Kilt Dead (8 page)

“Then that idiot would probably suspect both of us”

The “idiot” had finished his conversation. Pete, on his
way out, stopped in the doorway to address Liss. “You
want me to call Sherri for you?”

“I hate to bother her this late.”

“She’ll hear about it soon enough. She’s on the eleven
to seven shift at the jail.”

LaVerdiere listened to their exchange with ill-concealed
disapproval. “Is there a reason you’re still here, Campbell? If not, I’m in the middle of an interview.”

“No, you’re at the end of one” Liss was fed up with
LaVerdiere and his unwarranted suspicions. “I’ve told
you all I know.”

LaVerdiere gave her a hard stare. Liss glared back at
him until he finally realized she meant what she said.
Only then did he gather up the tape recorder and notebook. “We’re not done. Don’t leave town, either one of
you”

Liss gave a short bark of laughter. “Literally? Because
I need to be at the Highland Games again tomorrow and
the fairgrounds are over in Fallstown.”

“Don’t leave the county,” LaVerdiere amended, and
stalked out of the apartment.

“What is his problem?” Liss asked Pete.

Pete checked to make sure the detective was really
gone, then shrugged. “Sheriff says he’s well trained. He
just hasn’t had much experience dealing with people.”

“He has the sensitivity of an iguana. Is he always like
that?”

“Abrupt?”

“Offensive”

“What can I say? He’s an asshole, but we’re stuck with
him. You sure you don’t want me to call Sherri?”

“Thanks, but no. I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”

He started to go but she called him back. “Was
Mrs. Norris really murdered?” In spite of what Jeff had
said, in spite of LaVerdiere’s certainty, it just didn’t seem
possible.

“Looks that way. Someone from the A.G.’s office is
here”

“And that means?”

“The district attorney’s office handles most manslaughter cases. The attorney general is in charge of some manslaughters and all homicides. They must think murder’s
likely. Probably figure Mrs. Norris interrupted a robbery.”

LaVerdiere had asked if anything was missing from
the shop, but Liss hadn’t been able to tell him for certain.
She hadn’t noticed anything. The cash register had already
been empty because she’d had all the cash with her at the
Highland Games. The cash box, she realized, was still
downstairs on the counter.

“If he thinks a thief killed her, why is he picking on
Liss?” Dan asked.

“She’s handy.” Pete grinned suddenly and seconded
what Dan had already told her. “Good you stood up for
yourself, Liss. Rule of thumb if you’re being questioned
police can only talk to you as long as you re willing.”

“Wish I’d known that an hour ago, but thanks.”

“Try to get some rest,” Pete advised, and let himself
out.

“Do you want me to go, too?” Dan asked.

He was still settled in on the other end of the sofa, angled so that he was facing her. She mirrored his position
and studied him. He wasn’t remarkable looking-sandy
brown hair in need of a trim, an ordinary nose and chin
but there was something solid about Dan Ruskin, something comforting. And it was oh-so-easy to get lost in
those sympathetic molasses-brown eyes. She had to look
away and clear her throat before she could answer him.

“I’d appreciate it if you’d stay a bit longer.”

“No problem.”

She felt herself relax against the sofa cushions in what
seemed like the first tranquil moment she’d had all day.

The peace abruptly shattered when Detective LaVerdiere
reentered the room. “One more thing, Ms. MacCrimmon.

You’ll have to be out of here within the next half hour.

You need to vacate the premises for a couple of days.”

Liss came to her feet in an indignant rush. “You can’t
kick me out. I live here”

“Not for the present you don’t. Not until after we sweep
the entire building for evidence. You can collect a few
personal items to take with you, but leave everything else.
What you do take will be inspected and inventoried before you go”

“And just where am I supposed to stay, detective? It’s
July during the Highland Games. There are no rooms available at any of the local hotels, motels, or bed and breakfasts”

“Not my problem,” LaVerdiere said, and made another
abrupt exit.

“Oh, well, thanks a lot. Maybe I’ll just sleep in my
car!”

“You could reconsider calling Sherri,” Dan suggested.

“Sherri has enough on her plate without me adding to
it.” Not to mention a mother and a son already living with
her. Liss wished Gina Snowe still lived in Moosetookalook.
Gina had been her best friend, but she’d moved away years
ago. “I guess I could bunk at Ned’s.”

“Liss, you

“No, probably not a good idea. If I stay with Ned we’re
likely to end up killing each other. We never did get
along.” She winced. “I don’t believe I just said that. How
can I talk so casually about killing? Joke about murder?”

“Cops do it all the time,” Dan said. “It’s a way of coping.”

She shivered. “I’m not a cop. I’m a dancer. I’m in
charge of Aunt Margaret’s shop,” she amended, and that
triggered another concern. “They’d better not mess up her
inventory.”

“You can keep an eye on things if you stay with me,”
Dan said. “Nobody’s using your old room”

The suggestion warmed her. She didn’t want to think
too deeply about why that should be so. Neither did she
give herself time to come up with objections.

“I’d like that. Spending a few days in the house I grew
up in sounds like heaven just now.” Liss gave Dan the full
benefit of her smile. “There’s a lot to be said for the old
and familiar.”

Id and familiar?

Dan reached into the refrigerator for a cold one. Not
quite how he’d seen himself in relation to Liss MacCrimmon. He took a swallow of the beer and wandered back
into his living room. It was pretty obvious Liss still didn’t
return his interest in her.

Bad timing anyway, he told himself, what with Mrs.
Norris dead and-

“Damn! Lumpkin.”

