Fat Cat Takes the Cake Read online

  Rounding the last corner to the parking lot behind the Bar None, Chase was surprised to see Eddie Heath leaning against a bright yellow Smart car. He broke into a glowing smile when he saw her coming.

  He waved, so Chase returned the gesture. But she wondered what he was doing here, behind the shop. It was closed today, so he probably wouldn’t find out where she’d gone from anyone inside. Anna was still here, as evidenced by her blue Volvo. She didn’t usually answer the door when she was alone, though.

  “Nobody answered your doorbell when I tried it,” he shouted. “I was about to leave when I saw you.”

  When she got near, she greeted Eddie. “Hi. We’ve been on a walk. Did you need some dessert bars?”

  “Nope.” He grinned again.

  “That’s good, because we’re closed today. But I could get some if you’re interested.”

  “I’m more interested in the shop owner right now.”

  He was flirting with her! Her high school crush had come around to see her after the reunion. She was conscious of a faint blush spreading up from her neck as she recalled the tingle she’d felt when they touched that night. “Are you . . . are you here for the tour I promised you?”

  “Maybe. But I thought I could buy you lunch first.”

  Was he going to apologize for dumping her right before their high school prom? No, Chase, she told herself. Don’t bring that up. It’s water under the bridge.

  “Have you eaten?” he asked.

  “No. Sure, I’d like that. I’ll be out in a minute.”

  She scooped Quincy up and ran up the stairs to deposit him in the apartment. She wet her hands and patted her hair into place, then ran a tinted gloss over her lips. Then, for good measure, even though she knew she was about to eat, she swished some mouthwash.

  As she checked her teeth in the mirror, Mike Ramos’s face popped up in her mind. This wasn’t a date, she told the imaginary Mike, it was merely getting together with an old classmate. Who I bumped into when I went to the reunion without you. Because you finked out at the last minute.

  Crossing her fingers, she hoped going to lunch with Eddie Heath wasn’t the wrong thing to do.

  EIGHT

  Chase let Eddie pick the restaurant and he drove her to an out-of-the-way place. The outside of Gourmet Leaves and Plants was interesting and even funky. When they got seated Eddie started enthusing over the menu.

  “See this?” He pointed to the top of the sheet. “Organic. Vegan. Raw. Gluten-free.”

  Chase suppressed a shudder. “Is there regular food, too?” The weather was chilly and she had been looking forward to some thick, creamy soup, or maybe a juicy hamburger.

  Eddie flashed that grin. “This is regular food. What’s wrong with it?”

  Chase saw the selection of chilled soups. Nothing hot. “Well, are there any burgers?” She flipped the menu over, searching in vain for some comfort food. There were an awful lot of juices listed.

  “Let me order. I promise you’ll love it. This place serves only healthy food.”

  The waiter was hovering by them now. Eddie told him they would both start with a “rejuvenator.”

  Chase started to look for it on the menu, then decided not to. She would give it a chance based on the taste. When the glass arrived, she sniffed the cloudy liquid. It smelled fresh and lemony. However, when she took a sip, she barely managed to swallow it. “I think I’ll need some water, too.”

  “You don’t like the fermented quinoa sprouts?” Eddie’s face fell, disappointed.

  “Maybe it’s the ginger.” There was at least five times more of the stuff than she could take in the “rejuvenator.”

  The waiter was still nearby. “What kind of water?” he asked.

  “Just regular water, please.”

  “Unflavored?”

  “Tap water, please.”

  The waiter sniffed. “We do not serve tap water.”

  “Then please bring me whatever you have.”

  She got a glass bottle of “oxygen-infused water” that tasted rather musty, but better than the fermented quinoa.

  The meal went downhill from there. Eddie had ordered her a falafel wrap that tasted good, but she would have much preferred something hot and filling.

  Eddie steered the conversation to the weather and the background on almost every item from the menu. Chase was relieved that he didn’t bring up anything from high school, like, the prom. She remained polite and listened to his discourse on healthy food, nodding and staying silent on the subject. After all, she was in the business of making and selling sweet treats.

  While they were waiting for the check, Chase noticed the man at a table across the small dining room. He had just been ushered in and seated. A waiter was standing above him, waiting to take his order. “I’m sorry,” the waiter said. “Could you repeat that?”

  “I said I want a drink!”

  The waiter drew himself up slightly. “Sir, we do not serve alcohol here.”

  “Well, what good is this place?” Chase thought he must be pretty drunk to think this place would have a bar that served anything other than juice and liquid sprouts. The man struggled to his feet. He reeled, then stumbled toward the door. He was short and stout and the vest he wore strained at the buttons over his tummy. Recognition dawned.

  “Eddie,” Chase whispered. “Do you know who that man is?”

  Eddie squinted in the man’s direction. “I’ve seen him somewhere.”

  “At the reunion. Wasn’t he talking with Mr. Snelson?”

  “Might have been.”

  Chase was sure now. That was the man who had talked with Mr. Snelson and had argued with Ron North. He was now very drunk and still trying to get more liquor. Maybe he’d been blackmailed by Ron and had killed him and was now so remorseful that he was drinking too much? Maybe her imagination was filling in too many blanks.

