by Emmie Lyn
“And, it’s not even nine o’clock yet,” I added.
“You think there will be more drama?”
“I’m sure of it, Ruby. Did you notice all the blood pooled behind Andy’s head?”
“Well, yeah. He probably hit it when he fell, right?”
“If he fell. There is the broken ladder rung to indicate a fall, but I also noticed a rusty old shovel with a broken handle carelessly tossed to one side and some other crushed bits and pieces of stuff. Otherwise, the barn was spotless.”
Ruby’s eyes widened to big orbs. “You think someone killed him?”
I shrugged. “It’s a possibility that the police will determine.” In my opinion? More likely than not.
“Oh, my goodness.” Ruby’s face paled. “And Izzy said she heard her mother yelling at Ron in the barn.”
“Exactly. Both Ron and Jess were here while Izzy was hiding in the stall. Something happened, Ruby, and I don’t think it was an accident.”
“Is that why you called Tilly? You knew she’d take Izzy with her?”
“Well, that was my plan, but you never know which direction a plan will take. Especially when Tilly’s involved. Things went right this time, but we have to keep Izzy from talking to the police until she tells us exactly what happened,” I said. And then, we might have to hide her for her own good. I didn’t want to burden Ruby with that worry yet.
First things first. The Police Chief limped out of the barn with his sidekick, Mick. Ron followed slowly behind them. He’d finger-combed his thick dark hair straight back from his forehead, and his shoulders slumped with exhaustion. He reached down and picked up the knapsack leaning against the barn before he trudged toward his house. He looked beaten and defeated.
Of course, he was a person of interest.
Was he the murderer?
6
Ron walked past us without a glance and continued straight to a small garden near his house. He slumped onto a wooden swing hanging from the branch of an oak tree. With one foot, he mindlessly pushed himself back and forth.
“I’m glad I’m not in his shoes,” Ruby whispered to me. “I’m not saying I think he killed Andy, but, well, it doesn’t look good, does it?”
I looked over at her with a question mark on my face.
“He’s the owner,” she explained. “And Izzy placed him here around the time it happened.”
I couldn’t have agreed more. I watched as the rest of the police and the investigative personnel swarmed around the red barn. Would they ever let us leave?
The Chief walked toward us. “Sunny?” he said in his no-nonsense tone. “Why did you and Ruby come here this morning?”
Ruby shot me a look that said she wanted me to deal with this mess. I decided my best bet in this situation was to channel Tilly. “Well, my morning has been one disaster after another,” I said. That earned an eye roll from Officer Walker who stood to one side still chomping furiously on his toothpick. I guessed it helped him keep his mouth shut before he inserted his big foot inside, even though it was obvious he wanted to take charge of the interrogations.
“Really? That’s the best you can do?” the Chief said with a big dose of sarcasm. “I don’t think your morning went any worse than the poor guy lying dead in Ron’s barn.”
“Yeah, about that, we didn’t even know what was under that blanket until Ruby pulled it back. We practically fainted right there from the shock of it.” I shook my head at the memory. “What a terrible accident,” I added.
Mick choked. “An accident? That’s what you call it?”
I let my mouth fall open like I was completely shocked and had never considered it was anything but. “Are you implying foul play?” Mick had walked right into my trap. His slip validated my suspicion that there was a lot more than met our eyes on first inspection. That broken shovel nagged in my memory.
“We aren’t implying anything,” the Chief said, sending Mick a withering scowl. He quickly took control of the conversation again but the damage was done in my opinion. “Officer Walker, go back in the barn and keep an eye on the progress. Make sure everything is done by the book.”
Mick glared at me but did as he was ordered. This time holding his tongue.
“Now, where were we?” the Chief asked as he pulled out his little notebook. He leaned against Ruby’s delivery van, supporting himself to take some pressure off his bad hip. “Why are you two even here?”