The thought of Mrs. Norris’s bad-tempered cat took
Dan straight to the picture window. Given the location of
the streetlight, right in front of Moosetookalook Scottish
Emporium, he had no trouble seeing that the number of
police vehicles had multiplied and that there was crimescene tape around both Margaret Boyd’s place and the
house next door.

Dan debated with himself, but not for long. He could
almost hear Mrs. Norris’s voice in his head, lecturing her
third graders on their responsibility to the animals they
claimed as pets.

He let himself quietly out of the house and wandered
back across the square. So far, it looked as if everyone
was in Margaret’s building. Mrs. Norris’s house was dark
except for a light in her kitchen.

“Something I can do for you, Dan?” Pete Campbell
loomed up out of the shadows, armed and dangerous.

Dan cleared his throat. “You the one assigned to keep
gawkers away?”

“Pretty much. How’s Liss?”

Just that quickly, the authority figure turned back into
the old pal from high school. Dan let out a breath he hadn’t
realized he’d been holding. “Snoozing peacefully, I hope.
I got her to eat something first, and she said she was
going to take one of the pain pills left over from her knee
surgery to help her get to sleep.” It had been too late to
order pizza, so they’d shared a can of Chunky soup and a
bologna sandwich.

“You should get some shut-eye, too”

“Yeah. Right. When a neighbor gets murdered in my
nice quiet village, I think a good night’s rest is pretty
much out of the question.” When that neighbor was a
woman everyone knew, everyone liked well, tolerated,
anyhow he had to wonder whether anybody was safe
from random violence. “What’s going on in there?”

Pete shrugged. “They took still shots and videos. Medical Examiner did his thing. The body’s gone to Augusta
to be autopsied.”

“But they haven’t been into Mrs. Norris’s house yet,
right?”

“Right. Why?”

“Lumpkin’s in there. I was thinking I could take him
home with me”

Pete hesitated.

“Even LaVerdiere can’t object to me giving an orphaned cat a home. Or does he intend to interrogate
Lumpkin, too?”

“Now that I’d like to see. Come on” Pete held the yellow tape out of the way so Dan could duck beneath it and
follow him toward the house. “Better you tackle that damned cat than me. Last time I stopped by to chat with
Mrs. N., he bit me on the ankle.”

Dan glanced at Margaret Boyd’s place as they went in
through Mrs. Norris’s unlocked kitchen door. She’d had a
good view of the entrance to the stockroom. If someone
had been trying to rob the Emporium, knowing it was closed
while the Highland Games were in session, Mrs. Norris
could have seen the intruder find the key and enter the building. That much made sense. What didn’t was her failure
to call the police. Instead, she’d apparently gone right in
after the thief. Why hadn’t it occurred to her that she might
be putting herself in danger?

“There he is,” Pete said.

Lumpkin stood in the doorway that led to the hall: all
twenty pounds of him. The big yellow tom blinked once
at them, then plopped himself down and began to lick his
tail.

“Yeah, I’m fond of you, too,” Dan muttered. “Where’s
your carrier?”

They found it in the hall closet. A cage that looked
much too small for a behemoth of Lumpkin’s proportions
sat on the overhead shelf along with a collection of ballcaps and other hats. Dan took it down, unlatched the front,
and advanced on the cat, who was still engrossed in grooming, pointedly ignoring the upstart humans who’d invaded
his house.

“Gotcha!” Dan came up with the cat under one arm.

Lumpkin took exception to being grabbed. Squirming,
kicking, and hissing, he tried to break free. The carrier
crashed to the floor when Dan had to use both hands to
hold onto the cat.

“Good luck getting him inside that thing,” Pete said.
“Lumpkin doesn’t like to be confined”

“He doesn’t much like being held, either.”

Flat-eared, teeth bared to the gums, the cat snarled. Dan took a good look at that feral expression, swallowed
convulsively, and tightened his grip. Lumpkin kicked out
with his back feet, hard, claws extended. Dan grunted and
shifted position, holding both of Lumpkin’s front legs in
one hand and forcing the cat’s back end tight against his
chest.

He was reaching for the carrier when Lumpkin bit
down hard on the soft, fleshy skin between Dan’s forefinger
and thumb. With a yelp, Dan dropped him.

“Now you’ve done it.” Pete was trying not to laugh.

“You want to give me a hand here?”

“Sure. I’ll hold the carrier.”

Lumpkin led Dan and Pete on a merry chase through
the house, but they finally cornered him in the small
downstairs room Mrs. Norris had called her library. The
walls were lined with tall bookcases. Seemingly without
effort, Lumpkin went from the back of a recliner to the
top of the nearest set of shelves. A looseleaf binder tumbled
to the floor as he launched himself from there to Mrs. Norris’s cluttered desk. A stack of computer printouts, a tissue
box, and a remote control scattered as he landed.

“Close the door!” Dan yelled as the cat caromed off an
end table and headed that way.

Pete slammed it shut, trapping Lumpkin in the room.
He was climbing the drapes when Dan pounced, recapturing him. Pete had the carrier ready, but Lumpkin managed to brace all four paws against the opening.

Grimly determined, Dan pried them loose, claw by claw,
and gave one final push. Lumpkin flew into the carrier.
Dan closed and latched the grate on a yowl of protest.

“Well, that was fun “” Pete surveyed the chaos, shaking
his head. “What a mess. If LaVerdiere sees the place like
this, he’s going to think somebody broke in and trashed
it.”

After first checking to make sure the catch on the cat carrier was secure, Dan set about putting the room back
to rights. “The way I see it, there’s no need for Craig
LaVerdiere to know we’ve been here”