by Patricia Fry
Savannah hesitated before saying, “Maybe her strange behavior is because of his disappearance. You hear of people becoming withdrawn or fearful or they lose their will to live after an emotional trauma, especially if it involves a meaningful loss. Maybe his disappearance is what affected her—you know, made her kind of unstable.”
“Could be,” Iris agreed. “So what’s your news—what are you going to tell Craig?”
“That while I was in Gail’s dismal quarters, I saw a picture of her with a guy. I thought it might be worth finding out who he is. You know how often the perpetrator is a close friend or beau or something. But this picture was taken a long time ago. She was much younger then.”
“Bor-ing,” Iris said, feigning a yawn. “I’m sure Craig will see that picture and note it if he thinks it’s important to the case.”
“I doubt it,” Savannah said.
“Why?”
“Oh, now Lily’s crying; I’ve gotta go.”
“No you don’t—Michael and your mom are there, right?”
“Yeah, but…”
“Tell me the rest of the story,” Iris insisted.
“Okay. It’s just that the picture was on the floor. It looked as though it had been knocked off a shelf or dropped, or…” Savannah hesitated, “…maybe it was thrown. The glass inside the frame was broken. I picked up the pieces and put the picture into a drawer so her cats wouldn’t get cut. Cats seem to be at liberty to go in and out of that place, and I saw a few cats inside.”
“Oooh. Okay, then I’ll have Craig call you.”
“Thanks.” Before ending the call, Savannah said, “So Iris, you didn’t answer my question. What did Ronnie Griffith look like? Did you see a picture of him?”
“Yeah. He was ordinary looking…had kind of dirty-dishwater-blond hair. He wore a hairstyle popular in the seventies—you know, kind of curly, but trimmed up fairly nicely. He was a good-looking kid.”
“Oh, well, the guy in the picture with Gail was good-looking too,” Savannah said. “He had curly hair—blondish, but it was a little long and shaggy.”
“Wow!” Iris said. “That could have been Ronnie Griffith. Savannah, do you suppose Gail was the last one to see him alive? Maybe that’s why she’s so…well, odd. Like you said, the poor thing’s traumatized.”
Savannah quivered. “Oh, Iris, this just gets more and more interesting. Hey, gotta go. Let’s talk tomorrow.”
“Night-night,” Iris said.
“What’s wrong with my babies?” Savannah asked as she swept into the living room to join her family.
“Just a little misunderstanding between siblings,” Gladys said. “Brings back memories of you and your sister clashing over toys.”
Savannah sat down next to Lily and put her arm around her. “Was baby brother taking your dishes again?” she crooned.
Michael laughed. “No, their older brother was knocking down their blocks. They’d stack ’em and he’d knock ’em over.” When Savannah looked puzzled, he nodded toward the hallway, where Rags sat staring back at her.
Savannah shook her head. “Rags, won’t they let you play?” She picked up one of his wand toys and wriggled it toward him. The children laughed when the lanky cat leaped at the toy. After a few minutes of play, she turned to Michael. “Did you discover how he got out?”
He shook his head. “Must have slipped out when someone opened a door. I didn’t find a breach anywhere.”
“A breach?” Savannah said, laughing.
“You know, anyway he could have gotten out.”
She rolled her eyes. “We thought that before, and later learned he’d managed to find an obscure escape route.”
Michael nodded. “It’s possible that he found another one in this old house. We’ll have to keep a close eye on him. In the meantime, I still can’t imagine him making his way to the old Allen place.” He cocked his head. “Do you think he’s been there before—you know, on one of his crazy escapades?”
“Could be, I guess.” She gazed at Rags. “Maybe he and Luke’s cat, Golden Girl, found Gail’s cats when they were out roaming a few years ago.” She gave Rags a stern look. “Well, listen here big boy, you’d better not do that again.” She turned to Michael. “He could have gotten hurt by the critter that attacked Blackie or by whoever it was that knocked Gail over the head.” She shuddered. “Michael, what if there’s a serial attacker running loose in our neighborhood?”
