Otter Under Fire (21 page)

This time Troy laughed out loud. “I believe you.”

Otter twirled her water glass and smiled to herself. She had made him laugh. That felt like an accomplishment.

“So how are you doing with your mystery?” Troy asked.

“Ah yes,
The Mystery
. I feel like it should be capitalized.” Otter said, “I told my boss about it and he and I looked at the cards we made last weekend. After this is all over, I think I’m going to make a card game out of them.”

“That might be fun.”

“We are keeping it between the two of us for right now. Neither of us wants to say the wrong thing to the wrong person.”

“Smart of you,”

“I have an appointment with the police detective on Monday and Michael is looking into some things—I don’t know what things, but I’m sure he’ll let me know if it pertains to this.”

“And the name Jameson Pennell doesn’t mean anything to him?”

“No and neither does Cal de Lemn, although Tempest googled the names and found out that Cal de Lemn means a rocking horse in several European languages.”

“That’s something,” Troy said looking thoughtful.

“And Charlotte has a sister, they left town together after their parents were murdered.”

“I knew that, but we don’t know if Charlotte’s sister went willingly, was murdered along the way or is an accomplice.”

“She is an accomplice.” Otter said firmly

“Why would you say that?”

“Because they’re sisters, especially if they are close in age. If you have a sister, she is a confidant and often is involved in your schemes.”

“They killed their parents.”

“They must have had a reason,” Otter said, “They didn’t make any money from it and the house was trashed, so there had to be some other reason. We may not see any sense in the reason when it’s found out, but it made sense to them.”

“OK, I can buy that.”

“One thing we don’t know,” Otter said, “We don’t really know if the periodic table clues will point to a killer or just someone Clark didn’t like. He has Ron Defray down as plutonium. It could have meant that he’s poison to the company, a killer or just an unpleasant person. However I found out that it’s a reference to what Clark was always saying to Defray.”

“That’s a very good point,” Troy said, “But it sure is a lot of trouble to go to just to tell everyone he didn’t like someone.”

“And he has Michael as carbon, Tonya his wife as gold, Mitch as silver and me as zirconium. We don’t know what characteristics he attributed to those elements.”

“He must have thought that you and Michael would figure them out though, or he wouldn’t have instructed someone to give them to you.”

“That’s true.” Otter conceded, “I wish I knew what the dragon was for.”

They chatted about the chart and some of the meanings that could be attributed to the different elements associated with people on the list. The governor’s speech ended and servers began distributing covered plates among the tables.

“It will probably be some form of dried out chicken, a type of creamy gravy over it, a starchy side dish, some bread, a steamed vegetable and some form of dessert,” Otter said. These banquets are always so depressing.”

“You might be wrong,” Bob said with a smile, “But unfortunately, you probably aren’t.”

“You’ve been to as many of these association meetings as I have,” Otter said to Bob, “You know I’m right.”

Bob looked at his dish as the server uncovered it. There was a yellow sauce covering breaded chicken on a bed of rice and some broccoli and cauliflower mixture next to it.

“Bingo, give the lady a prize,” Graham said, looking at his own dish.

“I’m taking the first dance with you,” Bob said, as he picked at his food. “I hope you’re ok with that.”

“Of course, but…”

“I would like the next two, Miss Otter, if you would honor me,” Graham said, his green eyes alight.

“I didn’t know you could dance.”

“Of course I can, how is your jitterbug?”

“I don’t know that I know that one all that well.”

“Bob tells me that you know a lot of swing, it’s just another form.”

“Probably not tonight, this wouldn’t be the best place to do a dance for the first time.”

“Ah, don’t worry about it,” Graham said with a maniacal gleam in his eyes. She was right; he definitely should have pointed ears.

“Miss Mackenzie, let me congratulate you on your speech,” Otter looked up to see Mitch.

“Thank you Mitch, it wasn’t too much?”

“Oh no, it was perfect. Manufacturing is important and the politicians need to understand that.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“Very much,” Mitch saw Bob and put out his hand, “Mr. Robert, it is good to see you.”

“Hello Mitch,” Bob shook his hand. Otter introduced Mitch around the table.

“Where is he from?” Troy asked, after Mitch had left “He has such a heavy accent.”

“I believe he’s from Rumania.”

“That explains it.”

The D.J. was doing a sound check and Otter scanned the room looking for Tempest. Since she was wearing black, she was harder to spot. It didn’t take long for the music to play over the speakers. Bob took her hand and led her to the dance floor.

“Who are you looking for?”

“Tempest, I think she has someone imprisoned somewhere.”

“Really, who?”

“I don’t know, I just know it’s a naked man in chains.”

Bob laughed out loud.

“Relax,” he said, “I’m sure it’s not the first time.”

It worried her that people said that about Tempest a lot.

They spun around the room in practiced moves and Otter felt herself relax into the familiar rhythm of the dance.

“Otter?”

“Hmm?”

“I wanted to tell you that I started seeing someone. I think it’s going to be serious, so I wanted you to know.”

“Congratulation, I’m happy for you Bob.”

“If this new man in your life works out to be something, maybe we can meet some time and go out together.”

“Like a double date?”

“Yes, I think you’d like her and I’d like you to meet.”

“OK, we’ll see what happens and I’ll let you know.”

Bob spun her around, “You’re one of my best friends, Otter, and it would be a big deal to me if you would.”

