CHAPTER TWELVE
In the morning, Mom still wasn’t home, but I had a text to say she’d slept at Livvie’s.
I called Livvie’s cell. “You have Mom.”
“I do. She helped me get the kids off this morning. She’s not scheduled to work today.”
“How are you doing?”
There was a pause. “Okay. Better, I guess. I spent a long time at the police station last night.”
“How was that?”
“Tiring.”
She wasn’t giving me much, which worried me. Livvie wasn’t normally so terse. “Do you think they suspect Zoey?”
“They asked lots of questions about her. Though they asked more about Phinney.” The information was top of mind. Her antenna had been up for any hint that Binder and Flynn had their sights set on Zoey. “What did you find out?”
I walked Livvie through my activities of the previous day.
“Alice Rumsford owns the building,” Livvie said when I was done. “I didn’t see that coming.” She paused. “Though I don’t see how it helps. Alice barely comes up to Phinney’s shoulder blades. No way she . . . did that to him.”
“She has a nephew staying with her, though I can’t think why he’d kill Phinney.”
“Umm.” Livvie considered that idea. “Your buddies Binder and Flynn won’t let us go back to work,” she finally said. “I can’t decide if I’m relieved or disappointed. I don’t want to rush back into that building. I don’t know what’s going to happen the next time I have to get inventory from the basement. But I think it might be better if I had something to do.”
“I have to go to Morrow Island this morning. I’m finally going to make the decisions Todd has been hounding me about. I’ve put it off far too long. Do you want to come with me?”
Another pause. “No. Thanks. Mom and I are going to tackle some projects around here while I’m not working. Therapy, she’s calling it. But why don’t you invite Zoey? I’m worried about her. She doesn’t have family and her friends are all connected to the business. I don’t want her to be alone. Besides, you can get more information for your case.”
“Livvie—” Why was she so committed to this notion?
“You promised you’d help Zoey.”
“Which is why I was running around in the rain all day yesterday.” I gave up arguing. Besides, I liked Zoey and, after seeing her apartment, I thought she might be particularly good company for this trip. “Fine. I’ll go over to the Snuggles and suggest an outing.”
The sun was out, the clouds high, so unlike the day before. From the kitchen window I watched the tops of the trees sway in the breeze. Out on the water the day would be cold. I dressed quickly and warmly in my quilted vest, gloves, and scarf, and crossed the street to the Snuggles Inn. On the big front porch, I tried the doorknob. The door was locked, not unusual in the off-season, so I rang the bell.
“Julia! How lovely to see you.” Fee Snugg stood in the open doorway, her Scottish terrier MacKenzie at her feet. As she stepped back so I could enter, the rubber soles of her sensible shoes squeaked on the polished floorboards. “What brings you for a visit?”
“Hi, Fee.” I stepped inside and hugged her. “Actually, I’m looking for your guest.”
“In the dining room.” Fee pushed at the plastic barrette that held back her short gray bangs. She was bent from arthritis, but that didn’t keep her from walking MacKenzie up and down the harbor hill every day.
When I pushed through the swinging door to the dining room, Zoey was seated with her back to me. There was a spread of food on the table, as big as if it had been surrounded by summer guests.
“Julia, welcome.” Vee Snugg bustled through the door from the kitchen. With her upswept white hair, heels and pantyhose—always pantyhose—she was as glamorous as her sister was deliberately plain. “Have you had breakfast? You must eat.”
I had eaten a piece of dry toast, but based on the smells wafting in my direction and my knowledge of Vee as a cook, I wasn’t going to admit it. “Maybe a little something,” I said.
“Hi, Julia.” Zoey smiled, apparently happy for the company.
“How are you doing?” I moved around the table to sit opposite her. She didn’t look the worse for wear.
“Okay, I think. I was hours at the police station yesterday.”
“Have some scrambled eggs and bacon.” Vee took a plate from the big china cabinet and handed me the spoon for the eggs. “Fresh fruit?” She indicated the bowl. “Do you want juice? I would have put it out, but Zoey here declined.”
“I’ll be fine.” I dished the eggs onto my plate. I knew from experience they would be fluffy and light, cooked to perfection. “Yum.” I took some fruit as well.
“There’s coffee in the carafe on the sideboard. I’ll leave you girls.” Vee turned back toward the kitchen. “Call me if you need anything.”
“What could we possibly need?” Zoey asked.
“The sisters are being good to you then?” I waited to speak until I was sure Vee was behind the closed kitchen door.
“Amazing. Fee taught me to play cribbage last night. I know she was trying to distract me from what happened, but I appreciated it so much.”
“It must have been a tough day.”
“The murder was awful, of course. And then the police and the crime scene people all over my studio and apartment. I know they were doing their jobs, but it was a bit unsettling. Then I spent the rest of the day at the police station answering questions.”
A bit unsettling? “Do you think they suspect you?” Might as well ask directly.
She shrugged, more even-keeled about it than I could ever hope to be. “I was, as far as they can prove so far, the only person in the building when it happened. It’s natural they would look at me first. But they also asked a lot about Phinney, his habits, his friends. Did he keep a lot of cash in his shop? That one made me laugh out loud.”
“Binder and Flynn are good detectives,” I said. “They’ll be fair. And thorough.”
“That was my first impression, too.”
“Were you able to suggest any suspects to them?”
“Definitely not. I would have said right away if there was someone obvious.” Zoey pushed her plate away and got up to refill her coffee cup. The Snuggles Inn’s teacups and delicate saucers were lovely, but barely held a thimbleful of liquid. Hardly enough to get you through the day.
I held out my cup. “Hit me, too, please.”
Zoey obliged. “The truth is I didn’t know Phinney well.” She returned to her chair. “We shared a building, but he had his sphere and I had mine.”
“I know who your landlord is.” I wasn’t sure I should tell her. Binder and Flynn probably wouldn’t appreciate me giving a possible suspect information she didn’t have already, but I couldn’t see the harm in it.
“Do tell.” Zoey perked up and sat forward, though whether she was eager for the information or the distraction, I couldn’t tell.
“Alice Rumsford.”
“Get out.”
“The very same. She bought your building years ago when it was in danger of being torn down. Apparently she’s bought a number of endangered buildings in town.”
“I never suspected.” Zoey looked down at the lace placemat. “I wonder how she feels about my advocating for the pedestrian mall.”
“I doubt she minds. She says she hasn’t decided how she’ll vote.” It was time to issue my invitation. “I have to go out to Morrow Island this morning. We’re renovating a house my mother owns there and I’ve got to make some decisions. Do you want to come? I could really use your advice.”
“To Morrow Island where you run the clambakes? Livvie is always talking about it. Yes, please.”
I warned Zoey to dress warmly and cleared the plates and food to the kitchen. Vee was thrilled to hear the plan. “I’ll pack a picnic lunch.”
“Please don’t go to any trouble.” We’d just eaten.
“It’s no trouble. It’s a good idea to get that poor girl out into the sunshine.”
“How has she been?”
“You’ve seen yourself. Surprisingly calm. Surprisingly fine.” Vee pulled a loaf of wheat bread out of the old-fashioned metal breadbox. “Honestly, Julia, if someone was murdered in our basement while I was asleep upstairs, I would lose my mind.”