Six Cats A Slayin'

Melba frowned. “I saw her go by us. I think she had come from the hall, or at least, she seemed to be moving from that direction.”

A low buzz of conversation filled the room as those remaining no doubt discussed Gerry’s sudden and tragic collapse. I wasn’t sure whether everyone realized yet that she was dead, though I doubted it would take long for word to spread.

“How long should we stay?” Jared asked. “I don’t really see what the point is for all of us standing around here. There’s nothing we can do for her now.”

“The police will want to question anyone who saw her fall,” I said. “In cases of sudden death like this, they usually do, even if it’s from natural causes.”

“Do you think it’s not natural?” Helen Louise asked, her tone sharp.

“How do I know?” I said. “I didn’t mean that I think it isn’t, only that the police are bound to ask questions anyway.”

Helen Louise still looked troubled, and I figured she was recalling the conversation we had overheard less than half an hour ago. Not to mention that confrontation earlier in the evening with Tammy Harville. Tammy, at least, had been taken home, but Deirdre Thompson had still been present. And standing not too far from where Gerry collapsed. I couldn’t suppress that thought. It was pretty coincidental that Gerry died not long after that conversation with Deirdre.

Melba leaned toward me and spoke in a low tone. “Are you thinking she was murdered?”

Jared recoiled from her. “What are you talking about?” he asked.

Melba smiled sweetly. “I’ve known Charlie most of my life, and I can read him without even trying. He’s thinking Gerry could have been murdered.”

Helen Louise, Jared, and Melba stared at me. Melba had indeed read me all too easily. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but there was simply something too convenient about Gerry’s dying like that after two nasty episodes with women who loathed her.

“Well?” Jared said.

I shrugged. “It’s probably not likely, but you can’t dismiss it completely as a possibility.”

Melba looked smug. “I knew it. I’ll bet Tammy Harville sneaked away from Milton and got in here somehow and poisoned Gerry’s drink.”

“Keep your voice down.” Helen Louise shot Melba a quelling look. “That’s how ugly rumors get started.”

Melba did not take quelling at all well, and she glowered at Helen Louise. Normally they got along fine, but we were all on edge tonight. I didn’t want to make things worse by saying the wrong thing, but I couldn’t stand there mute.

“Let’s reserve any speculation for another place and time,” I said. “Until we hear the official verdict on Gerry’s cause of death, we’d only be wasting time and mental energy.”

“I guess you’re right,” Melba said grudgingly.

“I’m ready to get out of here,” Jared said. “I’m tired, and I resent having to stand around waiting. I’m going to ask someone if I can leave.” He stepped away and headed for the door.

Melba didn’t appear pleased by his petulance or his actions. Jared’s use of the first-person pronoun had been all too obvious, I thought. He wasn’t thinking about Melba, and she had picked up on it.

Helen Louise moved closer and leaned against me. I slipped an arm around her waist. “What a horrible end to a party,” she said. “I was enjoying myself, for the most part, but now I’m tired, my feet hurt, and I want to go home and get out of this dress.”

“I know, sweetheart,” I said.

Melba eyed the dress critically. “The cleaners might be able to save it. But I wouldn’t count on it.”

Jared returned. The angry set to his mouth indicated to me that he hadn’t received the answer he wanted.

“What did they say?” Melba asked, her tone none too cordial.

Jared didn’t appear to register her irritation, being evidently too wrapped up in his own. “They’re waiting for somebody from the sheriff’s department. They wouldn’t say who, but an officer told me everyone had to remain until the deputy arrived and assessed the situation.”

I felt Helen Louise stiffen beside me, and I knew why. We both reckoned that the deputy we had to wait for was none other than Chief Deputy Kanesha Berry. Kanesha, Azalea’s daughter, investigated homicides in Athena and in the county. Our police force didn’t have a homicide detective, so the county handled murders and unexplained deaths. Any that the county couldn’t handle got turned over to the MBI, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.

If the police here at the scene called in Kanesha, that meant they considered Gerry’s death suspicious. I wondered what they had discovered to make them suspect foul play.

Jared glanced from one to another of the three of us in turn before he spoke. “Obviously y’all know something I don’t. I guess calling in the sheriff’s department is significant somehow.”

Didn’t the man ever read the newspaper or watch a cop show on television?