Purrfect Model, page 9
Mr. Davenport soon appeared, dressed in slippers and a velvet dressing gown, a glass of port in his hand and a cigar clenched between his lips. He politely inquired as to the nature of this unexpected intrusion.
Uncle Alec duly showed him the search warrant, and then the cops all swarmed out, in search of our friend.
Dooley, Brutus and I joined the search, and soon were sniffing everywhere, hoping to pick up Harriet’s trail.
No such luck, though I did see plenty of Persians… stuffed Persians, that is!
“Yikes!” Dooley cried when we first came face to face with such a specimen. She looked exactly like Harriet, but was obviously long expired. Her mortal remains had been stuffed and positioned on the floor next to what looked like a mouse, who had gone through the same experience and was now stuffed for life.
“This place is hell!” Brutus croaked hoarsely.
“He’s going to murder Harriet and stuff her, isn’t he, Max?” asked Dooley.
I could only agree that this was a distinct possibility!
Our search carried us into the downstairs area, where the basement had been turned into a large wine cellar, filled with bottles of wine of all description, covered with the requisite spiderwebs, but of Harriet there was no trace.
“I don’t smell her, Max,” said Brutus as we returned upstairs along the creaky wooden stairs. “I can’t smell my sweetheart anywhere!”
“He must have tucked her away somewhere else,” I said.
“We have to find her, Max,” said Brutus. “We have to find her tonight!”
“Yeah, before he kills her and stuffs her!” Dooley added.
The police were busy searching high and low, judging from the sounds of stomping feet all around us, and since the house was well covered, we decided to take the search operation onto the grounds, something that is often forgotten.
And of course Brutus’s prediction proved correct, and before long we found ourselves face to face with a large crypt, on top of which a monument of monumental proportions had been placed, devoted to the Davenport family tree, of which presumably many a member had been entombed beneath our paws.
“Do you think she’s down there?” asked Brutus, gesturing to the stone steps that led into the abyss.
“I’m not so sure,” I said. I mean, who keeps a cat in a crypt? Only a madman! But we owed it to ourselves to look everywhere, so even though it turned our stomachs, we still headed down into the Davenport family tomb. It was pretty chilly down there, and smelled a little stale, but once more our search proved fruitless, for of Harriet there was no sign.
“It’s pretty dead down here,” said Dooley, summing up the atmosphere nicely.
Somehow I fully expected a Davenport ghost to raise its voice and warn us off, but nothing stirred, nor man or beast, and we were glad to escape from the place.
Returning to the house, we came upon Odelia, who gave us an inquiring look, but when I shook my head, she shook hers, indicating that so far her search had yielded nothing.
Gallagher Davenport, meanwhile, was still sipping from his glass of port, puffing from his cigar and looking about as placid as a man whose house is being invaded by the constabulary can look.
“I don’t kidnap cats, my dear sir,” he took great pains to explain to Uncle Alec. “I simply don’t. If I want a cat, I pay for it.”
“Where were you around nine o’clock?” asked the police chief sternly.
“Why, right here, of course.”
“Can anyone vouch for you?”
“My cats,” he said.
But when I looked where he was pointing, all I could see was a collection of stuffed Persians!
I shivered. If only he’d had a live cat on the premises, we could have talked to her, but these were all long past their expiration date!
And then suddenly a lot of phones started ringing: Odelia’s phone, Uncle Alec’s phone, and Chase’s phone. They all took them out simultaneously and glanced at the display.
“Is the search over?” asked Davenport.
“My people will stay here until Harriet is found,” said Uncle Alec, much to the man’s chagrin.
Odelia turned to us. “Let’s go,” she mouthed.
“But we haven’t found Harriet yet!” said Brutus.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
She removed herself from the small group standing in the entrance hall, and lowered her voice. “There’s been a murder!” she said.
Oh, dear.
“But I want to stay here,” said Brutus. “I need to find Harriet!”
