The Cat, the Wife and the Weapon

More than a week passed, with Candace continuing to sort through the evidence against Hilary Roth. Though Bob had played a part in Hilary’s plan to get the money Karen had earmarked for Finn, he was all talk and did nothing he could be arrested for—or nothing Candace could find to indicate a conspiracy. He’d slipped by without consequences—seemingly a pattern for him.

Kara put out several special editions of the Mercy Messenger as the complete story began to come out. The gossip was still going on at Belle’s Beans, the Main Street Diner and the Finest Catch, as well as all the other spots people gathered in Mercy.

Dashiell and Yoshi, it turned out, seemed surprisingly compatible. They’d remained at my house since the Bob problem still existed. He was slow to move out of Tom’s place after finding such a comfortable spot to crash. Dashiell wasn’t safe until he left. Tom, meanwhile, spent most of his free time at my place and even bought an Xbox and hooked it up to my flat screen so he and Finn could play games together where pretend swords were the only weapons involved.

Tonight, however, I’d invited the entire family to dinner, Bob included. It was a risk—especially since Bob thought he was coming alone and the rest of his family had no idea he would be there.

Ed and Karen arrived early, bringing the catfish Ed, Finn and Tom had caught that morning on one of Ed’s trotlines. Finn and Tom then took off for the mall. Apparently the clothes Kara bought were passable, but not exactly “dope,” as Finn put it.

Karen brought a casserole of hash browns, sour cream and cheddar cheese, which she said needed only an hour in the oven. More important, she’d brought one of her famous lemon icebox pies. I only had to supply salad, sweet tea and plenty of counter space for Ed to do something he did so well—prepare the fish.

Karen took Yoshi for a walk to give Ed a little time to get used to the idea of befriending a dog. Seemed he was truly phobic, and it had taken a lot of persuading to get him to come here rather than do the meal at Karen’s house. In the end, he’d said, “How can I refuse Jillian’s invite? She protected Karen and the boy with every tool in her box—including her genius cats.”

Ed brought his own filet knife and showed me how to prepare a catfish. Four felines were showing a great interest in this process—and I even wondered if they were considering how to manage a filet knife themselves. Syrah, Chablis, Merlot and Dashiell were lined up in a row near Ed, waiting for so much as a morsel of raw fish to drop on the floor.

“You’re so handy with your knife, Ed Duffy,” I said. “Bet you’ve had plenty of practice.”

“You betcha,” he said.

I’d supplied separate flat pans for flour, milk mixed with egg, and bread crumbs to coat the fish. I thought, No wonder I never cook. This room is about to become a fish-fried kitchen.

Ed drank a Dr Pepper while he worked carefully, piling one pink filet on top of another. When Tom and Finn arrived with department store bags and a couple shoe boxes, they were talkative and happy. I was certain the atmosphere would change once Bob arrived, so I enjoyed their happiness.

After putting the purchases in the guest room, they sat next to me on the stools at the breakfast bar where we could oversee Ed’s preparations. Tom had grabbed a beer and Finn began downing a Dr Pepper like he’d never had one before.

“So,” Ed said, skinning one of the few remaining fish adeptly. “Karen won’t talk about everything that happened and I’m pretty confused concerning this woman Hilary who pretended to be her friend all these years. Did she really kill two grown men?”

Tom took a slug of his beer, then said, “She’s responsible for Roth’s death and did the actual deed on Gannon. Stabbed him with a knife from a set she bought in some tourist-trap housewares store on Main Street. I’m thinking her purchase goes to premeditation—and I like it because they’ll tack on plenty more jail time.”

“You mean the House and Home store near the end of Main Street?”

“That’s the one,” Tom said. “Never been in there myself.”

“How did they find out she bought the knives there?” I asked. “Receipts?”

“Owner came forward with security camera footage after reading about her arrest in the Messenger,” Tom replied.

“She confessed, but not to buying the darn knife?” Ed asked.

