Fat Cat Spreads Out Read online

  “What should we do?” Chase asked.

  “There’s nothing we can do. Dr. Ramos can take care of himself. If he needs help, he’ll ask. I’m sure they’ll let him go soon. He must have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  Chase stole looks over her shoulder at the female police officer leaning into the squad car to talk to Mike as she and Anna returned to their own booth with Quincy purring in Chase’s arms.

  “You bad fat cat,” she murmured, burying her face in his soft orangey fur. It smelled faintly of butter. He looked like he’d gained at least a pound eating the dessert bars and the handouts during his travels. “If you really think we can’t do anything for Mike Ramos, I’ll take Quincy back to the shop now and see how Inger’s doing.”

  “And bake some more Hula Bars,” Anna said.

  “Yes, and that. You’ll be okay here doing all the work alone?”

  “With the size of our space, it might be easier for me to finish setting up by myself. I’ll be fine.”

  In spite of Anna’s certainty about Mike being able to take care of himself, Chase wanted to ask Julie if her defense attorney friend Jay Wright was available just in case. She called her on her way home, but the call rang over to voice mail. Chase hardly ever phoned Julie in the middle of her workday, and it was reasonable that her personal cell was turned off. She decided not to leave a message and that she would try to call again later.

  When Chase got back to the Bar None, it was lunchtime. After closing Quincy into the office, she briefly told Inger everything that had happened. Inger had met the veterinarian and expressed concern for him, but Chase repeated what Anna had said. There was nothing they could do for him. Unless, Chase thought, she could get Jay Wright to free Mike from the clutches of the police.

  She asked Inger how business had been in the morning.

  “Slow. Really slow.” Inger looked pale again today.

  “Can you see a doctor this afternoon if we close up?”

  “I don’t really have a doctor, but I can go to the clinic.”

  “I think you should. You’ve been feeling bad for too long.” Chase waited for Inger to tell her she was pregnant. If Inger knew she was pregnant, that was.

  “It’s crazy. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I mostly only feel bad in the morning.”

  Maybe she really had no clue. “You need to see a doctor,” Chase urged. “Right away.”

  “Okay, okay, I’ll do it.”

  Chase smiled at her. “Make sure you do. It might be important.”

  Inger looked puzzled. Yes, she had no clue. “How’s Quincy after his adventure?”

  “He’ll live.” She didn’t want to detain Inger further with the details of his escapades at the fair. She’d tell her later. But Chase did take a moment to wonder how Quincy had gotten inside the building where the man died, and from where Mike Ramos emerged, escorted by the police. She hoped he would be questioned and released quickly.

  “How did he sneak into the basket in the first place?” Inger asked.

  “How does he sneak anywhere? The cat has skills.”

  After Inger left, saying she would go straight to the clinic, Chase baked five dozen more Hula Bars. They packaged six bars to a box, so that would make up for the ten boxes Quincy had gotten into.

  She tried Julie again with the same result. This time she left a message to call her back as soon as she could. She also tried to call Mike to see if he had been let go, but he didn’t answer either. It was maddening! She had no idea what was going on.

  Tanner had sent her an e-mail saying he already had a mock-up of a website ready. She went to the computer in the office to look at it. She hadn’t given the young man the office number because she didn’t want Anna answering the phone when he called, so he only had Chase’s cell phone number.

  Quincy stretched, putting his front paws on her lap before jumping up and settling in.

  She opened the file and paused, then knocked back against the chair with her mouth agape. Quincy flinched, but didn’t jump down. It was stupendous, given what he had to work with. It was just what she had imagined, with placeholders for the pictures she hadn’t sent yet. The home page displayed the address, phone number, and a map that could be used to get directions to the Bar None. Across the top was a banner in pink and white stripes, to match the wallpaper, with the shop name and sketches of dessert bars scattered in among the letters. Tabs for “Products” and “Ordering” and “Contact” were empty. She had a lot of material to send to him yet.