  If only she and Julie could figure out what the entries in Ron’s notebook meant!

  Eddie drove her to the rear parking lot, which was where she almost always entered her shop and her apartment. He continued Chase’s healthy food education on the way and she continued to bite her tongue, resisting mention of the fact that some people like food that tasted good and filled them up.

  “Would you like to come in and pick out a dessert?” As soon as she’d said the words, she realized that he probably wouldn’t.

  “Do you have anything healthy?”

  She thought about their products. She’d seen a lot of coconut oil on the menu at the vegan place. “We have Hula Bars. They’re full of pineapple and coconut.”

  Maybe he wouldn’t ask what else was in them. If he had any taste at all, he’d surely like them.

  “Sounds good. Sure.”

  In case Anna had let Quincy loose in the kitchen, she guarded the door with her foot when she opened it. Sure enough, the cat was sitting there, looking at Anna patiently. Probably wishing she would drop something onto the floor.

  Anna glanced up as they entered the toasty warm kitchen. “Who’s this?” she asked with a tentative smile.

  “Eddie. We went to high school together. We ran into each other today and I offered him a Hula Bar or two.” And he set me on fire when we touched. I’m not really two-timing Mike Ramos. Simply getting him a Hula Bar, she thought to herself.

  “Go right ahead.” Anna returned to her ingredients, laid out in small bowls and dishes, but kept her eye on Chase and Eddie until they were through the swinging double doors.

  Quincy followed them and Anna whispered to him, “Go ahead, Quincy. You chaperone them.”

  Chase suspected that Anna thought her whisper was softer than it was.

  Chase flicked the lights on. “I’ll show you the shop first,” she said. “The only products out right now are some of the boxed treats.” The glass case got emptied every night. “Would yo
u like a box of Hula Bars?”

  “Maybe I should try a taste first?”

  “Go ahead and take this. Give them away if you don’t like them.” She shoved a box into his hands in spite of his doubtful expression. He raised his eyebrows and squinted at it. “What’s in these?”

  “I told you. Pineapple and coconut. Also some walnuts.”

  “Any sugar?”

  “Brown sugar.” Surely that would be all right for a health nut.

  “Flour?” Quincy rubbed against Eddie’s pant leg. He lowered his chin, frowned, and moved his leg slightly away from the cat.

  “Of course.”

  He pushed the box toward her. “I can’t eat white flour. You shouldn’t either.”

  “Some of our products don’t contain flour.”

  “How about white sugar?”

  She admitted that most of them did. She wouldn’t be able to eat many of her own wares if she didn’t eat flour or sugar. At the moment, she couldn’t think of any that were up to Eddie’s standards.

  “When you start selling some healthy products, let me know. I’ll take you to my own place next time.”

  She remembered the card he’d given her. Health from the Heath Bar, it had said. Wow, she was sure looking forward to another health food place. It wasn’t a good name, she thought, since it made her think of a candy bar. She’d bet there wouldn’t be any candy bars at any Health from the Heath Bar.

  “I’ll give you call,” he said as she showed him out the back door.

  If he didn’t, maybe that would be all right since it seemed they had nothing in common now.

  “What was that all about?” Anna asked after Eddie left.

  “An old high school friend. I told you.”

  “Why are you blushing?” Anna raised her eyebrows and squinted in the same skeptical way Eddie had at her wares. “Is he an old flame?”

  “Yes, with emphasis on old. Not anymore. I’m going to buy some new sneakers. Quincy, you be good while I’m gone.” She leaned down to give him a few strokes, loving the rumbling purr he returned. She left before Anna could talk about Eddie Heath any more. She was conflicted enough without trying to explain herself to her partner.

  Anna was gone when she returned with her new sneakers. She hadn’t even considered asking Anna along. Although Anna loved shoe shopping, she wouldn’t love trying on anything as prosaic and practical as everyday work shoes. Anna hadn’t stayed to see them, so Chase knew she was right.

  Julie had called her while she was trying on her fifth pair of shoes, then Chase had decided to catch a bite of supper at a fast food place near the mall. She had to have something substantial after that lunch. By the time she got back it was nearly seven.

  She sipped her takeout drink through the plastic straw as she entered her apartment, greeted Quincy—Anna must have brought him here when she left—and returned Julie’s call.

  “Where have you been? Anyplace interesting?” Julie asked.

  “I’ve been doing your favorite thing, buying a pair of shoes.”

  “Only one pair? I never buy just one.”

  “Well, I know, but I never buy two.”

  “Right. Okay, spill, what kind, what color? Where did you go?”

  “They’re mostly white, with some blue—”

  “You bought tennis shoes! You’re bragging about buying tennis shoes?”

  So Julie thought as much of her purchase as Anna must have, obviously. Chase still had to buy her wedding shoes, too. She hadn’t seen a thing she liked today. “Yes, I bought shoes for work. My other pair is falling apart. Now, what did you call me about?”

  “Ooh, I have a scoop. I think. One of the other lawyers was talking to me in the break room about an older man who is in the process of getting his real estate license. I didn’t pay much attention until he said the man is a high school principal, and has been forever.”