“She’s vain. She knew she’d screwed up,” he said. “Anyway, here’s what we now know from Hilary’s confession. She and Nolan were watching Finn closely, but even more so once he turned eighteen. They were worried he’d run off again, especially once he learned about all the money my mom had been saving for him. See, she told Hilary she’d take care of Finn and asked when would be the right time to have a chat with Finn in person. Mom was worried about his schooling. With Hilary not working and Nolan the ex-con not contributing, Mom was justifiably concerned. Hilary was formulating a plan to get her hands on the money, but wasn’t sure how. She needed time to figure it out. So she convinced Mom to wait, saying Finn wasn’t responsible enough to handle money yet. Hilary was planting a seed, hoping Mom would turn the money directly over to her. I’m sure glad she didn’t.”

“Well, Hilary may have known about all that money, but I sure didn’t,” Ed said.

“You’re not the only one,” Tom said. “Mom has since told me that because the money didn’t come from my dad and I always said I wanted to take care of myself financially, it wouldn’t be an issue if I didn’t know. She’s right. It’s not.”

“Typical of Karen not to talk much about such things. Maybe ’cause she knows I’m not concerned with those matters aside from helping her get to her accounts on the computer. A little bit of cash goes a long way in my book.” He looked at Finn and smiled. “Come to my place of business and see how you can stretch a few dollars. You’ll see I’m serious.”

Finn said, “I’m looking forward to visiting your shop. You got any Xbox games?”

“Indeed I do,” Ed said. “You wouldn’t believe the perfectly fine items people toss in the garbage. Go on, Tom, because maybe if I hear the whole story, I can make sense of it for Karen. She’s had more than one nightmare in the last week.”

Tom said, “Here’s where things started to go wrong. When Hilary looked at Finn’s computer—she’d been monitoring his phone and his computer for months—she saw he’d been researching his father. She was concerned because she knew darn well Rory Gannon would like to line his pockets with Finn’s money.”

“Did she believe Gannon would want anything to do with Finn after all these years?” I said.

“She probably had a fleeting thought,” Tom said. “But she knew exactly what he’d be most interested in—any payday to be had.” Tom glanced at Finn. “I didn’t mean to put him down. You understand the man didn’t know you, right? Didn’t—”

Finn held up his hand to stop Tom from explaining Gannon’s motive. “Save it. I didn’t know him, either, though I think in the end he did want to tell me Hilary wasn’t my mother— which could be one reason she killed him. Anyhow, we may have had the same blood, but that’s all. I only hope I don’t turn out like him.”

“You will never be like him,” I said.

Ed said, “Listen to Jillian. She knows what she’s talking about. Heck, we know what you’re like and you’re one fine young man. But here’s where I’m a little confused. Hilary’s husband, Mr. Nolan Roth, was in cahoots with her to get Finn back home after he ran off. Maybe milk the account Karen set up. What changed?”

“I believe it was indeed the original plan,” I explained. “But according to what Candace told me, Nolan Roth expressed doubt to Hilary they could ever get Finn back after he learned Tom and Finn were communicating. Added to that, Nolan was becoming obsessed with getting revenge on Tom for sending him to jail. Hilary didn’t care about getting even and didn’t like Nolan focusing on his own agenda. Didn’t like it enough to get rid of him. See, she’d already contacted Gannon, using Finn’s phone. She figured Gannon might take a call from his son. He did.”

“Gives you great insight into Hilary’s character,” Tom said. “Gannon was her back-up plan. When Nolan wouldn’t toe the line, she quietly seethed, but she played nice with him. She talked to Nolan all along the route to his second visit to Mercy to find Finn—sending her calls to my phone, which shows she knew Nolan had it.”

I said, “Candace might not have told you this, but she busted Hilary’s alibi. She signed into the job fair, but was seen leaving on a security camera. She used your phone, Tom, to contact Gannon, not just Finn’s. This was during the time you were being held in Roth’s garage.”

Tom smiled. “She always thought she was so darn smart. Apparently she knows nothing about cell phones