Carla had just brought the check to their table and walked away when Heather’s cellphone rang. Heather picked up the phone and then frowned when she saw who was calling. A moment later, when she answered the call by saying, “Morning, Chief, this is a surprise,” everyone else at the table stopped talking and looked her way.
When she got off the phone a few minutes later, Danielle asked, “Is everything okay?”
“I imagine you would have gotten that call instead of me if you weren’t pregnant,” Heather told her.
“Is this about the murder?” Danielle asked.
Heather nodded. “Yes, the chief is going to pick me up in a few minutes to take me to the morgue.”
“Ghost hunting?” Walt asked.
“Yeah, he hopes Betty is hanging out with her body,” Heather said.
Walt shrugged. “If her spirit wasn’t with her body when you found it, chances are she already moved on.”
“Or went somewhere else. If she didn’t realize she was dead, she could have gone home,” Danielle suggested.
“If it were me, I’d be following my killer and trying to harness energy,” Lily said.
“You won’t follow him if you don’t understand you’re dead,” Walt reminded her. “If anything, you’d run away from your killer.”
“That’s what Pearl did,” Heather said.
“Why isn’t Brian taking you?” Danielle asked.
“Brian’s busy in the field. I suspect they would’ve asked me to do it yesterday, but Joe was working, and I don’t think the chief wants to deal with having to explain to Joe why I am at the morgue in case he happened to see me there. Joe’s off today, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”
Danielle glanced at her watch and looked back at Heather. “Tell the chief hi for us. But Walt and I need to get home. We’re going to that baby shop in town to look through some of their catalogues. I’m hoping we find the cribs we want and get them ordered. Then we want to stop at the hardware store and check out paint samples so Marie can paint the room.”
“I thought you were going to wait and fix up the nursery later so you can use the room for the B and B,” Heather asked.
Walt and Danielle exchanged brief glances, and then Danielle said, “Walt and I talked about it, and we decided to put the B and B on the back burner. Oh, if something comes up, like Kelly needs a place for wedding guests to stay, we’d be okay with that. But we have a lot on our plate right now. And once the babies get here—well, things are going to change for us. We don’t want to tie ourselves down right now, and it’s not like we need the money it generates.”
“That’s probably wise,” Ian said. “While I love being a dad, once you become a parent, your life changes in ways that will never be the same. Enjoy this time with just the two of you.”
“Not to mention the fact twins sometimes come early, so best to be prepared,” Lily added.
Perched on the windowsill in one of the south-facing bedrooms of Marlow house, Danielle’s cat, Max, looked out at the backyard, watching and waiting for Walt and Danielle’s return. He had a hankering for some of that catnip Chris had given him and Bella for Christmas. Walt claimed the gift was from Hunny, but Max seriously doubted the goofy canine had anything to do with it.
Motion caught Max’s attention. At first, he thought it was Danielle, but when he pressed his nose to the window, focusing on the person below, he realized it was not Danielle in the side yard, but a woman he had never seen before. With his black tail twitching back and forth, he continued to watch the woman. She made her way to the side door off the kitchen. The porch’s overhang obscured his view. Unable to see where she had gone, he turned and leapt to the floor. Like a miniature black panther on the prowl, Max quickly moved from the bedroom to the hall and then the staircase.
When Max reached the bottom of the staircase, he paused. There, coming down the hall from the kitchen, was the woman he had seen walking across the side yard to the kitchen door. Max sat on the bottom step, his tail swishing back and forth. He silently watched the intruder.
She moved down the entry hall, looking into each room. First the dining room, then the living room, and the parlor. As she walked into the parlor, Max heard sounds coming from the kitchen. He leapt from the step and made his way to the kitchen. Halfway there, he heard Walt’s and Danielle’s voices. They were home.
Before continuing to the kitchen, Max turned and went back toward the parlor to see where the woman was so he could warn Walt. But when he got to the parlor, she was no longer there. He jumped up on the windowsill and looked outside. There was the woman who had been in the parlor minutes earlier, now going down the front walk, heading to the street.
Max jumped from the windowsill to the floor and hastily made his way toward the kitchen. He encountered Walt and Danielle just as the pair stepped from the kitchen into the hallway.
Max meowed loudly.
“Hi, Max,” Danielle greeted the cat before leaning down and scooping him up in her arms. Max looked to Walt and let out another meow, this one louder and higher pitched.
Curious, Walt looked at the cat while Danielle calmly petted and cooed over the feline. Curiosity shifted to concern, and Walt blurted, “Are you sure she’s gone?”
Max meowed again.
Danielle looked up from the cat in her arms and frowned. “Who’s gone?”
Instead of answering Danielle, Walt stared at the cat, who met his gaze, never looking away. Danielle patiently waited for the pair to conclude their silent conversation.
Finally, Walt looked at Danielle. “Why don’t you wait in the living room? I’m going to check the doors, and I’ll be right back.”
Five minutes later, Walt found Danielle sitting on the living room sofa, Max on her lap.
“What is going on?” Danielle asked.
Walt took a seat on the sofa. “We must have left the back door unlocked. Someone came into the house. From how Max described the person, I assume it was a woman. She came in through the kitchen and then walked down the hallway, into the parlor. And then she must have left out the front door.”
