A Zen For Murder

by Leighann Dobbs

  "Meow!" A bundle of black and brown fur came flying down from the loft, landing on Kenneth's arm with all claws extended. Kenneth waved his hand to dislodge the cat, losing his grip on the gun that landed in the corner with a clatter.

  Claire ran for the gun.

  Dom ran for Kenneth, plowing into him like a linebacker. They rolled around on the floor again. This time, Dom had the advantage over Kenneth, whose cat-scratched arm slowed him down.

  Dom managed to get Kenneth over onto his stomach and, with his knee on his back, he jerked his arms behind him.

  Claire rushed over, the gun safe in her hand.

  "Ben, are you okay?" Claire asked. Dom managed to look over to see Ben smiling down at Porch Cat, who was curled in his lap licking her paws leisurely. Before Dom turned away, the cat turned her bright green eyes on him and he could have sworn she winked.

  Dom shoved his knee harder into Kenneth's back.

  "Not so bad for an old washed up detective, eh?" Dom's chest swelled with pride. He wasn't too old to chase bad guys after all.

  Kenneth didn't have time to answer because just then, the barn door burst open and a voice yelled:

  "Hands up in the air and don't move!"

  ***

  “Robby, what are you doing here?” Claire was surprised to see her nephew standing alone in the doorway. Surprised that he’d known they were there and that he’d had the guts to bust in on his own after hearing the shots. She knew he’d never been in a situation this dangerous before and the look on his face alternated between pride and terror as he took in the situation.

  “What’s going on here?” Robby asked, his eyes darting from Claire to Ben to Kenneth and Dom on the ground.

  “Kenneth kidnapped Ben … he was the killer all along,” Claire blurted out.

  Robby's eyes widened. “He killed Zoila? But why?”

  Claire explained how Zoila had discovered the relation between Kenneth and Ben and was going to tell everyone. “Apparently, Kenneth didn’t want Ben to get any of the Barrett money.”

  Robby scowled down at Kenneth. “I never did like him. Is everyone okay?”

  “I could use a little help with the bad guy,” Dom said from his position on the floor, where he was still holding Kenneth down.

  “Right. Of course.” Robby hurriedly holstered his gun and took a set of handcuffs off his belt, then knelt down and snapped them on Kenneth’s wrists. Dom stood up and Claire noticed his leg was oozing with sticky, red blood.

  “You’ve been shot!” Claire pointed to Dom’s leg and they all turned to look.

  Dom looked down, then back up at them, a sheepish grin spreading on his face.

  “That’s not blood,” He pulled out a bakery bag from of his pocket—the outside was stained with red goo. “It’s my bocconottis. They must have gotten squished in the scuffle.”

  “Can you guys untie me?” Ben asked in a small voice, and Claire ran over and started loosening the ropes while Robby pulled the now docile Kenneth to his feet.

  “Kenny did something bad? Are you arresting him?” Ben stood up shakily and lowered Porch Cat gently to the floor. The cat strolled over to Dom and licked a blob of jelly that was on his pants, then turned her back to him and strolled off.

  “I’m afraid so,” Claire said, then turned to Robby. “How did you know we were in here?”

  “I knew Ben wasn’t a murderer and I figured you two knew more about what was really going on than anyone else, so I took a play out of Zambuco’s book and followed you.”

  “Well, you got here just in time.” Dom glanced over at Claire. “I don’t know if we could have pulled off the capture if it wasn’t for you.”

  Robby's face turned red. “Well, it looked like you had things pretty much tied up when I got here. I didn’t do much.”

  “Oh, that’s not true,” Dom said graciously. “You played a critical role. Isn’t that right, Claire?”

  “Yep, we were struggling … you came in just at the right time,” Claire said earnestly.

  “Well … if you guys say so.” Robby straightened with obvious pride and Claire shot Dom a grateful look. Capturing Kenny would do wonders for Robby's self-esteem and who knew, maybe he’d even share clues in the future without her having to bribe him with baked goods.

  “I gotta secure the prisoner in my police car and call this in.” Robby nodded at them and propelled Kenneth out the door.