“Now, hon, let’s not blow this out of proportion. Your friend probably tripped over a cat and fell down the stairs. Didn’t you say there are stairs down into her room?”
“Yes, rather makeshift stairs. I didn’t feel safe on them. Hey, Michael, maybe we could fix them for her.”
“We?” he asked, grinning.
“I can help you.” More provocatively, she added, “I’ll wear a tool belt.”
Gladys stood abruptly. “Time for Grammy to go to bed.” She leaned down and hugged Lily, then Teddy. “See you angels in the morning.”
“Night, Mom,” Savannah said, chuckling.
“Thanks for your help this evening,” Michael said.
After the couple had put the children to bed, they returned to the living room. Savannah had started to organize the kids’ toys, when Michael took her hand and pulled her down onto the sofa with him. He held her close and murmured into her hair, “You’re going to wear your tool belt, are you?”
She giggled. “Yeah, want to go over to Gail’s with me one day and take a look at those steps?”
“I suppose. But why doesn’t she just move into the house where it’s probably safer?”
Savannah sighed. “I don’t know. And safe is a good word to use. I think that basement room is unhealthy on many levels. I couldn’t wait to get out of there.” She faced him. “Auntie said she’s been in the house, and it has structural problems of its own. Maybe we could help Gail fix some of them to make it livable.”
When Savannah’s phone chimed, Michael held her tighter. “Just let it go,” he whispered.
Savannah thought about it, then pulled away and reached for the phone. “It might be Brianna. I’d like to know how Gail is.” She looked at the screen, then answered. “Hi, Bri. How is she?”
“I think she’ll be okay. It looked worse than it was. But it could have gone way bad if we hadn’t shown up.” She paused. “All because of your cat. Vannie, I can’t believe the things that cat of yours does.”
“Do you think he did something to cause that to happen?” Savannah cried.
“Probably not, unless he tripped her while she was going down the stairs.” She laughed, then said in a more serious voice, “She swears no one was there, that she fell, but the paramedics were suspicious because of where we found her. When she heard one of them say something about that, she sort of changed her tune.”
“She admitted that someone attacked her?” Savannah asked. “Does she know who?”
Again, Brianna hesitated. “I think she knows, but no, she wouldn’t say. She said that if someone hit her, they must have come up behind her and she didn’t see who it was. But Vannie, she was inside her place there, so either it was someone who sneaked in, hid, and attacked her from behind, or she let him in and he turned on her. I guess the detective will check out all of those possibilities. I just hope she’ll tell the truth so the proper measures can be taken.”
“So she’s still in the hospital?” Savannah asked.
“Yes. I want her to stay at least overnight. I’ll see her in the morning before I decide whether to release her. Oh, and Vannie, I told her you’d take care of her kitties. She’s fine with that. You don’t mind, do you? She seems to trust you.”
“Sure, I’ll do that. No problem. Do you know where she keeps their food and all?”
“Yes, it’s inside. You can get a key from Adele. You have her number. Gail will sure appreciate that. I’ll let her know the kitties will be taken care of. Maybe she’ll follow my orders and stay for another day. I’d like to run a few tests before r
eleasing her.”
“Oh,” Savannah grumbled.
“What?” Brianna asked.
“I was hoping she’d come to the meeting on Wednesday so we can get her set up with help for her menagerie.” She chuckled. “You know, they say cats are like potato chips—you can’t have just one—but I can tell you there are some people who should not go beyond that one. I believe Gail’s one of those people. She’s not very well equipped to supervise a colony of cats. She doesn’t even have the resources to get them neutered and spayed, for heaven’s sake.”
“Okay, okay,” Brianna said, “don’t give me your spiel. Save it for Gail. Hey, I’ll try to have her up and around by Wednesday. We’ll see how it goes. Thanks, Sis, for helping out with her cats.”
“No problem. Glad you’re there to take care of her.”
