Just before dark, they drove back to Erie. It took a while to unload the car, which was stuffed with their new purchases. Afterward, they decided to go see a movie. The town of Erie boasted one of the finest theaters in the state. It was built in the Art Deco period and had been painstakingly restored by its current owners. The movie was a romantic suspense thriller with Colleen’s favorite Irish actor. Katherine munched on Twizzlers, and Colleen ate an entire bucket of buttered popcorn. Later she complained that she had totally blown her diet. They were in a happy mood when they pulled into the driveway of the pink mansion.
“Didn’t we leave the lights on?” asked Katherine, suddenly startled.
“Yes,” Colleen said uneasily.
“It’s pitch-dark inside. Do you think there’s been a power failure?”
“No, not really,” Colleen said, looking around. “The neighbors’ lights are on.”
“This gives me the creeps. Something is not right here.”
They quickly got out of the Toyota and paused on the bottom landing of the covered carport steps. Katherine rummaged in her bag and found her keys. “Dammit, it’s so dark. I can’t find the right one.”
“Don’t even bother,” Colleen said. “The door’s open.”
“Oh, my God! Somebody broke into the house.”
“Call the cops,” Colleen said, starting to jog down the driveway. “I can’t because my cell is upstairs on the charger.”
Katherine punched in 911.
The 911 operator answered, “What’s your emergency?”
“I’m calling from 512 Lincoln Street. Someone has broken into my house.”
“Stay where you are and I’ll send someone.”
“Okay, thanks,” Katherine said, and then called to her friend, who was hovering at the end of the drive. “Come back, Colleen. The cops will be here in a minute.”
As the two waited, an Erie police cruiser pulled into the driveway. When the patrolman got out, they rushed over to him. A second officer got out of the car and put his baton through a loop on his parka.
“I’m Chief Charles London and this is Officer Dan Glover. I normally don’t answer these kinds of calls but tonight it’s my turn to ride shotgun. We’re kind of short-handed here in Erie. Which one of you made the call?”
“I did,” Katherine said. “My name is Katherine Kendall. This is my friend Colleen Murphy. My late great aunt left me this house.”
“Yes, I heard about that. What seems to be the problem here?”
“We came home and found all the lights were out. And the side door was open.”
“Big old house like this, I’d say you probably tripped a breaker. Did you possibly forget to shut the door?” he asked.
“I distinctly remember locking it,” she answered.
“Well, now, ladies, we’ll go in and have a look. You stay out here.”
Chief London and Officer Glover entered the house. Katherine and Colleen remained in the driveway, watching lights being turned on throughout the house.
“So much for the ‘breaker’ theory,” Colleen observed.
“What if something happened to my cats?” Katherine worried.
“When we left, you put them in the bedroom. I shut the door,” Colleen reminded.
“If a criminal got in, Scout and Lilac would hide under the bed. Iris would challenge him and possibly do battle. But, Abby, she’s so incredibly friendly, she’d probably lick his hand,” Katherine said apprehensively.
Officer Glover returned. “You two want to come in?”
“Yes, it’s freezing out here,” Colleen complained.
The chief stood in the dining room, tugging at his beard. “Well, it wasn’t a power outage. We checked out two floors; didn’t find anything suspicious. Does anyone else have keys to this house?”
“Not anymore,” Katherine said. “The locks have been changed.”
“Well, everything seems okay now. If you find anything missing, feel free to give us a call.”
“Thank you,” Katherine said.
“Lock up behind us,” he said. He tipped his hat and left.
Officer Glover said good-bye and Katherine bolted the door.
“That’s a standard phrase in this town,” she noted. “Mark said it, too.”
“What, ‘good-bye?’” Colleen asked.
“No, lock the door behind me.”
“Waugh,” Scout called meekly from atop the atrium curio cabinet. She was sitting like an Egyptian statue next to the telephone. Iris jumped up beside her. Katherine noticed that Iris’s tail was three times its normal size. Abby and Lilac entered, trotting side-by-side. They looked like two horses of a different kind. “Me-yowl,” Lilac said to Abby’s “Chirp.”
