Vera decided not to enter the campaign office, and walked on to the police station, still juggling her coffee and two pieces of pie. When she entered the surprisingly cozy building that served as the Shady Hollow police department, her cheerful greeting died before it had left her lips. Orville and Chief Meade were sitting at their desks on opposite sides of the station, and there was a distinct chill in the air. Apparently, they were no longer on speaking terms.
Oh, terrific, Vera thought to herself. Now I’m going to have to sacrifice my piece of pumpkin pie so that these two idiots will talk to one another. Aloud she called cheerfully, “Surprise, boys! Special delivery from Joe!”
Chapter 4
Vera offered a piece of pie to each bear, trying to conceal her acute sense of loss. Both of them thanked her politely enough, but Vera didn’t stick around to discover just how frosty relations had grown within the police force. After a quick glance to Orville, she dashed out of the police station. Talk about the “murder” would have to wait.
So she went to the Shady Hollow hospital, which stood at one end of Shady Hollow, not far from the winding river that provided much of the town’s business.
“I’m here to see Dorothy Springfield, please,” she announced to the efficient-looking squirrel behind the walnut reception desk.
“Hmm. Well, the doctors’ orders are for her to be kept as calm as possible. You must promise not to excite her or harass her. Sign here, yes, thank you. Room 304.”
Vera climbed the steps, and quickly found the correct room, which overlooked the river. Dotty sat in the bed, which was made up in crisp white linens. A few vases of flowers already decorated the room.
“Mrs. Springfield? It’s Vera Vixen. Do you feel up to a chat?”
The rat looked over to the door where Vera was standing. “Come to gather details for the next big story in the paper, eh? Just like that busybody bird who flits around spying on folks for tidbits in her gossip column.”
“Nothing like that. And if you don’t want to talk, you certainly don’t have to.”
“Oh, it doesn’t matter.” The rat sounded quite resigned. “Come in, sit down. Might as well get the circus started. Were you living here when the Herald ran that nasty piece on my attempts to prove the existence of the spirit world through seances? No, before your time. Well, if I can endure the articles that came out then, I can endure it now.”
“I take it the seance did not go according to plan?”
“The arrangement of the candles did not go according to plan,” the rat corrected. “All I can say is that the volunteer fire department was to be praised for their quick response. And I still believe that spirits are among us.”
“Mrs. Springfield…or is it Dotty?”
“Dot will do, please. I hate Dotty. Lots of folks use it, you know, because it amuses them. A little on the nose, if you will.”
Vera pulled out her notebook and pen. “Dot, I’m just trying to understand what happened at your home. It created quite a stir, and you deserve to have your side of the story told.”
“No one will believe my side! I’m not even sure I can explain it now. It was a feeling, you see. Intuition. I can’t point to evidence…exactly,” she added with a more nervous look. “Certainly not without going back there, and I won’t do that while he’s there.”
“By he, you mean your husband, Edward?”
“No! I mean precisely the opposite. That rat may look and talk and move just like my Edward, but it’s not him.”
Vera wrote down the words, and then paused reflectively. “And this is the part you knew by intuition?”
“I knew it the instant I saw him in the foyer.”
“But how? I mean to say…he looks like, well, Edward Springfield. And he talks like Edward. I myself saw him shortly before the incident. He was leaving the law office as I came in. I mean, he’s wearing all the same clothes and knows the same folks and everyone else seems to agree that he’s Edward.”
“Well, they’re wrong,” Dot said matter-of-factly.
“Why don’t you go back a bit,” Vera said slowly, keeping her mind as open as possible. “Tell me how that day began.”
Dot sighed. “I had to wake up extremely early to catch the upriver boat from the dock at Cedar Creek Junction. That’s the closest stop to where Mrs. Springfield—Edward’s mother, you know—was living after her retirement. Adora had a beautiful home on the bluff that overlooks the valley, and she loved it there. Even while she was sick, she said the view helped her more than any doctors.” Dot cast a sad look around the hospital room, and Vera nodded to show that she was listening.
“Well, she’d passed away the afternoon previously. I made the necessary arrangements, which was easy as we’d all been expecting this moment. I sent word to various folks who needed to know…”
“Who was that?”
“Oh, let’s see. I sent a wingmail to Edward to tell him the news and that I’d be home as soon as I could. As the crow flies, it’s only a couple of hours, so I knew the message would get there in plenty of time. Mr. Fallow—he’s got charge of the disposal of the estate. The administrator at the mine headquarters, so they would be aware. Reverend Conkers, so he can prepare for the funeral service. That sort of thing. I didn’t think I’d actually be able to leave the next day, but I was very eager to get home. I didn’t want Edward to be alone with such sad news on his mind.”
“So you got the first boat of the day?”
“Yes, it leaves before dawn. And it was on time landing on the North Dock, which is the one I always use, as it’s the closest to Mirror Lake.”
Vera nodded, scribbling all the details down.
“I hurried home along the usual path, and
