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“Thank you for inviting me over,” Imogene said, bursting through Kat’s front door.
“No problem.” Although, Kat hadn’t extended an invitation so much as Imogene had wheedled one out of her. Imogene had phoned her not three minutes after she’d left the party, lamenting over how her home was now a crime scene and how the taint of a murder had rendered her incapable of drawing air into her lungs, leaving her in danger of suffocating if she didn’t get out of there soon. After that, how could Kat not offer up her home as a temporary refuge?
Imogene slumped onto one sofa. Matty, Kat’s tortoiseshell, crooked one eye at their visitor, a silent reprimand for Imogene’s failure to seat herself delicately upon the couch that Matty thought of as her own. But Matty wasn’t one to hold a grudge. Before long, the yellow-and-brown feline allowed her eyelids to droop closed once again.
“I asked Raoul when he expects to leave, and he said he intended to stay for as long as it takes.” Imogene huffed. “As long as it takes! What does he plan to do, move into my guest room?”
“I’m sure he’s anxious to nab Landon’s killer,” Kat said, doing her best to see things from Raoul Leon’s angle, even if he had rubbed her the wrong way during her interview.
Imogene crossed her legs. “Yes, well, I just can’t bear the thought of slipping into my pj’s when he’s mucking around downstairs looking for detritus a murderer might have left behind.”
“What does he think he might find?”
Imogene threw her hands up, the sudden gesture causing Matty to startle. “Who knows?”
Matty’s nose twitched in disapproval before she stretched her front legs out and settled back down.
Imogene scooted closer to Matty and rested her hand on the cat’s back. “I just can’t abide the notion of a murderer leaving things in my house. Can you imagine the nerve?”
“Raoul might have been referring to DNA or something microscopic,” Kat pointed out, sitting down on the opposite sofa.
Imogene traced her finger along the pattern in Matty’s fur. “I suppose that’s true.” She straightened. “But still! How am I ever going to relax in my own home again?”
The faint sounds of a cat scratching in litter became evident in the silence that fell then. Since Matty was out here, Kat knew the culprit had to be Tom.
No sooner had that thought entered her mind when the black-and-brown cat in question came tearing down the hallway as swiftly as if he’d unearthed a mouse while rearranging the contents of the litter pan. He zoomed straight toward the cat tree by the window, a few stray pieces of litter landing on Kat’s feet as he kicked up his paws. Upon reaching his destination, he clawed at one of the sisal posts before spinning around with a crazed look in his eyes and bounding off into the kitchen.
Kat grinned. It wasn’t unusual for Tom to act out after a trip to the bathroom. Apparently covering up one’s business had some invigorating properties not found when flushing an ordinary toilet.
Imogene watched the cat without so much as a smile, clearly preoccupied by other matters. “I’ll tell you,” she said, “if Kenny were the one investigating Landon’s murder, he would have been out of my house by now.”
“You can’t expect Raoul to work as fast as Chief Kenny or Andrew. He’s used to writing traffic tickets, not hunting down murderers.”
“Hrrmph.” Imogene looked at Matty as if the feline might offer her the support she had expected to receive from Kat. “I don’t like that Kenny isn’t taking the lead on this.”
“He doesn’t want there to be any sense of impropriety, given his conflict of interest.”
Imogene flicked her wrist. “Disliking Landon wouldn’t stop Kenny from throwing his heart and soul into that investigation.”
Kat perked up. “Chief Kenny didn’t like Landon?” This was the first time she’d heard of any friction between the two.
Imogene flushed, but she was spared from responding immediately when Tom came running back into the room. Upon spotting Imogene, his green eyes lit up and he meowed his way over to her. Imogene reached down to pet him, but she moved with a stiffness that betrayed her discomfort.
“What was Chief Kenny’s beef with Landon?” Kat pressed, unwilling to let Imogene off the hook so easily.
“Oh, nothing unusual.” Imogene kept her eyes trained on Tom. “He simply never warmed to him.”
“Huh.” Kat had to wonder just how much the police chief had disliked his brother-in-law. Enough to commit murder?
Imogene brought her gaze up to meet Kat’s. “You’re not thinking Kenny had anything to do with Landon’s death, are you?”
Imogene’s tone made it clear the question was one of Kat’s loyalties more than anything else. “I sure hope not,” Kat replied carefully.
Imogene scowled. “If you ask me, Raoul has more to gain from killing Landon than Kenny.”
Kat blinked, unsure if she’d heard right. “Raoul Leon knew Landon Tabernathy?” If that were true, she had to wonder if Chief Kenny knew about their connection. She didn’t figure the police chief would have put the officer on the case if he did.
“No,” Imogene said, doing her best to stroke Tom while he twined between her ankles, “but did you see how excited he was when Kenny put him in charge of questioning everybody? He looked like he’d hit the lotto.”
“He was probably happy to be tasked with something more intellectually stimulating than monitoring speed traps.”
“Exactly.” Imogene looked triumphant as she gave Tom one last vigorous scratch between the ears before settling back against the couch. “Landon’s murder gives Raoul a chance to prove himself. He had to have known Kenny would remove himself from any investigation involving one of his own kin, even if they were only related by marriage. That means he’d either have to bring Raoul in to help or let Andrew flounder on his own.”
Kat’s jaw clenched. “I doubt Andrew would have floundered.”
Imogene either didn’t catch the bite in Kat’s tone or chose to ignore it. “It’s no secret Raoul wants to move up the ranks. And what better way to prove he’s worthy of a promotion than to solve a murder?”
With Imogene no longer paying him any attention, Tom ambled over to Kat and jumped into her lap. She petted him as she considered Imogene’s words. Could there be some truth to what she was saying? Raoul had been awfully heavy-handed during her witness interview. And everyone at the Cherry Hills Police Department knew he was ambitious. Andrew had told her in the past that Raoul’s lack of a promotion so far had been more the result of a shortage of positions rather than because he wasn’t qualified. Maybe he figured if he could do a good job with the investigation into Landon’s death, Chief Kenny would have no choice but to make him a detective.
“Of course,” Imogene said, “if Raoul wants to use this whole thing to showcase his detective skills, he has to actually find Landon’s killer.”
A chill worked its way down Kat’s spine. Imogene was right. Raoul wouldn’t impress anyone if Landon’s murder went unsolved or he concluded things with his own guilty confession. That meant if he had orchestrated Landon’s death to give his career a boost, he fully intended to frame someone—someone innocent.
And, given his comments in the kitchen, Kat feared the someone he had in his sights might very well be her.
