Cat's Meow, page 16
“Addie, this is my friend, Mrs. Nora Goldstein.” I gave Nora a little nudge forward.
They shook hands, Addie automatically responding when Nora reached out first.
“Emily must have told you why she’s here with me.” I said that as a statement, not a question, and Addie nodded. Thank goodness. Having to explain Nora’s presence was one less thing to deal with. From all appearances, getting information from Addie was going to be difficult enough.
Nora and I sat down, one on each side of Addie. She was focused on her phone again, intently typing something with both thumbs. I exchanged a look with Nora and gave a small shrug. I’d give the girl a few more moments to acclimate herself to our presence before plunging into the reason we’d come here.
“Want some coffee, Miss Franklin?” Emily appeared at my shoulder, the welcome aroma of coffee wafting from the carafe.
I nodded vigorously, turning to smile up at her. “That would hit the spot. It wasn’t too bad outside, but I did get a little chilled.”
“Oh, sorry about that.” Emily’s eyebrows drew together in a frown as she glanced from me to her sister.
Addie’s head was still down, and Emily didn’t look pleased.
“Well, give me a sec to grab a couple of mugs, okay?” With another critical stare at Addie, she took off for the kitchen, the door swinging behind her.
“Addie,” I began gently, “Mrs. Goldstein and I are here because you wanted to tell us something.”
I waited a moment to see if she’d respond. When she didn’t, I sighed. It wouldn’t bother me one bit to play the old lady card with this girl. Okay, so being in my early fifties wasn’t old. I got that. But to anyone younger than thirty, I was antique.
Clearing my throat, I added in a slightly quavering voice, “And it was a very long, cold walk for two elderly women.” I wanted to laugh as Nora’s thin eyebrows shot sky-high, a retort clearly on her lips. Giving her a little shake of the head, I continued, this time a bit more firmly. “If you’re not going to tell us what you know about the college, then we’ll leave and give you some space.”
I made as if to push my chair back and nearly collided with Emily, a tray of coffee and brioche balanced on one arm.
“Oops, Miss Franklin. My fault.” Emily maneuvered deftly around me and placed the loaded tray on the table. Before I could reassure her it was fine, she put both hands on her hips. “Addie, you’re being just plain rude to these two ladies. If you aren’t going to talk to them, I am.”
“You’ve got that right.” Nora reached for a full mug of coffee and a generous slice of warm vanilla brioche. “At least I’ll get some food out of it.”
“Be nice.” My tone was mild, but I agreed with her. I’d finally get to taste some of the pastry the café was famous for in our neck of the woods.
“Fine. I’ll talk.” Addie’s voice was rough, cracking as if she hadn’t spoken in a while.
I didn’t say anything but took a long sip of the deliciously warm brew. As far as I was concerned, I’d already helped her as far as I was going to.
“Addie?” Emily’s voice was gentler now, coaxing her older sister into revealing whatever it was she’d learned. “Why don’t you tell them where you were when, you know, you heard about the–the—”
“The professor who liked to trade grades for ‘favors’?” Her fingers came up to make air quotes. The nails were bitten to the quick, cuticles red and peeling. This girl clearly had something bothering her.
I stepped into the conversation, carefully placing my nearly full mug down first. “Addie, before we get started here, let’s get something straight, all right?” I had her attention.
Emily’s eyes widened slightly at my words, but she remained silent.
“If you want us to help you, we can’t have any of this.” I mimed the air quotes, smiling to show her I wasn’t mad. “Just say what you have to say and don’t worry about what we’ll think. Deal?”
Addie nodded slowly, her cheeks reddening as she glanced around the table at three interested faces. “Okay. Just don’t blame me if I embarrass you.”
“This is probably where I leave you three to chat.” Emily smiled uncertainly around the table, but I made a shooing motion with my hand, laughing in amusement at Addie’s words.
“Trust me when I say I’ve probably heard it all already. High school students aren’t the best at using a social filter when they talk.” I reached over and patted her hand gently. “Just tell us what it is you know.”