  Tanner had been more observant than she thought on his one visit, last week, when Anna was out. She could imagine what Anna would think if she saw him, with his nose and eyebrow rings, not to mention the colorful dragon tattoo on the inside of his arm. He had a habit of running his glossy black fingernails through his shaggy brown hair when he was hunkered down at Chase’s computer.

  The timer in the kitchen dinged and she hurried in to take out the last batch of bars, dumping her cat onto the floor and slamming the office door shut behind her.

  While she was waiting for the bars to cool, Quincy made a racket in the office.

  “Oh, poor baby,” she said, going back into the office. “Sorry I abandoned you so rudely. Do you have a tummy ache from all that sugar you got into today? Such a bad boy.” Her actions contradicted her stern words as she swooped him up and gave him a cuddle. He’d missed his customary noon Kitty Patty, but Chase decided to forgo it today.

  She and Anna were planning on taking Quincy to the fair in his crate tomorrow, once the fair started, since Chase didn’t want to leave him by himself in the office or her apartment all week long. There were things a bored cat could do to express his displeasure, she knew from experience. Of course, being in a crate all day wasn’t good either. She’d have to find a place to let him exercise a bit during the days.

  When the Hula Bars were cool enough to pack, she toted them to her little Ford Fusion, parked in its space behind the shop, and drove back to the Bunyan County Fairgrounds. Even though the fair wasn’t open yet, most of the bright lights were shining tonight, giving the place a festive look. The merry-go-round music still tinkled from the main parking lot. She parked in the exhibitors’ lot and carried the bag to their booth. The evening air was turning decidedly chilly.

  Anna, pulling her azure sweater tight around herself, gave a shiver when Chase approached.

  “We’ll need jackets here at night.”

  “Anna, is that sweater all you brought? It’s fifty degrees out here. Here, put these somewhere and let’s get you someplace warm.”

  “I have to finish putting everything else in the storage boxes.” The fair had provided large, heavy metal boxes, bolted to rings in the ground and equipped with padlocks, so exhibitors could store their goods overnight. They were expected to take cash home with them but, fortunately, didn’t have to schlep the goods back and forth for the whole week.

  Chase stuck the ten replacement cartons in one of the metal boxes and clicked the padlock. “There, now you come with me.”

  “I’ll do no such thing,” Anna said. “There are still these to pack.” She gestured to some dessert bar boxes at the bottom of the basket that Chase had overlooked. “And these.” Anna pointed to more goodies that were tucked under the table, where they’d stashed them when they first arrived. “I’ll finish up, and I have my car here.”

  “Well, then come over to my place for a hot chocolate when you’re finished.”

  “That would be lovely. Should I call Julie?”

  “Please do. I’ve been trying to get her all day. I need to talk to her.” Maybe Anna would have better luck. Chase rushed home to get the cocoa started.

  * * *

  Anna and Chase were settled in Chase’s homey living room, Quincy in Anna’s lap, his narrowed eyes on the marshmallows heaped atop her cup of chocolate, his nose twitching.
Chase had just handed Anna’s cup to her and returned to the kitchen to get her own mug when the doorbell chimed. There were two doorbells outside the back door, one for the shop and one for her apartment. Downstairs, the back door led into a hallway outside the shop kitchen, where a set of inside stairs went up to Chase’s apartment.

  She ran down the stairs to admit Julie. Anna had gotten hold of her, and Julie had said she would be right over. However, when she opened the door, two people, not one, stood outside. Julie had her grandmother’s periwinkle-blue eyes and wore her brown hair cut short. Chase was an inch or so taller than her friend.

  “Chase,” Julie said. “You remember Jay, right?” She smiled up at her taller companion.

  How convenient. She could talk to both of them now, rather than going through Julie. “Of course. Jay Wright, right? You’re the guy who got me out of jail.”

  Jay chuckled, showing a deep dimple in his right cheek. That only made him more good-looking than he already was, although his supershort haircut was not to Chase’s liking. “Yep, that’s me, the right Jay Wright. I heard there was hot chocolate available here.”

