Kitten Kaboodle (Zoe Donovan Mystery Book 20) (10 page)

“When did you find it?”

“A few days ago. Does it matter?”

“Maybe.” I reached into my pocket and took out the cash I had on hand. “I’ll give you forty dollars for it.”

The woman smiled a toothless grin. “I guess you got yourself a jacket.”

I decided to take the jacket directly to Salinger. After having been in the Dumpster and worn by the homeless woman I doubted he’d be able to isolate any evidence that might have at one time been on it, but at least he had the tools to try. If the jacket didn’t provide DNA or trace evidence that might help us, maybe I could find someone who’d seen the jacket discarded in the first place.

The Dumpster the woman indicated was the one where she’d found the jacket was clearly visible from both the far west corner of the park and the food truck that parked in the area during the summer months. I put the jacket in my car and grabbed the emergency cash I kept in my glove box, then headed toward the food truck.

“Can I help you?” the man, who wore a name tag that read
Hawk
, asked.

“A hot dog and a soda.” I was pretty hungry because I’d never gotten around to getting that deli sandwich. “Were you parked here on Monday?”

“Every day this week. Gotta make a buck while I can. Once school is back in session the lunch crowd dries up. Mustard, onion, and pickle?”

“Yes, everything. I’m trying to find out who might have dumped a pink leather jacket in that Dumpster sometime in the past few days.”

He frowned as he added the onion to my dog. “I do remember seeing someone with a pink jacket. The only reason I noticed it was because it’s been hot this week, and it seemed odd that anyone would want to wear a jacket of any kind.”

“I got it from a homeless woman I found going through the Dumpster down the alley. About yay high with no teeth.” I held my hand up to a location just over my head.

“Yeah, I guess that’s where I saw the pink jacket.”

“And you don’t remember seeing anyone actually putting it in the Dumpster?”

“Sorry.” The man shook his head. “That’ll be three-fifty.”

I paid him and found a picnic table in the shade, contemplating the Dumpster while I ate my lunch. Edna’s property was at least five miles outside town. There were dozens of Dumpsters in Ashton Falls. Why had whoever tossed the jacket placed it in this particular one? It wasn’t in proximity to the murder scene, but perhaps it was close to something else. Perhaps the killer’s home or business.

Still, if the killer had worn the jacket during the murder it would seem they would do a better job disposing of it. Salinger initially had thought Edna had pulled the tassel off the jacket during the struggle in which she’d died, but if someone had set out to frame Nona, perhaps they’d stolen the jacket, removed the tassel, and then dumped it while Edna was still alive. In terms of where the jacket had been dumped that made a lot more sense than a scenario in which the jacket was worn to the crime scene and then disposed of after Edna was dead.

The problem with this scenario was one of premeditation. If the tassel was brought to Edna’s property and purposely placed in her hand after she died, that demonstrated intention and a well-thought-out plan. The fact that the murder weapon, the shovel, was simply tossed in the forest near the barn, was sloppy and spoke of a spontaneous act of violence brought on by rage or self-defense.

Something wasn’t adding up.

I let my mind noodle on the possibilities as I slowly chewed my food. A carelessly abandoned murder weapon coupled with a carefully plotted frame-up didn’t belong together in the same story. I tried to figure out one where the murder was unplanned but the frame-up was plotted. Suddenly, I knew exactly what could have happened.

“Okay, go over your theory again?” Salinger looked completely confused. I’d tried to walk him through my thought process, but apparently I hadn’t communicated as clearly as I’d hoped.

“All right, but listen carefully this time. Person number one goes to the kitten mill for a reason having nothing to do with murder. While on the property an argument breaks out. Somehow Edna is hit with the shovel and dies. Perhaps the killer hit her out of rage, or even self-defense. When the killer realizes what they’ve done they panic. They toss the shovel into the forest and leave. At some point shortly after one of two things happens: Either the killer realizes they need to cover up what they’ve done so they go back to the property and place the tassel in Edna’s hand, or they tell someone else what they’ve done and this other person orchestrates the frame.”