“Yes,” Nora chimed in. “Tell us in your own words.”
That phrase, “in your own words,” had always been one of my pet peeves. Every time I heard someone say it, I was tempted to ask, “And whose words will they be using if not their own?” It took some willpower, but I managed to disregard Nora and focus on Addie. At this point, she was the only one with firsthand information concerning the college and Babs’s delving into its financial secrets.
“Addie?” I prompted her. “Why don’t you begin with what you know about the mayor and Ms. Prescott?”
“Why would I know anything about the mayor?” Addie sounded puzzled, her eyebrows puckering together as she looked at me. “The only thing I know is Mr. Lafoe was getting ready to have his name all over the news for what he was doing.”
Ah. Now we were getting somewhere.
“Why was his name going to be on the news?” Nora’s tone was casual, but I could see the sides of her neck tightening as she spoke. “Was he cooking the grade books or something?”
Addie stared at Nora as if she’d sprouted horns. “If that was all he was doing, well, he’d be like dozens of others on that campus. Talk about a corrupt system!” She snorted in disgust. “That college is a microcosm of everything that’s wrong in this world, I’m telling you.”
“Then what was it?” I was beginning to feel impatient again, and I looked around for Emily. Maybe a refill of coffee would help.
“Just what I said. Tim Lafoe.” Addie’s smile was thin, without a shred of warmth in it. “He played these stupid games with grades. He even had a barter system that was absolutely disgusting. He’d give a girl an A, even if she didn’t show up to class, if she’d—”
I stuck a finger in each ear and closed my eyes. I really didn’t want to know. My stomach was rolling at the thoughts that had formed in my mind, however, and Nora’s reaction seemed to be much the same.
“Did you tell anyone, Addie? A counselor, an administrator, anyone?”
She gave a small laugh, one completely empty of mirth. “Really, Miss Franklin? And have to tell them over and over what some of my friends had done in his class?” She shook her head adamantly. “No way. That’s why I left. I figured if I wasn’t there, no one could ask me questions, especially not that nosy newswoman.”
Nora and I exchanged a look. This sounded promising, in spite of the gut-churning information.
“Do you mean Babs Prescott?” I knew that was who she meant, but I needed to hear it for myself.
“Yep. Ms. Plastic herself.” Addie laughed again, this time sounding close to hysteria. “You should’ve seen her walking around, her pretend boobs leading the parade. She sure seemed to eat up the attention she got from all the guys on campus. Especially Mr. Lafoe.”
Nora, rather proud of her non-fake assets, gave a satisfied smile. I wanted to cover my nearly-not-there chest.
Instead, I leaned closer to Addie, my voice and expression serious. “Addie, did Babs know about Tim Lafoe’s so-called barter system?”
She shrugged, reaching out for her iced tea. “Maybe. Actually, I’m pretty sure she knew something. I think that’s why he was constantly swarming around her.”
“What makes you think that?” Nora leaned in as well. “Did you hear her saying something to that effect?”
Addie nodded slowly. “One day when I was in the library, I heard arguing coming from the stacks in the very back of the room.” She gave a small shrug, with a half smile. “I was bored with what I was studying, so I snuck back there to listen.”
“And you overheard Babs and Tim?” I tried to keep the eagerness out of my voice. “Did you hear what they were saying?”
Addie nodded. “And how! She was practically hissing, telling him she’d already gotten the goods on him from some of his students.” She reddened slightly. “I heard the names she gave, but there’s no way I’m telling that part.”
“And you don’t need to,” I assured her.
If the police wanted to grill her for the information, they were welcome to it.
“What was Tim’s response to that?”
“He told her she’d publish it over his dead body.”
Nora hooted in laughter. “Well, he got that one wrong, didn’t he?”
I frowned at her. “That’s not funny. Someone did die.”
“But nothing got published, did it?” Addie’s words made Nora and me turn to stare at her. She was absolutely correct.
