Murder Most Howl: A Paws & Claws Mystery (21 page)

I froze at her words. “Myrtle, the local police are working on Norm’s murder. I don’t think it’s wise to interfere.”

Myrtle drew her head back and stared at me as though I was being outrageously insulting. “My, my. Says the woman who hired a criminal to go into people’s rooms and steal from them. If the local police are anything like you, they’ll never solve the case. A killer wouldn’t have a thing to worry about here.”

Her words stung, but I had to keep my cool. “I’m pleased to assure you that the local policeman is very competent.”

Myrtle stared straight ahead and jammed a giant bite of the salmon pinwheel into her mouth. She intentionally avoided looking at me, and acted as though I weren’t there. I knew when I had been dismissed.

I smiled at Sylvie, who gave me an apologetic look.

I sucked in a deep breath of air and moseyed over to the Tredwells. Char reached up, and I handed her Ella Mae. “How are you enjoying your stay?”

“Everything is just delightful,” Char assured me. She
turned to look at Blanche. “Blanche didn’t want to come on this trip, but I think she’s even enjoying herself now.”

Blanche nodded. “After tea, Charlotte and I are taking the dogs for massages.”

Geof snorted.

“You’re not going?” I asked Robin.

“Please. I can get a massage anywhere. I’d rather walk around and enjoy the scenery while I’m here.”

“Holly, Geof has lost his money clip. Has anyone turned one in?” asked Ian.

My throat closed up.
Shadow
. What else had he taken? “Oh no. I’m so sorry, Geof,” I choked. “I’ll tell the staff to be on the lookout. Where did you last see it?”

Char beat him to a response. “Holly, don’t worry about it. I’m certain he left it in a restaurant or a store.”

Geof looked a little miffed. “I could swear I saw it in our room yesterday morning.”

I smiled but goose bumps rose on my arms. What else had disappeared from the inn?

I promised to keep an eye out for it, wished them a lovely afternoon, and returned to my own table, where Shelley had replaced the platter of Mac and Cheeselets with a three-tiered server loaded with tiny sandwiches and fabulous sweets.

Sylvie and Myrtle had left, hopefully not to pester Savannah.

“Can you believe her?” Holmes licked cream off his finger. “She’s acting like Norm’s death is the game.”

Aunt Birdie plucked a slice of apple Bundt cake off the server. “Really, Holly. You should find a better quality of guest. Has she no sensitivity for anyone? Imagine the nerve!”

“I have a feeling she’s somewhat disagreeable by nature.” I finished the few remaining bites of my mac and cheese, ready to dig into the pastries. Near my feet, I heard muffled snorting. Gingersnap’s eyes were closed, and her paws twitched like she was running in a dream. I smiled when she barked in her sleep again.

At that moment, Weegie approached our table. “I’m sorry to interrupt you, but I was wondering if you might have another room I could move into for the rest of my stay.”

Given the issues with Shadow, I hoped she didn’t have a plumbing issue. “Is something wrong with your room?”

“Yes. Myrtle is staying there.”

“Weegie, I’m so sorry. We’re booked solid. I don’t have anything that isn’t occupied.”

Aunt Birdie piped up. “She doesn’t even have room for me. And I’m her only living blood relative.”

Holmes’s eyes met mine, and it was all I could do not to burst out laughing. My mother, Birdie’s sister, was alive and well, not to mention their parents, my half siblings, my father, and Oma.

Weegie’s entire body sagged. “I can’t stand another night with that woman. Honestly. Isn’t there some little corner? An office maybe?”

“If some of your friends will take you in, I could put a rollaway bed in their room.”

She brightened up immediately. “Oh, thank you!” She scuttled back to the table where she’d been eating, chatted for a moment, and returned. “It sounds like Fetch is a pretty good size. Would that work?”

“Absolutely. I’ll bring up a bed shortly.”

“What a relief. I have learned a powerful lesson this weekend. You don’t know a person until you travel with her. I always liked Myrtle but the woman is a nut. Spending an hour with a person once a month can be so misleading. Almost anyone can act sane for an hour or two. Here we are in this beautiful resort, and all she can do is complain. That woman was born with a glass half-empty. Now I know why none of the others would room with her.”

