A Purrfect Alibi

“I’m not sure what they’re up to, but whatever it is, I’m getting the scoop.” Anita crossed her arms over her chest and adopted a bit of attitude. “You might thank me for that. It’s down to my investigating out here that I found Madame Zenda’s body. If I hadn’t come by, there’s no telling how long she would have been moldering out there.”

Found her there or put her there? I didn’t want to rile Anita up any more than she already was so I kept silent, scowling at her with my hand on my hips. I figured I’d let her talk and maybe she’d incriminate herself.

My silence must have unnerved her. She looked away. “Mark my words, someone in this guesthouse is up to something.”

“Yeah and I think it’s you.”

Anita jerked back. “Me? What are you talking about? I’m just reporting what people need to know and if it happens to be a good story that sells, well then, what’s wrong with that?” She looked at me out of the corner of her eye. “I don’t see why you’re so upset about it. Unless you have something to hide, like the fact that you’re a killer.”

Now it was my turn to get upset. “Why would I kill Madame Zenda?”

“It would make for good publicity. Come to think of it, you’ve had a couple of murders here. And didn’t the discovery of the skeleton bring you the guests you have now? This would make a good story. The black-widow guesthouse owner who kills her guests.”

“Now wait just a minute, I didn’t kill anyone! I helped catch the first two killers and now I’m going to catch this one. Which brings me to my question: Why did you break into the guesthouse?”

“Break in? What are you talking about?” She looked away. “I’ve never been in there.”

Now I knew she was lying. Could she really be the killer? And if so, maybe it was dangerous to confront her like this. But my brain must have been a few seconds behind my mouth because the words came out before I stopped to think about the safest course of action. “Ed saw you peeking in the window and said you might have been in the house, and Flora said you tracked mud into the back foyer. Now, why would you lie about that if you weren’t the killer?” I got my cell phone out of my pocket. “I’m calling Sheriff Chamberlain.”

“No wait!” She shifted on her feet, her eyes darting from the house to me. “Okay. Fine. I was in the guesthouse but not because I’m the killer. As I’ve told you, I’m working on a story. There might be a movie deal and… well… I needed an insider so I could get a scoop on what was really going on.”

“Madame Zenda?”

“Yeah, at first. She was my contact.”

That explained the open windows.

“That’s why I was the one who found her. She was going to talk to Jedediah Biddeford that night.” Anita chewed her bottom lip. “Though to tell the truth, I think she might have been a fraud. Anyway, she wouldn’t tell me exactly where and I was trying to figure that out so I could see the communication, but instead I saw her body. She was dead when I got there.”

“And you didn’t see the killer leaving or hear anything?” I was dubious.

She shook her head. “I wish. That would have made a great headline. ‘Reporter Captures Killer.’ But I didn’t see a thing. Of course, I was a bit freaked out, what with her lying there. I didn’t kill her though. Why would I? She was my contact.”

Anita’s explanation made sense and, given that she was calmly discussing this instead of trying to kill me, my feeling that she was the killer was waning. But Flora had said she’d been in the house after

Madame Zenda was killed. If Zenda was her contact, then what was she doing in there? Hiding evidence?

“Then why were you in the guesthouse after she was killed?”

Anita sighed. “Fine. I’ll tell you. I was meeting Victor Merino.”

My left brow quirked up. “Why?”

“I’ve sort of teamed up with him for the story. There’s a lot riding on it.”

“So, let me get this straight. You were teamed up with Madame Zenda and then, after she died, you teamed up with Victor. How? Did you already know him?” What if Victor had killed Madame Zenda because he wanted the fame and knew that Anita could help him get it?

She shook her head. “I didn’t know him. He saw me talking to that movie producer downtown and asked me all sorts of questions. I guess he already knew about the movie. Anyway, he suggested we combine forces.”

“Combine forces? How?”

“He was going to feed me information. That’s why I met him in the foyer the other day and why I’m here now. He said something is about to happen.” Anita glanced out over the yard. “But I’m not so sure I believe him.”

“Did he say what was going to happen?” I didn’t like the ominous way that sounded, but then Victor did seem to be overly dramatic. “I think sometimes he exaggerates.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m out here to follow him, just in case.”

I peered into the dense overgrowth of the yard. “He’s out here?”

“No. The only one I’ve seen is that weird tea-leaf reader.”

“Gail? Why do you say she’s weird?” I thought she was weird too, but wanted to know Anita’s reasons.