“Nora.” I spoke carefully, not wanting to appear too eager. “I think we need to find out where Tim Lafoe was on the day Babs died.”
“And I agree.” Nora took the last sip of her coffee and grimaced. “Ugh, I can’t stand cold coffee.”
“Let me top that off for you, all right?” Emily was at my elbow with a carafe. Her expression was carefully neutral, but her concern was obvious. I smiled at her as brightly as I dared, without appearing manic.
“That would be lovely.” I held out my mug for her to refill. “Nora?”
The atmosphere became lighter, and we enjoyed a few minutes of easy gossip with Emily and Addie, the sisters telling funny stories about their time in high school. I laughed the loudest, recalling exactly what they were describing. It made me realize how much I still missed the students.
I didn’t miss the ever-present politics, though. And I definitely didn’t miss the few unscrupulous educators I’d met over the years. It was time to find out exactly what Tim Lafoe was up to and get that news story out there. Shelby Tucker would be just the person to do that.
That thought made me smile with glee. Justice would be served up in black and white, the perfect end to a bad situation.
Chapter 15
“So now what? Do we call the police? Good grief, I’m cold!” Nora pulled her jacket closer about her body, shivering as we quick-stepped our way back to her apartment building.
You need more body fat, I wanted to tell her, but I answered her question, letting my own jacket fly open in the breeze. “I think we should, don’t you? Addie’s practically handed us the killer on a silver platter.”
“Or on a plate of brioche. That was really good stuff. Kinda woke up my sweet tooth. Should we swing by The Friendly Bean? Maybe grab a few chocolate croissants to take back to my place?”
Yes, my traitorous stomach screamed. “No, that’s okay. The brioche was enough.”
“Really?” I could feel Nora giving me an appraising look. “Would this happen to have anything to do with a certain dog owner?”
“What makes you say that?” I was glad it was dark because my face was on fire. “I just don’t want anything, that’s all.”
“Uh huh.” Her tone was as dry as the dust in my house.
I’d neglected routine housecleaning lately in favor of anything except housecleaning. I figured the dust would wait but other things might not, such as a good book, a coffee date with a certain man, and clearing Shelby’s name.
The building’s entrance was brightly lit, a bank of spotlights trained on several pieces of art that sat in niches around the lobby. If I didn’t know it was an apartment building, I might have thought it was a luxury hotel.
“Have a nice evening, ladies,” chirped the building’s new concierge, her bright pink nail polish shiny under the lights. “And don’t forget that next month’s talent show still needs a few more acts.”
“I’ll sure take that under consideration.” Nora waggled her own brightly painted nails as we headed for the elevator.
Once we reached it, Nora turned to me, “There’s no way on God’s green earth I’ll be doing that any time soon.” She pushed the button to summon the elevator.
I gave her arm a poke. “What about having Marcus perform a tango with you? It seems you two are pretty good at that sort of thing.”
We stepped into the elevator, and Nora pushed the button for her floor. The door closed with a soft hiss.
“Indeed,” was all she said, but a smile lurked in the corner of her mouth. She might have been thinking of the dance, or it might have been a different sort of tango on her mind.
If I was a betting woman, I’d put all of my chips on the latter.
After a quick cup of hot tea—chamomile with lavender, a perfect way to end the day—I said my farewells and began the walk home. We needed to make a personal visit to the Portland Police Station and had agreed on taking an Uber together to save a very long walk.
“I’ll text when we’re on the way,” she’d assured me. “And don’t tell Brent what we’re doing or he’ll insist on driving.”
“Not to worry,” I laughed. “He’s the last person I’d tell.”
I slept well that night, in spite of the brioche. Sugar didn’t sit well with me at times, especially when eaten later in the evening. If I had to guess, I’d say the tea had done its job.
I didn’t bother to set an alarm, knowing Herc would be more than happy to wake me well before Nora made an appearance. I’d always been an “early to bed, early to rise” person, even when younger, and Herc’s nudges didn’t inconvenience me.
