Kilt Dead (27 page)

She left the living room and went upstairs, where five
doors made a rough circle around a large central hall.
Liss opened the one at the top of the stairs to discover a
huge bath. It had probably been a bedroom once, she decided, before the house had indoor plumbing.

The next door led to a guest room, in which Mrs. Norris had placed three more Royal Doulton figurines-a
shepherdess, a woman with a bouquet of flowers, and a
Scottish dancer. Liss smiled at the latter and inspected the
roomy closet-empty-and another door that led to a small
balcony. She was careful to close the hall door when she
left. She had a feeling this room was off-limits to Lumpkin. If he got in, the delicate and expensive figurines were
likely to go the way of Aunt Margaret’s spoon holder.

The next door opened to reveal the stairs leading to the
attic. A quick look at her watch told Liss she didn’t have
time to investigate up there today. Instead she moved on
to the master bedroom.

Mrs. Norris’s room occupied the front corner of the
house and had the same view as the bay window in the
living room. Liss surveyed the neighborhood, her gaze
drawn first to her old house. Dan’s house. There was no
truck in the driveway. No lights had come on inside. He
wasn’t home.

She looked quickly away. It was ridiculous to start
imagining that she could stay on in Moosetookalook. She
couldn’t support herself here. She wasn’t even sure she
could adjust to being in one place all the time. She’d liked
being on the road, savored the constant change, the constant challenge of travel.

Liss’s eyes were on the town square, but her thoughts
tumbled round and round, refusing to settle. For some
moments, she didn’t register what she was seeing-an elderly man walking his equally ancient dog.

Liss sprinted down the stairs and out onto the porch.
She caught up with Lenny Peet and his arthritic hound
just as they were about to leave the square.

Ten minutes later, she was back in Mrs. Norris’s kitchen. Just like all the others, Lenny had been minding his
own business on the Saturday Mrs. Norris was killed. He’d seen nothing out of the ordinary, noticed no one in the
vicinity of Moosetookalook Scottish Emporium.

With a wary glance at the setting sun, Liss looked around
for Lumpkin. She called his name. She opened one of the
little, expensive cans of cat food. Nothing worked. Lumpkin did not intend to be removed twice from his home.
After nearly a quarter hour of futile searching, by which
time darkness had fallen in earnest, Liss gave up trying to
locate him. She made sure he had plenty of water to go
with his food, left a night light plugged in, and went back
to her aunt’s apartment alone.

r—~ he evening was quiet. Too quiet. By the time Jeff
stopped by to check on her, she was desperate for company. She made coffee and peppered him with questions
while he drank it.

“It’s just so frustrating,” she confided. “I want to do
something to help clear myself but I can’t think what else
I can do. I’ve talked to everyone I could think of. No one
saw anything. It’s possible one of them is lying, but I can’t
tell who, and that blackmail thing turned out to be a dead
end”

“You know I don’t have a clue what you’re talking
about, right?”

“Shouldn’t you be involved in the investigation?”

“State police handle murders almost everywhere in
the state, certainly in all the rural areas. They have the experience and training I don’t. Neither do you. You’re just
going to have to be patient, Liss. Good police work takes
time.”

“It would be easier if I thought I was getting good police work. What I’ve got is Craig LaVerdiere”

“I understand your concern,” Jeff said patiently, “but
he has a whole team of people working the case with him.
Good people. Let them do their jobs”

“Do they always get it right? Do they even come up
with the solution every time?”

“Well, no. But they never close the books on murder
until they make an arrest”

“That is not reassuring. Not when I’m the prime suspect “”

After Jeff left, she called Sherri, but Sherri was too
distracted to talk. Her son had an earache. Ned didn’t answer his phone, and she heard nothing further from Dan.

Liss shook her head at her own foolishness. It wasn’t
like her to need someone around every minute. Oh, it was
understandable that she’d be nervous after the break-in, but
she’d changed the locks and Jeff was right across the town
square. She had nothing to worry about. She watched television for a while and went to bed early, but sleep eluded
her.

She found herself wondering why Dan had taken
Mrs. Norris’s blue looseleaf. What had he expected to find
in its pages that the rest of them had missed? He must have
been looking for something specific. Otherwise, he’d have
told her he was borrowing it. They’d dismissed the idea
that Mrs. Norris was writing down gossip about real people, hadn’t they? And Dan had been the one who’d argued
most fiercely against suspecting her of being an extortionist. No explanation had presented itself before she drifted
into an uneasy doze.

She dreamed of being locked in a cell-Prison Break
had given her an all-too-vivid picture of what life in jail
was like. She woke before dawn, rose with the sun, and
by nine, an hour before the shop was due to open, had
consumed enough coffee to make her jittery as an ingenue with stage fright.

Friday at the Emporium started out as a repeat of
Thursday. The dearth of customers gave Liss more time
to think-the last thing she needed.

The bell over the door jangled, just as it had the previ ous day when Gina Snowe turned up. This morning, however, the former classmate entering the Emporium was not
an old friend. Karen Cloutier, Dan’s high school sweetheart, stopped just inside the door to give the shop a cursory once-over. With a disdainful sniff, she fingered a
brass door knocker in the shape of a bagpiper.

“People actually pay money for this?”