I explained again about the kittens and the mother cat and told him we’d expected to make a quick visit. “You know how that works out sometimes,” I said with a dramatic expression. I wanted to remind him that this was a complete and utterly unexpected delay.
“So, you only came here to find the mother cat?”
“That’s right. Tilly took her to the Kitty Castle to reunite her with her kittens. So, that problem is under control for now.” I smiled at the Chief and crossed my fingers that he’d say we could leave.
“Tilly was involved?”
Oops, maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned her name. Everyone knew that when Tilly was involved, anything could happen. “She’s only the delivery person,” I said quickly in case the chief got ideas. “You know, pick up the mother cat, and take her to her kittens.”
The Chief scribbled something in his pad. “And, where did Isabella go? Ron said she was here with him this morning. I have questions for her.”
“She had to go with Tilly since she’s the only one that the mother cat trusts.” I fidgeted under the sunny sky. When could we get away from this torture?
The Chief looked at me, annoyed. “Did you know the person under the blanket?”
“Andy? Not really. I’d heard that Ron let him stay here in the barn sometimes in exchange for helping out with the animals.”
“So, you recognized him?”
“Yes,” I lied. This wasn’t the time to worry about that small detail. He didn’t need to know that Izzy had been in the barn and identified the body for us. My goal was to keep her as far away from these policemen as possible. Izzy and her mother.
“And, what about you, Ruby? Why are you here?”
Ruby bolted upright as though she’d been caught napping, but I butted in to provide cover for her. “Ruby drove me over here so Tilly and Hitch could stay at the shake shop and get everything ready to open on time.” My improvisation earned me another scowl from the Chief. I didn’t think it was important for him to know that Ruby had found Izzy at the barn earlier. The less we talked about her, the better.
“I asked, Ruby,” he growled.
“Sorry.” I tried to look appropriately contrite.
“Isabella Golden was with the two of you. Ron said she was here earlier. I’ll need to ask her some questions.”
“When did Ron say he saw her?” I asked.
“He’s not sure about the time, but he did say Izzy helped him here with some kittens. Are those the same ones you mentioned?”
“I think so. Izzy said that she thought I was the best person to help with them until we found the mother cat. She’s gifted when it comes to animals, you know.”
The Chief raised his cap and ran his fingers through his thinning hair. “I’m confused, though. Did you say you picked up the kittens and the mother cat here?”
“Um… no. Izzy brought the kittens to me and we had to come back to find the mother cat.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I realized the Chief had talked me into a corner.
“How did Izzy get those kittens to you in the first place?”
That was a good question, but the answer might get Ruby in trouble by putting her near the barn and possibly the scene of the crime. As I turned that over in my brain, a car stopped at the farmhouse. A welcome distraction if ever I saw one.
“Who the heck is that?” the Chief asked out loud. He stared at the car. “This is no time for Ron to have visitors.”
“That’s Mrs. Becker… Stacy,” Ruby said. We all watched as a petite but well-toned woman, dressed in khakis and a butt
on-down blouse got out of her car. She pulled a large canvas tote out of the back seat, slipped it over her shoulder, and locked up. She walked with determination toward the small garden where Ron sat slumped on his swing.
Ruby nodded in her direction. “She’s been working for Ron for a while. She cooks, cleans, and does anything else she thinks will be helpful; hovers over him like she’s his mother, I guess you could say.”
That seemed to give the Chief information he was looking for. “You two can leave,” he said, dismissing us curtly as he limped toward Ron and Stacy.
Finally. Exactly what I’d been waiting to hear. I jabbed Ruby in the side. “Let’s get out of here before he changes his mind.”
With Ruby behind the wheel of the van, I let out a weary sigh I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding inside. “Stacy’s gonna have a shock on her hands when she finds out what happened in the barn,” I said.
“A shock for sure but maybe a relief, too,” Ruby said as she navigated onto the road back toward town. “From what Jess observed, there was no love lost between Stacy and Andy… or, between Jess and Andy for that matter. When that guy showed up, Jess put the brakes on her relationship with Ron. She was furious that he let Andy hang out in the barn, and she sure wasn’t going to trust someone she knew nothing about around Izzy. Ron’s barn was strictly off limits to Izzy because of Andy.”