  Ben followed quickly behind them, asking Robby if he could ride in the police car, too.

  Claire and Dom trailed at a more leisurely pace. Claire noticed the rain had stopped as they stepped outside. Thunder roiled in the distance but softer now, not the loud claps they’d heard when the storm was overhead. Robby already had Kenneth in the back of the car and could be heard on the police radio.

  “That’s right, you can call off the search for Ben Campbell—I have him with me. But he’s not the murderer. Kenneth Barrett is and I’ve captured him, too.”

  Claire heard something crackle across the radio, then Robby's voice again:

  “By myself. Well, almost … I had two civilians help … Yes, those two civilians …”

  Claire and Dom exchanged raised-brow looks. Robby must have been talking to Zambuco, and Claire figured he’d guess it was her and Dom. They walked past Robby toward her car.

  “We don’t need to take the credit for this one, right?” Claire asked.

  “Of course not. We’ve had plenty of credit in our day. Now, we do it just for fun.” Dom reached into the bakery bag and pulled out a smooshed cookie. “You want a bocconotti?”

  The squished thing oozing red goo in Dom’s hand looked more like some sort of amputated body part than a cookie. Claire didn't find it the least bit appetizing—and anyway, sugar wasn't part of her health regimen.

  “No, thanks.” Claire glanced back at the barn. “I’m glad you busted in like that and saved us, but that was dangerous. Why didn’t you just take off in the car and go to the police station.”

  Dom’s face was thoughtful as he chewed his cookie. He swallowed, then shrugged. “I never even considered driving away in the car. I guess my police training kicked in. This old dog still has some tricks in him.”

  Claire smiled. She was glad to see she still had some tricks in her, too. “We did pretty good working together.”

  Dom nodded and held his knuckles out for a fist tap. “It feels good to be useful even if we are a bit rusty.”

  “Yeah, I’m glad we still have our skills. Too bad we won’t get a chance to use them again any time soon.”

  Dom’s face fell with disappointment. “Why not?”

  “Until this week, there hadn’t been a murder on Mooseamuck Island in over a hundred years. What are the odds another one will happen any time soon?”

  Dom glanced up at the clearing sky, then smoothed his bushy eyebrows. He thought for a few seconds, then looked back at Claire with twinkling eyes.

  “It’s hard to say, but with no murders in the past hundred years, perhaps Mooseamuck Island is due for a few more.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “And Dom burst in and saved everyone?” Mae asked, looking at Dom with a level of admiration that made him extremely uncomfortable.

  “Oh, no, I just tried to subdue Kenneth until Robby got there. Robby's the one who saved us,” Dom replied graciously. He was happy to give Robby the credit and fend off Mae’s unwanted attention, especially since he noticed Tom Landry frowning at the way Mae was looking at him.

  “Well, I didn’t really do anything …” Robby stammered.

  “Oh, yes, you did,” Claire cut in. “You figured out who the real killer was and that something was going on at the point. Why, if you hadn’t come in when you did, there’s no telling what might have happened.”

  "What about Zambuco?" Jane craned her neck, looking around the diner. "Did he just take off into the wild blue yonder?"

  Robby nodded. "He took Kenneth back to the jail on the mainland."

  "Well, you s
howed him us islanders don't need any help from the mainland police," Tom said.

  "I don't know about that." Robby lowered his voice. "He did put me in for a commendation, but I don't think we've seen the last of him."

  Robby blushed as Sarah put a mug of coffee down in front of him. “That’s on the house, Officer Skinner.”

  Sarah shot Claire and Dom a knowing look as she walked away. They’d never figured out what her secret was, but had promised they wouldn’t let on they knew she had one. Claire thought that was just as well. It had nothing to do with Zoila’s murder and Sarah deserved her privacy.

  Besides, she’d probably come to Moosamuck Island to get away from whatever it was that was such a secret, and it was no one’s business but Sarah’s. Claire watched Sarah and Shane exchange special smiles as Sarah made her way back behind the counter and her heart lifted. She hoped whatever had plagued Sarah in her previous life was well behind her now.

