Police Chief, Herb Simmons was waiting for Frank and Kitty to pul up and get out of the Jeep. "Hi. I was hoping to find you here. Frank, I need you to come to the station. We"ve made some progress on the homicide and I need to question you." Frank looked confused. "I"m not part of the investigation Herb."
"I know. We"re questioning you as a suspect."
"I"m coming with you Frank." Kitty gripped his hand to give him support.
"There"s no need for that." Herb sternly replied.
"Herb. I"m coming too. We"l fol ow you."
They climbed back into Frank"s jeep. Kitty"s heart sank. This couldn"t be happening.
Chapter 3.
"Frank Hughes? Is that your name?"
"Yes, Herb. You know that"s my name. What"s going on?" Frank was sitting in a smal room with the Police Chief.
"We found the murder weapon in the dumpster."
Frank leaned forward. "And?"
"And. It"s a tire iron with your fingerprints on it. Care to explain?" Herb steadied his gaze on Frank"s face.
Frank felt like he had just been punched. "I got a flat tire today and that"s the first time I realized it was missing. Actual y, someone slashed my tire and when I looked in the back for the tire iron, it wasn"t there. I don"t know when I last used it. Who checks if their tire iron is missing?"
"So you don"t know how your tire iron, the murder weapon, got in the dumpster?"
"No. Someone put it there, but it wasn"t me, Herb."
"What was your relationship with the victim?"
Frank sat back, trying to relax. "He was married to my ex-wife, Sheila."
"Was that difficult for you?"
"At first. But I"ve been over it for quite a while."
Never taking his eyes off Frank"s face, Herb asked, "Did you notice anyone near your car during the fair? Someone that might have taken the tire iron?"
"I was talking to Kitty"s friend Mia and several people walked by. The only one I remember specifical y was a girl, early twenties maybe, with bleached blond hair with a pink stripe. I saw her again this morning. She works at the coffee shop."
"How about your ex-wife? Do you know how her relationship was with the victim?"
"You"l have to ask her, Herb. They just had their honeymoon. I would hope they were getting along."
"You have a young daughter too, right?"
"Yes, Maddie."
"Any problems with Maddie and the victim?"
"Maddie didn"t like Blake. I suppose you know I argued with Blake before he was murdered. Listen, Herb, I didn"t kil him and I"m not trying to hide anything."
"Okay Frank. I just had to ask these questions. Doing my job. You can go now. Ask Kitty to come in please."
"Kitty? Are you serious? She was watching my daughter when Blake was murdered."
"Just ask her to come in."
Frank shook his head and walked from the room. "Kitty. Herb wants to ask you some questions now. I"l wait here for you." He leaned in close to her ear. "He found my tire iron. It"s the murder weapon."
Kitty felt her heart lurch as she went into the room. "Herb. What"s going on? Are you going to question everyone that was at the fair?"
"It may come to that. At least everyone that I can track down. Tel me what you saw or heard."
"Frank texted me that he was leaving but I had my rooster in the chicken exhibit so I needed to check on him. Maddie, Frank"s little girl, saw me.
Frank"s ex-wife, Sheila, asked me to watch Maddie so she could look for her husband. Frank came back and said he changed his mind, was going to stay after al . Then we heard al the sirens from the ambulance and police cars. It al happened in a short amount of time."
"Do you know Frank"s ex-wife?"
"No. The first time I met her was at the fair. It was strange. She didn"t look happy that Maddie, their little girl, was so happy to see me, but she asked me to watch Maddie. She had something on her mind or was worrying about something."
"How was she when she came back to get Maddie?"
"I never saw her again. Frank came back and asked me to take Maddie to my house and he would pick her up later." Herb sat quietly. Thinking. "Thanks. That"s al for now. You can go."
It was a long night for Kitty. She tossed and turned thinking about how Frank could possibly be a suspect. In the meantime, she had to focus on her planting schedule. It was spring and her organic vegetable crops had to get planted so she could get the farm store stocked with produce. Peas, broccoli, lettuce, beets, carrots and potatoes would be the first things going in. She already had seedlings started for the warmer weather veggies like tomatoes, cuc.u.mbers, squash and eggplant. A big order of strawberry plants was coming soon for u-pick strawberries. This was a busy time.
"Max, at least you"re here to keep me company. Let"s go out and check on everyone in the barn." Max wagged his tail. He was always ready for an adventure.