A flash of color in her cheeks crept up to her temple, almost matching the red in her hair. Ruby was showing the effects of the drama-filled morning.
“I wonder if there’s something in Andy’s background that would shed light on all this,” I said.
But what?
7
While Ruby drove, I tried to figure out how to ask her a difficult question. On the one hand, I didn’t even want to consider what Izzy might know, but on the other hand, it was better for us to hear it from her before she blurted something out to the police.
Without more overthinking on my part, I just put my question out there. “Do you think Izzy knows what happened in the barn?”
“Nope,” Ruby answered without even the slightest pause. “And here’s why I say that with such confidence. Put yourself in her shoes, Sunny. She’s at Ron’s barn and she knows she’s not supposed to be there. Her mom comes in. What would you do if you were her?” Ruby shot a quick glance at me, her enormous brown eyes serious before she turned them back to the road.
I shrugged trying to think like a ten-year old. I hadn’t been a bad kid but of course I’d done things I was told I shouldn’t. Didn’t everyone? And as long as I didn’t get caught, I didn’t get in trouble. Not getting caught was the key for any kid.
“I think I know what you mean, Ruby. Izzy probably buried herself deeper in the stall away from the noise. I bet she hugged the box of kittens for comfort, and maybe even hummed to herself. She tuned everything out while she waited for her mother to leave.”
“Exactly. But then she heard more voices and waited some more. She’s ten. All she was thinking about was not getting in trouble.” Ruby turned into the Shakes and Cakes parking lot.
“So,” I said. “You think Izzy stayed hidden in that stall while Andy was in trouble? It must have felt like an eternity. I guess she waited until things quieted down and made a run for it. I can’t even imagine what she felt when she saw Andy’s body or how she had the presence of mind to cover him with that horse blanket. How did she even know he was dead?”
I shuddered at the thought. The poor kid must have been freaking out. I would have been.
Ruby turned off the ignition and unbuckled her seatbelt, then paused while she considered Izzy’s predicament. “I don’t know how she knew, but it’s not something I want to ask her.” She gave me a long look I couldn’t read. “Apparently, the kittens were her priority because she didn’t even mention anything about Andy to me after I picked her up. That’s kind of strange, too.”
I nodded and prepared to get out of the van. “Unless she thinks she’s protecting her mom,” I said. “Or, Ron. Apparently, she didn’t see anyone else.”
Ruby squeezed her forehead like she had a tension headache coming on. “Why would Ron or Jess kill Andy? I know Jess didn’t like him, but she’s not a murderer. From Izzy’s story, Jess left the barn, but Ron was still there. He’s not a killer either. He takes in all those senior animals and gives them a great sanctuary for the rest of their lives. Someone else had to have been in the barn with Andy.”
I agreed with Ruby’s thinking. Now I worried about how to keep Izzy safe. If the killer found out she’d been hiding in the stall all along… I didn’t even want to think about that. This whole situation brought back memories of my own that I’d long buried.
“Want to come in for a smoothie?” I asked as I opened the van door. “I can whip one up and get you on your way in two shakes of a whisker.
Ruby hesitated. “I shouldn’t. I need to get A Donut A Day opened… but sure. If I’m a few minutes late, it won’t make a difference.”
“What about Jess? Can’t she open this morning?” I climbed out of the van, happy to see lots of cars filling the lot.
Ruby grabbed her purse and joined me. “She’s got dog walking clients this morning before she puts in her shift at A Donut A Day. Between her house-sitting commitments and dog walking, Jess is only part time for me. Plus, she’ll be coming here to pick up Izzy.” Ruby glanced at her watch. “Soon, probably.”
“Don’t forget that I offered Izzy a job.” We started walking to the shop, and I made finger quotes around the word job. “If it helps, she can stay here at the Kitty Castle with the kittens for as long as needed.”
