Curiosity Killed Dolly Kendall (A Butterworth Mystery Book 2)

by Gillian Larkin

  Sable got to her feet. “Thank you so much for your time. It was lovely to finally meet you.”

  Arthur stood up. “The pleasure is all mine. I finally got to meet Sable Butterworth! If there’s anything else I can help you with, don’t hesitate to ask.”

  Sable waved her hand around the office. “This is a great place. If you ever think of leaving, let us know. This would be perfect for our business.”

  “Oh!” Hurt flashed in Arthur’s eyes. “I hope I won’t be leaving anytime soon.”

  Connie said, “I’m sure you won’t.” She took another drink of her coffee before standing up. “Thank you for your time, and the coffee.”

  Sable was already at the door. Connie said goodbye to Arthur and ran after her.

  Bridget Hadley was on the phone as they passed, so Connie waved a hand in farewell.

  When they got into the car, Connie said, “That was insensitive of you.”

  “What was?”

  “Asking about Arthur’s office. He was offended.”

  “It’s just business. He must be nearing retirement anyway.”

  “I know. But still.”

  Sable looked at Connie. “You know I’m not good with people. Anyway, back to our case. I’d like to speak to the people at that cat charity place. They might have some useful information for us.”

  “But we don’t know where it is.”

  Sable winked at Connie. “I do. The address was on Dolly’s will. Buckle up.”

  Connie laughed. “Your devious ways continue to astound me.”

  Chapter 9

  As they walked towards the cat shelter a while later, Connie tilted her head to one side and said, “Listen. You can hear the cats meowing and singing. Some of them are making a terrible noise.”

  A twinkle of mischief came into Sable’s eyes. “That’s the second time I’ve heard such an atrocious noise today. The other time was when you were singing.”

  “Cheeky.”

  They walked down the path towards a single storey building, and the noise from the cats increased.

  Inside the building, they found a large man leaning against a shop counter with a black cat in his arms. His hair was standing up in tufts, and his jumper was covered in multi-coloured bits of fur.

  “Hello there!” he boomed at them. “Welcome! Welcome! Are you here to adopt or to browse? I’m Bobby. They call me Bobby The Cat Man!”

  Sable rubbed her left ear and pressed her lips together in annoyance.

  Connie said, “We’re not here to do either of those things. Sorry. We wanted to question you about someone. If that’s okay?”

  “Fire away!” Bobby tickled the black cat behind the ears. “Me and Satan are having a quick cuddle before he gets back to catching mice. You wouldn’t think any of the little blighters would show a whisker around here, would you? But, no, the mice round here are like daredevils. But they’re no match for Satan. Are they, my boy?”

  Satan purred in agreement and fixed Connie with an evil look.

  Connie tore her attention away from the green eyes and looked back at Bobby. “We wanted to talk to you about Dolly Kendall.”

  “Dolly? Yes! Ah! Poor Dolly. She’s gone to that great cat basket in the sky. We shall miss her. She adopted many of our feline friends.” He stroked Satan’s head. “She never took a shine to Satan, though.”

  Satan’s mouth lifted at one corner showing a sharp fang. Sable took a step back and mumbled something about evil entities in animal form.

  Connie continued, “We know that Dolly left most of her money to this shelter. And we –”

  “Did she?” Bobby interrupted. “I didn’t know that. Are you sure?”

  “Yes. We’ve seen a copy of her will.”

  “Well I never!” Bobby lifted Satan up so that his furry face was inches from his own. “What do you think about that, Satan? Isn’t that a turn up for the books?”

  Satan snarled in response and leapt from Bobby’s arms. Sable jumped to one side as the cat swaggered past.

  Bobby said, “When do you think we’ll get Dolly’s money?” His face dropped. “Oh, that doesn’t sound right. I didn’t mean it that way. We rely on donations here, and we never have enough money. Especially now with all the extra cats that have turned up.”

  Sable said, “I’m sure the solicitors will be in touch with you soon. What was that comment about extra cats?”