Salinger drummed his fingers on the desk as he considered my theory. “For this to be true the person who came up with the frame would either have had to already had Nona’s jacket or would have had to had access to it that afternoon.”

“I suppose that does complicate things. Based on the timeline I’ve put together Nona would have been with Aspen when Edna died.”

“Any chance Aspen is the killer and decided to frame Nona in order to save her own backside?”

I frowned. I didn’t know Aspen all that well, but there was a discrepancy between her story and Nona’s. It might be worth it to look into their whereabouts more carefully. If Aspen was the killer…

“I need to go,” I informed Salinger.

“I thought you wanted to talk this through.”

“I did. I mean, I do. But Zak and the kids are coming home early and I want to be home to greet them.”

“Okay. Whatever you want. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

After I left Salinger’s office I called Jeremy and asked him if he would drop Charlie off at the boathouse. I called Ellie to let her know Jeremy would be bringing him by and I would get him later. Then I headed toward the bar where I hoped to find Nona, who, in my opinion, had a lot of explaining to do.

“Nona framed herself?” Ellie said later that afternoon.

“As odd as it sounds, she did. It seems Aspen went out to Edna’s to talk to her about the sick kittens. She swears she only went to talk. She was going to offer to pay for them so Edna wouldn’t destroy them. Edna told Aspen she’d rather kill them than let her have them and went out into the barn with the shovel intent on doing just that. Aspen grabbed the shovel in order to try to stop Edna from smashing the babies, and for some reason Edna let go, causing Aspen to fall forward and sort of spin around. Aspen still doesn’t know what happened, but in the end Edna suffered a blow to the head. Aspen insists Edna was only knocked out and not dead after she accidentally hit her, but she panicked. She threw the shovel into the woods and went back to town, where she told Nona the whole sad story. Nona went out to the property on Aspen’s behalf to make sure Edna had regained consciousness. When she realized Edna wasn’t okay but dead, she came up with the idea of framing herself. She figured I’d get her off, and if Salinger was focused on her, he wouldn’t be looking too hard at Aspen, who was a total mess by that point.”

“Wow. That’s some story. Did Salinger arrest Aspen?”

“For now. The attorney Zak hired for Nona is going to represent them both until they can get it all sorted out.”

“Both?”

“Nona’s guilty of covering up a murder, harboring a criminal, and interfering in a murder investigation. The attorney thinks in the end the district attorney won’t want to go to trial and they’ll be able to work out a plea bargain for both women.”

“Okay, here’s what I don’t get: If Nona framed herself, why was she so mad about being arrested? She must have known she would be.”

“She thought if she didn’t demonstrate the proper amount of rage I’d know something was wrong right off. And she was right—I would have known. If Nona had done a better job of disposing of the jacket, I might never have figured this whole thing out.”

“So Aspen’s alibi about the staff meeting was a lie?”

I could see Ellie was still trying to piece the whole thing together. “No, she actually did have a staff meeting, giving her an alibi. Nona’s the one who lied when she told me she was with Aspen until four. She was at Edna’s, framing herself.”

Ellie put her hand to her stomach. “Okay, so Nona went out to the property earlier in the morning and found the sick kittens. She then came back to Ashton Falls and told you about them. When you were unable to help she went to Aspen, who agreed to try to speak to Edna. They fought and Edna was hit with the shovel. Aspen panicked and came back into town, where she told Nona what happened. Aspen was a mess, so Nona volunteered to go out to the property to check on Edna, who was dead, so Nona came up with the idea of framing herself. At some point after Nona left Fritz came by with Tucker and they took the kittens, which they left on your porch. Shortly after that, the lady who had the appointment to purchase a kitten came by and found Edna dead.”

“Exactly.”

“That’s crazy.”

“Yeah, it really is. And tragic. Usually in a murder case there’s a bad guy, but in this case everyone involved just wanted to save the kittens.”

Ellie lifted her hand to her mouth.

