Fat Cat Takes The Cake

Would she put food where she had transported a dead body? There was certainly no blood. No peanuts either, unless Monique had just removed them. Traces of peanuts wouldn’t prove anything anyway, now that she thought about it. But, as Julie had pointed out, there could be piles of DNA that were undetectable with the human eye.

“You know”—Chase was thinking fast—“I don’t think this jack will fit my car.” That might even be true. Monique drove a Toyota and Chase a Ford Fusion. “Thanks anyway.” She put her hand on Monique’s arm, knowing how she hated to be touched.

“You always were a little different.” Monique jerked her arm back, brushed off her sleeve, got into her car, and drove away.

Chase made a face and repeated her words aloud. “You always were a little different.” She decided to add something of her own. “And you were always nuts, Monique.” As much as she hated to admit it, Monique acted entirely innocent. And that trunk was pristine. It was true that DNA would be invisible, but surely something would be amiss if a dead body had been transported in it. That carpeting looked like nothing heavier than a box of dessert bars had ever been set on it. She argued with herself that a good vacuuming would fluff up the fibers after Ron’s slight form had crushed them. If he’d ever been there.

When she went inside, she wasn’t needed in the salesroom, so she retreated to her office to think. Were any of the suspects on her own list ruled out completely? Were any of them even good possibilities? Were there any reasons for her not to lose hope?

TWENTY-EIGHT

Chase sat at her desk in front of her monitor. It displayed a screen saver depicting a cat watching fish swim past. She ignored the playful image and doodled on a pad of paper, considering each suspect again for about the hundredth time.

Van Snelson. PRINCE in the blackmail book. Hated kids, even though he had been a high school principal for eons. Was getting into real estate, but not in a good way: swindling poor Hilda Bjorn and others out of their homes. He had probably slept at the high school all night and not left the building to murder anyone or stash any bodies. However, if he was being blackmailed, he might want Ron North dead.

Langton Hail. PHOTO in the blackmail book. The partner in crime—no, more like the instigator of the real estate swindle. However, he was an alcoholic, now trying to recover by drinking vegetable-laden beverages at Eddie Heath’s Health Bar. She shuddered. That night, though, he had been too drunk to drive and had stayed either inside the school or in his car until morning, when Eddie saw him leaving. If he was faking being drunk, he could have murdered Ron and returned, acting like he hadn’t left. Not likely, but possible. Not only the blackmail, but having a newspaper article expose his dealings, was a fine motive.

Then there were both Byrds. At first she considered Dickie Byrd because he might want to defend his wife’s honor from her stalker. When she found out they had split up, that motive had fallen apart. If Ron knew about the mistress, though, that could hurt his campaign, so that was a very good motive. He had spent the night with that mistress. She might have fallen asleep while he slipped out, murdered Ron, dumped him, and crept silently back into bed. Not likely, but also possible.

Monique Byrd. Should she still be under consideration? She surely wanted to get rid of the annoying man. Enough to murder him? Had he been in that trunk and not left a trace?

The scenarios were all possible, but not probable. The trouble was, none of the alibis seemed ironclad, while all of the motives were good.

That faint J penciled in below the other blackmail victims was probably Julie. It wasn’t good that she appeared in both parts of Ron’s notebook, the blackmail part and the stalking part.

Maybe it was time to review that night another time and go over every single thing she could remember.

She had arrived with Julie, who immediately found Jay. Chase talked to Bart Fender at the punch bowl, then Julie and Jay came over. Jay soon left with some guys and Bart wandered off.

Then Ron North had approached the two women. Ron started talking about Julie being part of the real estate scam. He seemed at least half drunk, and offered to spike their drinks. Then he attacked Julie and kissed her. Jay pulled him off and he and Julie left Chase with Ron.

However, she left and joined a group of women from her English class and they chatted for a good while. She observed Ron, still at the punch bowl, with some classmates and Mr. Snelson. Mr. Hail was with him. The two older men both left angry, possibly after Snelson paid him blackmail money, and joined Dickie Byrd.

Then Ron accosted Monique Byrd when she got punch. She threw her punch in his face. Bart started over, probably to do harm to Ron, but Ron skedaddled out the door to the parking lot. Bart followed him.