after I left and before the woman who came to buy the cats and found Edna dead arrived, Jethro went into town for a burger and saw Fritz Moon’s truck parked down the road.”
“Fritz had as much reason as anyone to want Edna dead,” I said.
“Jethro indicated that Fritz was an okay guy, but he did have a temper, and he was understandably mad that Edna was trying to gyp him out of money she rightfully owed him. He also pointed out that if Fritz was here on legitimate business he would have just parked in the drive rather than down the street. Jethro shared that there’s a footpath that leads from the spot where he saw the car parked to the back side of Edna’s barn.”
“Why is it that Jethro told you all this but wouldn’t talk to me?” I complained.
“I’m guessing you don’t know how to ask a man what it is you want to know.”
I rolled my eyes as Nona leaned forward, showing off just a bit of her cleavage. She certainly wasn’t one to act her age, which I supposed was one of the things I loved the most about her.
I called Salinger and filled him in on what we’d learned. He said he’d follow up with Jethro when he had a chance, and also mentioned that the coroner had found some irregularities, so he was taking a second look at both the timeline and the cause of death. He promised to let me know if there were any significant developments and, again, asked me politely to be careful and not take any unnecessary risks.
“I met a man at the bar last night who used to know Edna before she turned into the crazy cat woman,” Nona shared as I drove her back to the house.
“Oh, and did he have anything interesting to say about our victim?”
“Not really; only that she used to be a real party animal until she became obsessed with the cats and stopped showing up at the bar.”
“Edna’s ex-friend Silvia said something similar. I wonder if something happened to Edna that would account for the personality change.”
“You mean like how I used to be an old stick in the mud and then one day I woke up and was suddenly awesome?”
“Yeah, something like that.” I remembered Zak telling me that Nona used to be a curmudgeon who made everyone’s life miserable and then, one night about ten years ago, she went to bed an unhappy old woman and woke up the next morning a free-spirited hippie. The doctors attributed the change in personality to a stroke of some sort.
A stroke, or some other similar physical event, might explain how a woman could suddenly develop the tendency to fixate on objects such as cats and certain men to the point of compulsion. I supposed the why behind Edna’s strange behavior was something we might never know.
I dropped Nona off at the house and was about to head over to Ellie’s to check on my sick friend when I received a call from Jeremy, letting me know that we had a nuisance dog call from the new bakery on Main Street. He wondered if I would be able to respond because his sitter had dropped off Morgan at the Zoo while she went to a doctor’s appointment. I told him I’d be happy to respond and headed in that direction.
When I arrived at the bakery I was informed that the dog was guarding the Dumpster out back and would growl whenever anyone approached. The bakery owner told me he’d tried to shoo it off with a broom with no success. I had my car rather than my rescue truck, so I hoped I’d be able to deal with the animal without the use of my gear.
“Hey,” I greeted the dog softly. I immediately noticed that she’d recently delivered puppies, which led me to wonder if the pups were hidden nearby. The dog was skinny and mangy, so I assumed she’d been on the street for quite some time.
I put Charlie on his leash and slowly removed him from my car. The mama dog growled. I took some dog treats from the stash I kept in my glove box and gave one to Charlie while I spoke to him softly. I could see the mama dog watching me. I told Charlie to stay while I slowly made my
“Fritz had as much reason as anyone to want Edna dead,” I said.
“Jethro indicated that Fritz was an okay guy, but he did have a temper, and he was understandably mad that Edna was trying to gyp him out of money she rightfully owed him. He also pointed out that if Fritz was here on legitimate business he would have just parked in the drive rather than down the street. Jethro shared that there’s a footpath that leads from the spot where he saw the car parked to the back side of Edna’s barn.”
“Why is it that Jethro told you all this but wouldn’t talk to me?” I complained.
“I’m guessing you don’t know how to ask a man what it is you want to know.”
I rolled my eyes as Nona leaned forward, showing off just a bit of her cleavage. She certainly wasn’t one to act her age, which I supposed was one of the things I loved the most about her.
I called Salinger and filled him in on what we’d learned. He said he’d follow up with Jethro when he had a chance, and also mentioned that the coroner had found some irregularities, so he was taking a second look at both the timeline and the cause of death. He promised to let me know if there were any significant developments and, again, asked me politely to be careful and not take any unnecessary risks.
“I met a man at the bar last night who used to know Edna before she turned into the crazy cat woman,” Nona shared as I drove her back to the house.
“Oh, and did he have anything interesting to say about our victim?”
“Not really; only that she used to be a real party animal until she became obsessed with the cats and stopped showing up at the bar.”
“Edna’s ex-friend Silvia said something similar. I wonder if something happened to Edna that would account for the personality change.”
“You mean like how I used to be an old stick in the mud and then one day I woke up and was suddenly awesome?”
“Yeah, something like that.” I remembered Zak telling me that Nona used to be a curmudgeon who made everyone’s life miserable and then, one night about ten years ago, she went to bed an unhappy old woman and woke up the next morning a free-spirited hippie. The doctors attributed the change in personality to a stroke of some sort.
A stroke, or some other similar physical event, might explain how a woman could suddenly develop the tendency to fixate on objects such as cats and certain men to the point of compulsion. I supposed the why behind Edna’s strange behavior was something we might never know.
I dropped Nona off at the house and was about to head over to Ellie’s to check on my sick friend when I received a call from Jeremy, letting me know that we had a nuisance dog call from the new bakery on Main Street. He wondered if I would be able to respond because his sitter had dropped off Morgan at the Zoo while she went to a doctor’s appointment. I told him I’d be happy to respond and headed in that direction.
When I arrived at the bakery I was informed that the dog was guarding the Dumpster out back and would growl whenever anyone approached. The bakery owner told me he’d tried to shoo it off with a broom with no success. I had my car rather than my rescue truck, so I hoped I’d be able to deal with the animal without the use of my gear.
“Hey,” I greeted the dog softly. I immediately noticed that she’d recently delivered puppies, which led me to wonder if the pups were hidden nearby. The dog was skinny and mangy, so I assumed she’d been on the street for quite some time.
I put Charlie on his leash and slowly removed him from my car. The mama dog growled. I took some dog treats from the stash I kept in my glove box and gave one to Charlie while I spoke to him softly. I could see the mama dog watching me. I told Charlie to stay while I slowly made my
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