I hadn’t counted on Nora, though. When my cell phone began to announce a text long before I was ready to get out of bed, I was disoriented, reaching for the nonexistent alarm clock I’d tossed out on my first day of retirement.
Rise and shine, it read, followed by a series of tiny pictures.
With one eye opened, I recognized a cup of something that looked like coffee and a croissant. The line of red hearts that followed these was as loud as Nora herself, and I could have sworn the phone had added the ability to actually project the aroma coming from the tiny food pictures. It was too early, however, and I groaned, letting the phone fall from my hand.
“Hey, boy,” I said as Herc’s snuffling nose bumped the side of my bed.
He still looked sleepy, as if the idea of food hadn’t entered his doggy brain yet. He slept on the braided throw rug beside my bed, ignoring the deluxe cushion I’d found for him at the local Goodwill. It had been sanitized and cleaned, I’d been assured, but apparently it wasn’t up to Herc’s standards. I was all right with the current arrangements, to be honest. It was comforting to hear his soft snores when I awoke in the night. I wasn’t certain he’d be much of a deterrent if a burglar ever showed up, though.
The cell began chiming again, this time indicating an incoming call. I picked up the phone and looked at the time: five minutes after six. What in the world was the woman thinking?
This had better be good. “I was asleep. And that begs the question: why aren’t you?”
Nora’s laugh echoed strangely in my ear. If I didn’t know better, I’d have guessed she was standing in my living room.
She was.
“What in the Sam Hill are you doing here? And how did you get in?” I clutched the covers to my neck, glaring as Nora waltzed into my room.
She carried a tray. It hadn’t been the emojis I’d smelled. A carafe, two cups, and a plate of something tantalizing was deposited on the small nightstand next to my bed. Herc’s tail, always a good indicator of his mood, was thumping a rapid staccato on the floor as he sat eyeing the tray. At least one of us was happy.
“We’ve got a date with the boys and girls in blue, remember?” She poured a cup of coffee and handed it to me. “Drink this and wake up, buttercup. You are one grumpy bunny in the morning.”
I wanted to ignore her, turn my back, and pull the covers over my head. She and her pal Herc could enjoy the morning together without me. Instead, I took the cup from her hand and grunted my thanks.
“You still haven’t answered my second question.” I eyed Nora over the rim of my coffee cup, feeling more awake but still, as she’d so eloquently put it, like a “grumpy bunny.” “I don’t recall giving you a key to my house.”
“I didn’t need a key, goofy. Remember this?” She withdrew a small metal object from the velvet fanny pack she’d fastened around her waist. “I guess I forgot to return this after our little adventure last year.”
I closed my eyes and shivered. To call it an “adventure” was a gross understatement, to say the least. It was typical of Nora, though, to save a memento. She’d had the largest accumulation of ticket stubs I’d ever seen when we were teens while I’d been into growing my collection of mystery books. I guess I should have been thankful it was only a lock pick and not something else, considering what we’d experienced.
“Is it okay for me to come in now?”
I started and almost dropped my coffee on my favorite duvet cover, the one sprinkled with violets and tiny green leaves.
Rachel’s smiling face peeked around the corner of my bedroom door, her cell phone held up in one hand. “Have you told her yet, Mrs. Goldstein?”
“Mrs. Goldstein,” I said sharply, “hasn’t told me much except to admit she picked the lock on my front door.” I glared at Herc. “And thanks to this amazing guard dog here, I feel as safe as a fish in a roomful of cats.”
“Aw, don’t blame him.” Rachel edged her way in and squatted by my dog. He looked at her with an adoring expression as she began scratching between his ears. “He’s a lover, not a fighter.”
“That figures.” I swung my feet over the side of my bed. “I can’t even choose a dog properly.” I looked at my rather ratty nightgown and motioned to the robe hanging on the back of my door. “Nora, hand me that robe, please. And you two,” I looked at Rachel and her furry shadow, “can wait in the kitchen. We might as well eat at the table.”
