The Purrfect Murder

known,” Susan said consolingly.
    “No, I know that, but still…” He paused. “The staff has worked so very hard. I didn’t want to take the night away from them. We had security. I just never imagined…” His voice strengthened again. “But I felt that one of us should be in the house, not a member of the sheriff’s department.”
    “Why Melvin?” Harry inquired.
    “He’s a shy fellow. I don’t know why—he’s a good-looking man, mid-twenties, just out of William and Mary. Anyway, Melvin wasn’t up to such a huge party, but he was happy to be in the house, to watch and listen to the music.”
    “Did he see anything?” Harry pushed on.
    “He thought he heard the front door close. He walked to the door but didn’t see anything. Not in the house. He looked out the window and saw Carla walking toward the center of the lawn.”
    “Melvin might not have seen anyone because, if the killer stood right up against the front door, well, you wouldn’t see him, would you?” To prove her point, Harry opened the front door, stepped outside, closed the door behind her, and flattened herself against it.
    Susan looked out one window, Robert the other. They could just see the tip of her boots as she stood inside the recessed doorway. But they knew she was there. Otherwise, they’d have missed her.
    She came back in. “Possible.”
    “Yes.” Robert nodded.
    “Did the sheriff think of this?” Susan wondered.
    “Well, no, but he questioned Melvin. The killer could have been in the house. If we go outside and check where both lines of Porta-Johns were, you’ll get a better idea.”
    Once outside, Robert walked to the east, where the mist was lifting. “We put a line here, out of the way but easy for the company renting them to pick them up.” He strode across the lawn and toward the parking lot. “Another line here, and then we had one single unit behind the platform, for the musicians and if anyone got nervous before their speech.”
    “Nervous?” Harry didn’t put two and two together.
    Susan laughed. “Some people have to wee. You know, they get scared, and, well…”
    “Ah, well, I don’t give public addresses.”
    “You took public speaking in high school. I was there. You were pretty good.” Susan counted the depressions on the grass where the toilets had been. “How many altogether?”
    “Twenty-five. I thought that was overkill, but Tazio and Folly declared it wasn’t and nothing was worse than waiting in line. They were right: we could have done with thirty. Well, excuse me, twenty-six counting the one behind the platform.”
    “Did anyone see Tazio come from the Porta-John?” Harry inquired.
    “I don’t know. The sheriff hasn’t made me privy, excuse the pun, to his information.” Robert sighed.
    “Little Mim did,” Susan stated. “Ned asked Tazio if anyone saw her. Remember, she left the table early because she knew the timetable and wanted to be clear of everyone and to be ready for the speeches. Ned checked with Little Mim, who said she did see Tazio as she was entering one green box, Harvey Tillach another. But Harvey came out before Tazio did, since men can, well, go a lot faster than women.”
    The Porta-Johns were green.
    “She could have waited behind a tree afterward. I suppose she could have gone into the house.” Robert believed Tazio had done the deed.
    “We can’t dismiss a committee member.” Harry didn’t censor herself. “Or even a staff member from the possibility of committing the murder.”
    “There’s no reason whatsoever for one of my people to do such a terrible thing.” Robert was tetchy.
    “Forgive her. She gets like this when she’s seized by a notion or a mystery.”
    “Huh? I do. I’m sorry, Robert. I can’t think of any reason why someone who is part of this incredible project would want to do anything like this, but then, that’s the key to solving a crime, isn’t it?”
    “What?” the attractive, well-turned-out man asked.
    “Motive, opportunity, will to kill. If you figure that out, you can almost always find who did it. Motive. Tazio did have a motive, in that she hated Carla—well, hate is a strong word. Carla got on her nerves.”
    “It’s rather an extreme way to soothe the nerves,” Robert slyly said.
    “She had the opportunity,” Susan added.
    “Did she have the will to kill?” Harry put her hand on her hip. “No. Emphatically no. She’s at the top of her game, she’s well respected, she’s making very