Corey was already in the barn feeding the chickens. Cleo wiggled al over when she saw Kitty and Max.
"Cleo is almost ful grown. I can"t believe it. You"ve done a nice job training her Corey."
"Thanks. Sam helped me. And Max of course."
"You"l never guess what I found this morning." Corey said with excitement. "Licorice was curled up in the stal with Henry. It seems that everyone has fal en in love with that pony."
"I"ve been wondering where that sneaky little black cat had disappeared to. This is a great spot for him. He can keep the mice out of the grain and keep Henry company."
Kitty stroked the soft cat fur. "Are you ready to start planting today? It wil be perfect after yesterday"s rain."
"Can"t wait. The sooner we plant, the sooner we"l be harvesting al those wonderful veggies." They turned Henry and Poco out into the field just as Frank drove up in his Jeep.
Corey waved on her way to the garden to get started with the planting.
Kitty watched Frank walked to the barn. "How are you doing Frank? Did you get any sleep?"
"I"ve been better. Probably about as much as you got."
"Someone must have stolen that tire iron from your car. When"s the last time you saw it?"
"I don"t remember. Herb asked me the same thing. I haven"t had to change a tire in a long time. It was supposed to be in my car. It could have been missing for weeks. Months even."
Max charged over, wagging al over with excitement to see Frank. Crouching down to Max"s level, Frank patted him. "It"s nice to have no worries, huh Max?"
Max"s woof was rewarded with a smal smile. Kitty headed toward the kitchen door. "Come on inside. I"l make you a delicious breakfast. That wil make you feel better."
Before Kitty even got the eggs out, her phone rang. "Hi Kitty, Nicole here." Kitty put the phone away from her ear and whispered to Frank, "It"s that strange girl."
"Hel o Nicole. What can I do for you?"
"Just want to let you know, I"m stopping by the farm later. See ya." The phone went dead before Kitty could respond.
"I get bad vibes from this person. She said she"s stopping by. Didn"t ask if she could stop by. Just said she is stopping by. What should I do?"
"You may as wel get it over with. It doesn"t sound like she"s going away. I"l stick around today if you want me to."
"Definitely. There"s something odd about the way she talks to me. Like she knows me. I don"t like it."
After breakfast, Kitty, Frank and Max took a walk around Fat Hen Farm. Kitty always found walking to be relaxing and the best way for her to clear her head.
Chatting about Maddie and how adorable her pink cowgirl boots are and the look of astonishment on her face when she saw Henry, made them both laugh out loud. Rounding the side of the barn, brought them back to the present. A car was parked in front of Kitty"s house, with Nicole leaning against it texting on her smart phone.
"Hey Kitty. Hope you don"t mind me stopping by. Real y need to talk to you." She pocketed her phone and approached Kitty like they were old friends.
"I"m busy today. What do you want?" Kitty was hoping to make this a short visit, not even inviting her inside.
"Oh, it won"t take long. I have a doc.u.ment I want to show you. How about we go inside? Who"s your friend? This doesn"t concern him." Nicole rudely looked Frank up and down.
Kitty ignored the comment. "What do you have to show me?"
Nicole careful y pul ed an official looking doc.u.ment from a manila envelope and handed it to Kitty. "Our grandfather gave this to my grandmother many years ago and she left it to me."
Al color drained from Kitty"s face "Our grandfather? Your grandmother?"
"Yeah. Surprised, huh?" Nicole smiled shrewdly. "How about we go into the farmhouse now." Kitty held the paper like it was burning her fingers and looked daggers at Nicole. "I don"t know who you are or what your game is. My grandfather had one grandchild. You need to leave." Kitty turned and walked toward her house.
"I can understand your shock, Kitty. You"l be hearing from me again, don"t worry. Oh, and keep the doc.u.ment. I have the original." Nicole took her time looking at the beautiful view surrounding the house and barn. "I can see why Bernie loved this place. You must be happy here." She climbed into her car, waved and drove out the driveway.
