Chapter 16

When we got back to the car, I looked at my phone: a missed call from Alum, and a long text apologizing once again for falling asleep, and saying he’d make it up to me.

I texted back, as Larry started the drive home. We hadn’t gone far before Larry had a call. He pulled over to speak to the caller.

“We finally have a suspect who does have a motive,” he said gleefully, after he ended the call.

“Who?” I asked.

“A realtor, of all people. Have you heard of Robert Wrench?”

“Yes I have, and I’ve heard nothing good about him,” I said. “He’s widely disliked all over town.”

Larry nodded. “Well, apparently he’s been trying to buy Mrs. Cornford’s house, because he owns the vacant acreage behind it and he’s been granted planning permission for a big subdivision.”

I tried to think it through. “But why would he need Mrs. Cornford’s house?” I asked Larry. “It doesn’t provide access to the subdivision, does it?”

“Not as far as I know, but if he’s going to sell plots for people to build beautiful new homes, then her home would be an eyesore, and it could deter buyers.”

“I see.” I thought for a few moments longer. “But would that be enough reason to murder someone?”

Larry shot me a quick glance. “You’d be surprised to hear the motives I’ve come across in my time.”

I had no answer for that.

“Besides, he’s the only suspect that has a motive so far,” Larry continued, “and he’s quite aggressive in business dealings.”

“Does he have a criminal record?” I asked him.

Larry shook his head. “No, but for all we know, he paid others to do his dirty work for him.”

I was not convinced. “But what does this have to do with her renovations?”

“What do you mean?”

“Mrs. Cornford said she remembered that her death had something to do with the renovations,” I pointed out. “This doesn’t seem to have anything to do with renovations.”

Larry shrugged. “Maybe you should go back and ask her. If you tell her the realtor’s name, then she might remember something.”

I agreed. I thought that was a good idea.

I closed my eyes, just to rest them, but then woke up as Larry came to a stop outside my house. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I slept the whole way.”

“Yeah, I had no one to talk to,” Larry said with a laugh. “Let me know if you get any information from Mrs. Cornford, won’t you?”

I assured him that I would, and he drove off.

I headed inside to check on Mary, but she was asleep next to the couch, and the cats were asleep on the couch. I was delighted to see that—perhaps they would all get along in time, after all.

Mary awoke with a start, and then instead of saying hello to me, made a beeline for the dog door and let herself into the walled garden. “Good girl,” I called after her. I was glad that I had managed to install that dog door by myself.

I went into the kitchen to feed the cats, and they magically appeared, as cats always do at feeding time. I poured dry food into their dishes, and then reached for Mary’s dish. I placed hers at the other end of the kitchen, but just as she appeared, the cats made a big show of hissing and running out of the room. Mary cowed from them. I thought it funny that a dingo was absolutely terrified of cats.

I found a heartfelt note from Alum next to the coffee pot, telling me how sorry he was that he had fallen asleep, and asking me to call him when I got home. The note concluded, I’ll make it up to you for falling asleep. Please let me take you to the Police Officers’ Ball.

I did intend to call him, and I did wonder if he would have invited me to the Police Officers’ Ball if he hadn’t fallen asleep, but right now I wanted to speak with Mrs. Cornford. I also had to take Mary for a walk, so I might as well do both at once. I had promised Alum that I wouldn’t go to Mrs. Cornford’s house alone, but I wouldn’t be going alone. I would have a dog with me, a big dog at that. Plus, I didn’t intend to go into Mrs. Cornford’s yard, just stay outside in the laneway.

“All this exercise will make me fit,” I said to Mary minutes later. She ignored me, as we walked along. Rather, I walked, and she kept darting to the end of the leash. “Mary,” I said, “you’re making our walks entirely unpleasant with this type of behavior.”

She darted off again by way of response. I thought of all the people I had seen in town, serenely walking their dogs along the streets, both obviously enjoying themselves, whereas I had neck and shoulder pain and had to keep my wits about me with Mary suddenly taking off after anything that looked like prey. Unfortunately, many rabbits lived in the area, and they always seemed to delight in running across the road when I was taking Mary for a walk. If I made her walk beside my leg on a very short leash, she was quite good, but the second I wanted to relax, she would dart away again.

When we reached Mrs. Cornford’s cottage, I made sure I stayed outside her yard. I approached slowly, looking around for any sign of trouble. There were no cars and I couldn’t see anyone, although I knew that someone would be able to approach on foot behind her cottage and I would never know they were there.

I sensed Mrs. Cornford’s presence. “Have you remembered anything else?” I asked her.

She said that she hadn’t.

“The police told me that the realtor, Robert Wrench, was trying to buy your cottage,” I said.

I didn’t get any impressions from the spirit, but finally she responded, “Yes.”

“Did he threaten you?” I asked her.

“No. He was rude,” she said.

“Did he mind that you refused to sell it to him?”

“No, I was going to sign an agreement with him.”

That got my interest. “What sort of agreement?”

“He was going to clean my yard, bulldoze all the scrub and put in turf, if I agreed to let his company cut the grass on a regular basis. I had to agree to have the outside of the house painted a neutral color and pay that cost myself.”

I wasn’t sure if I had received those impressions correctly. If I had, then that meant that Robert Wrench didn’t care whether or not he bought the house—he simply didn’t want it to be an eyesore. And the fact that Mrs. Cornford had agreed, meant that he wouldn’t have a motive for murder. Still, I pressed on with my questions. “Are you sure he wasn’t the one who murdered you?” I asked her.

“I don’t know who it was. I can’t remember.”

I tried a different line of questioning. “Sally Symons told me that you always used Royal Doulton china when she visited you,” I said. “What visitors didn’t you use that china for?”

That appeared to confuse her. Suddenly, without warning, she was gone.

I took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. “Come on, Mary. We’d better be getting home before Alum finds out I was near this place.” I had an uneasy feeling I was being watched, and wondered if an unseen person’s arrival was the cause of Mrs. Cornford’s hasty departure. Or was it the mention of Sally? Surely Sally couldn’t be the killer?

All the hair stood up on the back of my neck, and I hurried back down the road with Mary.