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Meadow started jogging toward the cat. “It’s got to be! She’s wearing a crocheted sweater!”
Beatrice said in alarm, “Wait! Hold on, Meadow, you’re going to scare her off.”
“But Maisie is always so laid back,” scoffed Meadow. “She should be glad to see us.”
Wyatt said, “Beatrice is probably right, Meadow. Maisie might still be a little freaked out by being outside. Besides, there are all these people here and a lot of commotion. Let’s approach her really cautiously so she won’t run off.”
Maisie was indeed skittish. She hesitated at first when they got within a few yards of her, but then bolted off.
Meadow was desperately scrabbling in her purse. “Surely I’ve got some food in here that we could lure her with. That’s definitely Maisie. Oh, Miss Sissy is going to be so relieved!” She pulled out a pack of crackers that looked as those it might have been in the bottom of Meadow’s purse for a while as if Maisie’s prolonged stint in the great outdoors might have changed her from a carnivore to a cracker eater.
Wyatt frowned, tracking the cat with his eyes. “It looks as if she’s heading past the police tape.”
“What? Well, we’ll just have to go in there. It’s an emergency. Ramsay will understand,” said Meadow huffily.
Beatrice wasn’t at all sure that Ramsay would understand. “Let’s walk up to the tape and tell him what’s going on. Maybe one of the guys can grab Maisie while she’s distracted. There are enough people and commotion to distract her. Maybe she’s simply curious. She’s hiding under that bush where she can see them, but they can’t see her.”
Meadow stomped toward Ramsay. “I’ll tell Ramsay to get her,” she said grimly.
Wyatt and Beatrice glanced at each other. “It’s not like Ramsay has anything else going on,” said Beatrice with a laugh. “Not like a new murder investigation, or anything.”
Wyatt’s eyes were focused on Maisie. “The good news is that the cat doesn’t look as if she’s about to dash off again. I don’t think she knows we’ve seen her.”
Beatrice laughed again as Meadow, hands on her hips and looking her bossiest, talked to Ramsay. Ramsay was shaking his head in response to whatever Meadow was saying, but then gave a small shrug and turned around to follow where Meadow was pointing.
“I guess Maisie trumps the murder investigation,” said Wyatt, smiling.
“Meadow trumps the murder investigation. If Ramsay had just ignored her, he’d never have heard the end of it,” said Beatrice.
They watched, holding their breaths, as Ramsay strode toward the bush, bent abruptly, and picked up (none-too-gently) the white cat wearing the sweater, and placed it in Meadow’s arms.
Meadow, beaming and clutching the cat fiercely, hurried back toward Wyatt and Beatrice.
“It’s Maisie all right!” she crowed. “Let’s get her in the car before she escapes again!”
“Aren’t you holding her just a little too tightly?” asked Beatrice. “We do want the cat to be able to breathe, you know.”
“I’m not taking any chances on Maisie getting away again,” said Meadow.
They started the long walk back to the car, Maisie looking alarmed and Beatrice trying to calm her down by telling her what a good cat she was. Even though Beatrice believed quite the opposite about Maisie’s overall behavior during the incident.
Wyatt said, “Miss Sissy is going to be over the moon.”
“If we can find Miss Sissy. For all we know, she’s out in the woods, looking for the cat.” But Beatrice smiled, looking forward to the old woman’s reaction.
Sure enough, there was no answer when they knocked at Miss Sissy’s door.
“I’ll try her cell phone,” said Meadow. She shook her head a minute later. “No answer.”
Beatrice said, “Before we go any further, let’s put Maisie in a carrier. She’s looking pretty anxious right now and the last thing we need is for her to run off again.”
“Boris has one we can borrow,” said Meadow quickly.
Beatrice said, “No, let’s grab Noo-noo’s. Boris’s is so big that it probably won’t even fit in the car.”
Meadow drove the short distance to Beatrice’s and she ran in, getting the crate and an old towel to line the bottom of it. Maisie seemed to appreciate the crate, looking a lot more relaxed when she was safely inside.
“Now we can start looking for Miss Sissy,” said Wyatt.
“First, we’re looking for a cat, then we’re looking for a cat owner,” said Beatrice, shaking her head. “I’m not sure which is harder.”
They drove slowly past the woods around Beatrice’s and Meadow’s houses. Then they drove to the park where there was a small lake, trails, and a wooded area. There was no sign of her.
Meadow said with a sigh, “Well, I guess we can always head back over near the Nelms estate. That’s the only place left that we haven’t driven past.”
“And we can have the opportunity to irritate Ramsay once again today,” said Beatrice. “Who wants to pass that up?”
Wyatt said, “Regardless, I think we should probably drive over. We don’t have to get close to the police tape. I hate the thought of her still being so worried and out looking for Maisie the whole day.”