  “People often leave cats on the doorstep when they’ve had enough of them. Some of the more considerate owners bring cats in during the day. These last few weeks have seen an increase in unwanted cats being left outside.” He frowned. “The most peculiar thing is that I feel I’ve seen some of them here before.”

  Connie said, “Do you have any of the cats here now?”

  “I do.” Bobby gave them a hopeful smile. “Are you thinking of adopting one?”

  “No,” Sable said.

  “Oh. Well, I don’t suppose it will hurt to show you round. You might even fall in love with one of them.”

  “I doubt that,” Sable retorted.

  Bobby picked a clump of fur off his jumper, studied it and then put it back on. “This way. We keep them in cages in the yard under a covered area.”

  They followed Bobby out of a back door and into a large yard which was lined with wire cages on tables. The din from the cats was deafening.

  Bobby waved his hands at the cages and yelled, “Hello, my beauties! Don’t get your hopes up. These ladies are only looking!”

  Bobby smiled at each cat as they walked along the line of cages. He stopped at the last few cages and waved his hand towards them. “These cats were dropped off last week, and this gorgeous fella turned up on our doorstep about five days ago.”

  Connie’s heart missed a beat as she looked at the cat in the last cage. He was white with a black patch over his eye.

  Sable said quietly, “It’s Blackbeard. That’s the cat Connie was holding in her photo.”

  Bobby noticed where their attention was. “This one came with a letter.”

  “Can we see the letter?” Connie asked.

  “Sure. I’ve put it in a plastic wallet on the back of the cage. I was hoping the owner would change their mind and come back.” He reached around the rear of the cage and pulled out an envelope. He handed it to Connie.

  Sable said, “It’s the same envelope as those at Dolly’s house. Open it.”

  Connie did so and took out a sheet of paper which had a typed message on it. It was a short message and advised the shelter that the owner was no longer able to look after this cat, and hoped he would go to a good home. It wasn’t signed.

  “It looks like the same font as on those nasty letters,” Connie said.

  Sable turned to Bobby. “Would you mind if we took a photo of this letter?”

  Bobby scratched his head. “Why would you need to do that?”

  Connie decided it was time for the truth. “We don’t believe Dolly’s death was suicide, and we’re making investigations into her recent past. This letter could be linked to her death.”

  Bobby’s hands flew to his fur covered chest. “No! Really? No! Then you must take that letter! You must show it to the police!”

  Sable winced. “There’s no need to shout. We’re not deaf. Not yet.”

  Bobby jabbed his finger in the air. “That’s where I’ve seen some of these cats before! Dolly adopted them! Of course! But why did she give them back? If she didn’t want them, she should have told us. We would have understood.”

  Connie said, “I don’t think it was Dolly who brought them back.”

  “Are you telling me that someone stole them? Right from under Dolly’s nose? What a heinous crime!” Bobby let out an anguished wail. The cats around him joined in.

  Sable pulled on Connie’s arm. “Let’s get out of here right now. I think my head’s going to explode.”

  Connie said thank to Bobby before scuttling after Sable.

  Chapter 10

  Connie and Sable headed to a loc
al café to discuss the case. After some discussion on the drive there, they decided they should let Saffy know about the letter. Connie phoned her and told her where they were heading.

  By the time they arrived at the café, Saffy was waiting for them. Drinks and cakes were ready on the table in front of her.

  Saffy said, “I thought you might be hungry. It sounds like you’ve been busy.”

  Connie and Sable sat down. Sable picked up a chocolate éclair and put a good amount in her mouth.

  Connie shook her head. “She eats like a horse and never puts on an ounce of weight. Now then, Saffy, how are you today?”

  “A lot better, thank you. I’m working my way through a pile of paperwork. I was thinking about you two in my office last night. I might be able to use your services at some point. We use private investigators for the more mundane work like gathering information and light surveillance work. It’s boring work, but we’ll pay you. And it will all be good practise for you.”

  Connie nodded. “That sounds wonderful. We don’t mind boring work, do we, Sable?”

