Cast Iron Conviction (The Cast Iron Cooking Mysteries Book 2) (18 page)

After he was gone, I saw that Pat was smiling slightly. “What’s so amusing?”

“We managed to eliminate a suspect and make a big sale, all ten minutes after we opened the Iron for the day. That’s progress on every front, as far as I’m concerned.”

“And then there were two,” I said. “Which one of them do like for murder?”

“I wish I knew. Both Harriet and Sally had their reasons to want to see Mitchell dead, and there’s no doubt in my mind that Albert was killed for his snooping.”

“We’re close,” I said. “I can feel it in my bones. But how do we decide?”

Pat shrugged. “I don’t know. Let’s think about it while we’re waiting on customers.”

“What customers?” I asked, and then I looked over his shoulder. There were half a dozen folks walking toward us from the parking lot, so despite our best efforts to work as amateur sleuths, it appeared that for the time being, we’d have to be content running the Iron together.

It was a long day at the Cast Iron Store and Grill, one of the longest that I could ever remember. Every time someone came in, I looked up, expecting to see one of our final two suspects, but each and every time, I was disappointed.

Wherever they were, they weren’t stepping anywhere near our store.

Two minutes before closing, with just a few stragglers still shopping and one diner eating at the bar, Kathleen walked in, looking grim and determined.

Glancing down at Lester Pender’s empty plate, I swooped it up, replacing it with his bill. “Would you like that sweet tea to go?” I asked him.

He looked startled by my fast actions and then nodded. “Yes, that would be fine.”

I transferred his tea into a cup, topping it off with fresh ice and tea, and slapped a lid on it. “There you go.”

“Thank you,” he said.

Lester didn’t complain about my abruptness, but it had clearly thrown him a little off balance. He took the tea, as well as the check, up front, and I hurried after him toward my older sister. As I did, I told the few folks still shopping, “If there’s anything you’d like to buy, now’s the time to do it.”

Nobody protested, and soon enough, the store was empty except for the Marsh siblings and Skip.

Pat said, “You can take off now, Skip. We’ve got this.”

He took one look at Kathleen and then nodded. “Thanks. See you tomorrow.”

After he was gone, Kathleen was ready to talk, and what she told us both definitely surprised me.

Chapter 24: Pat

“W
hy so grim, Sis?” I asked her after finishing up with our last customer. I’d been willing to wait the three minutes until we officially closed for the day, but Annie had done a proper job of shooing everyone out early. I had to hand it to her; none of them had looked peeved by her actions, just slightly uncertain about what had just happened.

“Is someone else dead?” Annie asked Kathleen breathlessly.

I hadn’t even considered that possibility. Maple Crest was beginning to be a very dangerous place to live if there was another body.

“No, at least not yet. I’m not willing to wait a second longer, though. I’m about to haul my main suspect in for an extended round of questioning, and I wanted the two of you to know what was going on ahead of time.”

“Who do you believe did it?” I’d called her soon after Ollie had left. She’d demanded the right to confirm his alibi herself, and she’d called later and told me that it was solid. “Was it Sally or Harriet?”

“I’m nearly positive that Sally is the real killer,” she said firmly.

“What makes you think that?” Annie asked her.

“There’s just too much about her story that doesn’t hold up. Every bit of it feels fabricated to me, and I don’t buy for one second that she was at the Iron last night looking for protection. She was there to hurt both of you, and I’m not going to stand by and watch it happen.”

I considered what she was saying and realized that there might be something more personal involved here than just her professional opinion. “Kathleen, don’t take this the wrong way, but could it be possible that the reason you’re focusing on Sally is because you consider her a threat to us? Isn’t it just as likely that Harriet killed both of those men?”

Our older sister frowned for a moment. “No. I feel my reasons are solid. Besides, I’m not arresting her. I just feel that if I take her to the station and apply a little pressure, she might break down and confess.”

“But what if she doesn’t?” Annie asked gently. It was clear that she too was touched by our sister’s motivations.

“Then I’ll redouble my efforts with Harriet,” Kathleen conceded. “But I don’t think I’m wrong on this.”

“Based on what, exactly?” I asked her.

“My gut, which is made up of years of experience dealing with bad guys,” she said. “If you should find Sally before I can, don’t do anything to antagonize her, okay? She’s dangerous, and I don’t want her going after the both of you, too.”

“We’ll try not to,” I said, and Annie nodded in agreement.

