I thought of something as I was weaving down the cobblestone path of Village Square. I didn't want to bother Diane, but this was too important to wait. I quickly texted my friend and asked her if she had a moment to talk. I didn't want to call and wake Roger.
Diane replied by calling me. "Hi, what's going on?" She spoke at her normal volume, meaning she was either outside Roger's room or he was awake.
"How’s Roger doing?"
"He's doing better. They just took him for a CAT scan to check for swelling. I think he'll be back soon."
"Let me know when you guys hear something."
"Of course. I’ll send a group text."
"That would be great."
"So, what's going on?"
"You're not going to believe this. We found out Mr. Haggerty was alive yesterday morning. One of Luke's friends saw him leave Cassidy's shop around sunrise, and Emily remembers seeing him come back to the inn."
"Sunrise, huh?"
"I know. I'm stopping by Cassidy's to ask her about it. But in the meantime, is there a way you can check your camera footage from Saturday morning? I hate to ask, but I think it's important.”
Diane sighed. “I should've figured it was connected."
"What are you talking about?"
"There's no footage from Saturday.”
An ambulance siren wailed in the distance, and it was hard for me to hear Diane. "Come again?"
"The footage stops Saturday morning before seven o’clock.”
"The killer turned the cameras off?" I wanted to make sure I understood what Diane was saying.
"Or they erased the footage."
"Who was working yesterday?”
“Anna and Kellan. The sheriff already interviewed them, and they didn't know what had happened. Anna said everything seemed normal when she opened up for the day and never thought to check the cameras, which is normal. The system's in my office, and they never go back there.”
“The killer must've snuck in and tampered with your equipment when nobody was looking.”
"They must've. I didn't think much of it when we thought Mr. Haggerty had died Friday night. It was unfortunate the cameras had quit working, but it wasn't important."
"Whoever the killer is, they're smart. I feel like we're always one step behind."
“Do you think it means Mr. Haggerty was poisoned at the bakery?” Diane asked.
“I think it’s a solid possibility.”
“But how?”
“You sure it’s not Anna or Kellan?”
“I’d be shocked. I can’t see that at all. No, I bet the killer slipped something in his drink, maybe at the bakery, but it wasn’t those two.”
“I don’t know.”
"What was that?" It was Diane's turn to ask me to repeat myself. There were more sirens passing by. "Sorry, there must be an accident. It's really loud. I'm going to go and talk to Cassidy. I'll call you back.” I practically shouted into the phone.
"Okay, sounds good. And I'll let you know what they say about Roger."
"Good deal."
By the time I hung up with Diane, I was standing in front of Cassidy’s shop, only the welcome sign was switched to closed, and the lights were turned off. I knocked on the glass window pane on the door and used my hand to shield my eyes so I could peer in. "Cassidy? Are you in there?"
I saw a light coming from the back hallway and hoped that meant she was in the back working in her office. Stepping back, I read the shop’s hours on the door’s sign. She should be open right now. I twisted the doorknob, but it was locked tight. I sighed in frustration. It would’ve been nice if Cassidy had been here. Seeing she was new in town, I didn't know where she lived, and I wasn't sure who to ask. Her shop didn't list a phone number, and I wasn't sure if she was close to anyone in town. I tried to think of who I'd seen her talk with, and Roger was the only person who came to mind.
I was ready to turn to walk away when I noticed movement in the front window followed by a meow. The gray cat bumped his head on the glass and meowed some more as if saying hello.
Suddenly, from inside the shop, I heard someone say, "Sir Whiskers!" followed by a whistle. The kitty turned toward his name but stopped short of hopping down. Instead, the kitty turned back and eyed an aloe plant that was also in the window.
"No, no, kitty!" I said to the gray furball as he bent low and began nibbling on the corner of the stalk. I didn't know if aloe was toxic to cats, but it couldn't taste good. Judging by the face Sir Whiskers made, I was right. The cat stuck out his tongue and opened his mouth repeatedly as if he wanted to get the taste out of his mouth. I knocked louder on the window, "Cassidy! Your cat!" hoping she would hear me, but all I managed to do was startle Sir Whiskers. Instead of running away, he bumped into the plant's clay pot and sent it crashing to the ground. That made him skitter off and caused Cassidy to run out.
I waved from the window to get her attention. Cassidy tried to ignore me, but it was too late. We clearly saw one another.
Sir Whiskers appeared at the door and rubbed himself along the frame, continuing to meow.
Begrudgingly, she came to the door. Her eyes were puffy as if she had been crying. "I'm sorry, I'm closed today," she said through the door.
"I need to talk to you. This will only take a minute, I promise. It's really important."
Cassidy unlocked the deadbolt and partially opened the door. I noticed Cassidy wasn’t inviting me in, but her gray kitty looked like he would love to have me come in and give him some pets. He continued to meow and weave in and out of Cassidy’s legs.
"First, your cat—did you say his name was Sir Whiskers?"
