The Purrfect Murder

been—provoking Tazio for months,” Paul spoke up. “She probably provoked others. It’s one of the others who killed her.”
    “She provoked Mike McElvoy on a daily basis.” Harry put in her two cents.
    “He deserves it,” Susan simply said.
    “We’re about to find out ourselves,” Blair mentioned. “We hoped we’d get Tony Long as our inspector, but, no, we landed Mr.”—he was about to utter a profanity and then substituted—“Jerk.”
    Fair smiled slightly at him for being quick-witted.
    Big Mim decried profanity. Profanity delighted Aunt Tally, who would pepper her comments with some just to see the sulfur hiss out of her niece’s bejeweled ears.
    “Balls.” Aunt Tally lived up to her reputation.
    “Aunt Tally.” Big Mim stared crossly at her.
    “I mean Mike McElvoy doesn’t have the balls to kill anyone.” She sniffed. “Don’t trust him, though. He’s like a trombone slightly off-key, but I can’t identify what’s weird, what’s off.”
    For a moment everyone looked at Aunt Tally, for she had expressed something each had felt.
    “On the take?” Fair put his hands on his knees. “It would be so easy to do.”
    “You mean find problems and then shake down the owner, maybe even the construction boss?” Harry, even though not an idealist, was always upset when a public servant proved crooked.
    “Lord,” Little Mim simply said. “That makes perfect sense.”
    “How can we find out?” Big Mim asked. “Is it possible that Carla was being…? It’s not blackmail, I guess, it’s theft, pure and simple. Maybe Tazio found out.” She was puzzled. “And, well, I know this sounds crazy, but Carla was such a drama queen when Will Wylde was killed. It kind of makes one wonder if there’s a connection.”
    “I don’t see how,” Susan replied, then returned to the subject of Mike. “If Carla was getting squeezed, she wouldn’t want anyone to know. Pride.”
    “Goeth before a fall.” Aunt Tally tapped her cane once on the floor, then added, “But if Carla had had an abortion, she wouldn’t want anyone to know, either. Yet another fall.”
    “She may not be the only one to fall on both counts.” Fair’s mind whirred. “If Mike is dishonest, and I’m not saying he is, but for the purposes of discussion—”
    Aunt Tally interrupted, “You don’t have to hedge your bets. We’re family here.”
    “Thank you for that singular honor.” He inclined his head toward Aunt Tally, who was thrilled at the male attention.
    “Mike crawls through a great many extremely expensive new houses built by new people. Because they don’t understand our ways, they’re vulnerable. Their first impulse is to sue. Right?” Everyone nodded in agreement. “It stands to reason that an outright bribe might not be the wisest policy for Mike.”
    “What do you mean?” Big Mim was fascinated.
    Harry replied. “However he did it, Mike was putting the squeeze on Carla by finding things wrong in the house.” She paused. “He couldn’t come out directly and ask for a payoff or he’d find himself in court.”
    “How does this relate to Taz?” Paul’s purpose was single-minded, as befitted a man in love.
    “I don’t know.” Fair put his hands together. “I wish I did, but I do know she didn’t kill Carla.”
    “Could a woman have slashed Carla’s throat?” Little Mim asked.
    “Why not?” Harry shrugged. “You can slice the jugular without hitting the neckbones.”
    “It’s not as easy as you think,” Fair said. “It takes force. Muscle is thick, especially living muscle. It’s not like cutting into a steak. But a woman could surely do it.”
    “According to Ned, who asked the Bedford County sheriff, Carla faced her attacker. The blood covered her bosoms, the front of her dress, her left arm. But he said, and this surprised me, her right arm was untouched.” Susan paused. “She didn’t defend herself. Didn’t throw her arm up.”
    “Maybe Carla didn’t have time to defend herself.” Big Mim thought of the seconds of terror Carla must have felt.
    “Possible.” Jim seconded his wife’s opinion.
    “Or she knew her attacker and discounted him or her,” Harry added. “She may not have liked whomever she was talking with but she didn’t fear him.”
    A long silence followed this.
    “Question Folly, Penny, and Elise Brennan. They’ve all built huge houses in the last year or added onto what they have,” Aunt Tally suggested.
    “Why would they tell the truth?”