The Cats & the Riddle

by Jan Fields

  Alice’s eye roll matched the sarcasm in her voice. “Lucky you.”

  “Actually, I thought for a while that she might be the cat artist.”

  Alice laughed. “You’re kidding—right?”

  Annie closed the lid of the washer and turned the knob. “Consider it a moment of temporary insanity. I don’t think it anymore. At the veterinary clinic, I discovered that she spent some time in England like Candace Caine. She clearly loves cats; Kate said she has four. She can do the kind of fine crochet that was on Mary Beth’s cat’s pillow.”

  “But can you seriously picture someone carrying a torch for Nancy for years?” Alice asked as she followed Annie back to the kitchen.

  “People change,” Annie said as she pulled open the fridge door and began unloading the chowder and the makings for the sandwiches. “Nancy could have been a very different person when she was younger.”

  Alice took the sandwich makings and carried them to the counter. “But you don’t think it’s Nancy now?”

  Annie sighed. “Not really. Not since I’ve talked to two people who actually saw Candace Caine when she helped Betsy pick out Boots. One was Ian and the other was Josephine Booth.”

  “You talked to people who actually know her? So now you know who she is?” Alice asked. “Way to bury the lead. You could have told me that first.”

  “No, I don’t know who she is,” Annie admitted as she poured the leftover chowder into a small pot and handed Alice a pan for the grilled cheese sandwiches. “Ian remembers her as an extremely shy woman, and he believes he’s seen her around. Josephine said almost the exact same thing. And when I asked around at the library about a very shy frequent patron, every librarian had a different suggestion. You wouldn’t believe the number of shy women in Stony Point.”

  “You know, I probably would have been on that list when I first came back after my divorce,” Alice said. “I hadn’t thought about it, but people could have thought I was shy or just unsociable. Sometimes life has a way of making you shut down to other people.”

  “But apparently Candace has kept that shyness all this time. At any rate, it totally takes Nancy out of the running. No one would describe her as shy.” Suddenly, Annie’s eyes widened. “Speaking of Nancy, she was going to send me a photo she’d taken of Grey Gables.”

  “She took a photo of your house?”

  “She had a neighbor take a bunch, and she used one in a mock-up flyer for the tour of homes, so I could see how great Grey Gables would look on the brochure,” Annie said, pausing to sniff the bubbling chowder. The sandwiches were sizzling in the pan on the next burner, and Annie’s stomach growled in anticipation. “You have to give Nancy credit for going after what she wants.”

  “Sure,” Alice said, and then she spoke hesitantly. “Still, I’m thinking I might let her put the carriage house on the tour. I could use some of the Divine Décor outdoor line in the yard, and you know I have it all over the house. It would be a good way of showing off the things I sell. Though I think the idea of putting a rose garden in the Town Square is stupid.”

  “Impractical anyway,” Annie agreed. “I know Nancy will be happy if you join the tour. Apparently she hasn’t gotten a lot of takers. She was almost subdued when she talked about it at the vet’s, blaming herself for being pushy. I couldn’t admit that I suspected she was right. Her approach certainly got Stella’s feathers ruffled.”

  “Stella stays semi-ruffled most of the time,” Alice said.

  Annie laughed. She had to agree with that. “Please help me remember to check my email as soon as we finish eating. Apparently Nancy came back for a last picture of the house about the same time our mystery artist delivered my needle-felted cat.”

  “Your cat? You got a cat?”

  Annie laughed lightly as they carried their dinners to the table. “I forgot just how much has happened since I saw you last. Yes, there was one on the porch this morning after I walked Tartan. And when I went to the post office to mail the hats to LeeAnn, I found out they’d gotten a cat too. I took pictures with my phone. I’ll show you as soon as we’re done eating.” The two of them settled into some very focused eating.

  “I didn’t realize how hungry I was,” Alice said at last when all the soup and sandwiches were gone. “Now, back to the mystery. Show me the kitties.”

  They walked to the entry where Annie had put the little box on a table when she’d come home from Ian’s.

