Fat Cat Takes The Cake

“I suggested he consider all the stalking victims, not just me. I told him there was a code for the book, so he thinks I’m withholding evidence. He wouldn’t believe that we figured out the code. He thinks I have more evidence somewhere. My hearing is next Friday. Gerrold managed to put it off until then by insisting on a judge who is out of town right now. That’s when I’ll plead not guilty. I’m so glad I don’t have to sit in jail until then.”

“Friday. This is Saturday. We have five whole days to find out who killed Ron North.”

Chase nearly hung up before she remembered why she had called Julie in the first place. Finding Ron North’s killer seemed more urgent, but visiting poor Dillon was a good deed she felt she should do. If she wasn’t actually in a coma, she would appreciate a report on the reunion. Julie agreed.

“Let’s go after I get off work on Monday. I’m going to have to go in Sunday to do all the stuff I was supposed to be catching up on today.”

“I’ll get some flowers and a card, since I’m not working Monday,” Chase offered.

“Deal. I’ll pick you up on my way.”

“We probably shouldn’t mention the murder unless she’s already heard about it.”

Chase couldn’t sit still after the call. Julie had actually been charged with the crime! She wished she had asked Julie whether or not she was going to call Anna. Anna had to be told. Chase waited ten minutes, checking the clock every fifteen to twenty seconds, then called Anna.

“I just got off the phone with her,” Anna said. “This can’t be happening. It really can’t. Julie did not kill that man. Why would they think that?”

Chase had no desire to go into the particulars on the phone. “Julie didn’t tell you?”

“Not really. She only said that her scarf was there but I knew that already.”

“He was strangled with it. But Ron took it from her earlier.”

“There you go. She didn’t do it.”

Chase agreed, but would that be enough for a judge? Chase doubted it. “There’s something else. The detective thinks Julie has evidence she’s withholding from him. I neglected to tell anyone we made copies of Ron’s notebook and have been trying to decipher his codes. We do think we’ve decoded some of it, but we don’t have anything more than the notebook itself.”

“That doesn’t seem too awful. I would have made copies.”

Chase could have kissed her if they hadn’t been on the phone. Even through her cell phone, though, she could hear the shakiness in Anna’s voice and could imagine the concern in her bright blue eyes.

After she hung up, she felt like she was jumping out of her prickly skin. She couldn’t stay this way until Julie’s hearing. She gazed out at the roads. A snowplow rumbled by, scooping the snow to one side and half burying any hapless cars parked at the curbs. She felt like she had to move, had to get out of her apartment. It was so odd to have the shop closed on a Saturday afternoon. If the weather were better, she would take Quincy out for some leash training. He wouldn’t appreciate getting his paws soaked, though. She decided instead to take herself for a walk to try to calm her nerves.

She had everything on—boots, scarf, coat, her old gloves—had gone down the stairs, and was opening the door when her cell phone rang. She stepped back inside to answer it.

“Is everything all right over there?” Mike asked.

“Yes. We closed the shop because I was afraid no one could get home if we stayed open until six.”

“You have power? I lost mine at the clinic.”

She poked her head into the kitchen. The clock lights glowed on the stove and microwave, one showing four thirty-five, the other showing four thirty-eight. She and Anna never managed to get all the clocks in sync. “We’re okay here.”

“Can I bring some things over? My power has been out all day and I need to keep the insulin refrigerated overnight. My neighbor says power is out at the condo, too. I’m boarding two diabetic cats at the clinic this weekend. It’s not supposed to get extremely cold, so I think the cats will be all right. The insulin will be okay for a short time, but I don’t want it to get too warm or too cold. I loaned my generator to a friend for the weekend. Bad timing.”

“Sure.” She knew those tiny vials wouldn’t take up much room. “When are you coming?”

“I’ve canceled everyone but the next appointment, so in about an hour?”

That would be plenty of time for a brisk walk to clear her head of her dark fears for Julie. She would tell Mike about her arrest when he got here. With a smile on her face at the thought of being comforted by Mike, she shuffled her boots through the parking lot to the cleared street. The snow had slowed to a light dusting that collected on her shoulders.

She had gone only a few blocks when her cell rang again. It was Eddie.

“Hey, it’s a beautiful day,” he said, his voice a little too loud in her ear.

“For sled dogs. Did you lose power?”