Farewell to Felines

by Kathi Daley

At the top of the stairs was a short hallway that led to four rooms. The first contained a bed and a dresser and looked like a guest room. It appeared to be empty and undisturbed, so I continued to the second room, which turned out to be a bathroom. The third room looked a lot like one of the rooms in my Aunt Maggie’s house that she used for a craft and sewing room, so I imagined the last door would lead to the master bedroom. When I saw a pair of feet sticking out from the far side of the bed I knew for certain what I had feared since Apollo had snuck into the house was true. Thea Blane was dead.

  Chapter 2

  “Who would want to kill Thea?” My best friend, Tara O’Brian, asked later that evening. She, along with my fiancé, Cody West, my brother, Danny Hart, and my sister, Siobhan Finnegan, were sitting in my oceanfront cabin discussing the events of the day.

  “I don’t know,” I answered. “I didn’t know Thea well, but based on the interactions we’d had, I found her to be pleasant.”

  “Are you planning to look in to her death?” Danny asked.

  I wasn’t a cop or a private investigator, but I seemed to be pulled into many of the unusual deaths that occurred on the island. I glanced toward Apollo, who was curled up on a chair next to the fire Cody had built when he arrived. “It seems I’m meant to participate in the investigation of Thea’s death in some way because Apollo found me and then led me to her body. Maybe Finn will know more when he gets here.”

  Ryan Finnegan, Finn for short, was the island’s resident deputy and Siobhan’s husband. I’d called him right after I found Thea’s body. He’d arrived shortly after my call and was still there as far as I knew.

  “I’m totally in to help you in any way I can,” Tara volunteered.

  “I’m in as well,” Danny added. “My boat’s leased until the end of April, so I’m looking for something to do until then.”

  Danny lived on his boat and operated a whale watch tour in the summer. During the winter he usually leased the boat and moved in with our Aunt Maggie to save money. Of course, now that Maggie was making plans to marry the love of her life, Michael Killian, the former priest at St. Patrick’s who had recently retired and left the priesthood, it might not work out for Danny to crash with her whenever the mood struck him. Although Maggie had been out of town a lot as of late. I guess I could see why Maggie and Michael might not want to explore their new relationship under the watchful eyes of his former parishioners.

  “I think we need the whiteboard,” Siobhan announced. She and Finn were also living with my aunt this winter and was by far the most organized of the five Hart siblings.

  “I’ll run over to get it for you,” Danny offered.

  “It’s pouring rain,” I pointed out. “We can just take notes on a pad of paper and transfer them to the whiteboard when the rain lets up.”

  “Okay. I’ll call Finn to tell him to come over here when he’s done,” Siobhan said, rubbing her pregnant belly just as a loud clap of thunder shook the cabin.

  “I hope the peninsula road doesn’t flood,” Tara said once the rumbling had come to an end.

  “You’re welcome to stay here tonight if you want,” I offered. My cabin had only one bedroom, but the sofa pulled out into a bed.

  “There are free rooms at Maggie’s now that Aiden, Mom, and Cassie, have moved out,” Siobhan said.

  My oldest brother, Aiden, had been staying with Maggie while he recovered from an auto accident he’d been involved in just before Christmas, and Mom and our youngest sister had been staying with Maggie while their condo was undergoing repairs, but all three were back in their own homes now.

  “Maybe I’ll call my neighbor and have her feed Bandit,” Tara answered, referring to her cat. “I do hate driving in weather like this.”

  Cody put another log on the fire while Tara made her call and Siobhan spoke to Finn. Then we gathered around my dining table to come up with a strategy for investigating Thea’s death.

  “First off, was there any evidence that she was murdered rather than suffering a natural event such as a heart attack?” Siobhan asked.

  “Yes,” I confirmed. “There was a large gash on the back of her head, which I suspect will turn out to be the cause of death. I think the most relevant question at this point will be who had a reason to want Thea dead.”

  “I’m not sure a choir dispute would constitute a motive for murder, but Thea did beat Pam Wilkins out for the position of director for the adult choir,” Tara started off.