****
“What did you want to tell me?” Craig asked when Savannah answered her cell phone the following morning.
“I just wanted to make sure you saw something that looked maybe significant in Gail’s room yesterday. It was something personal.”
“Personal?”
“Well, yeah. As you know, sometimes an attack like this…”
“If it was an attack…” he said.
“Yes, well, so often it’s personal—you know, someone the victim knows.”
“Yeah?”
“Craig, I saw a picture of her with some guy and I wasn’t sure you saw it because…”
“Why?” Craig asked.
“Because I picked it up off the floor and put it into a drawer so the cats wouldn’t get hurt.”
“Come again?” Craig said impatiently.
“It was broken. It was in a frame and had evidently fallen or was knocked off a shelf and the glass broke. I picked it up and put it into a drawer.”
“So you think it has some merit in this case, do you?”
“Heck, I don’t know.”
He chuckled. “Tell me this, did your cat have anything to do with you finding it or what you did with it afterward?”
“Actually, yes. He was sniffing it, and, when I saw it was broken, I hid it away so he and none of the other cats would step on the glass or get it on their fur and lick it off or something horrible like that.”
“Hmmm.”
“Craig, I need to go—I’m headed over to Gail’s right now.”
“Not going to church today?” he asked.
“No. Mom and Michael are taking the children to the early service. The lunch gathering is here today, you know. I’m going to hang back and get things ready.”
“So why are you going to Ms. Allen’s house?” he asked.
“To feed her cats.”
“How’d you get roped into that?” he asked.
“Brianna’s her doctor, and Gail asked Bri if I’d do this little favor for her.”
“So you’re leaving for her place now?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“I’ll meet you over there. I want to see that picture you’re talking about.”
“Is that okay?” Savannah asked. “I mean, I don’t have permission to let people in.”
“Settle down,” he said. “She knows I’m going in. She knows you’re going in. She just doesn’t know you might be able to help me with my investigation, that’s all. See you there.”
“So she knows you’re conducting an investigation?” Savannah asked. “She didn’t tell you it was an accident?”
“Yeah, but…oh, don’t waste my time asking questions,” Craig grumped. “I’ll see you there.”
****
Savannah was a little surprised when Adele handed her a key.
“I’d go over with you,” she said, “but something has come up. My son’s bringing my little granddaughter over to stay with me for a few hours. My daughter and her children live with me, but they have plans this morning. I’m sure you’ll do fine. The kibbles are in the container to the right of the door. The cats that are fed indoors will become Velcro against your legs, so you’ll know which ones they are. There are six feeding stations for the wilder cats, out in the yard. Be sure to replenish their water, too.” She waved her hand in the air. “Oh, you know how to feed cats. She generally doles out just about four or five cups of kibbles twice a day for the outdoor cats—maybe more, now that some of the females are nursing their kittens.” Adele winced. “Oh, she also feeds the cats chicken and chicken broth when she has it. You might look in the fridge and see if she has any cooked up. If not, just go with the kibbles.”
“Whew,” Savannah remarked. “Nice that she gets a lot of that food donated.” When she saw a car pull up to Adele’s house, she said, “Well, that’s probably your grandbaby. Have fun. And thank you.”
“Certainly.” Adele smiled. “Thank you.”
Savannah arrived at the Allen home just after Craig. She parked behind his unmarked cruiser and waved when she saw him standing in front of the house. “I got the key,” she said as she walked up to him, “and feeding instructions.”
“You don’t know how to feed a cat?”
“Craig, she has dozens of them. It’s a big job. And everyone has a little different routine.”
He grinned at her. “Well, come on; let’s get started.”
Surprised, she asked, “You’re going to help me feed the cats?”
“Yeah, I need your help, so let’s take care of the critters, then we can get down to business.” Fifteen minutes later, he said, “It is a big job feeding that many cats. And most of them don’t seem very appreciative. She does that twice a day?”