Danielle glanced around nervously. “Are you sure she’s not still in the house?”
“Max didn’t see her leaving out the door, but he saw her out the window, walking toward the street. I suspect she heard us coming in the kitchen like Max had, so she left out the front door. I suppose we should be grateful she locked it when she left.”
“Who was she?”
Walt shrugged. “Max had never seen her before. But the doors are all locked now.”
“Walt, I know I locked the kitchen door when we left. I double-checked.”
“He didn’t see how she got in, only that he saw her walking across the side yard toward the kitchen door. It’s possible she came through the pet door. I know an average-size adult would have a problem getting in that way, but Max is not great at giving descriptions, and that includes size.”
“Or perhaps she’s not a living person,” Danielle suggested.
Walt stared at Danielle for a moment. “You think it might have been Betty Kelty?”
“It very well could be. If her spirit ran off after the attack and she doesn’t realize she’s dead, she could be wandering around trying to figure out what’s going on.”
“Then if that’s true, Heather’s trip to the morgue will be a complete waste of time.”
Fifteen minutes later, Max enjoyed catnip in the kitchen while Danielle was upstairs getting ready to go into town to shop for the nursery. When she came back downstairs, she found Walt in the living room, sitting on the sofa, surfing on his phone.
“You know, for a man born in a previous century, you certainly adapted quickly to the digital world.”
Still sitting on the sofa, cellphone in hand, Walt smiled up at Danielle. “You ready to go?”
“In a minute. I have to find my shoes.” Danielle glanced around the room. “I think I left them in here.”
“Under the desk,” Walt said, turning his attention back to his phone’s screen.
Danielle retrieved her shoes from under the desk, sat down on the sofa next to Walt, and put her shoes on. The doorbell rang.
Walt stood. “I’ll answer it.” Minutes later, he returned to the living room, their new neighbor by his side. Danielle had just finished putting on her shoes.
“I’m sorry to bother you,” Olivia said.
“No bother. How are you settling in?” Danielle asked.
“My furniture doesn’t arrive until Monday, as I was just explaining to your husband. They were supposed to hook up my cable and internet on Friday, but they tell me they won’t be out until Monday afternoon. I was hoping I might use your Wi-Fi this weekend. I’ll be more than happy to pay for it. But if you don’t feel comfortable, I understand. There’s Wi-Fi on my cellphone. I just thought I would give it a shot and ask.”
Danielle smiled. “No problem. We give our B and B guests a password to use our Wi-Fi. I’ll be happy to give it to you too. But you don’t need to pay us.”
Olivia glanced to the open door leading to the hallway and back to Danielle. “Oh, do you have B and B guests now?”
“No. None at the moment.” Danielle’s gaze moved to Olivia’s unusual quilt jacket. “That is a lovely jacket. I’ve never seen one quite like it.”
Olivia absently touched the hem of her jacket’s left sleeve and then smiled up at Danielle. “Thank you. I made it.”
“Really? You’re talented.” Danielle then turned her attention to Walt and asked, “Can you hand me one of the cards and a pen from the desk so I can write down the Wi-Fi password?”
Walt walked over to the desk and opened the drawer. As he retrieved the card and pen for Danielle, Olivia said, “Oh, thank you so much. I’ll be able to use my laptop now!”
As Walt brought Danielle the pen and card, Max returned to the living room from the kitchen, his panther stroll weaving back and forth from the effects of the catnip. When he saw the woman Walt had brought into the living room, he stopped and sat down while studying the human. After a moment, he let out a loud meow.
All heads turned to the black cat.
“Oh, you have a kitty,” Olivia cooed.
Max ran over to Walt and leapt into his arms.
“Do you like cats?” Danielle asked as she handed Olivia the card with the password.
“Yes, I am definitely a cat person. I like dogs, but I confess, I prefer cats. What’s his name?”
“Max.”
While Danielle and Olivia chatted a moment about cats versus dogs, Walt and Max had their own private conversation. After a moment, Walt, still holding Max, asked, “So tell me, Olivia, what have you been doing your first morning in Frederickport? Have you seen much of the neighborhood?”
Olivia looked at Walt and cringed. “To be honest, since hearing about the murder on this street, I’ve spent the morning locked up in my house. Do you know if they have any leads on the case?”
“Not that I’m aware of. So you’ve just been in your house all morning?” Walt asked.
“Yes. And there’s not much to do. My furniture and the rest of my things don’t arrive until Monday. I do plan to run to the grocery store. I don’t have any food in the house. Last night I ate at Pier Café. Brought leftovers home, which I had for breakfast. But my pantry and fridge are empty, so I need to go.”
They chatted for a few more minutes before Olivia thanked Danielle again for the use of the Wi-Fi and then said her goodbyes.
“What was with all the questions about her morning activities?” Danielle asked Walt after Olivia left. “I got the distinct feeling that there was something else you were really asking her, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.”
“That’s because you know me so well,” Walt said after he took a seat on the sofa next to Danielle.
“And?”
“Max finally identified our intruder.”
“Who was she?” Danielle asked.
“Our new neighbor. Olivia Davis. That’s who Max saw walking through our house before we got home.”