As it happened, they didn’t have to get up close to Ramsay’s area at all. They saw Miss Sissy’s dilapidated old Lincoln in the circular driveway, and the old woman, who appeared to have half a bird’s nest in her hair, was limping toward it, looking exhausted.
“She’s so dejected! Oh hurry, Beatrice, jump out and show her we’ve got Maisie!” said Meadow in agitation.
Beatrice waited a couple of seconds for Wyatt to stop the car, not being eager to jump out of a moving vehicle, and immediately called out “Miss Sissy! We’ve got Maisie!”
The old woman stopped in her tracks, gaping at them in disbelief. Then she galloped toward them in a speedy, limping gait, face lit up with joy, exhaustion forgotten.
Beatrice quickly set down the carrier and called out to Meadow and Wyatt. “Backup needed! I think Maisie’s coming out of the crate!”
Sure enough, Miss Sissy was immediately on the crate, opening the latch and gathering the cat up close to her. A tear ran down either cheek as she crooned to the animal softly. Beatrice didn’t ordinarily think of cats as particularly affectionate, but Maisie was proving her wrong as she rubbed her face repeatedly against Miss Sissy’s.
Meadow was smiling through her tears. Wyatt even wiped away a tear of his own. Beatrice gave Miss Sissy a hug, but then decided Miss Sissy might be better served by having the bird nest removed from her hair. She carefully removed the twigs and moss as Miss Sissy continued holding Maisie tightly and crooning to her.
“Where did you find her?” asked Miss Sissy gruffly.
“We were all walking out of the Nelms house this morning when Meadow spotted her. We drove to my house to get Noo-noo’s carrier, and then looked for you,” said Beatrice. “Meadow tried to call you on your cell phone.”
“Didn’t bring it,” said the old woman. Then she looked smug. “Knew Maisie was over here. People kept saying they spotted her out this way.”
Beatrice, still leery that Maisie would get spooked again and head back out for another adventure in the woods, said, “Let’s get you both back home.”
Wyatt said, “How about if I drive Miss Sissy’s car back so that she can visit with Maisie on the way back?”
“Good idea,” said Beatrice. Anything to get the cat back into the car and safely back to Miss Sissy’s house. She gently took Maisie from Miss Sissy. “She seemed much calmer and happier when she was in the crate in the car.”
Miss Sissy nodded and clambered into the van. Beatrice swung the carrier in next to the old woman and they started up the engine.
“I’ll call Posy and let her know that Maisie is found,” said Meadow, pulling slowly out of the driveway behind Wyatt.
Wyatt appeared to be driving even slower than usual. This was probably due to the fact that he was concerned the ancient Lincoln might self-destruct at any second.
Miss Sissy had stuck as many of her fingers as possible through the bars of the carrier and was petting Maisie, who looked very pleased.
Beatrice said, “Miss Sissy, you said that you’d heard reports that Maisie was over near the Nelms estate. Did you look over there yourself?”
“Of course,” scoffed the old woman. “All the time.”
“All the time? Were you there before we found you this morning?” asked Beatrice.
“Was there last night,” said Miss Sissy as if staying out all night looking for a cat made perfect sense.
“Did you see Sadie last night? Sadie Nelms?” asked Beatrice.
Meadow took in a deep breath as if the weight of the universe rested on Miss Sissy’s answer.
Miss Sissy frowned reprovingly at Meadow for the noise, which startled Maisie. Then she said to Beatrice. “Nope. Saw Wynona.”
Meadow turned to stare at Beatrice and Beatrice yelped, “Meadow, the road!”
Meadow swerved to get back on the road again.
Miss Sissy was looking most reproachfully now at Meadow. “Road hog!”
Beatrice said in a coaxing voice, “Miss Sissy, try to think. What time did you see Wynona?”
“Time?” The old woman stared at Beatrice as if the passing of time was an aspect of life that had very little relevance to her.
Beatrice noticed that there was no watch present on Miss Sissy’s wrist. She said, “All right, then. Was it dark then?”
The old woman nodded. “Dark.”
“How dark?” pressed Beatrice.
“Pretty darn dark,” snarled Miss Sissy, losing patience with the questions.
Apparently, any points that Beatrice and Meadow had scored with Miss Sissy by finding and returning the wayward Maisie were rapidly being depleted.
Meadow said, “You see, Miss Sissy, Sadie was murdered last night. We’re trying to find out who might be responsible. You remember Sadie, don’t you? She was at the party we threw for Beatrice. You seemed to like her.”
Miss Sissy grunted noncommittally.
“You’d be doing us a great favor if you could tell us anything you remember. We know you were focusing on Maisie, but did you maybe talk to Wynona? You must have been surprised to see her out there in the dark,” said Meadow in a wheedling tone.
Beatrice asked, “Did Wynona see you, Miss Sissy?”
“Course she did,” snapped the old woman. “I was out there calling, wasn’t I?”
