Fat Cat Takes The Cake

“Gosh, yes. I hope they haven’t needed me too much. I’m sure the Bar None is busy today.” Saturdays and Sundays were always busy, and, nearing the holidays, business picked up more and more every weekend.

Mike stood and gave Chase a hand up. “You called Anna, but have you called Julie?”

“I need to figure out what to say.” How could she tell her that her scarf had been used to strangle Ron North?

Mike gave her a curious look, probably wondering why she couldn’t tell everything to her best friend, and they walked away from the park. At the point where Mike could veer off and head to his condo, Chase insisted she would go the rest of the way to the Bar None by herself. It was only a few more blocks.

As soon as Chase walked into the kitchen through the back door, Anna ran to her and gave her a hug. “What happened? You said you had to answer some questions for the police? What kind of questions? You’ve been gone for hours.”

Chase sagged onto a stool, propped her elbows on the counter, and stuck her chin on her hands. Anna knelt to take Quincy’s harness off. “How did he do?” she asked. “And I want to hear all about the reunion. Julie’s told me a little bit, but—”

Chase raised an eyebrow at her pet. “He found another body.”

“He what? You didn’t say anything about a body.” Anna perched on the stool next to Chase and smoothed the younger woman’s hair with a worn, wrinkled hand. It felt warm and wonderful to Chase. Anna must have been baking, because the gentle scent of vanilla wafted from her.

“I couldn’t talk about it right then on the phone. A man was strangled and was left in the bushes at Marcy Park. Quincy, of course, wouldn’t leave it alone. Probably because Ron’s pockets are . . . were . . . always stuffed with peanuts. You know Quincy and food.”

Julie came out of the bathroom.

“I didn’t know you were here,” Chase said. She realized she’d heard the toilet flush and the water running. She had assumed either Inger or Mallory were there.

“Anna said you were having a problem and I came over to help out.”

“Was it a homeless person?” Anna asked.

“Was what a homeless person?” Julie said.

“No, it’s Ron North.” Chase said.

“You know him?” Anna said.

“Ron North? What about him?” Julie’s voice was soft.

In high school, Julie hadn’t told very many people how distraught she was by Ron’s stalking. She had kept it from Anna, telling only Chase and another best friend, who moved away right after high school. Even with Chase, Julie hadn’t liked to say his name. They called him The Stalking Guy.

Chase told Anna and Julie now about how he’d been killed, but failed to mention that the weapon was Julie’s scarf. She could only imagine what Julie would think when she heard that. She hadn’t told the police that she knew who the scarf belonged to either but knew she would have to eventually. She shuddered, picturing the disappointment in Detective Olson’s eyes when he found she’d concealed that fact. She must tell him very soon. Meanwhile, she had a business to help run.

In her apartment above the Bar None shop that evening, she decided to go over everything she could remember about the reunion. Something was tickling the recesses of her consciousness. Something about that scarf.

She snuggled in her bed with a cup of chamomile tea, propped up with three down pillows. Quincy stretched out beside her, lying along her hips and chest. Later he would usually curl up behind her knees, after she turned onto her side. She closed her eyes, inhaling the aroma of the tea, and cast her mind back to the reunion.

Ron North had hung around the punch bowl, accosting everyone who came to get a cup. The first person Chase had talked to had been Bart Fender, when she hadn’t yet seen Ron. Then Jay left with some guys to talk about football. That’s when Ron came over, when Chase and Julie were alone at the punch bowl table.

He’d started accusing Julie of having something to do with a recent real estate scandal. She remembered that he’d seemed belligerent, enough so that Jay noticed and came over to get rid of Ron.

Bingo! She remembered what had been bothering her. Ron had grabbed Julie’s scarf after she shoved him, then stuffed it into his own pocket when Jay scared him off. He had bothered others, too. For now, she knew enough to let herself relax. Ron had left with the scarf. Chase had finished the tea and her eyelids were drooping. She pushed two of the pillows away and nestled down to try to sleep. She had just dropped off when Julie called.

“Did the police question you?” Julie asked.

“What? About . . . Ron North?” She was going to say “finding the body” but she was unwilling to depersonalize him that much. Nor had she told Julie she was the person who had found the body.

“They’re hung up on something, but they wouldn’t say what. For some reason, they think I had a good reason to kill him. Detective Olson called me into the station as I was about to go to Hilda Bjorn’s house to talk to her about that offer on her house.” She sounded exasperated, but not frightened.