The Legend of Tabby Hollow (Whales and Tails Mystery Book 5) (7 page)

I glanced in the mirror. I’m not sure I’d use the word
beautiful
, but I did look different. I wouldn’t want to try to maintain this look every day, but I actually looked like I belonged in a business meeting.

“I think we’re ready,” Siobhan announced. “Now remember, let me do the talking. I’m used to negotiating business deals, so I know what I’m doing.”

“But we don’t actually want a loan,” I reminded her.

“For now. But it doesn’t hurt to put the idea out there. I called Danny to come by and pick us up. Your car is covered in cat hair.”

By the time we made it out to the front drive Danny was waiting. I couldn’t help but feel like the little sister; Danny and Siobhan sat in the front and chatted and I sat in the back in silent isolation. I loved Siobhan, and I was very happy she’d come home to the island, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about being relegated to the backseat both figuratively and literally.

I will admit Siobhan hadn’t been wrong about dressing the part. After arriving at the bank we were offered a beverage and then immediately shown into the new bank manager’s office. It took less than ten minutes for my sister to have the man completely wrapped around her little finger. I still wasn’t sure expanding the bookstore was something we should be considering, and I could never make such a decision without Tara, but if we ever did find ourselves in need of a loan, hiring Siobhan to negotiate the deal wouldn’t be a bad idea. Not only was she beautiful but she was intelligent, articulate, and had a presence that couldn’t be ignored. The company she’d worked for must have been insane to let her go.

“We totally rocked that meeting,” I said to Siobhan as we were leaving the bank. Not only did Coffee Cat Books have a tentative offer of a loan to expand into e-distribution should we decide to go ahead with the idea but we’d learned some interesting facts about both Mayor Bradley and Grover Cloverdale as well.

“It’s all in your approach,” Siobhan informed me. “You have to own the meeting from the moment you walk into any negotiation. It looks like Finn is talking to Danny.”

I looked toward the parking lot. Danny was standing next to his car waiting for us and Finn had pulled up next to him in his sheriff’s department vehicle.

“Do I look okay?” Siobhan asked.

Suddenly, my self-confident sister looked like a scared little girl.

I took Siobhan’s hand in mine and gave it a squeeze. “You look beautiful.”

“I’m so nervous.”

“It’s just Finn,” I reminded her.

“What if he hates me now?”

“He doesn’t hate you.”

Even if he had every reason to, as far as I could tell he was still totally in love with my big sister.

“They noticed us,” I informed Siobhan. “Danny is waving us over.”

“I can’t.” Siobhan stood perfectly still.

“Just take a step forward,” I coached.

I began to walk toward the parked vehicles with Siobhan at my side.

“And smile.”

Siobhan did.

I looked at her. “And breathe.”

Siobhan stopped walking. She looked at me and laughed. “You want me to walk and smile
and
breathe?”

I laughed back. “I guess that
is
a lot.”

Siobhan let out a long breath. “I’m ready. Let’s do this.”

Later that evening Cody, Tara, Danny, Finn, Siobhan, and I, met at the cabin to continue the investigation. Once Siobhan and Finn got past that first awkward greeting, I could see that things were going to be fine. They’d always been friends and I could see that a broken engagement wasn’t going to change that.

I was happy to have Finn and Siobhan talking again, but there was no doubt about it: Siobhan and her murder board had taken over the leadership of the sleuthing gang of which I’d previously been the director. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Siobhan was the type who liked to drive the bus. And she was good at it. She managed to demand everyone’s attention as she systematically added new clues to the whiteboard and deleted others.

“What did you find out at the lodge?” Siobhan asked Danny.

“Both men were active members and had been there within a week of their deaths. I was able to confirm that both Bradley and Grover were regulars in the backroom poker game that’s held among members who are invited to take part.”

“Have you ever played?” I asked.

“No. I don’t hang out at the lodge all that much. I’m a member by birth and profession, but I rarely attend any of the meetings or events. Most of the guys who spend time there are old enough to be my grandfather. And I’ve never participated in the poker games; too rich for my blood. Most of the men who participate come from old money. To be honest, the old farts who play really don’t welcome newcomers even if they have money. They’re pretty set in their ways.”

“But you know who does play,” Tara coaxed.

“Sure. I guess.”

Siobhan got up and flipped the whiteboard over to the other side. She started a new list, beginning with Mayor Bradley and Grover Cloverdale.

“Okay, who else participates in the gambling?” She looked directly at Danny.

“Buzz Walton, for one.”

Buzz was a crusty old fisherman with salty stories and a crabby disposition, but he’d always seemed like a nice enough sort.

“And Leif Piney, for another.”

Leif was a retired fisherman who was around seventy. He was equally as crusty as Buzz but not as well liked. Leif was a rugged man who didn’t have much use for women, children, or anyone under forty and wasn’t afraid to let you know it.