It was a tough call, of course. Chances were that Harriet was still somewhere on the premises, well concealed and out of sight. But if a murder had been committed, and Odelia required our assistance, we couldn’t very well turn her down, now could we?
So in the end we told Brutus that we’d deal with this murder business first, and then return later tonight to look for Harriet.
The big cat could live with that, though he said he’d stay there and look on his own. “I’ll keep a close eye on this guy, and make sure he doesn’t stuff Harriet!”
Now there was something I hadn’t thought I’d hear when I woke up that morning.
CHAPTER 22
“Do we know who the victim is?” I asked as Chase stepped on it.
Odelia gave her husband a look of significance, then said, “Jay Green.”
“Jay Green!” Dooley cried. “But we just saw him this afternoon!”
“Yeah, and now he’s been murdered,” said Odelia sadly. “And it looks as if Laia might be dead, too. Though that news hasn’t been confirmed yet.”
“Oh, no,” said Dooley. “Laia and Jay!” He shook his head. “They should have listened to you, Odelia. They should have gone to the police when you told them to. And now it’s too late.”
“We don’t know if that has anything to do with this,” said Odelia.
“What are they saying?” asked Chase.
“They’re shocked about what happened,” she relayed our words.
We arrived on Tucker Street, with its now familiar anti-cobblestone posters, and immediately made our way to the loft Jay and Laia shared. Out in front an ambulance idled at the curb, and I saw that Abe Cornwall’s car also stood parked nearby. All in all, there was a considerable police presence, and several of the neighbors had stepped out of their houses to see what was going on.
The room where we had spoken to Laia and Jay that afternoon was now a crime scene, the same way it had been the night before, when a break-in had been reported, only now the crime was even more grave.
In the center of the room, right next to the sofa where Jay had been seated when we last saw him, his body now lay in a puddle of blood, though of Laia there was no trace.
“Laia has been taken to the hospital,” one of Uncle Alec’s officers told us.
“Is she hurt?” asked Odelia anxiously.
“She was found unconscious, but from what I hear she’ll live.”
“Oh, thank God,” said Odelia.
Bent over Jay’s body stood Abe Cornwall, his hair looking as lively as ever.
“As if I didn’t have enough bodies to deal with,” he grumbled.
“So what happened, Abe?” asked Chase.
“It’s not pretty,” said Abe, casting a warning look in my direction for some reason.
“Best if you guys wait this one out,” Odelia announced softly, and ushered us out of the room like a couple of wayward children!
But before we left the room, I picked up a few words that told me she was probably right.
“Battered to a pulp… heavy blunt object… killer must have gone completely berserk…”
“So is he dead, you think, Max?” asked Dooley as we waited patiently in the corridor.
“Yes, I think it’s safe to say that he is, Dooley,” I said.
“Did his heart give out? Sometimes that happens to young men.”
“No, I don’t think his heart gave out. He was definitely murdered.”
“Oh, my. Well, that’s not very nice, is it?”
“Murder rarely is.”
I thought my friend took it pretty well, but then I understood his mind was still with Harriet. “We have to get back out there and look for her, Max,” he said now. “I mean, it’s a sad business, this murder business, but Harriet is still alive, and if we’re quick, we can still save her, while Jay is definitely dead, and there’s nothing we can do for him anymore, even if we wanted to.”
“You’re absolutely right, Dooley,” I said.
“I am?”
“Of course.”
“Brutus will find her, I’m sure of it. He’s so determined, he’s going to keep looking until…” Then a thought must have occurred to him, for his furry face fell. “Oh, no!”
“Oh, no, what?”
“What if this guy kidnaps Brutus, too!”
“Brutus is not a Persian, Dooley. And Davenport seems to prefer Persians.”
“I know, but he is the painter in the family. Harriet is the creative brains, but Brutus is the paws, and the guy said he wanted to buy the both of them, as a set.”
He was right, of course. So what if Brutus was in grave danger right now? Then again, would Davenport risk grabbing another cat with dozens of cops trampling all over his house and grounds? He’d have to be nuts to try.