“Now you’re starting a babysitting service, Sunny?” I looked at Ruby and grinned at her twinkling eyes.
“Jess might take you up on that generous offer,” she warned.
“I prefer to think of it as another couple of hands and a lap for the kittens. You can’t spoil those little fur balls too much, can you?”
The breeze sent a napkin down the walk. I caught it and tossed it in the trash.
“Not at all,” she said, keeping up with my hurried step. I needed to get busy in the shop. “And it’s probably exactly what Izzy needs. Her options on this gorgeous Saturday are to sit home while Jess works or hang out at A Donut A Day. She’s a tomboy. She needs fresh air and nature. I think that’s why Izzy took to Ron and vice versa. He kept her busy and happy with his animals when Jess had to work. Until Andy showed up, at least.”
To reinforce Ruby’s tomboy image, Izzy skipped out of the shake shop with pigtails dancing around her shoulders and a box nestled in her arms.
I gave her a big smile as she gushed over with some news. “Guess what I found in one of your bushes, Sunny?” she shouted, her voice overflowing with excitement. She skidded to a stop in front of us. Carefully, she opened the top of a small box, presenting me with her treasure. “Hitch told me I could keep it.”
I crouched down to Izzy’s level. Inside the box I discovered an empty bird’s nest, woven from twigs and leaves.
“Oh, Izzy,” I said, as thrilled with her find as she was. “By the look of it, I’d say a robin made this work of art. Amazing, isn’t it? Now that the babies have flown off, the nest is all yours. What do you plan to do with it?”
Izzy looked at me with her big blue eyes like I’d just asked a dumb question. “Add it to my collection. I have feathers, and rocks, and lots of cool stuff. You can see everything if you want. One time I found a mouse nest, but Mom wouldn’t let me keep that in my room.”
I chuckled at that thought. “I have to agree with your mom on that decision. Mice should live outside.” Not in my Kitty Castle for obvious reasons or in my shake shop where the health inspector would shut us down. I didn’t want to think about that nightmare.
Izzy set her box down and wrapped her arms around my neck, surprising me with her gesture. “You’re the best, Sunny. First you knew exactly what to do with the kittens, and now you know all about the bird’s nest.”
/> I hugged her back. This girl was a kindred spirit and more than anything, I didn’t want the police to interrogate her. Or worse, I thought, have a killer on the loose target her.
How would I keep her safe?
8
“Let’s get you that smoothie, Ruby,” I said. The morning was rapidly disappearing and all I’d done was run around in circles. At least, that’s how it felt.
“Can I have one too?” Izzy asked. She bounced on her toes with more energy than I could muster at the moment. Happily, she didn’t seem traumatized by the events in the barn.
“Of course,” I said, helping her balance the box as we headed to the shop. “That’s your payment for helping with the kittens, remember?”
“And a cupcake, too?” Could her eyes get any wider, I thought, laughing to myself. This girl had more charm than a candy store had jelly beans.
“Sure,” I said. “Head on inside with Ruby. Hitch will fix you up with whatever you want.”
I’d noticed Jess pulling into the parking lot. I watched her pull her mass of mahogany ringlets into a ponytail and check herself in the rearview mirror, adding a dab of lip gloss before she gathered her things. If Izzy inherited her mother’s genes, she’d be a beauty when she grew up. Those huge green eyes and full mouth that broke into an easy smile. When she wasn’t being a mom!
“I’ll have a blueberry breakfast shake and one of those raspberry things, ma’am.”
I smiled at the tall retiree entering the shop next to me. “Tilly will fix your usual, Mr. Vail.”
He gave me a blank stare. “She’s at the counter, ready to help you.”
It was hopeless. He didn’t realize I’d known him since I was a teenager in his math class.
He closed the door on me, and I watched him head to the counter. So much for the impression I’d made in high school, but at least our shakes and pastries kept him coming back.
