Purrfect Impasse by Nic Saint

Author:Nic Saint [Saint, Nic]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Puss in Books
Published: 2023-05-31T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

Our next port of call was Dolores Peltz. We found the dispatcher at home, enjoying a rare vacation day. Though when she opened the door, I could tell she had been crying, and so maybe her day off wasn’t so much a vacation as a day of mourning for her good friend Maria Römer.

“So, you’ve heard?” said Chase. Dolores nodded wordlessly, and he gave her a heartfelt hug, and then Odelia did the same. She sighed and invited us into the house, which was a cozy little place that appealed to me immediately. It was located in a quiet neighborhood, and when I glanced out the back, I was struck by a riot of color in the form of flowers of many descriptions and variety. All in all, it looked as if Dolores had as much of a green thumb as Jim Ward did.

Dolores and her two colleagues had taken a seat in her salon, and she wiped her eyes with a napkin. “Alec told me personally. He came out here and told me that Maria died last night, apparently killed by Paul, which I find very hard to believe, to be honest. Then again, it’s always possible, of course. In our line of work, we know that people are probably capable of anything, so I wouldn’t put it past him, but still…” She was quiet for a moment. “They were such a devoted couple, you know. And Paul loved that little boy of his to death.” She shook her head. “I mean…”

“Yeah, we know what you mean,” Chase assured her. “So you never saw any signs of trouble in their marriage? Fights over money or anything?”

“Nothing,” said Dolores. “Which is why this came as such a big shock to all of us who knew them well. Maria was just such a wonderful person. She was such a gentle soul. When she first started working at the station, I didn’t think I’d end up being such good friends with her because we were both so different. She was soft-spoken, sweet-natured, and always had a kind word to say to everyone, while I’m… well, let’s just say I’m the exact opposite. But somehow we became friends, and even after she got pregnant and decided to stop working and stay home to look after Hector, we remained friends. We didn’t see each other all the time, but we met up occasionally.”

“When was the last time you saw her?” asked Chase.

“Um… a couple of months ago. We met up for drinks and then went shopping together.”

“Did she mention anything about Hector’s illness?”

“She did, yeah. She said they found a great clinic and they were going to try and get Hector in there. It was very expensive, though, and she said they were thinking about selling the house. But they already had two mortgages, so I didn’t think that would be enough, so I suggested asking the colleagues to collect money for Hector. But she said her next-door neighbor had set up a fundraiser online, and she hoped it would net them enough to send Hector to this clinic.

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