Purrfect Setup by Nic Saint

Author:Nic Saint [Saint, Nic]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Puss in Print Publications
Published: 2020-11-18T22:00:00+00:00

18

The next day Dooley and I were riding in the car again, with Odelia steering it in the direction of Happy Bays, our neighboring town. I know what you’re thinking: isn’t it odd for a pair of cats to spend so much time riding in cars? Isn’t that something more often associated with the canine species? And you would be absolutely right. Dogs have cornered the market on cute pictures taken with their tongues dangling out of car windows, spreading their slobber to the far corners of the globe as the wind makes their flabby features flop to and fro. But that doesn’t mean cats can’t enjoy the occasional car ride too, right?

Though I have to admit I’d much rather have both feet on terra firma than in some metal box hurtling along the road on rubber wheels. It is unnatural, and even though it’s necessary, that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

“So where are we going?” asked Dooley, probably eager to resume his spreading of good deeds as soon as possible.

“We’re going to talk to Daphne Wimmer’s friend,” said Odelia. “Grace Ojala. She’s the woman who provided Daphne with an alibi for the night her husband died.”

“You think Daphne is somehow involved in her husband’s death?” I asked, surprised by this development.

“No, but I have to make sure she was where she said she was,” intimated Odelia. “That way I can eliminate her from the investigation and move on to other, more likely suspects.” Her face took on a grim note when she added, “Like Dino Wimmer’s business partner, or his client.”

“You really think that’s where the answer to this mystery lies, do you?” I asked.

“I don’t know, Max, but it certainly looks like the most plausible avenue to pursue at this moment.”

“What about Rose?” I asked. “She and her dad fought a lot, as several witnesses have now confirmed. And she was the only one home that night with her dad. She could have dumped those pills in his drink.”

“Possible,” Odelia allowed, “but unlikely. Why would Rose kill her father and then cry wolf? The police have accepted his death as a suicide, so if she’s the killer she would have kept her mouth shut and wouldn’t have asked me to investigate.”

“Or it could be that because she’s guilty she hired you as a way of throwing the suspicion off herself,” I countered. “She didn’t know that night that the police were going to treat her father’s death as a suicide. She could have been hedging her bets.”

“Yeah, but then why did she visit me this morning? By that time it was clear my uncle wasn’t going to investigate further.”

“I still don’t think we should exclude Rose as a potential suspect,” I said. “She had motive, opportunity and means, so there’s that.”

“All right,” said Odelia with a smile and a glance at me through the rearview mirror. “I’ll put her on my list of suspects, Detective Max.”

“That’s all I’m asking,” I said, returning her smile.

“And what about Dick?” asked Dooley.

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