  “Oh, it’s Boots!” Alice said when she opened the box. “She’s absolutely adorable. I half expect her to hop out and demand to be fed immediately.”

  Annie handed her the card. “When Mary Beth saw this, she said the ‘I’ looked familiar.”

  “Not to me,” Alice said. “Though I can see that it’s the same handwriting as in those picture books. Maybe she’ll remember where she’s seen it.”

  “That would be nice,” Annie said as she showed Alice the photos of the cat from the post office.

  “The workmanship on all of these is amazing,” Alice said. “What did Norma think of it?”

  “She actually smiled,” Annie said. “In fact, she was cheerful the whole time I was there. She told me they don’t deliver mail to anyone named Candace Caine in Stony Point. So other than the cat, she didn’t have any useful news for me.” As Annie spoke, she and Alice walked into the living room. Annie’s laptop still sat on the coffee table where she’d used it earlier.

  The women sat on the sofa, and Annie booted up the computer and brought up her email. Annie found Nancy’s email nestled between an email assuring her she’d won millions in a lottery in another country and an email coaxing her to buy meds online. Annie clicked on Nancy’s email and then on the attached photo.

  As Nancy had warned, the photo was not well focused. Annie enlarged it, but the detail only became fuzzier. “Well, I can see this is Grey Gables,” she said. “Can you tell if the little white box with the cat in it is on the porch?”

  Alice leaned closer and squinted. “I think it is. And what’s that at the side of the photo?”

  Annie looked at the even more blurred area of the photo. At first, she didn’t have a clue what she was seeing. It was a little like staring at one of the more unusual paintings at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Then she yelped. “It’s a bicycle! You can see the back wheel and part of the person sitting on it.”

  Again Alice squinted. She nodded slowly. “I think you’re right. But the photo is a mess.”

  “Still, someone was at Grey Gables on a bicycle,” Annie said. “Do you think it could have been Candace, dropping off the box?”

  “Maybe,” Alice said. “Did Nancy mention seeing anyone on a bicycle at the house?”

  Annie shook her head. “Of course, I didn’t ask specifically about a bicycle. I see a lot of people on bicycles once the tourists arrive, but you hardly see anyone now. She might remember.” Annie looked over at the table that held her phone and sighed. She wanted to know, but she’d had a long day and wasn’t sure if she had the energy for Nancy.

  Alice followed the look. “I can call her. I need to tell her that I’d like to put the carriage house on the tour anyway.”

  Annie slumped in relief. “Would you? She can be a little draining.”

  Alice patted Annie’s arm as she fished her cellphone out of her pocket. She pointed at the open computer. “But you have to look up her number.”

  “Actually, I have her card. Just a second.” Annie grabbed her project bag and rooted around in it until she found the business card that Nancy had given her at A Stitch in Time. She handed it over, and Alice made the call.

  Annie could hear Nancy’s voice blasting into the phone as Alice held it back a bit from her ear. Alice began by telling Nancy about her interest in having the carriage house on the tour. The shriek of happiness threatened to deafen them both. Alice let the river of words pour over her for a moment, making agreeable noises now and then until Nancy seemed to be winding down a little. “I have a question to ask you,” A
lice said finally.

  This raised Nancy’s volume again, and Annie could hear her clearly say, “Anything you need to know. Of course we haven’t finalized ….” She lost the rest of the meaning in the gush of words.

  Alice waited the talkative woman out and then said, “Actually, it’s about the photo you emailed to Annie, the one of Grey Gables.”

  This time the torrent was apologetic as Nancy assured Alice that she had taken no unauthorized photos of the carriage house.

  “That’s good,” Alice said, talking over her. “We can schedule a time for photos when the carriage house looks good. But I wanted to ask you specifically about this photo of Grey Gables. I see there was someone on a bicycle in Annie’s yard. Did you see who that was?”

  No sound came from the phone. Then when Nancy spoke, she was too quiet for Annie to make out the words. “Oh, that’s too bad,” Alice said finally. “I was hoping you had. The bicycle was in the edge of the frame.”