The door opened again, and Odelia joined us, looking very grave, as the situation obviously warranted.
“Well, he was murdered, all right,” she said.
“Did they find the murder weapon?” I asked.
“Not yet, but according to Abe it might be one of those cobblestones they’re using to repave the road.”
“Oh, dear.”
“They really did a number on him. Abe said his head is as flat as a pancake.”
“Who called it in?”
“A neighbor. He’s being interviewed as we speak. But the odd thing is that two calls actually came in. The neighbor’s call, but just before that another call.”
“How did the neighbor discover the body?”
“The door to Jay’s loft must have been open, for his cat had wandered in. He saw the bloody paw prints all over the hallway, and followed them into the loft.”
“And what about Laia?”
“No idea. The neighbor found the two of them, Jay obviously badly hurt or dead, and Laia lying right next to him. He actually assumed they were both dead, which is what he told Dolores when he called it in. But fortunately when the paramedics arrived they found a pulse and took Laia straight to the hospital.”
Behind her, Chase had appeared, carrying a phone in a plastic baggie. He also carried a grim look on his face. “Look what I found,” he said.
“A phone?” Odelia ventured.
“Mr. Green’s second phone. There’s only one phone number on this one, which has been frequently called. Plenty of messages, too, one even racier than the next.”
“Who’s the other person?” asked Odelia, understanding immediately dawning on the implication of this find.
He quirked a meaningful eyebrow. “Loretta Everyman.”
CHAPTER 23
News had reached our ears—or Odelia’s ears at least—that Laia had woken up. So we were in the car on our way to the hospital to talk to her. Chase had decided to stay behind and do some more investigating. He was hoping the loft would yield more interesting finds like Jay’s second phone.
“What’s sexting, Odelia?” asked Dooley, referring to a term Chase had used to describe the messages Jay had exchanged with his ex-girlfriend.
“Um… well…” She glanced back to me, and I gave her a knowing nod.
“You know what texting is, do you?” I asked.
“Oh, sure.”
Well, sexting is like texting, only the messages people exchange are of a more, shall we say, romantic nature.”
“You mean like the stuff Harriet and Brutus call each other all the time?”
“Exactly like that,” I said, much relieved.
“Oh.” He was quiet for a few moments. “So… Jay was sexting with Loretta, even though she wasn’t his girlfriend anymore?”
“No, it now appears as if he was cheating on Laia with his ex.”
“That’s not very nice. So do you think Laia found out and she killed him?”
It was a conclusion I hadn’t yet reached, but sounded like an obvious possibility, so I nodded. “It’s certainly possible,” I agreed.
“It’s one of the things we have to ask Laia,” said Odelia, “if she’s up to it.”
“So was she hurt in the attack?” I asked.
“No, it now looks as if she wasn’t attacked at all,” said Odelia. “But we’ll know more when we talk to her.”
We soon arrived at the hospital, and made our way upstairs, to Laia’s room, which was being guarded by a plain-clothed police officer. Uncle Alec had arranged for the extra security, in light of what had happened to Jay.
We entered the room, and saw that Laia wasn’t alone. An older man and woman were sitting by her side, the woman the spitting image of Laia, leading me to assume these were her mom and dad: Algis and Matilda Twine.
“Odelia,” said Laia weakly. “I’m so glad to see you. Odelia Kingsley is a friend of me and Jay,” she explained to her parents.
At the mention of the despised artist, the Twines directed a pair of distinctly frosty looks at Odelia. Her dad said, “Laia needs to rest, Mrs. Kingsley. Perhaps you can come back some other time.”
“You don’t understand,” said Laia. “Odelia works for the police.”
“Oh,” said Mr. Twine, as he exchanged a look of concern with his wife. No loving parent likes to see their child being visited by the strong arm of the law.
“Could I have a quick word with your daughter in private?” asked Odelia now.
