A Purrfect Alibi

He looked at her skeptically, and with good reason, as from where I was standing I could see she had her fingers crossed behind her back. I purposely avoided eye contact with him.

Mike sighed. “Hey, you’re grown women.”

“That’s right,” Mom said. “We can handle ourselves. Now you run along and we’ll just take this tape recorder inside for safekeeping.”

Twenty-Three

As soon as Mike walked away, Millie charged towards the kitchen door. “Any idea where we could find Gail this time of day?”

“Why are you so sure the recorder is from her?” Mom asked.

“I’m not, but she’s the only one who wasn’t in the foyer when the noises were made and she’s mysterious. No background in the business and lurking behind Madame Zenda in that cruise photo. I say we question her first.”

Mom hesitated at the door. “You did tell Mike—”

Millie cut her off. “I told him we wouldn’t do anything rash. This isn’t rash. This is calculated. And besides, there are three of us and only one of her.”

We checked around the house and found Gail in the back parlor staring into a dainty blue teacup. She must have gotten that one out of the china cabinet, another one of the items that had come from Millie’s family and been included with the sale of the guesthouse. I hoped Millie wouldn’t be mad that the guests were helping themselves to the use of her family heirlooms.

Gail looked up, her eyes wary as we approached. Maybe she sensed our purpose, or perhaps the tea leaves had warned her.

Mom was making pointed glances at Gail’s shoes and I looked down to see that the white fabric of her tennis shoes was stained dark from mud. Gail had been at the gazebo. I looked around the room for a weapon, just in case.

She smiled nervously and held the teacup in front of her as if for protection as we each took a seat. Mom sat on the sofa next to her and Millie and I each took one of the wingback chairs across from the sofa.

“Good afternoon, ladies.” Gail glanced out the window. A gray twilight had descended and she amended her greeting. “Or should I say good evening.”

“Evening.” Millie was sitting so that the tape recorder was hidden. Probably saving it so as to have the element of surprise. It seemed quite obvious to me that she was taking pains to hide something and it must have been obvious to Gail too, if the way her eyes kept flicking to Millie’s side were any indication. “I suppose you heard about the excitement.”

“Esther told me about the ghostly moans.” Gail huffed. “Probably that pompous clown Victor staged it as more drama to his big announcement.”

Though I wouldn’t put it past Victor to do that, I’d seen the look on his face in the foyer and he had appeared genuinely frightened. Of course, that could all just be part of his act.

“Yeah, funny thing though,” Mom said. “We were wondering how he did that.”

Gail shrugged. “Who knows? They have all kinds of gadgets these days that can produce such sounds.”

“You should know about that, dear,” Millie said.

At Gail’s confused look, Millie whipped out the recorder and shoved it in front of her face.

Gail took a nervous sip of her tea. “That one doesn’t seem suitable for the noise that I heard described.”

“Ha! You would say that.” Mom leaned closer to Gail. “That device is yours. Admit it!”

“Well… I don’t know that it’s mine… I do have one similar.”

I was surprised at her curious reaction. I’d expected extreme denial or some kind of fight. Maybe she was thinking she could outwit us. I guess she didn’t know Mom and Millie very well.

Millie leaned closer to Gail, she was practically out of her seat. Gail shrunk back into the couch, her eyes darting between Mom leaning close on one side and Millie leaning close on the other.

“Fess up. We know you were the only one not in the foyer when we heard the noises, and we found this recorder in the gazebo,” Millie said.

“And you have mud stains on your shoes.” Mom pointed at Gail’s feet. “I bet that’s the same mud that’s out near the gazebo.”

“And we know you were on that cruise with Madame Zenda. You have a previous connection!” Millie said.

“Yeah, one that might hide a motive for murder,” Mom added, with a knowing nod.

“Hey, wait a minute,” Gail said. “Esther and Victor were on that cruise too.”

“But you are the only one who wasn’t upfront about your purpose there. We saw a photo, and Esther and Victor were front and center as featured mediums and you were lurking in the background,” Millie said.

Gail fidgeted. “I’m not hiding anything. I wasn’t a medium on that cruise.”

Millie tapped the recorder. “So you’re saying you didn’t hide this in the gazebo?”

Gail was silent, her eyes darting between the three of us as she gnawed her bottom lip. Finally, Gail slumped back on the sofa. “You’re right. I am hiding something.”

“I knew it!” Millie whipped out her cell phone. “I’ll just call the sheriff now. Won’t he be surprised to find that we’ve gotten the confession from Madame Zenda’s killer!”