  More quiet talking, and then Alice said, “You’re probably right. It was probably a teenager. Thanks anyway, and let me know when you have more information on the tour.” She paused as another excited flurry of words burst from the phone. “I will. Thanks again, Nancy. Good night!”

  Alice blinked rapidly and slipped the phone into her pocket. “Whew, she certainly can talk.”

  “But she doesn’t remember the bike?”

  Alice shook her head. “I suspect she doesn’t pay much attention to things not directly related to her interests. She seems a little single-minded that way. Still, it was worth the try.” Alice looked up toward the clock on the fireplace mantel. “I need to go. I have tax stuff to work on. Do you have any other interesting discoveries to give me an excuse not to go work?”

  “Do you want an excuse?” Annie asked.

  “To avoid dealing with taxes?” Alice said. “You know it.”

  “Only that Adam said he was certain Candace would be involved with children somehow,” Annie said. “But she definitely isn’t doing any volunteering at the library. Josephine and the others would have known her if she was. And when I considered Nancy a possibility, I asked Ellen Whitaker if Nancy ever volunteered with the children at the church, but she doesn’t.”

  “Not a surprise,” Alice said. “If she spent tons of time with children, she wouldn’t recommend putting a rose garden out where they play. Was Adam really sure about the children?”

  “He seemed very definite about it,” Annie said.

  “So maybe we need to think of other places someone might work with kids,” Alice said. “Substitute teachers maybe. Or tutoring. Or maybe she helps over at the preschool?”

  “Those are good places to check,” Annie said.

  “I’ll see if I can think of any others,” Alice said, “and tomorrow we can start making phone calls and see.”

  “What would we say on the phone call?” Annie asked. “Do you have someone who might sound a little British and is desperately shy but likes kids?”

  “Something like that. We’ll figure it out in the morning. Meanwhile, taxes beckon.”

  Annie walked Alice to the door, hoping they had better luck with the mystery in the morning.

  21

  Annie awoke early Friday morning from a strange dream. She’d been chasing a woman who rode a bicycle down Main Street. The woman had been pedaling so slowly that the bicycle wobbled, but Annie still couldn’t catch up. Once or twice she’d gotten close enough to just touch the back of the woman’s rain poncho, but each time, Annie’s fingers just slid off the slick plastic of the poncho.

  The dream was incredibly frustrating, and Annie hadn’t wanted to fall back to sleep and find herself chasing the bicycle phantom again. Her head still felt a little slow and heavy as she shuffled to the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee. Boots rushed into the room, stuck her nose into her empty food dish, and began meowing in protest.

  “Patience is a virtue,” Annie told the cat as she poured a portion of cat kibble into the bowl. If Boots was impressed by Annie’s wisdom, she showed no sign and simply stuck her nose into the bowl and began crunching.

  Annie poured herself a cup of hot coffee and walked to the table near the window. She was sipping the coffee gratefully when the phone rang. Annie carried her coffee with her as she went to the phone. She wasn’t ready to face a conversation without it.

  “Hello?” she said, glad to hear that her voice didn’t croak.

  “Hi Mom, I hope I didn’t wake you. Herb left early as he has a job interview and it’s a bit of a drive to the company. I wanted to call before I have to get the twins off to school.”

  “That’s OK; I’m up,” Annie said. “Though I’m still getting coffee therapy.” She carried the cordless phone back to the kitchen table. “How’s everything?”

  “Not great,” LeeAnn said. “You were right, Mom. I really blew it with the whole job thing.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “I sent a few resumés to Maine for Herb, before I realized how much we really belong here. I know you told me I shouldn’t, but I guess I just had to do something. Well, one of the companies called here yesterday, and Herb answered the phone. He was surprised to hear the company had gotten his resumé. Surprised and not very happy.”

  “Oh, honey, I’m sorry.”