  “Come in out of the cold. I have a favor to ask after you get settled.”

  Chase led them upstairs. Jay and Julie sat on the leather couch, Chase’s one extravagance when she’d furnished her nest. Anna and Quincy were ensconced in the cinnamon-and-mocha-toned stuffed armchair, so Chase pulled a seat in from the kitchen after she put a plate of Lemon Bars on the hassock, within everyone’s easy reach.

  “We’re so glad you decided to do the fair,” Julie said, giving her hot drink a cautious sip.

  “We’re glad, too,” Anna said. “But why are you both glad?”

  “Oh, didn’t I tell you? Jay’s aunt is on the organizing committee. That’s the reason I told you to go in the first place. I owed Jay a favor.”

  “I guess I owe you one, too,” Chase said, remembering his kindness when he had shepherded her out of the police station.

  “Have either of you heard what happened at the fairgrounds today?” asked Anna.

  They shook their heads.

  “One of the butter sculptors died,” Chase said.

  “Murdered,” Anna added.

  Julie sucked in a mouthful of air through rounded lips. Jay raised his eyebrows.

  “You almost made me spill my cocoa,” Julie said.

  Chase turned to Anna. “I know the homicide detective was there, but are you sure the person was murdered? Or that it was a butter sculptor?”

  “I talked to his wife. They wouldn’t let her into the ambulance. She was walking down the midway looking lost and I offered her a ride after you left, but she didn’t take me up on it.”

  “So, give.” Julie leaned forward. “What did she say?”

  Anna hesitated, looking at Chase.

  “What?” Chase asked. “I’m not in trouble because Quincy was there, am I? I didn’t find his body.”

  “No. Dr. Ramos did. He’s a suspect.”

  FOUR

  “Elsa said she went to find her husband, Larry—” Anna began.

  Julie interrupted. “Larry Oake, the famous butter sculptor?”

  Anna turned to her granddaughter. “What do you know about butter sculptors?”

  “I’ve been reading up on the featured exhibits.” She glanced at Jay.

  Chase sensed a chemistry between the two that was a few degrees warmer and cozier than it would be between business associates. Jay and Julie had attended law school together. He was a criminal defense lawyer, while she worked for the district attorney, prosecuting criminals. Chase wondered how that was going to work out.

  “Oake is well known in the world of butter sculpture,” Julie went on. “He was sent a special invitation to attend and participate in the Minnesota Symbol Contest.”

  “Okay,” Chase said. “First of all, there is a ‘world of butter sculpture’? Second, what is the Minnesota Symbol Contest?”

  “Bunyan County,” Jay said, “always holds a contest to see who can carve the best butter sculpture. We don’t carve butter cows, though. Butter cows are a standard in the butter sculpting world, but we like to do it differently. This year we’re asking the artists to re-create a state symbol in butter.”

  “How big is this butter sculpting world?” Chase shook her head. “I can’t believe it’s a well-known . . . art? Craft? Hobby?”

  “Right the first time,” said Jay. “It’s an ancient art that began with Tibetan monks.”

  “You’re not serious.” Anna gave Jay a stern look. The look of a grandmother who does not like to be lied to.

  “He’s right, Grandma. Jay’s told me all about it. Butter sculpture goes back to the times of Babylon and Rome. The Tibetan monks have done butter sculptures for Tibetan New Year for hundreds of years.”

  “Well, I guess it’s cold enough there for it to keep,” Anna said. “It’s a shame this isn’t in history books. It would make history a much more fun subject.”

  “Anyway,” Julie continued, “we invited Larry Oake specially.”

  “‘We’?” asked Chase.

  “I’ve been helping with the fair. I hate to think of him being murdered just because he came here.”

  “Where’s he from?” Chase asked.

  “Not far. Wisconsin.” Jay tipped his mug up and drained it.

  “More cocoa?” Chase jumped up to take his cup.

  “No, we’d better be going.” He and Julie exchanged an unmistakable look and stood up.

  Yes, Chase thought, definitely warm and cozy. Maybe even smoke and fire.