“I’m glad you were able to work things out.”

She thanked me again and returned to her friends. I could hear them agreeing to help her move her belongings immediately.

Ben set down his fork and observed me. “You handled that very well. Does it happen a lot?”

“It’s not uncommon.”

Holmes reached for a scone and laughed. “When it’s a married couple, then you’ve got real problems.”

The dining area had begun to empty out. I sipped my English breakfast tea and slathered a scone with cream and blackberry preserves.

“I certainly am enjoying this. You have most interesting guests. Do you need my help with one of them?” Birdie looked at me over the edge of her teacup.

“Our handyman quit.”

Birdie choked on her tea. “Gracious, I hope you’re not going ask me to be the handyman!”

“I needed to hire a new one. I happened to meet Shadow Hobbs—”

Birdie interrupted me. “Oh dear.”

“I was hoping you could tell us what happened when Juliana died.”

“That was a terrible tragedy. Somehow those gel packs of laundry detergent landed in Juliana’s takeout. Apparently they’re quite deadly. I had no idea. They say the package was on the counter where Shadow was packing food, and he must have slipped them into Juliana’s order. Some sort of stew or chili, I think it was. It’s so caustic that it didn’t take much.”

Ben’s eyes grew round. “That’s despicable.” He placed his hand on his throat like he felt the terrible poison.

“There are those, including me, who never believed that Shadow did it. They had him, no doubt about it. His fingerprints on the package condemned him.”

“Why did you think he was innocent?” I asked.

“I’ve known Shadow since he was a baby. His real name is Hollis Junior, after his dad, but they called him Shadow because he followed his father everywhere. If you saw Hollis, you knew little Shadow couldn’t be far behind. He was
the sweetest boy. Why would he go and murder Juliana? He testified in court that he barely knew her.”

“What about the owners of the business? Did they have a beef with Juliana?” I asked.

“Not that I ever heard about. It was a tragedy all the way around. Norm lost his wife—”

I interrupted her. “Norm? Juliana was married to Norm?”

“Yes, of course. He was devastated.”

Norm kept turning up like a bad penny. Of course, in that case he had been a victim.

Birdie continued, “The owners lost their business and everything they owned. Such a shame. They were a cute young couple. Things were going so well for them. They had bought Randolph Hall and had done such a lovely job of fixing it up. As far as I know, they didn’t have any issues with Norm or Juliana. Wagtail was just on the cusp of turning into a dog and cat resort. Of course, no one would eat anything they cooked anymore. They went out of business and moved away. We all thought it horribly ironic that Norm bought Randolph Hall at auction—” she paused for effect “—with the money he got from suing them.”

“And it all happened because of Shadow,” I muttered. I shuddered at the thought of losing the Sugar Maple Inn that way. “I have to let him go.”

“Don’t do that!” Aunt Birdie seemed surprised. “It was several years ago, and if it was his fault, it was an accident. Doesn’t he deserve a chance to redeem himself?”

“Where has he been working since then?” I asked. “He has that cute cabin. He must be making some money.”

“Odd jobs.” Holmes sighed. “He cobbled that cabin together with discarded building material.”

“Even those huge windows?” I was doubtful.

“You’d be surprised what builders will discard. They ordered the wrong size and gave them to him for free just for hauling them away. He helps clean snow off the highway down the mountain with his truck. Things like that.”

I was so torn. I wanted to help him. Shadow was clearly industrious and talented. He’d already proven that he was a hard worker. “I don’t know what to do.”

I told Aunt Birdie and Ben about the missing necklace.

“That doesn’t sound like him at all,” protested Birdie.

I watched her. She’d steered me wrong once before. Way wrong. The trouble was that I liked Shadow. I liked what I had seen of him. I was only scared because of something that had happened a few years ago. “He wouldn’t be in the kitchen or involved with the laundry . . .”

Shelley and the cook had put in a long day. They stopped by our table to say good-bye.

“We’ll be here in the morning,” promised Shelley. “You should still have gas to warm food, even if the power goes out. Buckle down and stay safe.”

Aunt Birdie looked frightened. So that was the reason for bringing her suitcase. She was afraid to be alone in the storm.