Cassidy nodded.
"Okay, he was eating an aloe plant in the window. Only a little bit, but I wanted you to know."
Cassidy looked down at her feline. "Sir Whiskers, we talked about this. It'll give you a tummy ache." Cassidy looked at me. "He's a troublesome fluff ball, but I love him," she sniffled.
Sir Whiskers looked up. "Meow?"
"That was the crash you heard. He knocked the plant out of the window."
Sir Whiskers then turned his attention to me and gave me the stink eye as if he couldn't believe I had ratted him out. I started to second-guess if the cat was really a cat after all. Perhaps he was a witch in disguise or a shifter? You never knew around here. I bent down to scratch his ears. He replied with a love bite. He was a troublesome fella, alright.
"Thanks for letting me know." Cassidy turned to shut the door.
"Wait." I stood so that I was back to eye level with her. "I also wanted to talk to you real quick about Mr. Haggerty."
That turned out to be the wrong thing to say. The moment the man's name left my lips, Cassidy burst into tears.
"Hey, it's okay." My mind raced, wondering if Cassidy had been close to the man or why else she might be crying.
"No, it's not. You don't understand. I killed him."
"What?" I took a step back.
"I didn't mean to. It was an honest mistake." I looked around to see how many people were listening in on our conversation and decided it would be better if we took it someplace private. Given Cassidy's reaction, I didn't think she was the killer for one second. No, the killer was someone who was relentless. They destroyed evidence and lives. They weren't apologetic.
"Can I come in?"
Cassidy nodded and backed up, letting me into her shop. The place was soothing, with wide planked oak floors and whitewashed walls. Glass bottles in different shapes and sizes lined the shelves, full of dried herbs and flowers. A mixture of plants and climbing vines shared the space and added a soothing effect. The air smelled earthy, like after a fresh rain when the soil was still damp. Sir Whiskers looked up at me and meowed as if asking what was wrong with his owner.
"It's okay, buddy. We'll figure this out," I replied to him.
I followed Cassidy over to her workstation. She began halfheartedly grinding rose petals with a mortar and pestle, barely putting any energy into working the grinder.
"Do you think a jury will go easy on me?"
"Why do you think you killed Mr. Haggerty?"
"It's my restorative tonic. I didn't make it right. I just found out that he was poisoned. It has to be from me. Sometimes I mess up. Sir Whiskers distracts me." The cat meowed at the mention of his name.
"Yes, he was poisoned, but I don't think it was from you. What's in the tonic?”
“Let’s see, tart cherry, Siberian ginseng, lemon balm, passionflower.”
I nodded as Cassidy ticked the entire ingredient list off. I noted the midnight orchid was not one of them.
"And did you give him this tonic just Saturday morning?"
"Oh no, he stopped in and saw me the first night he was in town. He was sick.” Cassidy thought about it for a minute. “I suppose I can tell you about it seeing he’s now passed.’
I nodded encouragingly.
“He had a progressive condition that was getting worse. He was desperate to stop it, but unfortunately, I didn’t have the cure. He was mad at first, but then he came back, willing to try anything I had that might slow it.”
“Was it terminal?
Cassidy nodded. “Slowly, and it was eating away at him. He didn’t want to accept it.”
“I’m not sure I’d want to either.”
“No, I’d fight with everything I had too, but hopefully, I’d be a bit nicer along the way.
I was starting to think that Mr. Haggerty’s foul mood reflected more of his trials than anything else.
“I supplied him with the tonic all week, except he ran out Friday night, and I was closed for the parade. He told me he was leaving town the next morning and asked if he could stop by early and pick it up."
"Was it a different batch or the same one all week?"
"The same batch. I haven't sold a lot of it. I was hoping once Mr. Haggerty's article was published, word-of-mouth would get around, and business would pick up."
I hated to tell Cassidy that Mr. Haggerty's article was not flattering in the least bit, but I decided against it. He was probably angry that she couldn’t provide a cure. “Listen, you didn't kill him. The poison? It was from a midnight orchid."
"Midnight orchid? Those are super toxic. I don’t go anywhere near them.”
I raised my eyebrows as if to say see?
“Those are the orchids Roger had at his flower shop, right?”
“Mmm-hm.”
“And someone tried to burn down the flower shop."
"Yeah." I didn't elaborate. Cassidy was doing a fine job putting things together on her own. "You think the killer used one of Roger's orchids and then burned down the shop to destroy the evidence?"
"You got it. Now you see why you didn't kill him?"
"I didn't kill him? I really didn't?"
"No, but you might want to lock Sir Whiskers up next time you're working." The kitty had jumped up onto Cassie's workstation and was about to knock over a stopper full of gold liquid. Heaven only knew what was in it. Cassidy moved and scooped up her cat in her arms. "Did you hear that, Sir Whiskers? I’m not going to jail, which means you don't have to live with Aunt Petunia after all.” Mr. Whiskers meowed in relief.