“Some do ” Liss came out from behind the sales counter,
hackles rising as Karen continued to touch merchandise
she had no intention of buying.

She picked up a tiny stuffed Loch Ness monster, carelessly tossing it aside to inspect a piece of thistle glassware. Once it was well smudged with fingerprints, she
put it back on the shelf. Liss winced as it struck the adjacent glass with a loud clink.

“Something I can do for you, Karen?”

She looked good for a woman who’d been married and
had produced two kids. The dark hair and snapping blue
eyes were unchanged. “I hear you mooched off Dan for a
couple of nights.” Like Gina, Karen was from Fallstown,
but someone had apparently filled her in on at least one
bit of Moosetookalook gossip.

“I wouldn’t put it quite that way” Liss waited for the
other shoe to drop.

“I can’t say I’m surprised.” Karen abandoned the pretense of being interested in what the Emporium had to
offer. “I had to watch him every minute back in the day
and he always had a yen for you”

Liss felt her eyebrows shoot up. If Dan had been interested in her in high school he’d sure had a funny way of
showing it. She couldn’t remember that he’d said more
than two words to her in public after they graduated from
Moosetookalook Elementary School and matriculated at
the regional high school in Fallstown.

“Of course he only strayed in his thoughts, and even
they came right back to me. Every time.” A particularly smug smile appeared on her face and she practically
purred her next comment. “It was so nice being with him
again last night. He hasn’t lost a bit of his old fire.”

The implication gave Liss a nasty jolt. Dan had stayed
in Fallstown overnight. Just the possibility that he’d spent
part of that time cozied up to his old flame hurt like hell.
Consider the source, she reminded herself.

“I understand you have two children, Karen,” she said.
“Did you bring them with you?”

Karen scowled not a flattering expression on her. Before she could manage a comeback, the shop door opened
again.

Saved by the bell! Liss turned to greet the new customer, but her automatic smile faded as soon as she recognized Craig LaVerdiere.

“Ms. MacCrimmon, a word with you?”

“Certainly. Just as soon as I’m through with this customer.”

Karen looked from Liss to the newcomer and back
again. “Oh, I think I’ll just browse a bit. Please, don’t let
me keep you from business.”

Liss couldn’t tell if Karen knew LaVerdiere was a cop
or if she thought his business with her was personal and
romantic. Either way, it was clear the other woman didn’t
intend to miss the chance to eavesdrop. Liss toyed with
the idea of leaving her alone in the shop while she talked
with LaVerdiere in the privacy of the stockroom, but decided the effort would be a waste of time. Karen would
just use one of the thistle glasses to listen through the
door.

Leaving Dan’s old girlfriend to fiddle with a display of
sporrans, Liss led LaVerdiere to the cozy corner and waved
him into a chair. “What can I do for you, detective?” She
kept her voice low and her tone neutral.

“I brought you your statement to be signed,” LaVerdiere
announced, indicating the manila folder he’d placed on the small table between the chairs. “Unless you’d like to
change your story.”

“Not a chance” She opened the folder and skimmed
the typescript. She scarcely had to read it to know what it
said. She’d answered the same questions so many times
that she knew the contents by heart.

“I’m surprised you’re not asking about the investigation,” LaVerdiere remarked.

She lifted a brow at him as she signed her name.
“Would you tell me anything if I did?”

“I don’t mind having you know some things.”

His sudden amiability made Liss wary. “So, how is the
investigation going?”

“We still haven’t found anyone to verify exactly when
you returned here that evening.”

Which meant she was still a suspect. Big surprise.

“And although motive isn’t really as important in finding a killer as fictional detectives think it is, no one has a
better one than you do. Seems to me you must have known
she left everything to you, Ms. MacCrimmon. What else
but the promise of a fortune would make you hightail it
back to a dinky little burg like this one?”

“Career-ending knee injury? Desire to help my aunt
run her business?” She forced herself to settle back in her
chair and feign casual unconcern. Never let them see
you sweat.

“You stayed in touch with Mrs. Norris after you left
Moosetookalook.”

“She stayed in touch with me. She stayed in touch with
a lot of people.”

LaVerdiere picked up the folder she’d returned to the
table, checked her signature, and stood. “So you say,
Ms. MacCrimmon. So you say.”

Liss opened her mouth and closed it again. Since no
argument she could make would convince him she was
innocent, why bother?

LaVerdiere headed for the door. Karen Cloutier, looking as pleased as Lumpkin after a saucer of cream, timed
her exit to coincide with his. She was flirting outrageously
with the detective as they went out together. Liss wished
her luck. She doubted LaVerdiere would tell her anything. Unfortunately, she’d already gotten an earful.

“This just keeps getting better and better,” Liss grumbled.

There were no more customers after Karen left. Once
again Liss had too much time to think. She doodled a todo list.

1. Clear name by identifying real killer

2. Solve Aunt Margaret’s financial problems

3. Find new career

Only with the last item did she have much hope of success. Liss started another list, this one of possibilities for
future employment.

1. Teach dancing?

Liss made a face. Not her thing and never had been.
She didn’t want to teach what she could no longer do. Besides, children made her uncomfortable.

2. Management position with Strathspey?

That would only work if such a job were available: it
wasn’t. If she returned to the company, the best she could
hope for would be work in some menial backstage capacity. Not appealing!