Lilian Jackson Braun - Cat 12 Who Knew A Cardinal

"That's extremely good news, Vicki. Fiona must be greatly relieved. I was unable to reach her at the hospital."

"She's here now, and she wants to talk to you."

"Good! Put her on."

"Mr. Qwilleran," came a faltering voice, "you don't know what I've just been through. I still can't believe the doctors could save him."

"We were all pulling for him, Fiona."

"I don't care if he'll ever... ride in competition any more, but he's promised to go back to school."

"That's a plus," Qwilleran said, adding lightly, "He may switch his interest from horses to Japanese."

"Mr. Qwilleran," she said hesitantly, and it was clear she had not noticed his quip, "I have something terrible to tell you, and I... uh... don't know how to begin."

"Start at the beginning."

"Well, it's something Robbie told me before he went into surgery. The poor boy thought... he thought he was going to die..." She stopped to stifle a few whimpering sobs. "He told me he knew about... Mr. VanBrook's murder..." Her voice trailed off.

"Go on, Fiona. I think I know what you're going to say."

"I can't... I can't..."

"Then let me say it for you. VanBrook had written a will making Robin his heir. Is that right?"

"Yes."

"And when Robin dropped out of school, VanBrook threatened to cut him off entirely."

"How did you know that?"

Qwilleran passed over her question. This part of the scenario he had only deduced, but he had been right. He went on. "Robin had the bright idea of killing VanBrook before he had a chance to rewrite his will."

"No! No! It wasn't Robbie's idea!" she cried. "But they talked about it - him and Steve. They thought they could use the money and buy the farm... O-h-h-h!" she wailed. "They didn't tell me! I could have stopped it!"

"When did you find out?"

"Not till Robbie was... Not till they were wheeling him into the operating room. 'Mommy, am I gonna die?' he kept saying."

"Was Steve the shooter?"

"Yes."

"Did Robin ride along in the van?"

"Oh, no! He was in bed when I got back from the theatre that night. I told him I wouldn't go to the party. I got home about one o'clock."

"Are you sure Robin didn't sneak out after you returned home?"

There was a gasp followed by a breathless silence. "The police have Steve in custody, Fiona."

She groaned. "I turned him in. Robbie begged me to. He said there was a big reward. He thought he was going to die..." Her voice dissolved in a torrent of sobs.

Vicki returned to the line. "What will happen now?"

"Robin is an accessory, but he can turn state's evidence," Qwilleran told her.

Soon afterward, Arch Riker called the apple barn in high spirit. "It worked! It worked!" he said. "The reward brought in a tip to the police, and they've arrested the suspect. He'll be charged with murder. And Dennis is off the hook. Tell Koko he can stop working on the case."

"Good," was Qwilleran's quiet reply.

"It was someone from Lockmaster, just as you said from the beginning. It'll be in the paper tomorrow. For once, something big happened on our deadline... You seem remarkably cool. What's the matter?"

"I know the story behind the story, Arch, but it's not for publication."

"You rat!"

Fran Brodie was the next to call. "Dennis is cleared!" she exclaimed. "Isn't that wonderful?... But I hear the apple tree came down! Shawn will rehang it tomorrow."

As far as Qwilleran was concerned, the, VanBrook case was closed, but the Mystery Man of Moose County would remain a puzzle forever. He spent Friday with Susan and the attorney at the house on Goodwinter Boulevard, slitting red-dot boxes and shaking out the leaves of almost a thousand books.

On Saturday he wanted Polly to fly to Chicago for a ballgame; she wanted to go birding in the wetlands. They compromised on a picnic lunch - with binoculars - on the banks of the Ittibittiwassee River. When he called for her at her carriage house shortly before noon, he was in a less than amiable mood - after an abortive bubble-blowing session with two unresponsive and ungrateful Siamese, followed by a hair-raising incident involving Yum Yum and her harness.

On arrival, he handed Polly four clay pipes and a family-size box of soap flakes. "Now you can blow bubbles for Bootsie," he said grumpily. "Lori Bamba says cats like to chase bubbles."

"Well... thank you," she said dubiously. "Do yours chase bubbles?"

"No. They don't think they're cats... What do we have to pack in the car?"

"You take the folding table and chairs, and I'll carry the picnic basket. Did you remember to bring your binoculars?"

There was a maudlin scene as Polly said goodbye to Bootsie, causing Qwilleran to grumble into his moustache. Then they headed for the Ittibittiwassee - past the spot where he had fallen from his bicycle three years before, and past the ditch where his car had landed upside down the previous year.

As they unfolded the table and chairs on a flat, grassy bank at a picturesque bend in the river, Polly said, "Look! There's a cedar waxwing!"

"Where?" he asked, picking up the binoculars.

"Across the river."

"I don't see it. I don't see anything."