Frank held Kitty"s arm as they went inside. Stopping, Kitty looked at Frank. "Did she say, our grandfather? Did I hear her right? I have to talk to Sam. If my grandfather had an affair, Sam would know. Sam and granddad were very close. I think that"s why Sam always stayed next to the farm after granddad died. He promised to keep an eye on my grandma Nel ie." Frank took the paper from Kitty. "It says Bernie Watson deeded twenty five percent of the farm to Rebecca Flemming. That must be Nicole"s grandmother. There has to be a reasonable explanation Kitty. That girl could be lying. Doesn"t your friend Tina work for a lawyer? Maybe she could have him take a look at this doc.u.ment. You could get a private investigator to look into Nicole"s background. Find out as much as possible about her."
"She"s not taking my farm away. Let"s go talk to Sam."
"Kitty. Frank. What do I owe the pleasure of a visit from the two of you? Oh, and Max, a sight for these tired old eyes. Come in. Come in."
"Sam. I just had a visit from a girl claiming to be Bernie"s granddaughter. She gave me this doc.u.ment saying she owns part of Fat Hen Farm." Sam was silent, looked out the window.
"Sam? Look at me. Is there something I need to know?"
"Kitty, make some tea for us while I gather my thoughts."
Kitty fussed around in Sam"s kitchen, not sure she wanted to hear what Sam had to tel her.
"Here you are Sam." Kitty put the steaming tea next to Sam"s chair and pul ed her chair close. Max had his head on Sam"s lap. Tel me whatever you can remember."
"Sit down. Get comfortable. There could be something to this. I"l tel you what I know. It was about sixty years ago and I haven"t thought about this for most of that time." Sam rested his hand on Max"s head. "Okay." Sam turned his gaze to Kitty. "Rebecca Flemming. We al cal ed her Becky. She had a crush on Bernie, your grandfather. There was a group of us always hanging out together. Back then, we didn"t pair up like kids do now, we did stuff al together."
"How old were you? Teenagers?" Kitty leaned back.
"Yes. Teenagers. You know some of the kids in the group. Besides me, Frannie and Bernie, the ladies I play cards with at the senior center, Mia, June, Dottie and Alice, were in the group. And Becky. Your granddad liked everyone. And everyone liked Bernie. He was smart, funny, polite and very handsome. But he was always in love with your grandmother, Frannie. Becky was jealous of that. She became obsessed with Bernie. We didn"t use the word stalker back then, but I think that"s what she was. She wanted to know everything about him. He was always nice to her. I never suspected they had an affair or anything like that because he was just so madly in love with Frannie." Sam looked into Kitty"s eyes. Stroked Max"s head. "I truly don"t know if anything happened between the two of them. If this is his granddaughter and if she is anything like Becky, watch out. She won"t go away."
"What should I do?"
Frank had been listening quietly. "Kitty. Like I told you before. You need to find out more about this girl. Blake had a partner. Maybe he could look into this for you. I"l ask around too. See what I can find out."
"Sounds like a good place to start. I hope there"s no truth to it but take it seriously until you get more information." Sam patted Kitty"s arm.
"Thanks for tel ing me. Come over sometime and see what I have in the barn." Kitty final y smiled thinking about Henry and Poco.
"Okay. I"l be over bright and early for some pancakes. I just love your pancakes." Chapter 4 Kitty had to talk to Tina. They were like sisters and shared everything. She cal ed Tina at work. "Can I stop by your office? I have something to show you."
"Is it a legal matter? Is it about Blake"s murder?" Tina quietly asked Kitty.
"Legal, yes. Blake"s murder, no. At least I don"t think there is a connection. I"l be over soon." Kitty needed to check on the progress Corey was making in the garden before she went to see Tina. "Corey, this looks great. Any problems?"
"Not yet. I"ve got the peas in and I"m just about ready to start planting the carrots and beets. We"l need to fence this area before anything comes up or the woodchucks wil have a feast. Cleo chased one to the burrow but they usual y have multiple exits so he"s probably long gone by now."
"I have the fencing. We can put it up tomorrow. I"m heading to Tina"s office, just wanted to make sure you"re al set." Corey leaned on her hoe. "Al set. Enjoying the sunshine, peace and quiet. See you later." The drive to Tina"s office gave Kitty a chance to think about al that was happening. Was there a chance Frank had killed Blake? Who was this Nicole person?
"Tina. Do you have a minute?"
Tina swiveled her chair to face Kitty. "Sure. What"s going on?"
"A girl, Nicole, showed up at my house with this doc.u.ment. Do you think your boss would take a look at it to see if his as any merit?" Tina quickly scanned the paper. She looked up at Kitty. "How can this be? Do you believe it?"