The Cat, the Wife and the Weapon

“If he were simply an adult runaway, I couldn’t. But since he’s wanted for questioning anyway, I’ll do just that.” She took her cell phone from her utility belt. “But not out on the radio for the whole town to pick up on their scanners. Don’t want the do-gooders in town to spook Finn if he’s just walking around, thinking about what he heard his mother say. What was he wearing last time you saw him?”

I described the jeans and shirt Kara had bought. While Candace called in the “be on the lookout” alert with Finn’s description, the rest of us listened in silence. I was stunned by the evening’s events and I’m sure Hilary and Liam were, too.

After she hung up, Candace looked at Hilary. “We need to talk to everyone who knew Mr. Gannon. You can follow me to the police station.”

She pointed at herself with a manicured nail. “Me? There’s nothing I can tell you about Rory aside from the fact he’s battled mental illness most of his adult life. I mean, he did. Before he—he… died.” With the money troubles she had, she still got her nails done. Not unusual, I decided. Denial was a huge issue in a country where people hurt by the downturn in the economy still wanted all the perks they were used to.

“I just need to write down everything you know about Mr. Gannon for the chief. Paperwork never goes away. Let’s go.” She started for the door and Liam got behind Hilary as if to herd her out.

I stood at the back door and watched them leave, but before Candace disappeared around the side of the house, she turned and said, “I know you’ll call right away if Finn shows up.”

I shut the door and locked it, making sure the dead bolt was fastened, too. Setting Chablis down, I turned on the deck lights in case Finn decided to come back. Gosh, I hoped he would.

As I walked back into the kitchen, I remembered Candace’s words when we were talking about her job once and got a shiver up my spine. She’d said, “The innocent? They just stick around. Guilty folks run.”

I opened the fridge and took out the sweet tea. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten, but I wasn’t hungry. I poured a glass and went into the living room, grabbed a lap quilt and curled up in John’s recliner. All three cats soon surrounded me.

I stared out through the picture windows, the deck lights casting faint glimmers on the black lake. Stars shone like brilliant specks through the trees and I hoped one of those stars would lead Finn back here. Why did he feel the need to run away? He seemed to understand we all wanted to help him. The thought puzzled me, and deep down I feared that maybe he didn’t run away after all. Maybe someone made him write the note and leave it for me to make it seem like he ran. I shook my head. No. I couldn’t dwell on dark thoughts. There was an explanation. Finn would come back and he would tell us why he left. I was sure of it.

My phone rang and the sound made me jump. Maybe it was Finn. Instead it was Kara, making sure I was all right after what had happened. I told her I was okay and before I could even mention Finn’s disappearance, she said she was in a hurry to get a headline in for tomorrow’s Mercy Messenger. She disconnected.

My eyelids felt weighted and, with Chablis resting on my chest, I closed them. Next thing I knew, a knock at my back door awakened me. I’d dozed off. I rose from the chair so quickly I frightened poor Chablis and she leaped from my arms and scampered off down the hall. But Merlot and Syrah were already waiting in the kitchen ready for me to answer the door.

It was Candace.

I let her in, hugged her tightly and said, “I am so glad you came.”

“I knew you wouldn’t be in bed,” she said. “I take it you haven’t heard from Finn?”

“No. But I nodded off. How can I sleep with Finn missing?” As we went into the kitchen I checked the microwave for the time. One a.m. I’d been out for several hours.

“You needed the sleep. And I need tea.” She opened the fridge and took out the pitcher.

“I have wine, if you’d rather—”

“Nothing stronger than tea or coffee until I solve this double homicide,” she said. “But I’d love a big bag of chips about now.”

“Since I had a teenager in the house, I can fulfill your wish,” I said.

“By the way, did you check your security footage? I wonder if something important was caught on video. Maybe Hilary lied and Finn did talk to her,” she said, taking the bag of chips I offered.

“Can’t hurt to check,” I said. “We can also get the exact time the security system was disarmed, though I’m not sure how the information will help.”

“Any information might be useful,” Candace said. “Let’s go look.”

In my office I booted up the computer and we watched the various feeds from the past evening. Most of the time, Finn seemed to be watching television in the living room. Then we saw him stab the remote and stand up, as if listening to something. Could this be when his mother showed up? He disappeared and must have gone to his room, but without a camera in that part of the house, we could only assume. Then we watched Finn and Yoshi walk through the living room and kitchen, Finn carrying his backpack slung over one shoulder. The time stamp showed Finn disarmed the system around ten p.m. On his way out, he stopped to write the note he’d left me and I noticed he kept glancing back toward the foyer.

I murmured, “He heard Hilary. He left because she was at the front door.”

Candace had been leaning over, looking at the screen. “You’re right. She was the trigger. He didn’t want to see her.”

I powered off the computer and we returned to the living room. Candace sat down with her tea and the extra-large bag of Wavy Lays. I felt sad Finn never even had a chance to open them.

“I take it you haven’t heard from Tom?” I asked.

“Not a word. He didn’t go home. See, Bob didn’t have a ride since Rodriguez drove him to the station. But Morris wasn’t about to drop Bob off at Tom’s house until we can search the yard in the morning light. There could be evidence we missed. He did drive by the place, though. Rodriguez was on watch, parked out front. He said he hadn’t seen Tom.”

“Where did Morris take Bob?” I asked. “He said he didn’t have any money.”

Candace finished her mouthful of chips before answering. “Morris dropped him at his mother’s house. We made sure not to tell Bob that Finn is missing. We figured he can’t tell Karen anything he doesn’t know.”

“Karen said it was okay for Bob to come to her house to stay?” I said. “You’re aware those two have issues.”

“I know. But Bob called her from the station, and she apparently didn’t put up too much of a stink. You know something? She’s been living in Mercy for ten years—since I was a teenager—and I never saw her as hysterical as she was tonight. For that matter, I’ve never seen Tom as screwed up as he is right now, either.”

“I’m worried about him. You think he’s still driving all over the place looking for Finn?” I said.

“Not a doubt in my mind. You don’t think Tom changed his mind about Finn, do you? Maybe he thinks Finn found Gannon spying through Tom’s window and ended up harming his father. Because if that’s the case, I wouldn’t put it past Tom to help Finn get as far away from Mercy as possible.”

“No way, Candace. He knows Finn could never kill anyone,” I said. “If he finds him, he’ll convince him to come back. I had a thought earlier that perhaps Finn didn’t leave here on his own. Maybe someone compelled him to leave. Now we know it was probably Hilary’s arrival that made him run.”

She used a paper towel she’d grabbed earlier and wiped salt and grease off her hands. After taking a long drink of tea, she said, “Could be, or maybe he compelled himself to leave, Jillian. From talking to him, I get the sense he’d blame himself, think he’d caused everyone too much trouble. Distress like that can make people turn to what they know best to solve a problem. In his case, it’s running away.”

“He’ll come back. He has to. Now that he’s seen how much Tom cares about him, he won’t be able to stay away.” I welcomed Chablis onto my lap. Syrah was already asleep above my head on the recliner’s back. Merlot, who likes salty fingers, was parked close to Candace.

“I hope you’re right,” she said. “I want to tell Finn myself how we found a couple important pieces of evidence on Gannon’s body.”

“What evidence?” I asked.

“Finn’s wallet. We also found a prepaid cell in Gannon’s pocket. It belonged to Finn, too.”

“His wallet? And a phone?” I said. “How did Gannon get these things? Because Finn never mentioned meeting up with his father. Unless… Oh my goodness. Could Gannon have been at the scene of the accident?”