“Jasper Colton, Frank Dakota, and Brian Quinn.”

All were retired fishermen in their sixties or seventies, and all had lived on the island their entire lives.

“Dad was a regular before he passed, and Aiden sometimes takes his place when he’s in town,” Danny added.

“Aiden? Really?”

Aiden was about as straitlaced as they came.

“I think he does it more for the sense of tradition than anything else.”

“Are there ever any new men allowed to join?” Tara asked.

“When I was at the lodge checking things out today, I found out that a couple of months ago a man from out of the area requested membership. He was a stranger to the island, but he claimed to be a fisherman by trade and he was male, so technically they had no reason to keep him out. He was a likable enough fella named Jeremy Vance. They couldn’t keep him out, but most of the guys refused to accept him no matter how hard he tried to fit in. Personally, based on the stories the men from the lodge told me, I think it was because he was good at poker and was single-handedly responsible for the financial decline of several of the good old boys.”

“Do you think he was cheating?”

“I don’t know if he was cheating or not, but the guys were sure he was. I guess they managed to find a way to get rid of him because as far as I heard he doesn’t come around anymore.”

Siobhan had written everyone’s name on the board as Danny mentioned them. When she was done she took a step back. “I don’t know what any of this means, and while I’ve been away for a few years now, I can’t believe any of these men would kill Mayor Bradley or Grover.”

“What about this Jeremy Vance?” I asked. “You said the guys managed to get rid of him. Maybe he was mad enough about being kicked out of the club to take revenge on the men who refused to accept him.”

“It seems like a long shot,” Finn commented.

“Yeah, we might be barking up the wrong tree with the poker angle,” I commented. “It still looks like the common link is the Island Council, although Lacy seemed to think we’d find the killer among the men who hang out at the lodge.”

Siobhan moved around a few of her sticky notes and added a few others.

“Why did Lacy think that?” Finn asked.

“She said she overheard Grover arguing with one of the men; she wasn’t sure who. She seemed to think there was tension within the ranks of the good old boys.”

Finn frowned but didn’t say anything.

“Okay. Cody, why don’t you tell us what you found out from Francine concerning the mall project?” Siobhan directed.

“While it may or may not have been true that Mayor Bradley met with the developer who wanted to build the mall, Francine said the development of the project was never going to pass the council and everyone knew it. When the developer first brought his idea forward, he was told he would be best served by looking for another location. Francine is of the opinion that even if the developer had managed to change Bradley’s mind, it wouldn’t have done any good because the other four members of the council were dead set against it.”

“In other words, unless this developer was willing to kill all five council members there was really no way he was going to get a permit to do what he wanted to do,” Danny contributed.

“Two of the five are dead,” Tara pointed out.

“While that’s true, I think killing three people in order to build a mall is a long shot,” I countered. “There has to be an easier way to make a buck.”

“I agree with Cait,” Siobhan spoke up. “We found out at the bank today that both Bradley and Grover were on the verge of bankruptcy. If this developer really wanted to build his mall all he had to do was bribe them. Killing them makes no sense. I think we can eliminate the developer as a key suspect.” Siobhan looked at Finn. “Do you agree?”

“Actually, I do,” Finn answered. “I’ve done some checking and apparently, the developer has already applied for a permit to build on the Olympic Peninsula. I don’t see a monetary reason for him to have killed two men, and as far as I know, he didn’t have a personal relationship with either of them. I think we can eliminate him as a suspect.”

Siobhan erased the developer’s name but started a new column on the side of the whiteboard:
eliminated suspects
. It was a smart thing to do, in case we needed to come back to them for any reason.

“Anything else?” Siobhan asked Cody.

He nodded. “While Francine didn’t feel the mall was a motivation for murder, she did think there was another issue that was worth looking at. It seems Mayor Bradley wanted to remove the cats from the hollow.”

“What? Why?” I asked.

Cody shrugged. “You know Bradley. As far as he was concerned, all cats are evil. He planned to hire a service to relocate them.”

“That’s crazy,” I spat. “Why didn’t Maggie say anything?”

“Francine thinks she didn’t want to worry you.”

I frowned. I guess it made sense that she would want to protect me. “Relocate the cats to where?” I asked.

Cody shrugged. “Francine didn’t know. She suspected they planned to exterminate them once they’d removed them. Glenda was also sure that was the intention of the company Bradley was talking to.”

“Could he have done that?” Tara asked.

“I’m afraid so,” Cody answered. “It turns out the land where the hollow sits is owned by Nora Bradley.”

“Do you think Nora knew what her husband planned?” I asked.

“Nora isn’t an animal rights activist, but I don’t see her agreeing to a plan that includes killing a whole lot of cats,” Tara put forth.

