| |
Kat was reading on the couch that evening, Matty curled up in her lap, when Imogene’s text message came through. It was only four words long, but it sent Kat’s stomach plummeting to the floor.
Lenora’s dead, come quick!
“Maybe it’s a joke,” Kat said to Matty, although her gut told her otherwise.
The yellow-and-brown tortoiseshell lifted her head and peeled one eyelid open. She studied Kat’s cell phone as though to assess the seriousness of Imogene’s message. Then, with an exaggerated yawn, she laid her head back down on her paws.
Matty’s nonchalance did nothing to ease Kat’s concerns. Kat had a hard time believing Imogene would send a prank text in such poor taste.
She dialed Imogene’s number. The phone rang four times before going to voicemail. She hung up without leaving a message.
“So much for a peaceful Sunday evening reading.” Kat tickled Matty’s rib cage. “Looks like I’m going to have to disturb you, baby.”
Kat lifted the tortoiseshell from her lap and set her down on the sofa. Matty made sure her human was aware of her sacrifice with a dirty look, but it only took her a moment to get comfortable again. She settled into the depression made by two adjoining couch cushions, keeping her green eyes on her human as Kat laced up her sneakers.
Kat’s chest grew tighter and tighter as she drove to Lenora’s neighborhood. Turning into the cul-de-sac, she saw Imogene’s car lined up in front of two others parked by the curb. She recognized one of the vehicles as belonging to Andrew Milhone, her boyfriend and a detective with the Cherry Hills Police Department. Normally she would be happy about the prospect of seeing him, but after Imogene’s disturbing text the sight of his vehicle only made her more uneasy.
Kat parked her own car, cut the engine, and jumped out of the driver’s seat. Racing around the side of Veronica’s house, she saw Andrew, Imogene, and Chief Kenny, the beefy CHPD police chief, conferring in one corner of the backyard. She dashed over to them.
“Where’s Lenora?” she asked, directing the question at no one in particular.
Andrew nodded across the yard.
“Somebody killed her near my drop trap,” Imogene contributed. She looked unusually pale, and there was an uncharacteristic wobble in her voice.
Kat scanned Veronica’s backyard. Sure enough, even in the dimming light of day she could make out a black-clad figure next to the trap they’d set up that afternoon. The deceased’s face wasn’t visible from this distance, but Kat did catch a glimpse of red hair.
“How did she die?” Kat asked.
“From the nasty bruise on her forehead, I reckon someone conked her on the noggin with something,” Chief Kenny said, his booming voice incongruous in the quiet of the gloaming hour.
“Is there any chance this was an accident?” Kat asked. “Could she have tripped and hit her head on the trap?”
“Nah. A fall wouldn’t have caused that injury. No way around it, this was deliberate.”
“Who found her?”
Imogene lifted her hand in the air. “When I showed up this evening to see if the food we put under the trap had been touched yet, there she was.”
“Does Veronica know?” Kat asked.
“Yes.” Imogene’s shoulders sagged. “Poor Ronnie. She looked so shaken when I pounded on her door to tell her what I’d found. I hate that I brought this upon her.”
“It ain’t your fault.” Chief Kenny patted Imogene’s shoulder with the stiff movements of someone unaccustomed to doling out physical comfort.
“Veronica didn’t see or hear anything before you arrived?” Kat asked Imogene.
Imogene shook her head. “She told me she had the television on.”
Kat eyeballed the distance between the drop trap and Veronica’s house. It was quite possible for an attack back here to go unnoticed. They had set up the trap near the back of Veronica’s property, figuring Mustang would be more inclined to go near it without the threat of people nearby. Now Kat wished they had placed it closer to the house.
“Where is Veronica now?” Kat asked.
“Inside,” Andrew replied. “She said the sight of a dead body made her queasy and wanted to lie down.”
Or perhaps she had a guilty conscience and hadn’t wanted to hang around out here with the police, Kat thought.
Of course, Kat considered, just because Lenora had been found on Veronica’s property didn’t mean Veronica had killed her. The backyards back here were all wide open spaces, without hedges, fences, or other physical structures to keep trespassers out. It wouldn’t have been difficult for one of the neighbors to spot Lenora out here by herself, hit her in the head, then run back home. The whole thing might have taken less than a minute.
Kat gestured toward Lenora’s body. “Do you mind if I take a look at her?”
Andrew and Chief Kenny exchanged glances.
“I promise I won’t disturb anything,” Kat added.
“All righty,” Chief Kenny said. “But don’t get too close. Forensics guys will be here lickety-split, and I don’t need you compromising the crime scene.”
