Detective Trumbull was definitely not in a good mood. Even Fitch was staying out of his way. “You’ve got a hell of a nerve,” the big man rumbled at Sunny. Then he glared at Will. “And why in God’s name did you help her?”
“We were trying to break up an extortion attempt,” Will said. “Preferably in a way that wouldn’t cause any embarrassment for an elected official.”
“Yeah? Well, you’ll find that Maine officials don’t have much pull on this side of the river,” Trumbull said, but that was mostly bluff. One thing that Sunny had learned from her dad was that politics was definitely the art of the possible.
Trumbull regarded them sourly for a moment. “So you thought that you could talk this girl out of blackmail, and she turns up with a duffel full of money—money that Rigsdale had gotten his hands on.”
“Money that these two foreign guys turned up and claimed,” Sunny said.
“They’re some sort of Ukrainian loan sharks,” Will said. “I thought things were going to get hairy, but they had paperwork proving that the money belonged to them.”
“You can check with Martin’s bank,” Sunny added.
“Right,” the detective said with heavy irony. “Everything nice and neat. I know when I’m being handed a package. And don’t keep smiling at me like a nine-year-old, young woman. I should rat your boyfriend here out to Sheriff Nesbit and get his butt roasted but good.”
Sunny continued to give him a bright smile.
Finally, Trumbull made a cutting gesture with his hand. “All right. Thanks very much for your statements. I’ll be questioning Ms. Featherstone. Good-bye.”
As they got back into Sunny’s Wrangler, she was still in a good mood. “Well, that could have gone much worse. Feel like having a very early breakfast?”
Will shook his head, frowning in thought. “We’ve dumped a lot on Trumbull’s plate, but it still doesn’t clear Jane. And even worse, we’re clean out of murder suspects.”
“Then we’ll have to look for more,” Sunny replied. “And considering the way Martin liked to spend his time, I expect that they’ll be female.” She drove for a moment in silence. “In fact, I’m pretty sure there must be another lover in the underbrush.”
“What leads you to that conclusion, Sherlock?” Will asked.
“Martin’s secret doorway to paradise,” Sunny replied. “It has to be the way the killer got in. I expect Dawn didn’t know about it—after all, that was how Martin was sneaking Christine in, literally behind her back. Dawn was on the front desk, and we were the only people who came in that way—that’s why she keeps insisting that Jane did Martin in.”
Will nodded slowly. “We know the back door was unlocked for Christine. Now we just have to find out who used it instead.”
“At least we’ve gotten Jane and Tobe some breathing space.” The conversation lapsed for a moment as Sunny negotiated the bridge crossing. “In the meantime, I’d like to suggest a new project.”
“It doesn’t have anything to do with blackmail and foreign money launderers, does it?” Will asked warily.
“No,” Sunny told him, “it’s a lot farther down the scale—catnapping.”
As they got off the interstate and began negotiating the winding country roads, Sunny related the other story that Mrs. Martinson had passed along.
“So you think this Dowdey woman might be holding Shadow against his will?” The skeptical, tough-cop tone crept into Will’s voice.
“Shadow is a wanderer,” Sunny said. “That’s the first thing Ada Spruance told me about him. And I guess he proved it when he wandered off from my house. If someone is locking him up in the hopes of turning him into a house cat, I don’t think that’s going to turn out well.”
Will sighed. “So what do you want to do?”
“Tomorrow—or later this morning—”
“Try ‘early this afternoon,’” Will suggested.
“Whenever,” Sunny said impatiently. “I’ll print out some more posters. Then we’ll visit Mrs. Dowdey, pretending we’re going door to door.”
“Try to shame her into giving up Shadow if she’s got him?” Will nodded. “Sounds like a workable plan.”
“And if that doesn’t do it, we’ll try some old-fashioned snooping,” Sunny added. “I’ll mention this system for getting cats acclimated, and ask to see what sort of setup she uses.”
“I’m glad you started using ‘I’ instead of ‘we,’” Will said.
“Well, of course you’re coming along,” Sunny told him. “I’ll have a lot more clout if I come knocking at her door with a town constable at my side.”
*