Walking over to Scout, Katherine asked, “How did you guys get out of your room?” As Katherine reached over to pick up Scout, the lights went off. “I don’t freaking believe this,” she said.
Colleen panicked and stumbled over a chair. Lilac and Abigail catapulted off the dining room wall and rocketed up the stairs. Iris or Scout misjudged the bottom step and caromed off the Turkish nook table, knocking it over in her wake. Katherine heard more feline feet thundering up the stairs.
“Colleen, are you okay?”
“I’m good, but what the hell happened?”
“It’s probably electrical,” Katherine reassured. “We’ve got to go down in the basement and find the circuit breaker box.”
“No way,” Colleen said. “How are we going to see? It’s totally dark.”
“Okay. Okay. I remember seeing a small flashlight hanging on the atrium door. Just stay here a minute and I’ll try to find it,” Katherine said bravely, feeling her way into the atrium. When she found the flashlight, she turned it on and began flashing the beam back and forth in the room. When she joined Colleen, something loud crashed in the basement.
“Oh, the saints preserve us. We’ll all be killed!” Colleen screamed, running from the house.
Katherine ran after her, slamming the door. “Colleen! Stop!”
“Are you crazy? We need to get those officers back here.”
“We can’t keep calling the cops every time we hear a little bit of noise or have a power failure. The officers turned on all the lights. It was probably too much for the system.”
“So?” Colleen said, terrified.
“So, like the chief said, it’s an old house. A power surge most likely tripped the circuit breaker. We’ve got to go down in the basement and check it out.”
“I can’t believe we’re going to go root around in that dark basement with just a flashlight,” Colleen complained. “It’s creepy enough in the daylight.”
“Which would you rather do, go with me, or stand out here and freeze to death?” Katherine countered.
Colleen mounted the covered carport steps, but Katherine kept walking down the driveway. “Where are you going?” she asked.
“Remember? There’s a door in the back of the house. You can get to the basement from there.”
Walking to the rear of the house, they found the door and unlocked it. Stepping in, Colleen held the flashlight while Katherine headed to the mechanical room. Colleen swept the flashlight beam around erratically.
“Gimme that,” Katherine said, taking it away from her. “This isn’t a laser light show.” She concentrated the beam along the walls in search of the circuit breaker box.
“What does it look like?” Colleen asked.
“It’s just a gray metal box against a wall with a bunch of switches on it.”
“Like that?” Colleen said, pointing to a wall near the water heater.
“Where?”
“Over there by that tank thing, and that big green plastic bag on the floor.”
Katherine walked over and found the gray rectangular panel. She played the flashlight beam over each breaker switch; all of them indicated the power was on. She looked at the main switch at the top of the panel. The breaker was not tripped, but the switch was off. She pushed the swi
tch up with a clank and the basement lights came on.
“For the love of Mary!” Colleen screamed.
“What now?” Katherine said, getting annoyed.
“There’s a foot sticking out under that bag!” Colleen pointed toward the water heater.
Katherine got down on her knees and partially moved the plastic garbage bag aside. She stared mutely at a lifeless body on the concrete floor.
“Is she dead?” Colleen asked, as she took a cautious step forward.
Katherine nodded. “This is so tragic. Poor Mrs. Marston.”
“Who?”
“Vivian Marston. My great aunt’s housekeeper.”
“I thought you said she was in the hospital.”
“Last time I asked about her condition, Mark said she’d been moved to the Erie Nursing Home. He said she was in a coma.”
“Coma?” Colleen asked, stunned. “Then what’s she doing here?”
“I don’t know,” Katherine said, baffled. She fished out her cell and called 911 again. “Please send the officers back to 512 Lincoln Street. We’ve found a body in the basement.”