“Sure, just give me time to get all this other stuff straightened out.”

“Of course, when you’re ready let me know.”

The dance ended and another began, and Graham took the floor with her.

“You move very well. I didn’t know you were that advanced.”

“A few years of practice and Bob is a good partner.”

“Well, I have a theory of algorithms and the movement of dance.”

“I’m sure you do.”

“This is a slower song, so I’ll show you what I mean.”

Graham explained as they made different movements around the dance floor. As he explained and she translated from her brain to her body, her movements got more fluid and she felt like she was floating.

“Amazing,” she said, very impressed.

“Just keep thinking about the formula, it works at any speed.”

“I’ll bet it does, how did you figure it out?”

“It’s a tai chi thing. I calculated it out and applied it to human physiology. It took me a few years to perfect it, but it seems to work well.”

“OK, but the jitterbug?”

“Relax, you’ll be fine.”

The 1950’s era music came on loud and clear, and Graham rocked her into the basic swing steps. He then spun her, dipped her and twirled her. They danced around the floor, Otter trying to concentrate on the formula and the steps she knew. She stumbled a moment and he picked her up.

Good heavens, did he flip her?

Otter had prided herself on her dance skills, but Graham was wicked fast. She became aware in her peripheral vision that they were the only two on the dance floor; everyone was in a circle around them, clapping in rhythm to the music. She spun some more, did a dive and another flip. She was mortified and couldn’t remember—did she have her shorts on under her dress? Dear Lord, she hoped so.

She glanced around the room as they danced and got flashes of faces, in her mind as they progressed. They stepped to the end of the song and she was panting heavily when it stopped. She barely heard the ovation in her effort to recover.

Tempest was in front of her applauding madly.

“I didn’t know you’d gotten that good,” she said taking Otter’s hands.

“I didn’t know either,” Otter said between gasps. “Was I wearing my shorts? I’m afraid to check.”

Tempest laughed, “You were fine, and nobody saw a thing.”

“I can’t believe that people danced like that all night long 60 years ago, it makes us look like slouches.”

“You did very well,” Graham said with his roguish grin. “I think Troy got it recorded if you want to see it.”

“Maybe in a few minutes,” Otter said walking back toward the table. She wasn’t tired, particularly but she needed to sit down and think. She saw something, but she wasn’t sure what it was. It was there bouncing around in the back of her mind in discordance and screaming to be let out.

“That was great, Otter,” Bob said as she sat, “we need to try that in the next dance class.”

“It was some algorithm that Graham calculated out.”

“Yes, I know, he tried to show me on paper, but I think you need to do it before it really works.”

“I believe you’re right about that. I had to walk through it several times before my brain and body understood what I was doing.”

“It looked like fun,” Bob said wistfully.

“It really, was,” Otter realized. “It was a little scary at first, but it was fun.”

Joel sat down next to Otter, “I run a little late to a party and you turn into a professional dancer with one of my oldest friends.”

“Hardly professional,” Otter dismissed the notion, “Graham is a very good dancer himself.”

“I do OK,” Graham said with his cheeky grin. “And I’d like to dance with you again some time.”

“Goodness, not tonight,” Otter said and everyone laughed.

“Then another time,” Graham said.

“I saw something,” Otter said to Joel. “I don’t know what it was, but it was something out of place and it’s bugging me.”

“Interesting, but vague,” Joel said, “Best thing is to not try to think about it. Let it go to the back of your mind until you make the connection.”

“I’ll try,” Otter said doubtfully.

“I’d like another dance,” Bob said to Otter, “If you would be so kind.”

“Sure,” Otter said, and rose to go out to the dance floor. “We’ll be back shortly.”

“I like your new set of friends.” Bob said as they paced around the dance floor. “They are quite an interesting group.”

“I think so.”

“Tempest came by and said hello, she seems like a woman on a mission tonight only more so.”

“She’s always on a mission,” Otter said and did a neat spin, “it’s in her nature.”

“And I think it’s very sweet the way you and Joel light up when you see each other.”

“Oh please. My boss lights up when he sees me come to work. It’s relief that I made it in one more time and didn’t stand him up.”

“If you say so,” Bob said agreeably, “But there’s something up and I think you’re right in the middle of it. Tempest is talking to every shop owner she can catch tonight, you and your new friends are talking in some kind of code about a mystery and there’s all kinds of rumors flying around the industry about the guy who killed himself that worked at your place.”

“I can’t really…”

“I know you probably can’t tell me a lot right now, but if there is anything I can do, please let me know. It looks interesting and I’d like in—when and if that is possible.”

“It was nice of Bob to let me take you home,” Joel said as he started the car.

“He has a new girlfriend and he wanted to stop by and see her after the ball. You just made it easier for him to do so.”

“Did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight?”

“You did, but it wouldn’t bother me to hear it again.”

“Well, you looked beautiful, and I’m impressed that after all that exercise on the dance floor, your hair isn’t messed up one bit.”

“Judy is very talented and practically shellacked it in place. Just don’t touch it, it feels crispy.”

“So did you figure out what it was you saw?”

“No, I just know it’s something that was out of place, but I’m trying to not think about it and hope it comes to me after a good night’s sleep.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“So Joel, what is it that you are actually doing at the coroner’s office? You aren’t a pathologist.”

Joel sighed and was quiet for a moment.

“I’m looking for a signature.”