“Are you still feeling sick?”

Ellie nodded and ran to the bathroom. Poor thing. Whatever nasty bug she’d picked up was really hanging on. She’d been sick ever since she’d been home from her visit to her mother. Maybe some fresh air would help. It was a beautiful day, so when she came back from the bathroom I suggested we sit out on the deck for a spell.

“It sure is a beautiful day,” I started off once we were seated on the deck. “The lake is like glass. If Zak were going to be home earlier I’d suggest a boat ride under the moonlight.”

“Just talking about a boat ride makes me want to puke.”

“I’m so sorry you’re still feeling so awful. Talk about a nasty bug. Did you go to the doctor?”

Ellie turned and looked at me. She didn’t say a word, but the minute our eyes met she started to cry. I quickly set down my drink and ran to her side. I wrapped my arms around her as she sobbed.

“Oh my God. What is it? Did the doctor find something?”

Ellie didn’t answer, but she did hug me tighter. I should have realized the minute I walked in the door that something was wrong. She’d done her best to follow along with my story, but she was distracted the entire time, asking me to repeat myself over and over again.

“Is it bad?”

Ellie nodded.

“Oh God, it’s not something terminal?”

Ellie shook her head and pulled back just a bit. I handed her a tissue.

“I’m not going to die,” she informed me. “It’s not that.”

“Then what?”

“I’m not sick, I’m pregnant.”

This is the place in the conversation where even the seagulls in the background went totally silent. Ellie had been told by several doctors that she would most likely never be able to have children. This piece of news conflicted with everything I believed to be true and, I was sure, she believed true as well.

“Pregnant? Are you sure?”

Ellie nodded.

I had no idea what to say. Wow. Pregnant. Ellie wanted children of her own more than she wanted anything else in life. Was she happy? Was she terrified? Should I congratulate her or offer sympathy?

“How?” I finally settled on.

Ellie just laughed through the tears.

“I mean I know how, what I mean is,” I paused as a new thought occurred to me, “who?”

Ellie started sobbing again.

I knew that Brady and Ellie were taking things slowly and as far as I knew they had settled into a comfortable friendship rather than a romance, but Ellie wasn’t dating anyone else, so it had to be him. “Brady. It must be Brady.”

Ellie shook her head but still didn’t speak.

“Brady isn’t the father?” I verified.

“Nooooo.” Ellie was sobbing harder.

Okay, if Brady wasn’t the father then who? “Maybe you should tell me what happened.”

Ellie looked down at her lap. I could see she was struggling to regain control of her emotions.

“You know you can tell me anything,” I encouraged.

“I know.” Ellie blew her nose. She took a deep breath as she tried to quell her tears. “It’s a long story.”

“I’m listening.”

Ellie looked so lost. No, not lost: terrified.

“What I have to tell you is complicated, so please just bear with me while I try to explain how something like this could have happened.”

“Okay. You have my full attention.” I leaned forward and placed one of my hands on her leg.

“You commented the other night that when you returned from Ireland you noticed Brady and I seemed to have made a connection,” Ellie began. “You were right, we had. And over the next few months we became even closer. I knew he was still mourning the loss of his wife. He wasn’t ready for a new relationship, and in the beginning I still had feelings for Levi, so I wasn’t really after anything more than friendship either. The day before I left to visit my mother I spent the day with Brady and the kids. We had an amazing time together, playing at the beach, picnicking at the park, and feeding the birds along the lakeshore. After we put the kids to bed Brady offered me a glass of wine. I accepted and we spent a fantastic evening talking about anything and everything. It really was a magical time, and I felt closer to Brady than I ever had. Somehow, in spite of the fact that I never intended to have more than a single glass of wine, time got away from us, and before we knew it not only was it late but we had finished the entire bottle. Brady didn’t think it was a good idea for me to drive, so he offered to sleep on the sofa so I could have his bed. I was happy and relaxed and the wine lowered my inhibitions.”

“You slept with him.”

“No, I kissed him.”