  “Wait a minute,” Chase said. “I want to know if Jay could get Mike out of jail, if that’s where he is.”

  Jay turned serious, all business. “What do you know?” he asked.

  “Just that they took him away and Detective Olson was there and Mike’s not answering his cell phone.”

  “I’ll make some calls. I can’t promise anything, but I’ll see if there’s something I can do. I’m busy on another case with the firm, but I’m sure I can at least find out what his situation is.”

  Chase felt her shoulders relax a notch. “Yes, that would be wonderful. Thanks so much.”

  After they left, Chase poured herself a second cup of cocoa, leaving the marshmallows off this time. Besides, there were some wisps clinging to her cup that would melt in nicely. “Did Larry’s wife—Elsa?—give you any more details about what happened?”

  “Yes, Elsa Oake. We got sidetracked by those two and their butter sculpture history, didn’t we?” Anna gazed into her cup.

  “Oh, you’re empty. Do you want a refill?”

  “No thanks, Charity.” Anna hesitated, setting her mug aside and rubbing Quincy’s right ear. “Elsa told me everything she saw, and it’s not good. She was supposed to meet her husband at the food trailers for an early lunch. He’d been doing some preliminary work on his sculpture in the morning.”

  “And he didn’t show up, I’m guessing.”

  “Right. So she went looking for him. She said she opened the door to the butter room and saw her husband on the floor. When she called her husband’s name, Dr. Ramos blocked her way. That’s when she screamed.”

  “He probably didn’t want her to see a dead body.” Mike was a considerate person. She could easily picture him shielding the poor woman from the grisly sight.

  “I think that’s probably the case. But she thinks he was keeping her from trying to revive him. So, naturally, she thinks Mike killed him.”

  “What was Mike doing in there, anyway?” Could he have been looking for Quincy? Maybe he saw the cat sneak in with someone else?

  Anna looked down at her lap and poked Quincy’s substantial tummy with her forefinger. “Elsa said this guy was on the table, next to the sculpture.”

  “Devouring it, I suppose. It looked like Quinc
e had butter on his whiskers when that policewoman handed him to me.”

  “Elsa was bothered by what she saw. She said her husband had a butter sculpture dowel poking out of his ear. She told me how horrible the trickle of red blood was against his brown skin. She can’t get the image out of her mind.”

  Chase winced. “How awful.”

  “Maybe Jay Wright can find out about everything and can get Dr. Ramos home,” Anna said.

  “I’ll bet he can.” She remembered her tearful relief in Jay’s car after he had gotten her out of that terrible interrogation room in September. She hoped Mike was in one of those, dismal as they were, instead of in a jail cell. “I have a feeling Mike is going to need a lawyer. I wonder what Jay will charge him.”

  “He didn’t charge you, did he?”

  “No, but Mike might need more services than I did. And Mike isn’t best friends with Jay’s girlfriend.” Chase was sure Mike had gone into the building to get Quincy. But how had Quincy gotten inside? Someone must have opened the door for him. Would that have been Larry or someone else?

  Chase sighed. This wasn’t the first time Quincy had gone looking for food and found trouble. Why did her cat have a talent for discovering dead bodies?

  After Anna left, Chase unpacked the satchel she’d carried to the fair. Along with the parking instructions for exhibitors, and the receipt for the booth, she found the pamphlet from the pet chip place. She leafed through it, deciding that Quincy needed a microchip. However, that would only help find his owner once someone located him. What he really needed was a GPS transmitter. She wondered if they made those for cats.

  She picked up the phone and called the direct line to Detective Niles Olson’s desk. She’d acquired his number earlier in the year when she’d been a suspect in a murder in the Dinkytown neighborhood. That was the first time Quincy was found next to a dead body. He had been eating the dinner the man had been preparing.

  “Chase?” He’d seen her caller ID. He didn’t sound irritated. That was a good start.

  “Hi. Could you tell me . . . I, uh, I need to know what’s going on with Dr. Mike Ramos.”