They heard a police siren in the distance. Within a few minutes, the chief’s cruiser pulled up and parked behind Katherine’s car. She ran out and waved them to the rear door. Chief London and Officer Glover got out and hurriedly ran into the basement.
“Don’t touch anything,” the chief barked at Katherine and Colleen. “I used to be a detective in the city before the Mayor appointed me the new chief.” He brusquely strode over to the body, pulled on a pair of blue latex gloves, and stooped down, looking closely at the face. “I know who this is,” he said. “It’s Vivian Marston.” He looked up at Katherine and asked, “Why is she wedged next to the water heater?”
“I don’t know,” Katherine answered sadly.
The stillness of the room was shattered by the bloodcurdling yowl of a terrified feline upstairs. One of the cats was throwing her body against the door at the top of the basement stairs. The door led to Katherine’s office.
Officer Glover unsnapped the flap on his holster and started up the stairs.
“Stop!” Katherine pleaded. “It’s my cat behind the door. Please don’t shoot.”
“Sounded like a woman screaming,” he said suspiciously.
The hysterical cry was heard again. “Waugh,” Scout shrieked.
“It’s Scout—my Siamese. She’s very upset. I’ve got to go and comfort her,” she said, heading for the windowed sunroom.
“Where are you going?” he yelled.
“Please, Officer, the door is bolt-locked from the other side. I have to go back out to the side door.”
“No, it’s not,” Officer Glover said as he pushed open the door. Suddenly a streak of brown shot down the basement steps like a bullet. The officer grabbed the handrail and nearly lost his balance as he sidestepped the hysterical ten-pound Siamese.
“Scout,” Katherine cried anxiously.
Scout ran past her and went directly to the body. She arched her back, and with all four legs stiffened, began bouncing up and down in some kind of bizarre dance, with her eyes fixed on the corpse.
“Why is she doing that?” Colleen asked, frightened.
“Get that cat away from the crime scene,” the chief shouted in exasperation.
Katherine rushed over and reached down to pick up the terror-stricken cat. Scout’s V-shaped jaw was tightly clamped on a small silver key ring with a charm attached. With one hand, Katherine began massaging Scout’s mouth. Scout spit out the key ring and then bit Katherine hard on the hand. “Ouch,” cried Katherine. Scout sprang off Katherine and resumed her macabre dance. She began uttering a throaty, morbid-sounding wail.
The chief seemed angry, but reluctant to move closer to Scout. He said to Katherine, “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t call Animal Control.”
“Oh, no! Please don’t. She’s just frightened,” Katherine pleaded. “Scout, darling,” she said gently. Scout gave one last Halloween lurch, then trotted back to Katherine. “Waugh,” the Siamese said in her normal voice. Katherine picked her up and began stroking her. Scout was trembling. “It’s okay, baby,” Katherine cooed. Scout thrust her head against Katherine’s forehead, then nuzzled her head into the crook of Katherine’s arm.
“Well, lookie here,” the chief said, picking up the key ring. “It seems like the charm part is broken.”
Officer Glover explained, “No, not really. The charm is the right side of a heart. When my wife and I were dating, we gave each other one of these. You join them together and it makes a heart shape. We had each other’s initials engraved on them and wore them around our necks.”
“I can’t read the engraving on this one,” the chief said, squinting.
“It’s the letter M,” Officer Glover read.
“M for Marston. Must belong to Vivian,” the chief said.
“Or Vivian’s daughter, Patricia,” Katherine added. “She’s also an employee here. Maybe she dropped it the last time she was here.”
The chief ignored Katherine’s remark and said, “I can’t decide if this key ring was on the victim’s body or if the cat picked it up elsewhere. Dan, what do you think?”
Officer Glover shrugged. “Maybe when Vivian fell, she dropped the key ring.”
“Who carries around a key ring without a key; there has to be one around here somewhere,” the chief said, scanning the floor. “Eureka,” he said, stooping down again. He picked up a key that was previously unnoticed.
