door. The cats scattered at the sound and
Vanessa dropped her phone.

“Vanessa…Vanessa!” Pete’s voice was
faint through the phone’s speaker.

Sabrina kicked the door open and stood
in the doorframe. “Vanessa, I’m not leaving. Jerry wouldn’t listen to me
either. He tried to prevent me from saving my boyfriend’s life too.”

“Sabrina, there is no need for violence,”
Vanessa proclaimed. Sabrina crept down the hallway towards Vanessa.

Sabrina cocked her revolver and grinned
like a wolf. “You and that detective friend of yours ruined a perfectly planned
murder. No one would have ever have figured out I killed Jerry if it hadn't
been for you. ”

“It wasn’t a perfect murder. Pete was
already investigating who might have killed Jerry the moment he arrived on the
scene. Even my cats knew when the group showed up to the picnic something was
afoot,” Vanessa ventured.