Silver Springs Cozy: Pawsitively Lethal Part 12

"Are you all set by yourself again today?" Maggie asks, turning slowly toward the front door, still staring at Claras photo.

"Yeah. I have a feeling youre getting close to figuring all this out. You can make it up to me then." Clem smiles. "Go, get out of here. Youre not even hearing what Im saying."

Clem is right. Her words go in one ear and out the other, Maggie barely registering their meaning. She folds the paper in half, sticks it under her arm and slips her handbag over her shoulder. She walks quickly back to her car, wanting to know everything about Stewart.

Maggie sits down in her car and knows she has to make a phone call. Unfortunately, its not to Trista. Maggie wants to ask her again to dig around in Stewarts past, but she does the right thing and calls Detective Daniel Stevens. Shes been lazy about keeping him appraised of her investigation, and if shes lucky h.e.l.l have information for her.

"I thought youd skipped town with how quiet youve been," Daniel says when he answers the phone. His voice is friendlier than Maggie would expect.

"Yeah. Sorry about that." Maggie is ready to leap into what she knows and what she wants to know but Daniel interrupts her.

"Denis told me the good news. Clem must be happy."

Maggie smiles. "Thrilled. Sorry you werent there. If Id known . . ."

"I wouldnt have wanted to crash your double date." His tone turns only slightly sour. Changing the subject, he continues, "But Im glad you called. Were making progress. Stewart Coles appearance in Silver Springs led us to do some research on his background. Were bringing him in for questioning and fingerprinting right now."

"I didnt know you found any fingerprints in Claras room, only blood?" Maggie asks.

"Were doing a DNA test too."

"So no fingerprints from the crime scene?" Maggie confirms.

"Correct. But once hes here, we may as well get him in the system."

"Great. Because I tried to talk to him this morning and he wanted nothing to do with me. So I followed him to town where he went to the town offices trying to get his hands on Claras life insurance money."

Daniel doesnt answer right away. "Thats good to know. Thanks." She can hear a pencil scribbling away. She must be on speakerphone. "Anything else youve found out?"

Maggie tells him about her conversation with Marla and David, but they dont look as guilty as Stewart right now. And if the police are also suspicious of his actions, shes confident they cant all be wrong.

"Great. Dont be a stranger if you learn something else," Daniel says and hangs up.

Maggie leans back in her seat and closes her eyes for just a moment. With the police handling Stewart, she desperately wants to confront Karl, even if just for her own closure. She gets back out of her car and walks the block and a half to the Silver Times offices.

Maggie doesnt have a plan. But every time she thinks about Sundays article, her blood boils and she needs to make that stop. She sits on a bench across the street from the newspapers office and reads todays article.

Ginger Rae is completely honest and candid in the editorial. She doesnt sugar coat or look for sympathy or make excuses. She just shares the truth about Claras life, rather than the drivel Karl wrote two days ago.

When Maggie finishes, she puts the paper on the bench, adds a rock on top of it so it wont blow away, and confidently walks into the Silver Times office.

"Good morning. How can I help you?" a young woman asks from behind the front desk.

Maggie forgot about that piece from her visit yesterday when Drew ushered them straight to Ellens office. "Im here to see Karl Jacobs," Maggie tells her.

The receptionist checks something on her computer before answering. "Im sorry. Hes out of the office this morning."

"Do you know where I might be able to find him?" Maggie asks, making her voice sugary sweet.

She checks something else on her computer and Maggie waits patiently. "Hes working on a piece at the middle school. Theres an art show today."

Maggie doesnt wait to hear any other details. "Thanks," she says and turns to walk away.

She practically runs back to her car, wishing shed driven the short distance so she didnt have to waste any time. The middle school is on River Road, not far from Main Street, but walking there would mean even more time for Karl to go back to the office and Maggie would have to continue her wild goose chase.

The parking lot is packed at the middle school and Maggie has to park on the street. Thankfully her small car can fit into tight s.p.a.ces and she finds a spot not far down the road. By the time shes inside, its past ten in the morning and she feels like shes already lived a whole day.

There are signs everywhere directing her where to find the art show. The gymnasium is full of students standing in front of paintings and drawings, jewelry, sculptures and photographs. Adults cl.u.s.ter around each one and Maggie meanders through the crowd in search of only one person.

Karl is in the middle of the room, camera to his eye, capturing the action. Maggie keeps her distance but never takes her eye off of him.

He lowers the camera and pulls out a pad of paper and pencil. The student he interviews, who he just photographed, is a young girl whose nerves are visible even though Maggie cant hear what shes saying.

Maggie watches the conversation unfold, walking closer so she wont lose Karl in the crowd when he moves on to the next student. She doesnt take in any details of the students work but overhears adults exclaim over some of them. They must be good.

Maggie follows Karl around the gym for nearly two hours, listening to snippets of his interviews and noticing who he focuses on. The whole time, she avoids conversation with anyone and thinks only of Sundays article about Clara. She cant wait to give him a piece of her mind.

Finally, nearly at noon, the art show seems to be winding down and Karl packs up his things. Maggie stays close behind and follows him outside. She waits until hes loading his car and then announces herself.

"Karl Jacobs?" she asks, surprising him. Its clear that he had no idea she was there. "Maggie Boothe. We met on Sunday at Winona Landiss house when you were interviewing Ginger Rae Speed."

His face doesnt register recognition until she tells him where they met. "Oh right. Maggie. Good to see you again. You have a student here? Some of those pieces were really great. Especially for middle schoolers."

Maggie shakes her head. "No. No kids. I wondered if I could speak to you about something." She looks around in the parking lot. Many parents and visitors to the art show are now exiting the school and heading to their cars. "Somewhere . . . less crowded."