  “Pam was furious,” Siobhan agreed. “She’s been telling everyone that Thea basically stole the position from her by spreading vicious lies about her.”

  I hesitated and then responded. “Pam was upset about losing out on the role she felt should have been hers, but murder? It seems sort of harsh.”

  “I don’t disagree, but I thought the point was to get names on a list,” Tara countered.

  “You’re right.” I glanced at Siobhan and told her to go ahead and add Pam to the list she had started on a yellow legal pad. “As long as you’re at it, add Victoria Grace. She was upset when Thea started dating her ex-husband. In fact, she went as far as to suggest Thea was responsible for their marriage breaking up in the first place, although to be fair, I don’t think that’s true. If you ask me, Victoria nagged the poor man to the point that he decided he couldn’t live with the constant ridicule.”

  Danny chuckled. “I remember when Ethan came into the bar and announced he was leaving Victoria once and for all. Everyone in the place stood up and applauded. Most of the folks at O’Malley’s that night felt Ethan had stayed in the marriage a lot longer than he should have.”

  “Jealousy is generally a good motive for murder and Thea was a beautiful woman,” Tara added. “I know quite a few women on the island weren’t happy when they found out Thea was going to be temping in the offices where their husbands worked.”

  “Who else should we speak to?” I asked.

  Everyone fell silent. I glanced at Apollo, who was sleeping on the sofa next to my dog, Max. If history served as a guide, the secret to finding Thea’s killer lay with the cat. The problem was, the cat wasn’t exhibiting any interest in our conversation.

  “What about Lilly Kent?” Siobhan suggested.

  Lilly was currently dating Thea’s ex-husband, Steve. Thea and Steve Blane had been divorced for quite some time, but the two had remained friends, and it had been rumored Lilly wasn’t thrilled with the amount of time they continued to spend together.

  “It would be pretty extreme for Lilly to plan to kill Thea to get her out of the way, but it’s possible the two of them may have been talking and, in the heat of the moment, Lilly could have hit Thea.” I had Siobhan add her to the list.

  Danny got up from the table and wandered over to the large picture window that looked out at the sea. “The rain has really picked up and the water looks about as angry as I’ve ever seen it.”

  “I wish Finn was back.” Siobhan looked worried. “I hate that he’s driving around in this stuff.”

  “Finn’s a smart guy,” I tried to reassure my older sister. “I’m sure he’ll pull over to the side of the road if the rain gets too intense.”

  We all jumped when a crack of thunder rattled the windows in my cabin. I looked out toward the sea. The waves, which normally rolled gently onto the shore on this part of the island, had increased in size to the point where the surge had inched up to within a few yards of my beachside deck.

  “Do you think we’re safe here?” Tara asked.

  “I think so,” I answered. “This cabin has stood in this spot for more than five decades. We’ve had storms as bad as this, if not worse. I think we’ll be fine.” I glanced at Siobhan. “I do wish Finn was here, however.”

  “I’ll call him again,” Siobhan said as a flash of lightning exploded overhead. The lights flickered before coming back on. It looked like we might lose power by the end of the evening.

  Max, who was normally not all that affected by thunder and lightning, hopped off the sofa and wa
ndered over to where I was sitting. I spoke softly to him, letting him know everything would be okay. He seemed pacified by my words, but he still curled up at my feet rather than returning to the sofa.

  “That cat hasn’t moved in an hour, despite all the noise. Are we sure it’s alive?” Danny chuckled. I could tell he was kidding, but it did seem odd that the cat hadn’t reacted at all to the storm.

  “I noticed his tail moved a couple of times.” Tara smiled.

  “I guess he wants to rest until it’s time for him to do his thing.” I glanced at Siobhan, who had just hung up after speaking to Finn. “Is he okay?”

  “He’s on his way. He said he’d be here in about five minutes. The power is out in Harthaven. So far, this end of the island still has electricity, but he thought we should gather candles and flashlights. He suggested we all move up to the main house. With Maggie away, there are plenty of guest rooms for everyone, and he felt it would be a good idea to be farther away from the water.”