“Did she say anything to you about why she was there?” asked Beatrice.
“Said she was helping look for the cat,” muttered Miss Sissy.
That would likely have been the end of the questions from Miss Sissy for Wynona. If she thought Wynona was helping to look for Maisie, she would simply have accepted that at face value. To Miss Sissy, it was natural that everyone would have helped to find her missing cat. If it was important to Miss Sissy, it followed that it was important for everyone else.
“What was her mood? Did she seem anxious? Quiet?” asked Beatrice.
Miss Sissy glared at her. “Seemed like she was looking for a cat.”
This seemed to be the end of the road on the subject. Wyatt pulled Miss Sissy’s boat of a car into her driveway and Meadow followed behind.
“I’ll carry the crate for you,” said Beatrice, but Miss Sissy had already picked it up with surprising alacrity, and was trotting up the driveway to her front door. A minute later, she gently scooped Maisie out of the carrier, deposited her inside, and shoved the crate out the door. She gave a quick, unenthusiastic wave before slamming the door behind her.
Wyatt walked up to their window. “I’m going to walk back to the house. I think I need a few minutes to clear my head.”
“I don’t blame you,” said Beatrice with a sigh. “I feel the same way. I’ll check in with you later.”
“Well, I guess that’s that,” said Meadow as she pulled out of Miss Sissy’s driveway. “Posy sure was glad to hear the news about Maisie. I have a feeling that Miss Sissy will be having a visitor later.” She paused. “You don’t think that Wynona had anything to do with Sadie’s murder, surely. They were good friends.”
“But what was she doing out there at night?” asked Beatrice.
“We’ll just have to ask her. I’m sure she’ll have a good explanation. I certainly hope that the best florist in town isn’t a murderer. That would leave us high and dry for a couple of upcoming weddings, wouldn’t it? And I have the feeling that my efforts at flower arranging wouldn’t prove to be much of a substitute,” said Meadow with a sigh. “Maybe we can at least figure out she’s a murderer after she’s finished with the weddings.”
Beatrice said, “I need to talk to her.”
“About the flowers?”
“Unfortunately, no. The flowers would have been a good excuse, but we’re all squared away with them, I think.” Then Beatrice snapped her fingers. “Wynona did say that she wanted for her dog, Watson, and Noo-noo to have a playdate. I think today might be the perfect time. Besides, that way I can maybe catch her off-guard. The news of Sadie’s death probably hasn’t made it around town yet. I could see her reaction in person.”
Meadow said, “I didn’t realize Wynona had a dog.”
“She didn’t—not until a couple of weeks ago. She’s got a Labradoodle puppy with endless supplies of energy, apparently. She was hoping Noo-noo could help her puppy deplete some of his energy,” said Beatrice. She grimaced. “Of course, now I’ve got two dogs on my hands. But I’m pretty sure I can handle only one of them for a playdate.”
Meadow laughed. “I wonder if her puppy is going to be too much for Noo-noo. She should set up a playdate with Boris, instead! Noo-noo will probably be worn out for the rest of the day.”
Beatrice smiled. “You’re right. But for some reason she chose Noo-noo ... I guess because of her size.”
Meadow pulled into Beatrice’s driveway. “Well, let me know what you find out. Remember your crate!”
Beatrice walked in, setting down the crate by the door and sitting down to rub Noo-noo for a few minutes. Finally, she picked up her phone.
“Wynona? It’s Beatrice. I was wondering if you’d like to meet up at the park? I thought today might be a great day for the dogs to play. Now? That’s perfect. See you in a few.”
Fifteen minutes later, Beatrice and Noo-noo were at the park. They walked toward the lake and immediately spotted Wynona waving at them and her tan colored Labradoodle grinning at them and leaping around on his leash.
“I’m so glad you called!” said Wynona. “Watson got up at five this morning and has been going like a house on fire ever since. Maybe Noo-noo can take some of the energy out of him.”
She looked so pleased that Beatrice felt a little guilty about her plan. But not guilty enough not to go through with it. She smiled back and said, “Want to sit down on the bench by the lake and let them play? I’ve got Noo-noo on a long leash and I brought an extra one in case you didn’t have one yet.”
Wynona looked grateful. “That would be great, if I could borrow that. It should be easier for them to play that way.”
The women sat down and laughed for a few minutes, watching the dogs play. Beatrice was glad to see that Noo-noo was very patient with the puppy and didn’t seem to mind all the nips. In fact, the little dog appeared to be having a great time. Maybe she had needed a little playtime, too.
Beatrice said, “Noo-noo’s loving this. And I am, too. I think I needed a distraction after this morning.”
Wynona, who’d been smiling at Watson, looked swiftly over at Beatrice. “This morning? What happened this morning?”
Beatrice took a deep breath. “Wynona, I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but Sadie Nelms died last night. She was murdered.”