“I suppose you’re right.”
Nero nodded sagely. He usually was right, at least when it came to matters of murder.“What would there be to investigate? The killer is long dead. No suspects to follow or clues to unearth.”
“Wouldn’t be much fun, I guess.” Marlowe’s disappointment was palpable. Good girl. At least someone here was progressing nicely. Marlowe had made great strides during the last investigation and now wanted to try her hand at another, and that was a good sign. But just notthis investigation because there was simply nothing to explore.
Nero loved nothing more than to sink his claws into a juicy murder, but this death was about as interesting as a week-old can of sardines.“Besides, much of the satisfaction is bringing the killer to justice and this killer is long gone already.”
Marlowe yawned and stretched out her front paws.“I just wish there wassomething for us to investigate.”
Nero didn’t want to get Marlowe’s hopes up, but if his seventh sense was as good as it usually was, therewas something going on inside the guesthouse that may need investigation soon. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he’d sensed little undercurrents, sneaky nefarious vibrations. Unfortunately, very soon, Marlowe might get her wish.
“Odd, none of the guests seem disturbed by this discovery.” Nero studied their faces and posture. He could tell they were interested in the skeleton but not in a who-killed-my-ancestor kind of way. He could also tell that they were all trying to conceal their interest from each other.
“They seem more excited than anything,” Marlowe said.
“They are an odd bunch. Don’t seem to like each other much.”
Marlowe’s green eyes narrowed to luminescent slits. “No. And I think they have secrets.”
Nero’s whiskers twitched. So Marlowehadnoticed the whispers and secret meetings. Good for her.
“I’m not sure any of them can be trusted,” Nero warned. “Though their business sounds delightful. All that cheese.”
“Odd business, isn’t it? Cheese sculptures? Wouldn’t think there would be a big call for it among humans.”
“Maybe that’s why they are not doing well.” Nero sniffed the air. His keen olfactory senses had been flooded with the scents of Brie and cheddar since the new guests had arrived. It was enough to drive a cat mad. “Though I think their business not doing well is due more to infighting.”
“You’ll get no argument from me there. I don’t know how Josie stands it with them constantly snapping at each other,” Marlowe said.
“I think Josie is just happy to have paying guests. At least that’s how I’d look at it,” Nero said. “She’s practical and that’s a good way to be. Now if only we could get her to actually pay attention to us.”
“Do you think we’ve been too soft on her?”
Nero thought about it for a second. There was a fine line between creating a bond with your human and spoiling them to the point where they thought they were in control.“I’ve been taking her seat every night in the chair she loves to sit in in the parlor. You know, the overstuffed comfy one that shows off the black hairs I shed?”
“Yeah, and I’ve been lying on her keyboard when she wants to type, then sticking my tail in her face when she tries to move me.”
“And we’ve been going into the dining room when the guests are in there eating, just like she asked us not to.” Nero glanced up at Josie. She did seem to be taking command of the situation. At least she wasn’t swooning or acting all weirded out about the skeleton. “Maybe we are expecting progress too quickly. I mean, she did finally get our drift about the murder a few weeks ago.”
“Yes, that is something at least.” Marlowe threaded her way through Doris Biddeford’s ankles. “Do you think there really is treasure out there somewhere?”
Nero’s whiskers twitched at the mention of treasure. Oh, how fun that would be. His claws itched to grab onto some dirt and really dig. But if there had been treasure on the grounds, surely his superior senses would have alerted him long ago. “Doubtful. Though by the looks of the humans, they mightbelieve in such a thing.”
Marlowe finished her route around the humans’ ankles and trotted back to where Nero was under the window. “Come on, let’s go claw some dirt out of those plants in the conservatory. Millie brought them even though Josie hasn’t had Ed finish the room yet and no one will even notice we’ve been near them. I’m in the mood for digging.”
“Perfect. Josie won’t like that at all.” Nero stood and stretched.
“Yes, one more way to show her she doesn’t own us.”
“Good thinking.” Josie had made the mistake of saying that once and it really stuck in Nero’s craw. Apparently, Marlowe felt the same.
“I just hope Josie doesn’t withhold treats once she discovers the mess,” Marlowe said as she led the way out.
Nero paused at the doorway and looked over his shoulder at the Biddefords, who were talking animatedly while Josie called the cops on her cell phone.“Me either. But somehow I have the feeling a little dirt and an old skeleton are going to be the least of Josie’s problems.”
Three
“Who says he never made it to Europe? Maybe this happened when he got back from Europe,” Mom whispered to Millie and me in the hall after the sheriff, Seth, had kicked us out of the room.
Millie nodded.“Good point, Rose. But either way, whoever did it is long gone. Still, maybe we could do some research and come up with a list of possible suspects.”
“Might not be very much fun though if we can’t confront the culprit and see him arrested,” Mom said as she and Millie slowed to a crawl. Apparently, they couldn’t walk fast while their minds were full of the possibility of a new investigation.
I sped ahead and continued down the hallway. The Biddefords had all disappeared and I felt it was my duty to make sure they weren’t shaken by these new events. Whoever was in the wall was likely a relative… or had been murdered by one.
I heard a murmur of conversation from the dining room and headed in that direction. The Biddefords were there, but they weren’t sitting in shocked silence contemplating their lost ancestor as I’d imagined. They were scarfing up the remains of the breakfast. There were no sniffles, or muted grieving tones. The room was abuzz with excitement.
“I’ll tell you exactly what this means,” Doris said. “This means that Jedediah really did bury that treasure.”
“I thought the curse was that he would come back to enact some revenge on anyone who messed with his treasure. Doesn’t seem like he came back to me. Looks like he’d been there the whole time.” Paula strolled along the server looking at what was left of breakfast. She stopped in front of thepumpkin bread and my heart leapt. Would she cut a piece? I wondered if the excessive drinking had dulled her pallet. Then again, that might be a good thing if she was going to eat my pumpkin bread.
Doris pinched off a piece of bacon and fed it to Nero, who was skulking around under the table. Darn cat, I’d told him not to go in the dining room when guests were eating. They never listened. I was sure Marlowe wasn’t far behind either. Yep, her tail was sticking out from under Earl’s chair.
“Nonsense! You know how those old curses are, they get all mixed up because they’re handed down generation to generation. It’s like that game where you whisper in each other’s ears and by the time it gets to the end, it’s not even close to what it was when it started. The specifics of thecurse might have been different too. But there’s one thing for sure. He did come back—seeing as his skeleton was found in the wall,” Doris said.
Her children looked at her with a mixture of doubt and greed in their eyes.
Paula picked up a knife, her hand hovering over the loaf. I held my breath.
“Did anyone try a piece of this?” Paula bent down and sniffed. She eyed the loaf as if it were trying to trick her, then put the knife down.