Katherine reached in her pocket and pulled out her house key. “Chief, the key you just found looks like a copy of my house key,” Katherine said. “Can I compare the two?”
“Nope,” he answered, dropping the key and the key ring in an evidence bag.
Colleen said tensely, “If I have to stay here a moment longer, I’m sure to faint.”
“Go upstairs,” the chief said. “You too,” he said to Katherine. “And take that damned cat. Wait for us there.”
Colleen was already at the top of the stairs. Katherine followed her, still holding the quivering Siamese.
“Wait a minute,” he called after Katherine. “What did you say your name is? You told me earlier but I’d forgotten.”
“Katherine Kendall,” she said firmly.
“Yes, good to know,” he said gruffly. “Now go on upstairs.”
The chief said to Officer Glover, “We need to get a hold of the State Police. We’ll need a detective to help us out with this case. Also, call the coroner,” he instructed.
Katherine closed the door and whispered to Colleen, “Did you hear that? They’re calling the State Police for a detective. I can’t believe this,” she said, stunned. “Do you think they suspect us of murder?”
Colleen was nervously pacing back and forth. “Surely not, Katz. Maybe it’s standard procedure to call in somebody else. Are you sure we want to stay here tonight? Couldn’t we check in to that bed and breakfast place?”
Katherine did not answer. She kissed Scout on the head and set her down. Scout bounded off into the living room. Katherine and Colleen followed her.
“Wasn’t it called the Little Tomato? Couldn’t we stay there tonight?” Colleen pleaded.
“You may if you like, but I’m not going to allow this to drive me out of this house,” Katherine said determinedly. “I vote we stay and search the rest of the house ourselves. It’s obvious the chief didn’t, or else he would have found Mrs. Marston in the basement.”
“You got that straight.”
“First, we need to make sure the other cats are okay. Help me find them, and then we’ll close them up in my bedroom.”
Colleen relaxed a little and said, “Maybe we should turn off some of these lights so they don’t blow up the circuit box again.”
“I hate to tell you this, but someone deliberately turned off the main power switch.”
Colleen’s eyes widened. “No! Tell me true.”
“We were not the only ones in the house w
hen the power went off.”
“Katz, you’re scaring me.”
Scout trailed Katherine as she moved from room to room, calling for the other cats. “Waugh,” Scout eventually cried, growing tired of the search. She darted up the stairs.
“The cats must be upstairs already,” Colleen suggested.
Katherine climbed the stairs and discovered her bedroom door closed. She momentarily stood outside. “Lilac . . . Iris . . . Abby,” she called.
“Me-yowl,” a muffled voice said. “Yowl,” Iris demanded from inside the room.
“This is odd,” she said to Colleen, who was several feet behind her. “Why is this door closed? When we came back from the movie, the cats had gotten out of the room and were downstairs. Now, they’re closed up again. What the hell?” Katherine said, as she hesitantly turned the doorknob.
Katherine opened the door and Iris flung out. The fur on her back was bristled and she was quivering. Katherine picked her up and held her for a moment. “Colleen, can you catch the light?”
Colleen turned on the overhead chandelier. They both gasped. The room was in shambles. The nightstand was overturned and its contents strewn across the floor. The mattress was pulled half off its foundation. The closet door was open, and Katherine’s clothing was ripped off their hangers, piled into a heap in the middle of the floor.
One of the Eastlake armoire’s doors was open, with contents spilling out. The vandal had also tipped over the litter box and had dumped the cats’ water bowl over the marble dresser; the water now dripped slowly onto the wool oriental carpet.
Iris struggled to be put down. Scout rushed over and began to furiously groom the top of Iris’s head.
“Lilac . . . Abby,” Katherine said frantically. Lilac and Abigail both crawled slowly out from under the bed.
“My darlings,” Katherine said.
“Are they okay?”
“Yes, but I’m not,” Katherine said angrily. “I’m going to get to the bottom of this.”
1 The Cats that Surfed the Web Page 12
