Free Much Ado About Felines (Whales and Tails Mystery Book 4) by Kathi Daley Page B

to figure out what that something was.”
     

Chapter 7
     
     
    “Your cat has been sitting staring out the window ever since I’ve been here,” Tara commented later that evening as she poured nuts into the chocolate. “It’s almost like she’s looking for something, or maybe waiting for someone.”
    I glanced at Beatrice. She had been peering intently at something for the past hour in spite of the fact that it was still raining and there really wasn’t anything to see. Still, I did hope she knew something I didn’t. To be honest, I kept waiting for her to do something, anything that might point us in a direction. Bella had said Beatrice would take me where I needed to go, but so far she hadn’t taken me any farther than the sofa.
    “Maybe she’s getting ready to make her move, whatever that might be,” I said. “At this point Cody and I need all the help we can get.”
    “Have you talked to Finn?” Tara asked.
    “We stopped in to chat with him after we had lunch. He said he had a few ideas he was looking in to, but he declined to offer specifics. I think he’s as stumped as we are.”
    “And Ernie didn’t know anything?” Tara began measuring the flour she would need to add to the first layer of the caramel brownies we were making. We were cooking along with Cathy, though we both seemed to be too distracted to pay much attention to the banter portion of the show tonight.
    “Not really. He did confirm that Jimmy left Roxi with a debt she was unable to pay. He didn’t know the total amount or who it was owed to, but he did share that Roxi came to work one day maybe six weeks ago with a black eye. At first she claimed she’d run into an open cabinet door, but she later admitted that Jimmy had gotten into debt to some bad men who were intent on collecting despite the fact that Jimmy was dead. Ernie said he gave her five thousand dollars, but he didn’t think it was enough to get her out of the hole completely. Ernie believes Roxi died as a result of her inability to pay the remainder, but Finn doesn’t agree.”
    “No?” Tara poured the batter she’d been mixing into a casserole dish. “Why not?”
    “He told us it seemed obvious that whoever killed Roxi and then buried her in her own grave was trying to hide the body. He said most of the time back-alley money lenders trying to collect a debt look to make a statement by displaying the body in a public place, where it can serve as a warning to others who may be behind on their payments.”
    “I guess that makes sense.”
    “Besides, Stacy indicated that the total amount of the debt was twenty grand. We know Ernie gave Roxi five, and Stacy thought there were others who gave her money as well. It seems like a money lender would have a bit more patience if Roxi was making payments.”
    “Yeah, I have to agree. And now that Roxi is dead the guy has no way to collect the balance. Did you preheat the oven?” Tara asked.
    I nodded.
    “Knowing that Jimmy owed these less-than-law-abiding citizens a chunk of cash makes me wonder if his accident was really an accident at all,” Tara mused.
    “Finn said the same thing. He’s taking another look at Jimmy’s accident.”
    “Let’s start gathering the ingredients for the casserole while the dessert bakes,” Tara suggested. “What time are the guys getting here?”
    “Should be any minute now. In fact, I thought Danny would be here by now because I know he didn’t have any tours today. I expected to find him camped out here when I got home. He usually doesn’t stay on the boat when it’s storming.”
    “Maybe he stopped off over at O’Malley’s,” Tara offered.
    I shrugged. “I guess he might have.”
    I began grating the first of the three types of cheese we planned to use.
    “So how do you think it’s working out for all of us now that Coffee Cat Books has officially taken over the scheduling for Danny?” Tara asked.
    “I don’t know. I guess it’s working out okay. Why do you