“I agree with you. I’m not sure how Bradley planned to pull that off, but I’m betting Nora didn’t know anything about it. Someone needs to stop him,” I exclaimed.

“Someone did,” Siobhan pointed out.

Siobhan was right of course. Someone
had
stopped Mayor Bradley. With him out of the way the whole plan would die.

“I guess it’s a good thing Maggie is away at her yoga retreat,” I joked. “If she were here she’d be the number-one suspect.”

“There is no yoga retreat,” Finn informed me. “I checked, and the retreat Maggie claimed she left the island to attend was held two weeks ago.”

“Surely you don’t think Maggie did this?” Siobhan accused.

“I hope she didn’t. I don’t want to think her capable of such an act. But she had motive and I can’t find evidence that she ever left the island. I’ve talked to everyone who works the car deck on the ferry and no one remembers seeing her on it.”

“A lot of cars take the ferry,” Tara insisted.

“True, but everyone knows Maggie,” Finn reminded her. “She always stops to chat with whoever’s working. I confirmed that John and the regular crew were working on the day she told everyone she was leaving. They would have recognized her car.”

“You can’t seriously be suggesting that Maggie killed these men?” I asked.

“If she isn’t guilty and she isn’t at the retreat, where is she?” Finn asked.

I looked at Cody. I could tell he’d had the same thought I had. I really hoped Maggie hadn’t been our killer’s third victim.

Cody stayed to make sure I was going to be okay after Finn went home and Siobhan, Danny, and Tara all headed to Maggie’s house for the night. They’d tried to convince me to go up to the big house with them, but I needed to be alone with my thoughts.

There was no way Maggie would kill anyone, yet I had to admit that when Cody had told us Bradley’s plan, thoughts of murder were very much on my mind. What if Bradley had gone into the hollow to set some traps and Maggie had followed him to try to reason with him? What if they’d argued and he’d fallen? I hated to admit it, but that scenario made perfect sense.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Cody asked. We were sitting on the sofa looking into the flames of the fire as they randomly danced to their own tune.

I told him what I’d been thinking. I trusted Cody with my thoughts. In many ways I trusted him more than I trusted anyone else.

“I agree your logic makes sense,” Cody replied as he slowly dragged a finger up and down my bare arm. His arm was around my shoulder and my head was on his chest and I felt myself relax for the first time in hours. “But that still doesn’t explain either Grover’s death or the presence of the black poker chip in either man’s possession.”

“You’re right.” I sat up straight. “The black chip in both men’s pockets links them, and while Maggie might have argued with Bradley, resulting in an accident, she wouldn’t have forced Grover into a boat and then forced him overboard.” I let out a long sigh of relief. “She didn’t do it.”

“You really thought she had?”

“I thought she might have,” I admitted. “Maggie is feisty. If the cats were in danger she’d take action. I’m not saying she’d kill anyone in cold blood, but she very well might have followed Bradley into the hollow and tried to talk some sense into him.”

Suddenly my relief turned to terror. “If she didn’t kill Bradley where is she?”

Cody hugged me to his body in a show of comfort. “I wish I knew.”

We sat quietly for a few moments, each lost in our own thoughts.

“Did Maggie have her phone with her?” Cody asked.

“No. She said phones weren’t allowed on the retreat.”

“Do you have any idea where else she might have gone?” Cody asked. “Does she have a favorite spot where she likes to go to unwind and escape?”

“Not that I can think of. Besides, why would she lie about the yoga retreat? If she wanted a week away all she needed to do was say she wanted a week away. Why lie?”

Cody didn’t answer right away.

“Is there anyone who might know where she actually went? Marley?”

Marley was Maggie’s best friend and business partner. If Maggie was going to tell anyone the truth it would be her. “I’ll call her to ask.”

“It’s late,” Cody reminded me.

“I have to know.”

“Just be careful what you tell her. We wouldn’t want to worry her needlessly.”

Cody was right. If I called Marley and asked her where Maggie really was and my aunt had lied to Marley as well as us, she’d be worried.

“I’ll make something up about needing to get hold of her because Siobhan is on the island. I’ll ask her if she has the contact info for the retreat. If Maggie told Marley she was actually doing something else I think she’ll tell me. If she gives me the information for the retreat I’ll know she lied to Marley too.”

I called Marley, who quickly provided the information for the retreat. It was clear Maggie had lied to her best friend as well as her niece. Where could she be?

“I’ve been thinking about the man Danny mentioned,” Cody said when I got off the phone with Marley. “The name Jeremy Vance sounds familiar. I seem to remember there being a piece about him in one of the articles I bought to fill out my first few editions of the paper. I’m going to head over to the newspaper to look through the archives.”