  “I still don’t understand why you didn’t say something, Norma.” Jane turned to Norma, who sat at the end of the table, her floppy hat casting a shadow onto her plate of Maine blueberry pancakes

  “Well, you wouldn’t,” Norma said gruffly. “You young people don’t understand things like loyalty. I gave Anna my word all those years ago, and I ain’t be going breaking it now.”

  “Even though you ended up in jail?” Lucy asked.

  Norma snorted. “Jail doesn’t scare me. The food's actually pretty good, you know. But if I'd known Kenneth would kidnap Ben, I might have said something. When I got out of jail, I knew Ben was missing and I looked everywhere for him. I just thought he was hiding. It never occurred to me Kenneth might try to kill him.”

  “So Anna never wanted Ben to get any money from Silas?” Mae asked. “Seems like she would have wanted that for him. I mean, the Barrett’s have a bundle.”

  Norma’s eyes took on a faraway look. “Anna’s judgment was clouded when it came to Silas Barrett. He was a good guy when we were young. He and Anna were head over heels. But when his father died and he took over the Barrett family fortune, he changed into a hard, angry man. He would hardly give us the time of day, anymore. I guess he thought we were beneath him.

  “Anna had one indiscretion with him after that and the result was Ben. But she never told Silas Ben was his son. I’m not sure how Silas found out, but Anna didn’t want anything to do with him and she didn’t want Ben soiled by his money. She was afraid Ben would end up a spoiled brat, like Kenneth.”

  “Will Ben get all of it now?” Mae asked.

  “With Kenneth in jail, he’ll be in charge of the estate. I hired some smarty pants financial folks from the mainland to help him,” Norma said. “At least he won’t hurt for money, which should actually give Anna some comfort. And being the same sweet old Ben, he’s putting a lot of money into Kenneth's defense. He said that Kenneth is his family now and family does what it can to help out family.”

  “So it looks like Anna’s worries over money changing Ben were for nothing.” Claire sipped her red rooibos tea. “I just hope Kenneth appreciates what Ben is doing and treats him like a real brother.”

  “Just how did you figure out they were brothers?” Tom asked.

  “It took a while for my old noggin to process the clues,” Dom said. “But then they all came together. In the end, it was really one thing that stood out. Zoila had called Kenneth out to the cabin to give him some old family photos and paintings she’d discovered in the cabin. But Kenneth didn’t take them. When Claire and I went out to investigate the cabin, we found them in the shed. The paper backing of one of them was split and it didn’t dawn on me until later that people used to hide important documents behind pictures like that. I guess Silas must have had something documenting Ben’s parentage and Zoila stumbled across it when she was handling the picture.”

  “That’s right,” Norma mumbled around a mouthful of pancake. “I guess old Silas had some sort of proof and a codicil to his will. I’m not sure why he had it hidden in the picture, but my guess is he was waiting for the right time to drop the bomb on Kenneth. Or maybe he wasn’t even sure if he wanted to make it public at all. If you remember, he died suddenly and I guess he never got a chance to show it to anyone.”

  “And Zoila thought it should be made public … or was she blackmailing Kenneth?” Mae asked slyly.

  “Oh, no. She thought Ben should get his share. In fact, she tried to get me to help her persuade Kenneth to tell Ben himself.” Norma looked at Claire. “That’s what you saw us arguing about that morning.”

  “In the jail when you were sketching Zoilas cabin, were you trying to give us a clue?” Dom asked.

  “Maybe.” Norma looked at Dom with a twinkle in her eye. “I figured you’d be too dense to catch on, though.”

  “But we did catch on. Sort of. We did go to the cabin, which led to Dom figuring it out,” Claire said. “Well that and a few other clues.”

  “Oh, what were they?” Jane asked.

  “One thing that really stuck with me was that we thought Shane had lied about the time he visited Zoila the day before the murder. We couldn’t figure out why,” Claire replied. “And then we realized that wasn’t the case at all. It was Kenneth who had lied.”

  Jane’s brow creased. “Why would he do that?”

  “He wanted to place Ben at Zoila’s that day so we’d think they had some kind of argument. He knew Ben only delivered food between noon and two, so he had to lie and say he was there during that time.”