“Okay.” Kat started inching away.
She only made it a few steps before Chief Kenny said, “Stop right there. That’s close enough.”
She frowned. “But I can’t see anything from here.”
“Well, you’ll have to make do.” Chief Kenny yanked a flashlight from his belt and turned it on. “Here.” He aimed the light at the drop trap.
Kat was about to protest that she was still too far away when something in the woods reflected off of the flashlight beam.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“What’s what?” Chief Kenny said. “I don’t see nothing.”
“I saw it,” Imogene said. “Kenny, move your flashlight around.”
Chief Kenny did as he was told. This time, Kat saw two items reflecting the light. It took a second before she realized she was looking at the iridescent eyes of an animal. She squinted, trying to make out the animal’s features, but all she could see from here were his unblinking eyes.
“I think Mustang’s out there,” she said. “Either that or it’s another cat.”
“Oh. I guess you’re right.” Imogene sounded disappointed that they had only spotted the feral tom rather than a crucial piece of evidence that might lead to Lenora’s killer.
Reminded of why they were out here in the first place, Kat shifted her attention to Lenora’s body. She still couldn’t see the dead woman’s face, but she recognized the outfit Lenora had had on earlier. Some of her red hair appeared to be caught under the edge of the trap, as if the impact of her fall had triggered the collapse of the leg that held the contraption high enough off the ground for an animal to slip underneath. Unfortunately, nothing she saw gave her any ideas on who might have done this.
Something occurred to her. “Imogene’s not a suspect, is she?” she asked.
“What?” Imogene straightened in indignation. “Of course I’m not. What a ridiculous question.”
But the police contingent didn’t look nearly as certain. Andrew dragged his hand through his sandy hair, his eyes darting in Chief Kenny’s direction. The police chief flushed, from embarrassment or anger, Kat wasn’t sure which. She knew Chief Kenny and Imogene were fond of each other, and having Imogene be under suspicion of murder had to put him in an awkward position.
Imogene smacked the police chief’s arm. “Kenny! You know I’m not a killer.”
“Well, shoot, of course I know that.” Chief Kenny rubbed his bicep. “But the procedure in cases like this . . .” He trailed off with a helpless look in Andrew’s direction.
Andrew coughed. “Unfortunately, we’re required to treat you like a person of interest.”
Imogene huffed. “Well, I never. Just because I was arguing with her earlier?”
Chief Kenny’s head jerked up. “You had a squabble with the victim?”
Imogene tilted her chin up. “Of course I had a squabble with her. She said she wanted to haul Mustang to the pound. Why, it’s nothing short of a miracle that I wasn’t the one who killed her.”
Kat didn’t like the look that passed between Andrew and Chief Kenny. Clearly this was the first time they were hearing about that afternoon’s altercation.
Chief Kenny finally cleared his throat. “Well, you ask me, we’re gonna have our mitts full tracking down all the folks Lenora riled up ’round these parts. Lenora was about as popular here as a bee in a nudist colony. Coulda been any one of her neighbors saw a golden opportunity to stop her and her nuisance calls and took it.”
Kat looked at him. “Who did Lenora make a nuisance call about?” And, she thought, could someone have been so put out by such a complaint that they might see fit to kill the person who had phoned it in?
“A more apt question would be who didn’t she call about,” Chief Kenny replied. “Noise violations, parking disputes, dogs on her property, you name it, she bellyached about it.”
Kat mulled over that. If everyone had a problem with Lenora, how would they ever pinpoint who was guilty?
Chief Kenny set one hand on Imogene’s shoulder. “You know if she had any folks in the area? We’ll need to notify her next of kin.”
Imogene must have still been miffed about being labeled a person of interest because she wrenched her body away from his touch. But she did answer his question. “This afternoon was the first time I met her,” she said. “Ronnie said she’d only moved to the area a year ago. I can ask Ronnie if she knows of any family.”
“I’d appreciate that,” Chief Kenny said.
A scratching sound drew Kat’s attention to the house. The calico cat was pawing at another windowpane. Had she too spotted the feral in the woods? For all Kat knew he had been there for hours, tracking the comings and goings through Veronica’s backyard. Could he have seen what had happened to Lenora earlier? Maybe he was only sticking around now to make sure the woman who had wanted him hauled off to the pound really was gone for good.
Kat wrapped her arms around her body to ward off a sudden chill. Maybe, like at least one person out there, the feral tom was secretly basking in the fact that Lenora wasn’t in a position to ever cause him grief again.
