Patricia Fry - Klepto Cat 04 - Undercover Cat (16 page)

“Yeah, I thought you might enjoy those,” Margaret said. “I made more coffee, too.”

“Thanks, Maggie,”
Colbi said.

“Yes, we really appreciate you coming over,” Damon said. He served himself a generous helping of the eggs and bacon before passing them to
Colbi.

She took a breath, blotted at her eyes with a napkin, and said, “Dammit! I told myself I would go this whole day without crying, but here I am blubbering already and it’s only 8:30 a.m.” She laughed a little through her tears.

Damon and Margaret chuckled with her.

After a while
Colbi announced, “I’m full. That was good. Thanks, guys.”

Margaret stood, started stacking the plates, and observed, “Well, you did pretty good there—ate some eggs, half a piece of toast, and all those grapes. Good job.”

“Well, I didn’t think you’d let me up from the table unless I ate something.”

Margaret smiled. “You got that right, girlie.”

“Hey, there’s something going on out in the orchard,” Damon said from the large kitchen window.

“What?”
Colbi asked. She stiffened, held even tighter to her coffee mug.

“I don’t know,” Damon said, still staring out in that direction. “I think they found something.”

The trio stepped out onto the porch. Damon closed the door behind Lexie.

“Yeah, looks like it,”
Colbi said, shading her eyes and squinting out in the direction of the orchard.

Lexie looked over and let out a couple of barks.

“Settle, Lexie,” Colbi said in her hoarse voice. She sat down on the porch swing and put her hand on the dog’s back. “It’s okay,” she crooned. That isn’t how she felt, however. From deep inside she sensed that something awful was about to happen.

Suddenly one of the officers stood straight and called out from the orchard, “Sledge, we’ve got something here!”

Colbi and Damon watched as Craig headed out toward Savannah’s orchard, where a small group of officers stood, looking down at something on the ground.

“They’ve found a body.”
Colbi said, pulling her sweatshirt more tightly around her frame. “Otherwise they wouldn’t be so danged focused out there.”

“Yeah, they look pretty intense—just like they do on those police shows I watch,” Margaret said. “But it couldn’t be a body…we’re all accounted for. Who could it be?”

Damon hesitated before saying, “Maybe whoever it was that Colbi saw last night out by the tack room.”

The trio sat quiet for a while, each of them with his or her own thoughts.

Shortly, Craig walked back toward the house.

“What happened?” Margaret asked as he approached.

Craig ignored her question and walked up the steps to the porch. He looked around at the group and asked, “Got any more of that coffee?”

“Sure,” Damon said. “I’ll get you a cup.” He opened the door to enter and stopped. “You take it black?”

Craig nodded. He looked at Colbi, who sat as if frozen in anticipation and fear. When Damon returned, Craig took the coffee mug from him, cleared his throat, and said, “We found a body. I need to ask you some questions.”

Colbi
gasped.

“Oh God,” Margaret said, sinking down into a deck chair. “Who is it?”

“Don’t know,” Craig said.

“I think we’ve told you all we know,” Damon said.

Craig glanced around at the trio. “Please bear with me—it’s just routine.” He then pulled out a pad and pencil. “Okay guys,” he said, “what exactly did you see last night?” He looked from one to the other.

“I saw nothing,” Margaret said, her hands up in front of her.
“Nothing at all.”

“And you,
Colbi,” he asked, “can you tell me more about what you saw or heard? A car, an unusual sound, anything?”

“Nothing…just what I told you before—movement out near the corral. I didn’t even see what shape or size it was. Only I know it was bigger than a breadbox.”

Everyone chuckled a little.

“It wasn’t a rodent, for example?” he asked

Colbi shook her head somberly.

“Did you really find a body out there, Craig?” Damon asked. “Who is it?”

He nodded. “Don’t know. Was hoping one of you could ID her.”

“It’s a woman!?”
Colbi practically shouted in her still hoarse voice. “She isn’t huge and obese, is she?” she asked sounding panicked.

“No, she doesn’t match the description you gave me of the cat hoarder. She’s small.” He looked over at
Colbi. “About your size, actually. But much older.” He addressed everyone around the table. “Have any of you seen a small woman around here dressed in an all-white gown?”

Margaret,
Colbi, and Damon shook their heads.

Then Margaret said, “It isn’t Annabelle
Tindle, is it?”

“Who’s that?” Craig asked.

“She lives in that house beyond the orchard.”

“Describe her,” Craig said, pen poised.

“Well, she’s like ninety years old, kind of a large-boned woman, although she’s shrunk in recent years. She’s probably still five-eight. Has short cropped white hair—like stark white.”

“
Naw, doesn’t sound like the same person.”

“I wonder what a woman was doing out in the orchard.”
Colbi coughed and then continued, “Do you think she left that…picture of me here this morning? Why would she do that?”

“Well,” Craig said, “there was more than one of those…”

“What?” Colbi shouted hoarsely. “Where?”

“All over the yard out there,” Craig motioned with one arm.

“That’s crazy!” she said, obviously straining to be heard. “They were all over outside and there was one in my bedroom… and now some woman I’ve never met is dead? What’s going on, Detective?”

“Don’t know. That’s what we’re trying to figure out now.”

“How did she die, Craig?” Margaret asked.

“Blunt force.”

“What?”

“Looks like she was hit over the head with something.
Not sure yet if that killed her or if she died from exposure or suffocation. Her face was buried in the dirt.”

“
Eeewwwww,” Margaret said.

“Yeah, pretty gruesome,” Craig said.

Suddenly Margaret stiffened. Her dark eyes widened. “So there’s a killer running loose in our neighborhood? Oh my God—and preying on little old women?”