  LeeAnn sighed. “I thought if he found out about the resumés, he might think I was being pushy, maybe. I really hadn’t expected it to be any worse than that, but he accused me of not trusting him to take care of our family. He said if I trusted him, I wouldn’t be sneaking around and sending out resumés. He thought I wanted to move up here so I’d have you to fall back on if he never got another job. I tried to tell him it wasn’t like that, and that we would only move if we had to for him to find work. That didn’t exactly hit him right either. We ended up in a big fight.”

  “That must have been really upsetting,” Annie said.

  “We both lost our tempers,” LeeAnn said, obviously on the verge of tears. “I know we both said things we didn’t really mean. Before bed we exchanged apologies, but it still feels a little chilly and awkward around here. I hate that feeling of not being sure of each other.”

  “Some things take time to get better,” Annie said.

  “I know. I should have listened to you. This morning I told him that I’d sent the resumés right after he lost the job when I was feeling antsy to do something to help. I told him that once I had time to think about it, I didn’t even want to move to Maine. You know me, Mom—whenever I hit a roadblock, I want to jump over it in the biggest possible leap. I think that’s what this was.”

  “Did he believe you?” Annie asked.

  “Maybe. I’m not sure,” LeeAnn said. “The problem is that he knows I would love for us to be closer to you, so he could totally believe that I’d want the security of being near you when we had a big financial worry. I’m just not sure he believes just how much I love our home and our neighborhood and all my friends and projects here. The twins love their school. I messed up everything, and I don’t even have a good reason for doing it.”

  “It’s human nature to want to get away from a scary place,” Annie said. “Herb’s joblessness was and is scary for both of you. So you probably fixated on Maine as a safe place to run to. I’m glad you’re seeing things a little more clearly now.”

  “A little late,” LeeAnn moaned.

  “But not too late,” Annie said. “Just be honest with Herb and give the situation some time. You guys will come through this. He adores you and the kids. Something like this won’t create anything you guys can’t work through. Just remember that Herb is dealing with a lot right now too.”

  “I hope everything will be all right,” LeeAnn said, her voice falling to a near whisper. “I love him so much. I know a lot of people think Herb is a little stiff and a workaholic, but he’s the best man I’ve ever known. He’s right up there with Daddy.”

  “Maybe you should tell him all that. He’s a good guy,” Annie agreed. �
�You guys balance each other. I really think you’re going to be fine.”

  “Thanks, Mom,” LeeAnn said. “Oh, I just heard some rustling from the kids. I need to go and get them some breakfast. I love you, Mom.”

  “I love you too, sweetheart,” Annie said.

  Annie stared out the kitchen window as she sipped from her coffee and fretted about LeeAnn and Herb. Her daughter could be both headstrong and impulsive, but Herb knew both of those things about LeeAnn and clearly loved her. She’d told LeeAnn that she was confident that things would work out—and mostly she was—but she knew relationships could be put under a fierce strain by situations like this.

  She’d once read that most marital arguments were about money. She’d even had a few heated discussions with Wayne over money during their marriage, though their fights were few and far between. She just wished she could call Gram and talk to her about LeeAnn’s situation now. She’d always had such good advice. Annie didn’t feel qualified to step into the role of wise matriarch; she sure wished the family still had one.

  Annie swallowed the last sip of her coffee and jumped as the phone rang again. Annie assumed her daughter had forgotten something she meant to say and was surprised when a whispering voice responded to her greeting.

  “Stop looking for Candace Caine,” the voice whispered. “Leave her alone.”

  Then the call ended before Annie could say anything. She stared at the phone. The call had happened so quickly, she wasn’t even sure if the person whispering was a man or a woman. If it wasn’t Candace herself, why would anyone else want Annie to stop looking?

  While Annie was staring at the phone in her hand, Boots walked up to the table and began meowing. Annie looked down at the cat, and Boots immediately dashed over to her now empty food bowl. “Forget it,” Annie said. “I’m not that distracted. I just fed you.”

  Boots meowed plaintively, and Annie shook her head. She was always impressed by the cat’s acting skills. She stood and rinsed her coffee cup, while casting another longing look at the pot. She knew drinking two cups of coffee on an empty stomach was not a good idea. She should track down some breakfast.