When the Cat's Away (The 9 Lives Cozy Mystery Series, Book 9) by Louise Clark

Author:Louise Clark [Clark, Louise]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781644576328
Publisher: ePublishing Works!

CHAPTER 15

Christy thought the meeting with Archie Fleming had gone reasonably well, but Quinn wasn’t so sure. Archie had been absolutely furious when Colin Jarvis had quit his team. Would he really be sanguine about it, even now a year later? He shrugged and told himself it didn’t really matter. They were here tonight to see what they could discover about the life of Ralph Sharpe, not to rekindle a damaged friendship.

Still, he liked Archie Fleming, despite his involvement in Fred Jarvis’ deeply flawed social and sexual network. He laughed to himself as he decided that dating a woman whose dead husband was living in her cat had certainly shifted his deeply rational journalist’s mind.

“Time to work the room,” Christy said, breaking into his thoughts. She looked up at him, her smile intimate. He felt a little part of him seize up. It never failed to amaze him that she’d chosen him.

Trevor said, “There were several groups in the dining room. Why don’t Ellen and I begin there?”

“Good idea,” Quinn said.

Christy smiled and linked her arm with his. “Where shall we start?” She wrinkled her nose. “Not with the people around the obnoxious Ezra Gaynor. What about that couple by the French doors?”

“His face is familiar.” Quinn searched his memory but couldn’t come up with a name.

Christy laughed. “Let’s go find out why.”

The man smiled as they approached. “Hello. I’m sorry, but I don’t believe we’ve been introduced.”

“I’m Christy Jamieson,” she said, smiling warmly.

The man’s eyes brightened and he said, “Of course.”

Christy indicated Quinn. “And this is my friend, Quinn Armstrong.”

The man sent a calculating look Quinn’s way and suddenly something clicked together in Quinn’s mind. He smiled and held out his hand. “You’re Randy Dowell. Nice to meet you.” Randy Dowell was the Dogwood Member of Parliament for one of the ridings in the British Columbia interior. He was said to be a good friend of Archie Fleming. If Quinn remembered correctly, the two men were about the same age and both had attended English Bay University. The years had treated Archie more kindly than Randy, though. The silver in Archie’s dark hair gave him a distinguished look. Randy’s thinning brown hair just appeared washed out.

After introducing his wife, Colleen, Randy said, “You’re the reporter who cracked Fred Jarvis’ murder. Good work.”

“Thank you,” Quinn said, surprised. He’d written several articles about Jarvis’s murder, but he’d never mentioned his own involvement in solving the crime. Archie Fleming could have known, though. Did that mean he’d shared the information with Dowell?

“Did you know Ralph Sharpe well?” Christy asked.

Colleen Dowell, a heavy woman wearing a dark brown gown that gave her a funereal air, pursed her lips and looked downward. She seemed to be fighting tears. Christy put her hand to her mouth and said, “Oh, I’m so sorry. You must have been close friends. I didn’t know.”

Randy said heavily, “Not close friends, but fellow sufferers afflicted with the same mental anguish.”

“Oh, my,” Christy said faintly. “How terrible.”

Colleen sniffed and nodded. “Like us, Ralph lost a daughter to that odious cult.

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