Savannah looked out over the colony of cats that had arrived for their meal and nodded. “It looks like there are at least two of them with kittens hidden away someplace.” She looked at Craig. “She said she has three litters. Dang, I wish those nursing mothers were getting more than just kibbles. Maybe tonight I’ll bring them some canned food.” As if thinking out loud she added, “Can’t wait to get my hands on them.”
“Why?” he asked.
“I’m hoping Gail will allow the alliance to take them over—you know, spay and neuter them and stop this over-population madness.”
He stared at her for a moment, then looked out at the cats. “One cat at a time, huh?”
“Something like that.” She took a breath. “Okay, I need to get back to my hostess duties; let me show you what I found.”
She was about to unlock the padlock on the door when her phone chimed. “It’s Iris,” she said, handing Craig the key. “What’s up?” she asked.
“Getting ready to leave for church. I just sent you something. Did you get it?”
“No,” Savannah said. “I don’t think so. What is it?”
“A photo of Ronnie Griffith. It’s a small picture, but I thought you’d like to compare it to the photo you found at Gail’s house.”
“Great! Okay, it just came in. Let me take a look and I’ll get back to you, okay?” After ending the call, she carefully followed Craig down the steps into the underground room, then studied the photo Iris had sent her. “I do believe it’s him,” she said quietly.
“Huh?” Craig responded.
Savannah opened a small drawer and picked up the frame. After discarding the broken glass fragments, she studied the picture, then looked at the one on her phone. “It’s him,” she announced. She handed Craig both images.
He nodded. “Yup. Same guy. Same time period, too, I’d say. So this was her heartthrob in high school?” he asked.
“According to the newspapers stories Iris and I read, he was in his early twenties in 1973 when he went missing. She might have been younger. Yeah, as a matter of fact, my aunt remembers her from school and said she was a few years younger than her. Auntie would have been nineteen, so that’s about right.”
“Uh-huh,” Craig said, putting the photo aside and scanning the room.
“Craig,” she said, “that’s Ronnie Griffith, the construction worker who went missing while building your house.”
“Oh,” he
said, taking another look at the photo. He shook his head. “But I don’t know how this relates to what happened to Ms. Allen yesterday, do you?”
“I guess not really.” More boldly, she added, “But, Craig, it could have everything to do with it.”
“How so?” he asked,
“Well, she’s kind of eccentric, and maybe the reason is because of Ronnie. I mean, she’s really not what you’d call emotionally healthy, do you think? There has to be something wrong with someone who lives like this. It could have something to do with Ronnie’s disappearance.”
“How would that cause her to be a hermit and a dingbat cat lady? She might just be loony.”
Savannah spoke slowly and directly. “Then why would she still have a picture of herself with Ronnie in her home? Look around; there are no photographs of her parents or any children or husband or even a pet—only that one picture of her and Ronnie. I’d say that’s hugely significant.” She cocked her head. “Craig, you said Gail’s on your radar. Why is that? You implied that you come here a lot.”
He cleared his throat and coughed. “Well, maybe not so much since her old man died, but there have been some calls over the years. At one point, there was speculation that she was abusing him—you know, elder abuse.”
“What?” Savannah yelped. “Calls from whom?”
“I guess neighbors and maybe passersby, visitors to the home…I don’t know. As it turned out, our conclusion was the opposite. The old man was probably making his daughter’s life miserable. We don’t get as many calls to come out here anymore, but I think she still lives with a lot of fear, and I don’t know if it’s real or imaginary.”
Chapter 5
Brianna and Bud were first to arrive at the Ivey home just after noon to celebrate Teddy’s first birthday. Margaret and Max pulled in right behind them.
“Why did you drive?” Brianna asked when she saw her aunt and uncle getting out of their car. “You just live a few feet away.”
“More like three hundred feet,” Margaret corrected. “And I’m not carrying this that far.”
“What?” Brianna asked.
“This,” Margaret said, pointing to the plush toy horse Max lifted out of the car.