  Sable’s cheeks bulged with food, and she could only nod in reply.

  Saffy carried on, “I’ll be honest with you, when I put your names forward as investigators, there were some derisive remarks made about your abilities. Some people are of the opinion that women of a certain age should be out to pasture.”

  Sable managed a tut which sent flecks of cream flying through the air.

  “I told them you were intelligent women, and that you’ll pick up on small things that they’ll miss.” Saffy smiled. “That didn’t go down too well. But I’m in charge, and I make the decisions.”

  Sable swallowed the éclair and reached for a strawberry tart. “That’s very considerate of you. We won’t let you down. Connie, why don’t you get Saffy up to speed with our current case?”

  Connie watched in amazement as Sable put half of the strawberry tart in her mouth.

  Saffy watched too and said, “She reminds me of one of those snakes you see on the TV. They unhinge their jaws so they can put a large meal in their mouths.”

  Connie tore her attention away from Sable and proceeded to tell Saffy about their visits to Bianca, Arthur and Bobby The Cat Man. She gave Saffy the letter that had arrived with Blackbeard.

  Saffy read the contents and then placed the letter in an evidence bag.

  Connie said, “Sorry, we’ve got our fingerprints all over that letter.”

  “Don’t worry; there will be other fingerprints on it too. Anyway, we’ll need a set of your fingerprints for our records if you’re going to do work for us. There could be times when you inadvertently touch evidence.” Saffy looked down at the plastic bag. “This is all very peculiar. The person who wrote these letters had a vendetta against Dolly. And it looks like they systematically stole her pets. Poor woman.”

  Connie said, “With the loss of her beloved pets, and those obnoxious letters, poor Dolly must have been at her wits’ end. And I don’t think she had anyone to talk to about it. She certainly couldn’t talk to her daughter.”

  “But would it be enough to drive her to suicide?” Saffy asked.

  Connie shook her head. “I don’t think so. She had Tallulah to think about. Didn’t you say Dolly had taken a mixture of pills?”

  “She did. We’re in the process of identifying the other one. We only found the bottle of sleeping tablets in her bedroom. We checked the house and didn’t come across anything stronger than aspirin.”

  Sable suddenly blurted out, “Life insurance! I never asked Arthur Transome about life insurance! What a noodle-head I am. If Dolly had life insurance, we need to know who benefits from it. It could be Bianca. That would give her a motive. We’ve got Arthur’s card; we can ring him. Is anyone having that slice of Victoria sponge?”

  “You have it,” Connie said. “Saffy, do you want us to continue investigating this case? We don’t want to get in your way.”

  “As far as we’re concerned, Dolly Kendall took her own life. I would be interested to know who took her cats, and who wrote those letters. But it’s not something I can look into at the present time. You wouldn’t believe the amount of meetings I have to go to.” She looked at her watch. “I’m late for one now.”

  “You go. We’ll keep in touch,” Connie said.

  Saffy looked from one woman to the other. “Have you booked any self-defence classes yet?”

  Connie looked away. “Not yet.”

  Sable said, “We can handle ourselves. I have sharp implements in my bag which I can use as weapons.”

  Saffy winced. “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. You need to know how to defend yourselves. And you’ll need some technical equipment to help you in the future.”

  “What sort of technical equipment?” Connie asked.

  Sable answered, “Listening devices. Bugging devices. Recording devices. I’ve already looked on Amazon and put some items in my basket.”

  Saffy said, “I know someone who can supply everything you need at a good price. Mention my name, and you’ll get a discount. Do you know Al’s Pizza in the precinct?”

  Connie and Sable nodded.

  Saffy went on, “There’s a plain door at the side of the pizza place. Go through that and up the stairs. You’ll need to talk to Garth. Make an appointment first. I’ll give you his number.” She wrote a series of numbers on the back of her business card. She stood up. “I really have to go. Take good care of yourselves and do not put yourselves in danger. Okay?”

  “We won’t,” Connie assured her. She stood up and gave Saffy a quick squeeze. “You looked as if you needed a hug.”