  I glanced at Cody, who shrugged. “Okay,” I answered. “He’s probably right. Let’s all stay at Maggie’s. Just give me a minute to grab a few things.”

  Danny helped Siobhan navigate the path across the lawn toward the main house, while Tara followed along behind. I grabbed my bag and called to Max, and Cody picked up Apollo. The fire had burned down to the point where it should be fine unattended, so Cody and I, along with the animals, made a mad dash through the rain. When we arrived at Maggie’s, wet but safe, we joined the others, who were in the living room.

  “Do you think Mr. Parsons is okay?” I asked Cody, mentioning the elderly man he lived with and cared for.

  “He should be fine. I planned to spend the night with you, so Banjo and Summer were staying over with him.” Banjo and Summer were a hippy couple who lived down the beach and often stayed with Mr. Parsons and his dog, Rambler, when Cody wasn’t home.

  “That’s good. They’re probably better off with him anyway. Their place tends to flood when there’s a strong storm surge.”

  “Danny, why don’t you run upstairs and grab the whiteboard?” Siobhan said. “We may as well use it as long as we’re here and the lights are still on.”

  I heard Finn’s car in the drive just as Danny was returning with the whiteboard. I was glad we were all together for the storm. Being so close to the sea, there was always the possibility of things getting bad really fast, and it was good to have Finn home.

  Once he had the chance to change out of his wet clothes, we picked up the conversation where we’d left off. We’d put Pam Wilkins, Victoria Grace, and Lilly Kent, on the board, even though we all agreed none of them were probably responsible for Thea’s death.

  “Did you find anything at the crime scene?” I asked Finn.

  “While I’ll need to wait for the medical examiner’s report to be certain, it appears Thea died due to blunt force trauma to the back of her head. There’s evidence of an altercation; it appears she’d been arguing with someone and had turned, probably to walk away, when she was struck from behind. We didn’t find the murder weapon and are assuming the killer took it with them. We found some fingerprints, as well as hair and some red fibers, but we aren’t sure if they belong to Thea, her killer, or some random person. I plan to canvas the neighborhood tomorrow to speak to her neighbors. With the storm accelerating in intensity, I decided it was best to get back to the peninsula while I still could. It looks like you’ve started a murder board.”

  Siobhan caught him up with the reasons we’d added each of the three suspects. Finn thought it was unlikely any of the three was the killer but agreed it was best to speak to as many people as we could come up with.

  The lightning had started up again, and Max came over to put his head in my lap; he really didn’t like all the racket. Apollo was curled up in Maggie’s chair near the fire with her two house cats and seemed as content as he’d been all evening. I began to scratch Max behind the ears, hoping to distract him from the rumbling in the distance.

  “We should find out where Thea was temping this past week,” Cody suggested. “I still think it’s feasible her death could be related to her job.”

  “What do you mean, related to her job?” Tara asked.

  “Maybe she was temping for an attorney and came across sensitive information she wasn’t meant to see,” Cody answered. “Maybe the information was so sensitive, the subject of the information wanted to be sure she didn’t have the opportunity to tell anyone else.”

  “What sort of information could be that sensitive?” Tara asked.

  “Something illegal, for example. Although there are other jobs that could lead to a person discovering something they’re better off not knowing. Thea could have been temping with a cleaning service and might have overheard something while cleaning a home or office. I’m not saying her death is definitely related to her job, but I think it’s worth looking in to.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Just put down temp job as the suspect or person of interest on the list for now. When we find out where she was temping, we’ll know who to talk to.”

  “What about a spurned lover?” Siobhan asked. “Thea was a beautiful woman and we know she liked to play the field. Maybe someone she was dating became overly serious and felt slighted when she moved on to the next man.”

  “John Walkman,” Danny said. “He dated Thea for a couple of months until she broke it off. I ran into John about a week ago at O’Malley’s, and he was complaining to anyone who would listen that she was about as coldhearted as they come.”