Reluctantly, the two complied and left the room. And then it was just us and Laia.
“Is he… dead?” asked Laia anxiously.
“I’m afraid so,” said Odelia.
“They’re not telling me anything,” the girl said, and then her face sort of crumpled and she burst into loud sobs.
Odelia supplied her with a paper tissue and a glass of water, and patted her arm consolingly.
“I found him, you know,” said Laia finally. “I came home and he was on the floor, and I immediately knew he was dead. Though of course I was still hoping against hope it wasn’t true. But there was so much blood…”
“You were also attacked by the same person?”
“No, whoever did this to Jay must have left by then. The door was open, which was strange, and then when I walked in and I found him like that, the world suddenly turned dark. I woke up right here, in the hospital, with Mommy and Daddy by my side, which was just the strangest thing.”
“Of course they would be by your side, sweetie,” said Odelia. “They’re your parents.”
“The last time we spoke, we said the most awful things to each other. I didn’t think I’d ever see them again.”
“I’m so sorry,” said Odelia, when the girl started softly weeping again.
“This is all my fault. It must be the same person who sent that blackmail letter. If we’d gone to the police like you told us, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“You think it was the blackmailer?”
“Don’t you? He must have come to get his money, and when Jay refused to pay, he killed him.”
“You didn’t notice anything suspicious? No one hanging around the loft?”
“No, nothing. And I wanted to go to the police, I really did, but Jay said no. He said that if we went to the police our lives would be over. They’d arrest us for trying to scam the insurance company and we’d both go to prison.”
The door to the hospital room opened and Laia’s parents walked back in. “I think that’s quite enough, Mrs. Kingsley,” said Laia’s mom, taking the lead. “Our daughter needs to rest.”
“Of course,” said Odelia. She gave Laia a gentle hug. “We’ll talk soon,” she promised.
And after casting a final glance at Laia, surrounded by her family, we walked out.
“You didn’t tell her about that second phone” I reminded Odelia as we passed along the corridor.
“It didn’t feel like a good time to bring that up,” she said. “She’s had a great shock, and what she needs to do right now is to rest and recover.”
And so we drove back to Tucker Street, where the investigation was still in full swing.
Abe had confirmed, based on a preliminary investigation, that the murder weapon was consistent with the kind of heavy granite stone used to repave the street, and when we arrived, Chase was leading a team looking for the murder weapon.
The search ended at the bank of the canal which was located across the street and where he was now staring into the dark pool of water.
“Any luck?” asked Odelia as we joined him.
“I have this hunch that our murder weapon is at the bottom of this canal,” he said.
“I talked to Laia, but she doesn’t know what happened. When she got here, the killer had already left, and when she saw her fiancé’s body, she fainted, which is why the neighbor thought she was dead, too.”
“Did you tell her about the second phone?”
“No, she’s still in shock from what happened to Jay. It didn’t seem like a good time to spring that on her.”
“Good call,” he grunted as he dragged a hand through his shaggy mane. “Okay, so we better tell your uncle about this whole insurance scam business now.”
“Do you think Jay’s murder and the scam are connected?”
“It’s certainly possible,” said Chase.
“Laia thinks the blackmailer is also Jay’s killer. That he dropped by the place to make good on his threat and when Jay didn’t want to cough up, he killed him.”
“Let’s put your uncle in possession of all the facts pertaining to the case,” Chase suggested, “so he can decide how to proceed.” He glanced over to his wife. “Though from where I’m standing Laia has just shot to the top of my suspect list.”
“Yeah, I thought she would,” said Odelia with a sigh.
“It’s not inconceivable that Loretta Everyman was involved in the scam, and that she was the second person who broke in here last night, and grabbed the necklace when Dylon Pipe took a nasty tumble. And if that’s the case, it’s possible that Jay was trying to scam not only the insurance, but also his fiancée, and was planning to dump her the moment the insurance paid out, and leave town with Loretta. And if Laia found out, she might have flown into a rage and killed him.”
