On the wrong side of the.., p.20
On the Wrong Side of the Paw,
p.20
Once Savannah was seated with Rags close to her, Craig addressed Linda, “So you killed your husband to be with Arnie Seacrest?”
Linda looked down at her hands and Craig continued, “When he wouldn’t have you, you blackmailed him. I’m curious; just what did you have on Mr. Seacrest that kept him paying for all those years?” Linda looked at Arnie with disgust, then sat up straight and said, “Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
“But you said…!” Arnie shouted.
“I lied,” she admitted. “Now you know, you didn’t kill him. I did. You never could do anything right. When you left that night, he was still alive. I had to knock him over the head and push him into that hole. Al came out and moved the dirt over him.”
“Al?” Savannah yelped.
Linda seemed to be in a world of her own as she continued speaking, her voice getting weaker and weaker. “Al didn’t know what I was doing. He thought I was afraid of falling into the hole, and that’s why I insisted it be covered up that night. He had no idea Ferrell was in there.”
She squinted for a few moments, remembering. “But Al knew something. He told me once when I came back to the house to retrieve a few things…he told me that I should stay away from the stand of trees north of the house because he sensed death or smelled death or something.”
She shivered. “Al always seemed to be tuned into the greater beyond.” Linda gazed into space. “But I revisited the grave site that day with Al, anyway. I told him I wanted to bury a box of garbage, so he dug some of the dirt out and I dropped the cardboard box of Ferrell’s belongings and his passport into the grave with him.” She chuckled. “That made for great speculation, don’t you think so? People thought he ran off without me. Yeah, that was a touch of genius, if I do say so myself. And I got away with it for all those years.”
She looked around at everyone, slumped in her chair a little, and said quietly, “If it wasn’t for that darned…darned…cat.”
Everyone in the room was aghast when Linda Peters toppled over onto the floor—dead.
****
“It was a heart attack, according to the newspaper,” Michael said the following evening.
Savannah shook her head slowly. “What a crazy night.”
“Unbelievable,” Michael agreed. He petted Rags when the cat leaped up onto the arm of his chair. “And there you were at the center of things. Rags, I’m beginning to believe you actually do have special powers.”
Savannah’s face lit up. “You do?”
He looked into Rags’s eyes. “There’s definitely something different about this cat.”
“Different good or different bad?” she asked.
He grinned at her. “Well, I have to say that was one impressive performance he gave last night. Whether he knew what he was doing, I will never know. But I certainly was impressed.”
Just then Savannah’s phone chimed. She picked it up. “It’s Auntie. Hi, did you see the paper?”
“Max and I just read the story. Amazing. Vannie, what will he do next?”
“Who knows,” Savannah said, “but it appears he’s going to keep me supplied with plenty of fodder for many, many more books.”
“For sure,” Margaret quipped. “By the way, I just heard from Janice, and she said they have found the missing five thousand dollars.”
“Oh?” Savannah questioned. “Where?”
Matter-of-factly, she revealed, “Arnie Seacrest had it. That exact amount was credited to his personal account right about the time it went missing. From what I understand, this whole thing has shaken up the Seacrest family.”
“I imagine so—I mean, Arnie will surely do time for his part in Mr. Peters’s death, not to mention embezzlement.”
“Yeah,” Margaret said. “Vickie told Janice that all the organizations Arnie worked for and volunteered with have been ordered to go through their books with a fine-toothed comb. She also said she’s reconsidering her relationship with him. And Justine, it seems, now wishes she’d gotten to know her real father. It may take her a while to heal after the low blow her stepfather hit her with as she was growing up—not giving her the freedom to seek out her roots—telling her lies about her father, and all. Ferrell had a brother just a little older than he was. I remember him from school, too. Justine and Forrest plan to meet so she can learn more about the family.”
“Sounds like a happy ending for a lot of people,” Savannah said.
“And cats,” Margaret added. “We have cleared the Teague colony of cats. Now, to get them all settled in the beautiful, loving homes they deserve.” Her voice accelerated. “Already, we have homes for a couple of them and Nola has most of the kittens in training to become lap kitties.”
“Super,” Savannah said. “I’d like to introduce some of them to residents at Glen Meadows, if they pass muster.”
“With Nola on the job, they’ll pass muster.” She laughed. “And with Rags on the job…”
“What?” Savannah asked. “With Rags on the job, what, Auntie?”
Margaret let out a long sigh. “Lordy, lordy, I can’t even imagine what’s next with your wily cat, but I’m pretty sure there’s trouble around the corner—always is with him.”
Savannah started to protest, but couldn’t honestly counter her aunt’s prediction.
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Patricia Fry, On the Wrong Side of the Paw