  Saffy’s eyes twinkled. “I may be a tough detective inspector, but I’ll always need a hug from you. I’ll speak to you later.”

  Connie and Sable watched her walk away.

  Sable placed a hand on her flat stomach and said, “I’m stuffed. Why did you let me eat so much?”

  Connie tutted. “As if I could stop you. I know we need to speak to Arthur again, but I think we should go back to Dolly’s and see if any cats have turned up. I can’t stop thinking about them. Whoever took them might not have taken them all. One of them could be hiding somewhere.”

  “That’s a good idea. I wouldn’t mind having another word with that neighbour again. There was something about her that I didn’t trust.”

  “Oh! I forgot to ask Debra and Saffy about her. They both knew her at school. Remind me to do that later.”

  They drove straight over to Dolly’s house and parked on the opposite side of the road. They both stared in surprise at the two women who were having an animated chat in Dolly’s front yard.

  Sable said, “What on earth are they talking about? How does Bianca know Lana? They look very friendly together.”

  “I wonder what they’re discussing?” Connie mused.

  “Of course!” Sable slammed her hand on the steering wheel. “They were in it together. They’re probably gloating about their devious plan, and how it worked out so well.” Sable’s eyes narrowed. “Let’s go and have it out with them.”

  The sound of Sable’s car door opening alerted the two chatting women. Bianca and Lana looked at Sable’s car, turned and walked out of Dolly’s yard. They headed into Lana’s house, closing the door behind them.

  Sable closed the car door. “You can run, but you can’t hide. We’re on to you two.”

  Chapter 11

  They set off towards Arthur’s office, and Connie tried Arthur’s number. She got through to Bridget Hadley.

  “Hello again. It’s Connie Butterworth. My partner and I spoke to you earlier. Is Arthur Transome in?”

  Bridget said, “I’m sorry, but you’ve just missed him. Can I take a message?”

  “No, thank you. We need to ask him some more questions. Do you know when he’ll be back?”

  “Not for the rest of this afternoon. But if you need to speak to him urgently, I know where he’s going to be. He always lets me know. Just a moment while I check
his appointment book.” There was a pause, and then Bridget said, “He’s meeting a client at that shopping centre not far from here. I’m sure he won’t mind if you have a quick word with him.”

  “Thank you. We’ll see if we can catch him there.”

  Connie ended the call and told Sable what Bridget had said. Sable turned right at the next set of lights and headed in the direction of the shopping centre.

  When they arrived, Connie grimaced as she got out of the car. She said, “Can we nip to the ladies first? I haven’t been all morning. There are some toilets on the first floor.”

  “I could do with going myself. Connie, I saw some portable urinals for women on Amazon. They’re like plastic bottles with a funnel. If we’re going to do surveillance work, we might need to consider getting some of those. What do you think?”

  Connie’s eyebrows rose. “I think you’ve gone mad. I’m not using a plastic bottle! We can always find a public convenience. I always have done in the past, and I always will.”

  Sable smiled. “You should see your face. I was only joking.”

  Connie shifted from foot to foot. “Can you make jokes at a more convenient time? Come on, before I have an accident.”

  They made their way to the public toilets, and Connie came out a few minutes later feeling mightily relieved.

  Sable looked around the small shopping centre. “Where would you go if you were having a meeting?”

  “There are a few cafes along this side. And a coffee shop over there.” Connie stopped talking. “Oh, there he is. He’s heading this way.” She raised her hand in greeting towards Arthur Transome as he scuttled towards the public toilets.

  Sable said, “He hasn’t seen you. He’s gone straight into the toilets. Perhaps his bladder is as weak as yours.”

  “We can’t stand here outside the toilets. Let’s move down a bit. There’s a toy shop over there. Let’s have a look in the window and see if there’s anything for our Megan.”

  “Like a set of handcuffs? Or a bag marked ‘Swag’?”

  Connie shook her head and walked towards the shop window. Sable followed her still making ridiculous suggestions.