“Now let’s not jump to conclusions—this doesn’t appear to be a serial killing.”

“How can you be sure, Craig? There may have been others or maybe this is his first and he plans more,” Margaret said sounding rather breathless.

“Uh, well…” Craig stammered.

“By the way,” Damon asked, “what did you find out near the tack room—anything?”

Craig cleared his throat.
“Actually, yes.” He hesitated, looked over at Damon, and glanced at the women briefly. “We found what look like fresh prints, but there’s really nothing unusual about them. He stared over at Damon, glancing down at his shoes. They could be yours…have you been walking around out there?”

Damon shook his head. “No.
Haven’t had reason to. The horse is being boarded, you know.”

Craig looked at his notes and paused. “The only thing sort of out of the ordinary is that the prints are accompanied by a small round print such as an imprint of a walking stick, the end of a shovel handle, or a crutch…”

“Cane?” Colbi said.

“Yeah, could be.” Craig focused his eyes on
Colbi. “So you can’t actually describe what you saw out there last night?”

“Nothing distinguishable.
Just movement. It was so brief, I wasn’t actually sure I saw anything.”

“Hey, Craig, has
Vannie told you about her sightings?” Margaret asked.

He looked over at her, lowering his brows. “No. Where? Out in the same place?”

“No, actually beyond the orchard, over behind the Tindles’ place out there. She sees something white—glowing—in the middle of the night. They’ve gone over in daylight to investigate, but haven’t found anything that would create the images.”

“Oh
my gosh!” Colbi exclaimed. “I saw that.”

“You did?” Margaret asked. “I thought maybe Savannah was just seeing things—you know—a side-effect from being
preggo or something.”

Craig turned toward
Colbi. “Can you describe what you saw?”

“Pretty much what Maggie just said—white shapes, forms that were kind of lit up. They were…ghost-like.”

“Hmmm. We’d better talk to the people who live out there and see what they’ve been up to.”

“Heck,” Margaret laughed before continuing, “I can’t imagine them frolicking around at night; they can barely make it to their mailbox anymore. Both of them use walkers and those four-legged canes anytime I see them outside, which is rare. I go over and take them a meal once in a while. They are really sedentary—house is a mess, doesn’t look like they do much cooking. No, if there’s something going on at their property in the night, they probably don’t know anything about it.
And wouldn’t hear it. They’re both practically deaf—have their TV up so it would break most eardrums. Can’t hear much of what I say even when I yell.”

“What are their names?” Craig asked.

“Edgar and Annabelle Tindle. Both of them are in their nineties.”

“Well thanks guys, this has been most enlightening.” He looked over at
Colbi and back and Damon. “Do you plan to stay here tonight? When are the Iveys due back?”

“Tomorrow.
Yes, we promised to take care of things for them while they’re gone,” Damon said. He thought about it and then added, “I don’t think I want to call them about this; what do you think, Craig?”

“
Naw, let them finish out their little vacation trip. There’s nothing they can do here, anyway.” He looked at Colbi. “But we can get you some police protection out here—I think that would be a good idea. Okay with you?”

Colbi
looked at Damon. “Yes, I think I would feel better. This can be a spooky place at night.”

Damon nodded.
“Whatever Colbi wants.”

She reached out for Damon’s hand. “You’re still staying with me, aren’t you?” she asked.

“Yeah, I was planning on it. If you still want me to.”

“
Yes
,” she said. “Definitely. I would never be able to stay here alone, even with police outside.”

“Alone? No one is ever alone in this house.”

“What do you mean, Maggie?” Colbi’s eyes widened. “It’s not haunted, is it?”

Margaret laughed. “No. But look at all the animals living here,” she said, making a sweeping motion with one arm. “There’s no privacy.”

Colbi laughed as well. “That’s a fact.”

“Craig,” Damon said, “before you go, can you give me some information for the newspaper? I’d like to get this story in before noon.”

The detective thought for a minute and said, “Sure kid. Got your recorder? We can do a quick interview.”

“Thanks,” Damon said, as he pulled a small recorder from his pocket. “Shall we sit over here?” He motioned toward a round table and chairs along the porch railing several feet away.

***

Three hours later, Damon walked into the home office where
Colbi sat in front of Savannah’s computer. He announced, “Well, I guess the investigation’s over—the last car just left.”

“What about our police guard?”
Colbi asked

“Oh, he’s out there. No worries.”

“Did you get the story to Boggs?”

“Sure did. He seemed pleased. I mean, how often does a story occur right in a reporter’s backyard?”

“Yeah, literally.” Colbi shut down the computer and said, “Damon, do you have to go back to work?”

“
Naw, Boggs gave me the rest of the day off. I told him I could work from here if there was anything he needed, but he said he’s got it covered. He’s bringing Josh and April in for a few days.”

“Well, I’d like to get out of Dodge—can we go for a ride?”

“Sure. Where do you want to go?”

“I’d like to go see my cats and maybe get a few more things from my house. Can we do that?”

“Yeah, sure. I still have the cat food in my car. We’re running low, though. Might want to pick up another bag while we’re out.”

Colbi
stared over at Damon.

“What?” he asked defensively.

“I can’t believe you’re feeding my cats.” She started to cry. “I really appreciate it.”

“Sure, what are friends for?” he said, nudging her shoulder with his hand. “You’d feed my snakes for me if I was in the hospital, wouldn’t you?”

“Snakes? Are you serious? You have snakes? No, I don’t think I would be feeding any snakes. Sorry about that.” She lowered her head and then added, “Guess I’m not a very good friend, after all.”