  “He sure did a lot of planning to frame Ben,” Tom said.

  “He did,” Dom agreed. “He planted the murder weapon in Ben’s shed, too. Except he made another mistake there. He’d taken the zen garden rake home and hidden it among the tools in his barn right after he killed Zoila. He figured no one would notice it there and he could keep it until an opportune moment presented itself to plant it at Ben’s place. Except when the time came, he didn’t know which one was the rake from the zen garden. So he took all the rakes to Ben’s. Claire and I were there when Zambuco pulled the murder weapon from Ben’s shed. I saw the rake with the Barrett family colors in the pile and I knew something was off, but not exactly what that something was.”

  “But he wasn’t going to just frame Ben for the murder,” Claire added. “He was going to have Ben write up a fake confession saying he killed Zoila because she ‘saw’ something he didn’t like in her vision, and then he planned to kill him and make it look like Ben had killed himself because he couldn’t live with the guilt.”

  “That would solve both his problems. Once Anna died one would be around to tell that Ben was Silas’s son and even if someone did find out years later, Ben wouldn’t be around to stake a claim on any of the Barrett money,” Jane said.

  “Yep. Kenneth had already burned the paper that Zoila found.”

  “But didn’t Kenneth realize that Norma would have told the truth if anything happened to Ben?” Tom asked.

  “He actually didn’t know that Norma knew about it,” Dom replied. “He was too busy implementing his plan and abducting Ben to pay attention to what was going on in town, so he had no idea Norma and Zoila had argued or even that Norma had been arrested.”

  “That’s right,’ Claire chimed in. “Zoila had asked Ben to meet her at the zen garden that morning. She’d already given Kenneth the ultimatum to tell Ben himself. She made the mistake of telling Kenneth where and when she was meeting Ben, and Kenneth got there first and killed her. Ben came along after and found her dead. He left his footprint in the sand and dropped the take-out bag from Chowders that Banes found in the woods as he ran away. He said he’d been taking a donut to Zoila.”

  “Meanwhile, Kenneth came into the diner to gather information,” Dom continued. “Then he waited until he knew Ben was at home alone, brought the rake over and kidnapped Ben.”

  “Well, you guys certainly are brave, risking a run-in with a killer,’ Mae twittered.

  Dom waved his hand dismissively. “We have special trai
ning.”

  Claire pushed up from the table as the others kept talking. She needed some quiet time and there was a bench outside the restaurant that overlooked the cove, which was the perfect place for quiet reflection.

  She curled her hand around her tea mug and sat on the bench, watching the boats sway on their moorings and listening to the seagulls’ call. The smell of salt air and fried food made her lips curl in a smile. Investigating the murder had been fun, but she was glad things had quieted down.

  “Meow.”

  Claire looked down to see Porch Cat meandering through the colorful impatiens that were planted alongside the front of the restaurant.

  “Hey, kitty.” Claire held out her hand and the cat came over. Claire noticed she was carrying something in her mouth.

  “What do you have there?”

  Porch Cat sat in front of Claire and gazed up at her. Claire noticed that in the sunlight, the cat’s green eyes were loaded with gold flecks which sparkled in the sunlight.

  Porch Cat flicked her tail, then bent over and spit something out on the ground.

  Claire looked down to see that it was a plump, juicy blackberry, which was odd since blackberries didn’t come into season for another month. She remembered how Porch Cat had spit out the smooth winterberry holly leaf from Anna’s rare plant on her patio and wondered if the cat had been trying to tell her something.

  Maybe she’d been trying to lead her to Anna’s. And if so, was this blackberry a clue? But a clue to what? Zoila’s murder had already been solved.

  Claire felt a mixture of trepidation and excitement as she remembered Dom’s words about Mooseamuck Island being ‘due’ for a few more murders. Maybe the cat was trying to tell her another murder lay just around the corner.

  That’s silly, Claire thought as she watched the cat disappear under the leaves of a lush rhododendron. Porch Cat was just your average Maine Coon … she didn’t have any powers of premonition and stray cats didn’t go around dropping clues at your feet.