“Kissed him? You can’t get pregnant from a kiss.”

“I know that. Let me finish. The kiss was just the beginning.”

“Okay. I’m sorry; go on.”

“When I kissed him he pushed me away and told me to stop. He looked like I had slapped him rather than kissed him. I was so embarrassed. I’d obviously been reading any signals I thought I was receiving from him wrong. I was both hurt and humiliated, so I grabbed my stuff and left.”

Poor Ellie. To take a chance and put yourself out there like that only to be rejected. I could see why she’d taken off for an unplanned visit with her mother, but I still didn’t see how she got from rejected to pregnant.

“And then…?” I encouraged.

“And then I did something incredibly stupid. I was confused and depressed and I needed someone to talk to. You were in Monterey with Zak, so I went to see Levi.”

Uh-oh. I think I knew where this was going. I decided to help Ellie along and rip off the Band-Aid before she struggled too much trying to peel it off slowly. “You slept with Levi.”

Ellie nodded. “He had already been asleep when I showed up at his door. He was dressed in boxers and was all groggy and disheveled. I couldn’t help but remember how my kisses had affected him, which, given the circumstances, was a huge boost to my bruised ego. I started to cry and he pulled me into his arms to comfort me, and things progressed from there. It wasn’t planned and it definitely wasn’t wise, but the truth is, in spite of everything that’s happened between us, we’ve always had fantastic chemistry between us.”

“And after?”

“Afterward we both regretted it and agreed to forget the whole unfortunate incident. I love Levi. I’ll always love Levi, but with all the starts and stops, we never could get fully on the same page.”

Given the relationship Levi and Ellie have maintained since they were children, I could see how what happened could have happened; what I couldn’t see was what was going to happen now.

“And Brady? It seemed like you planned to continue your friendship with him.”

“I had decided to continue my relationship with Brady. I was so hurt and embarrassed at first, but when I got home from Levi’s Brady called. He apologized for his reaction to what had happened and tried to explain the complicated emotions he was dealing with. I tried to understand, but I was dealing with complicated emotions of my own. I lied and told him my mom was sick and I needed to go take care of her. I assured him that things were fine between us and we could go back to the way things had been before that night.” Ellie placed her hand on her stomach. “I guess things will never go back to the way they were before that night.” She looked up at me. “What am I going to do?”

I took both of Ellie’s hands in mine and I looked her in the eye. “You have to tell Levi.”

“I can’t.”

“Can’t isn’t an option. He’s going to be a father and he deserves to know what’s going on.”

Ellie started to cry again. “Levi has been very clear from day one that he doesn’t want children. Ever. I can’t let this baby ruin his life.”

I took a deep breath. “I agree Levi may take this hard, but eventually he’s going to notice that you’re pregnant. I think it’s best to tell him now. Who knows, maybe he’ll actually be happy about it once he gets used to the idea.”

Ellie’s expression clearly communicated the fact that I was grasping at straws.

“Okay, maybe he won’t be happy, but he loves you and he’ll be there for you. Why don’t you take a couple of days to get used to the idea before you tell him anything?”

Ellie looked somewhat relieved.

I placed my hands on Ellie’s very flat stomach and smiled. “My God, El. You’re going to have a baby.”

Ellie started crying again, but this time I could see they were tears of joy.

We talked a while longer and then Ellie said she needed to get some rest. I promised not to tell anyone except Zak what was going on while she figured out how to deal with the situation. Poor Ellie had a long road ahead of her, but I was committed to do as I’d said and stand by her, whatever happened.

I returned to my car with Charlie. It was still early and I really didn’t want to go home to join the Zimmerman clan. With everything that had happened that day, I felt wound up and in danger of a mental meltdown of my own. I was considering what to do when my phone rang. It was Salinger. He’d planned to talk to the district attorney; maybe he had news.

“Salinger.”

“Donovan.”

“Did you talk to the DA?”

“Yes.”

“And…?”

“Edna Leech didn’t die as a result of the blow to her head.”