  Siobhan added his name on the whiteboard.

  “I’m not saying she’s a suspect, but Thea was good friends with Kim Pemberton. Someone should have a chat with her,” Tara suggested. “She might know something about her life only a close friend would.”

  “That’s a good idea. I’ll talk to her tomorrow,” Finn said.

  “It shouldn’t be you,” Siobhan countered. “If she knows something juicy, especially something that might put Thea in a bad light, she might not be willing to tell someone interviewing her in an official capacity.”

  “I’ll talk to her,” I offered. “And I’ll talk to Lilly Kent and Pam Wilkins too. Danny, you talk to John Walkman because you know him the best. Finn can follow up with the crime scene guys and the medical examiner. We’ll all meet back here tomorrow and come up with a strategy based on what we find out.”

  “What about Victoria Grace?” Tara asked.

  “I’ll talk to her,” Siobhan said. “I’ll also see if I can find out where Thea was temping last week.”

  I figured we had a good place to start, and it was nice to have the sleuthing gang together again. I was about to suggest we find something for dessert when a loud crash of thunder made the house vibrate, followed by flickering lights and then complete darkness.

  Chapter 3

  Tuesday, March 13

  A quick glance out the window the following morning confirmed that the rain had settled in for a good long stay. At least the wind had died down and the power was back on. Cody needed to get to the newspaper early, so we both headed back to my cabin to shower and get ready for the day. Siobhan, who’d been eating breakfast at the dining table when I went downstairs, informed me that Tara had already started out for home, and Finn had gone to work early to deal with storm-related emergency calls.

  Cody suggested I just ride into town with him, but he wanted to check on Mr. Parsons before going to work. I needed to see to the cats in the sanctuary before leaving for the day, so he planned to come back for me and the cats I was bringing to the lounge in Coffee Cat Books on his way to the newspaper office.

  The Harthaven Cat Sanctuary was founded by my aunt Maggie when our previous mayor pushed through a law allowing the residents of Madrona Island to remove the feral cats from their property by any means they chose. Many of them just ignored the cats that had roamed freely for as long as anyone could remember, while others trapped them and brought them to the sanctuary. There were a few islanders who
chose to use more lethal means of removing the cats under Mayor Bradley’s reign of terror, but since Siobhan had taken over as mayor following his death, use of violence to remove the animals was once again a punishable offense.

  It seemed to me the number of cats we housed had decreased significantly, due in part to the spay and neuter program Maggie and I had been committed to for the past several years. In addition to reducing the number of wild kittens born each year, the presence of the cats in our cat lounge had increased our adoption rate significantly.

  “Good morning, Moose,” I said to one of our ornerier full-time residents. “I hope you made it through the worst of the storm okay.”

  The big cat hissed at me.

  “I have salmon treats this morning,” I bribed, holding out my hand.

  Moose looked at it with suspicion before taking it from me and running to a corner at the far side of his pen to eat it. I left food for him, then cleaned his litter box before moving on to the next pen, which housed a group of cats with more agreeable dispositions. I normally brought four cats with me to the store every day, so I selected the ones for today while I cleaned the pen. I tried to rotate them so everyone had a chance to meet customers interested in adoption, but it was the kittens that seemed to find homes the fastest.

  After everyone was fed and the entire place cleaned and aired out, I went back to the cabin to wash up and wait for Cody. With all the rain we were having, it looked like it would be a slow day at the bookstore. Coffee Cat Books depended on traffic from the ferry, and when the weather was bad fewer people made the trip out to the island.

  I checked my phone to see I had a message from Tara. She’d called to let me know she’d stopped by the bookstore to check on things on her way home and found the roof over the cat lounge had leaked. She suggested we close for the day so the workmen could make the repairs before any more damage was done. I called her back and agreed closing made sense. Not only did it look like we were in for at least another twelve hours of rain, but according to the local forecast, the wind was supposed to pick up again later in the afternoon.