No Cooperation From the Cat by Marian Babson

Author:Marian Babson [Babson, Marian]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Mystery
ISBN: 9781250013170
Publisher: Windsor
Published: 2012-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

“I’ll ring you back, Cecile,” Evangeline said. “We seem to have a bit of a problem here.”

Jocasta had burst into tears. I started towards her, but Nigel beat me to it.

“Did you have to let her talk to her?” Tom asked Mick.

“It was bound to happen, sooner or later.” Mick shrugged again. “You know how she is.”

“Who?” Martha asked. “Who called you a murderess?”

Good question. From where I stood, it looked as though there were three candidates—all of them Banquo’s harpy cousins.

“Don’t let them upset you.” Nigel had a protective arm around Jocasta’s shoulders, but she didn’t appear to notice it.

“Who dared to say that to you?” Martha also had ended her call abruptly. “Hugh has the best lawyers on tap. We’ll sue—”

“Hearsay!” Mick, the complete troubleshooter now, threw cold water on that one. “Only Jocasta heard her say it. You didn’t hear it yourself. Her word against yours and, believe me, she’d deny it. No lawyer would be happy with that one.”

“He’s right, I’m afraid.” Evangeline’s depth of experience with the law was mostly from the divorce courts, but she’d learned a fair amount.

“I don’t know—” Jocasta wailed. “I can tell them apart when I see them, but they all sound alike to me.”

“You know who you were talking to—” Martha whirled on Mick. “Which one was it?”

“Yes,” Evangeline chimed in. “Which witch was it?”

“We’re not going to get anything more here right now.” Mick looked to Tom. “Time we were leaving. I need a shower, a change of clothes, and a few hours’ sleep.”

“Not necessarily in that order,” Tom agreed.

“You’re not leaving here until you’ve answered my question!” Martha snapped.

It was an order that couldn’t be enforced—and they knew it. They were already halfway down the hall.

“Stop them!” Martha cried. “Don’t let them get away!” She looked around for help.

Nigel was patting Jocasta’s back as she sobbed. It was doubtful that he’d noticed a thing.

Evangeline shrugged.

“Let them go, darling,” I advised as she turned to me. “We’ll find out, sooner or later.”

“Come back!” Martha shouted after them, seething with fury and frustration.

The door slammed shut behind them.

“Please stop crying.” Nigel started to offer his handkerchief, realised belatedly that it was in no fit state, and stuffed it back in his pocket. “They’ve gone now. It’s all right.”

“They’ll be back.” Jocasta sobbed, tearing a kitchen towel off the roll and using it. “They’ll all be back!” She tore off another towel.

“Don’t worry,” Martha said grimly. “If they do, we won’t let them in.”

“You don’t understand,” Jocasta wailed. “We’ve got to!”

“Why?” Martha spoke for all of us. By now, we were getting as adept as Cho-Cho at scenting a rat.

“The pictures—”

“The pictures can wait. Banquo hasn’t even written the book yet. And we have a contract.”

“So have they.” Jocasta reached for another paper towel. “And not just for the expedition story. Tom is going to do the photography for the cookbook. Melisande arranged it all—it’s all part of the deal.”

“Melisande again!” Martha was working up quite a head of steam.

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