After Kathleen was gone, Annie cleaned the grill, and I worked at shutting down the front of the store. The cash register balanced beautifully, and I actually finished up a minute before she did, something that was rare on most days. As she joined me up front, Annie asked me, “So, what do we do now? Do we look for Harriet, just in case Kathleen has it wrong?”

“I’m not sure there’s anything we
can
do at this point,” I said. “Either way, Kathleen is determined to finish this case herself.”

“I don’t like it,” Annie said.

“We can talk about it more, if you’d like. What do you say? Care to take a ride to the bank with me?”

“Why not?”

We never made it, though.

When we walked out of the Iron together, Harriet Parton was standing there, looking for all the world like a cold-blooded killer.

Trying my best to play it cool, I said, “Harriet, we missed you today. Was there something we could do for you? We just closed up, but if it’s an emergency, I’m sure we can make an exception.”

I glanced over at Annie, who was currently looking at me as though I’d lost my mind. What else could we do, given the situation?

“I’m here to confess something to you both,” she said, her glances darting around the building. “Are we alone?”

“Kathleen is on her way over here,” Annie blurted out. To me she didn’t sound convincing at all, but hopefully Harriet didn’t know her as well as I did.

“Then I’ll be quick about it,” Harriet said. “Timothy saw me the night of the class, didn’t he?”

“Of course he did,” Annie said. “You two had a conversation, remember?”

Harriet shook her head, as though she was trying her best to displace a gnat. “After it was over.” She looked down at her feet. “I came back. He nearly caught me spying. I was so embarrassed.”

“Why did you return?” Annie asked her. I was looking around for something that I could use as a weapon. I would have taken anything at that point, but short of lifting up a rocking chair and holding her off like a lion tamer, I was stumped.

“I wanted to see if Sally was there. She’s dangerous, but nobody will believe me. I wasn’t there for any other reason.”

“Then why did you run off when Timothy spotted you?” I asked her.

“I was mortified that he’d catch me snooping. What can I say? I panicked.”

“Is that why you followed us to the hollow tree at the park?” Pat asked her.

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Harriet, there’s no reason to bother denying it. We won’t think less of you for doing it,” Annie said soothingly.

Harriet shook her head. “Why would I do that? It doesn’t make sense. What’s so special about this hollow tree you’re referring to?”

“You really don’t know, do you?” Annie asked her.

“I don’t have a clue. Anyway, I just had to come by and get that off my chest. I hated the thought of anyone thinking that I was up to no good. Despite what Mitchell Wells did to me, I would never have killed him, and as for Albert, he was irritating, but that isn’t reason enough to murder anyone.”

She turned to go, and Annie called out, “Are you going to be okay?”

Harriet turned back toward us. “I think so. I won’t lie. This has all dredged up a past I wanted to forget, but I know that I wasn’t responsible for anything that happened to anyone, so I won’t have any trouble sleeping at night. Sally can’t say the same thing.”

After Harriet was gone, I looked at Annie and whistled softly. “So, it appears that Kathleen was right about Sally after all.”

“You know, I’ve been thinking about that,” Annie said as she sat in one of the chairs. “Can the bank wait until later?”

“Why not?” I asked, taking the chair beside her. “What’s on your mind?”

“Didn’t it all seem a little staged last night when we caught Sally here, Pat?”

I nodded. “I wondered about that, too. It was as though she was making it up as she went along.” I remembered her biting her nails, and the Band-Aids on her hand. “I am such an idiot! I can’t believe I didn’t see it before.”

“What are you talking about, Pat?”

“Did you see those Band-Aids on her finger and thumb last night?”

“She slammed the car door on them,” Annie said. “She told us that, remember?”

“Sally was lying to us, Annie. I’m willing to bet if Kathleen pulls off those Band-Aids, she’s going to find wounds consistent with knife cuts. She must have done it driving one of those knives into the doors she targeted.”

“That’s why she was really here,” Annie said excitedly. “I bet she was going to stick one in your door as well, only we caught her before she could do it. That has to be it! Everyone else involved got a knife calling card but you and Harriet. She was probably next in line after the Iron.”

I was about to answer when I heard someone step forward from the woods beside our building. “Very good. You two are smarter than you look.”

Sally Tremont was standing before us, a knife gleaming in each hand.

It appeared that we’d figured things out on our own.

It just looked questionable whether we’d ever live long enough to tell anyone about it.