“Aunt Birdie, maybe you should stay over to help. You know how to waitress, don’t you?” I teased. “We can put another rollaway bed in my apartment. It’ll be like a slumber party.”

She sat up straighter. “Well, if you need me . . .”

*   *   *

The next couple of hours passed quickly. Holmes, Ben, and I delivered rollaway beds to Fetch and to my apartment. I gave my bedroom to Birdie, despite her protests. As we worked, I notified everyone to keep an eye out for Geof’s money clip.

We brought the lanterns and candles back to all the public areas, just in case we lost power, and stashed a variety of board games in the Dogwood Room to entertain guests who didn’t care to venture out if another storm hit.

Just after five o’clock, the moment I had dreaded arrived. Shadow marched through the door and headed straight toward me. His father followed, right behind him.

Twenty-two

Hollis Hobbs was a bear of a man. Tall and robust, he reminded me of a mountain man who could probably live off the land, hunt, track, and defend his women. He had always been very nice to me and had been an enthusiastic participant in the planning of Murder Most Howl. But the scowl on his face told me this wasn’t a social call.

Shadow appeared to be sad and, true to his name, was but a mere shadow in his father’s presence. I expected Shadow to quit his new job now that we had caught him with the shamrock necklace. I still had mixed feelings. I wanted to follow my gut instinct and hire him but didn’t know if I should risk it.

He held the necklace out to me. “You didn’t have to pretend a necklace was missing and then plant it at my house. I would have understood if you had just asked me to quit. I know no one wants to hire me. My dad says the best thing for me would be to leave Wagtail and go someplace like Washington, where no one will know what happened at The Doggy Bag.”

I could feel my face flushing. Why was my first instinct to
apologize? What was it about him that made me want to believe him? I should be turning the tables on him. After all, he must have taken the necklace. How else could it have gotten to his cabin? Unless someone planted it there. But that was unlikely. Not impossible, but I feared it was wishful thinking on my part.

Hollis stood behind him. For moral support?

“Shadow,” I said gently, “one of the dogs found the necklace under a bush at your house. You must have dropped it.”

A crease formed between his eyebrows. “I don’t understand how that could be. I didn’t take it.” His head turned down like he felt the weight of the world.

Why, oh why, did I want to hug him and make him feel better?

Hollis spoke softly. “I realize that Shadow had a problem in his past, but he isn’t a liar, Holly. If he says he didn’t take it, then he didn’t.”

I glanced back as I felt Holmes move in behind me, like it was a standoff between the Hobbses and the two of us.

“Then how did it end up at his house, Hollis?” asked Holmes.

“If you found it, why’d you leave it there?” Hollis replied.

He didn’t answer the big question but he threw the ball back in our court.

“Look, Hollis,” I said. “I want Shadow to work here. We need a handyman, and Shadow did a great job for us today. I was very pleased. Holmes and I left the necklace as a test. We figured Shadow would know he had been caught and his reaction would prove . . . something . . .” My voice faded since I wasn’t exactly sure anymore what it would have proven.

Hollis sighed. “Seems to me it’s not a very good test. How do you pass? No matter what, you’re still going to ask how it got to his house. He can’t win.”

“That’s because it shouldn’t have been there. It should have been upstairs in a guest room with the rightful owner.” As I spoke, it dawned on me that I ought to check to be one hundred percent sure that it was the missing necklace.

Hollis started to speak, but Shadow stopped him. “I don’t know how it got to my house. I’ve heard of crows stealing shiny things. Maybe it fell off the lady’s neck, and a crow picked it up. But I know one thing. If I was a thief, and I got caught like this, I probably would have tried to sneak it back into the room it came from. ’Cause then, you’d have to think I never took it in the first place. You wouldn’t know if it was the same necklace or not, or how it got back there. That would be a sneaky thing to do. I can’t do it because I don’t know which room it came from, ’cause I didn’t take it. I’ve done the right thing by coming here and returning it. I can’t do no more than that.” He looked me straight in the eyes. “I didn’t take that necklace, and I didn’t kill Juliana. I don’t know what happened to her. But now that Norm has gone to his maker, he knows the truth.”