  “Mr. Snelson?” Chase toed off her old sneakers and curled up in the corner of her leather couch—her one splurge when she’d been furnishing the apartment. After Quincy inspected the new bag with the shoebox inside, he joined her and got a head scratch for his efforts.

  “Mr. Van Snelson! None other. Yes, he even knew his name. Our principal is going to quit his job as soon as he qualifies, evidently. My colleague knows the woman who teaches the class he’s taking. Mr. Snelson has told the teacher that he wants to keep it quiet until he’s ready to make the change.”

  “Oh, so the teacher tells your lawyer friend, who tells you, who tells me. So much for keeping it quiet.”

  “How does he think no one is going to find out? It’s not illegal to say who your students are. So far, though, that’s only four people.”

  “So far. What a strange thing for him to do, don’t you think? Go into real estate?”

  “Eh, I don’t know. He’s been at that school for ages, but I don’t think anyone ever liked him.”

  “You’re not supposed to like the principal, are you?” Chase recalled, though, that she had adored her principal in grade school.

  “Why not? If you’re not a troublemaker, there’s no reason you shouldn’t get along with him.”

  “You and I certainly weren’t troublemakers, were we?”

  “Wellll,” Julie drawled. “There was that time . . .”

  “Oh yes, but we never got caught.”

  “What’s that horrible noise?”

  Chase had reached the bottom of her drink and had slurped. Quincy, annoyed at the racket, too, jumped down. “My drink.”

  “I also wanted to tell you that I was called into the police station at noon.”

  “How did that go, Jules?”

  She took a deep breath, sounding shaky. “Not the funnest lunch hour I ever took. That Detective Olson is a grim guy.”

  “He can be. What did he ask you about?”

  “Lots, including the fact that my scarf was used to strangle Ron North. I remember Ron took it with him, but I get the idea he doesn’t believe me. I made the mistake of telling the detective it’s one of my favorites, so he wanted to know why I didn’t get it back. I couldn’t stand dealing with Ron, is why, but Olson is not buying it. He knows about the thing in high school, too. Someone must have told him.”

  Chase cringed, glad Julie couldn’t see her face.

  “But I’ve been going over those pages you copied for me. I saw something I hadn’t noticed before.”

  Shaking her new shoes out of the box, Chase left it with the lid off so Quincy could jump in and out of it. He would probably do that for at least half an hour. “Wait, let me get my copy.” Chase spread the pages out on her kitchen table.

  “Look at the page with those weird names.”

  Chase pulled the sheet toward her.

  “See it? The extra letter?”

  “No.” She held the paper up closer to her face. “Oh, yes, I do.” A faint J was written lightly below the word BIRD. “He was thinking of adding to this list? Someone named J? Has it been penciled in? I think so.”

  “BIRD, Chase, think of it. Isn’t that Dickie Byrd?”

  “Then who is PRINCE?”

  “I’ve been thinking about that, too. I still remember how to spell principal the way our second grade teacher taught us. He’s a prince of a pal, she said.”

  “Yes, I remember that. So you think this is the principal, Mr. Snelson?”

  “Maybe. I have no idea who PHOTO is, but I’ll bet these are blackmail victims. And I think I was about to be added to the list.”

  NINE

  Chase thought, on the surface, that Julie’s theory was far-fetched. She had asked her what on earth Ron North would be blackmailing her about. But when Julie pointed out that he was working on the real estate swindle story, Chase began to change her mind. Maybe he was trying to blackmail everyone involved in that. Eventually, he would have real
ized that Julie wasn’t part of any swindle. So much for the real estate case distracting Julie from being a murder suspect.

  Ron probably had a chance at shaking down whoever had offered the money to Hilda Bjorn. And that might be Mr. Snelson, since he was getting into the real estate business and there were what looked like dollar amounts next to his code name. If PRINCE was his code name. That would mean that Hilda Bjorn’s Vance Nelson actually was Van Snelson. There were amounts written in for the person called PHOTO, too. Maybe Mr. Snelson had a partner in crime who was already certified to handle real estate.

  If BIRD was Dickie Byrd, Ron North hadn’t been successful at getting any money out of him. Chase leafed through Ron’s story notes to find anything that might pertain to wrongdoing on the part of Dickie. It looked like Ron had started to interview the principal for an article on the school board. He seemed to suspect there were some shady activities going on there. The notes went on to mention the real estate scams. There were also notes about historical swindles, maybe to fill out his intended article.

  Dickie Byrd didn’t figure in those pages. However, Dickie was an easy target even if he hadn’t taken part in the scams. If he was always this careless about kissing women other than his wife in public, Ron could easily try to blackmail him about his indiscretions.

  Chase devoutly hoped the police could figure out Ron’s code. His notes flitted from one thing to another so that she didn’t know how he had planned to write anything coherent from them. She also wished, even more devoutly, that J would end up standing for someone other than Julie.

  Before they had hung up, Chase had described to Julie the person she and Eddie had seen at lunch, drunk. Julie remembered him from the reunion, but had no idea who he was. Was he PHOTO?