Karl nods, completely at ease. "Sure. I was going to stop by the river to eat lunch. Follow me there."

Maggie agrees and walks quickly back to her car, making a plan in her head. Besides chewing him out for his slander on Sunday, she also wants to know more about his relationship with Clara.

Karl pulls out of the parking lot and Maggie follows. They drive only a short distance from the school and he stops in the same parking area Maggie picked yesterday to eat lunch and take a walk. He gets out, lunch bag in hand, and walks to a picnic table. Maggie follows, not sure how this conversation is going to play out.

CHAPTER 27.

Opal doesnt move a muscle. Her whiskers remain still and her tail doesnt even twitch. Shes determined to redeem herself in the eyes of Jester, the big black cat who is somehow in charge of the group of cats Opal has fallen into.

Shes been high up in the same pine tree for hours. Shes been keeping her eye on Oscar, the golden retriever shes unlucky enough to share a house with.

Oscar barely moves too. He lies in the shade of a second pine tree and keeps his eyes trained on a single spot in the yard.

Its taken Opal longer than shed like to admit, but shes almost positive she knows whats buried where hes watching. She thinks its the collar she wore for a short time last spring, and that recently went missing. As soon as it was gone, everyone wanted it-Jester, Oscar, and even her human, Maggie.

Today is the day that Opals plan will be put into action. Oscar isnt the brightest dog-though Opal has never met a dog with as much patience or focus as any cat-and she devised a plan with Luna to distract him long enough to dig up the collar. If shes right about what Oscar is guarding, the fate of the world will be back in the hands of the humans, and up to the cats to show them what much be done to ensure the future of the world.

Opal waits for the perfect moment to launch her plan. During her hours of observation, shes found that Oscar can only stay in the same spot for a limited amount of time. He gets antsy and is easily distracted, something she doesnt understand one bit. Opal could stay put for a whole day if she had to.

As Opal watches, Oscars ears begin to twitch and he bolts upright from his p.r.o.ne position. His eyes move from the spot in the yard to the poodle next door. Opal knows h.e.l.l go and visit, the two animals will sniff each others rear ends, and then Oscar will be tempted to explore further.

Once Oscar and the poodle finish their greeting, Opal jumps from her tree, staying hidden beneath the lowest branches, her sign for Luna to do the same.

Lunas white form streaks across the yard, a missile that is irresistible to Oscar. Hes been trained not to chase Opal, but a new cat is too tempting and he takes off after Luna.

Without wasting a moment, Opal starts digging in exactly the spot Oscar has been watching for days. She braves only the slightest glances in Lunas direction. After only a few seconds of digging and checking on Oscars location, both Luna and Oscar are gone from her sight. She can only hear the frantic barking of a dog wanting something he cant have.

Before long, the poodle starts yelping like mad, echoing Oscars increasingly hysterical sounds. Opal knows she only has seconds left to find the collar before the poodles warning reaches Oscars brain. He might be a dog, but hes a dog on a mission. She just hopes that his mission remains capturing Luna long enough to find the collar.

To Opals surprise, the poodle never even attempts to come into her yard. There is no visible barrier, but something keeps the dog from stopping Opals progress. Whatever it is, shes thankful it exists.

Finally, Opals claw catches on fabric and she yanks the collar-spherical object still attached-from the ground. With the collar in her mouth, she dashes to the open window into her bedroom. The door to the rest of the house is closed and she leaps onto the tallest thing in the room. She deposits the collar well out of reach of any snooping dogs and returns outside to help Luna.

At the base of another tall tree well outside his yard, Oscar is torn. Opal watches him peer into the upper branches where she can just make out Lunas white fur. But Oscars ears are on alert, taking in the poodles warning.

Oscar finally leaves the cat and races back to his yard. Opal doesnt wait to find out what his reaction will be when he sees what shes done. She hurries off in the direction of the old abandoned house where the cats meet in the bas.e.m.e.nt. Luna wastes no time and is out of the tree before Opal has made it a dozen steps. They reach the bas.e.m.e.nt window together, breathless and every fur standing on end.

Jester sits on the only chair in the room, every other cat on the ground in front of him, and all eyes turn to Opal. She twitches her tail triumphantly and a chorus of meows and purrs echo around the room.

CHAPTER 28.

Karl sits at a picnic table along the Spring River and Maggie sits across from him. She doesnt have lunch with her and her stomach growls. Karl makes no move to share anything hes brought.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" he asks after he swallows his first bite.

Maggie jumps right into the reason shes tracked him down. "I understand you met Clara Speed while she was in rehab. I just wondered how you knew her; what your relationship with her was like."

The tips of Karls ears turn red but his expression doesnt betray that hes caught off guard.

"Were you friends?" Maggie asks when he doesnt respond.

He nods through a second bite of his lunch and Maggies stomach growls again. She hopes he doesnt hear it over his chewing. "I guess you could say that. Maybe more like acquaintances."

"So she was friendly with you?"

"Friendly enough. She wasnt really friends with anyone there."

"And after you both completed your . . . treatments, you just happened to move here?" Maggie asks. "Did you know Clara was coming to stay with her aunt?"

He shakes his head. "I didnt know she was coming to Silver Springs. I used to work for a paper in Iowa and this was the only one that would hire me. Its small and I havent exactly proven myself yet." His voice is full of conviction and Maggie has to believe him.

"Iowa? Where in Iowa?"

"Two Forks. You know it?"

Maggie keeps a straight face and shakes her head. "No. I dont know Iowa at all." Suddenly she doesnt want to be alone with Karl, even if they are in public. There is no one else around. "Thanks for taking the time to talk to me. Ive gotta go get lunch."

Maggie stands before Karl can respond. She walks quickly to her car and forces herself not to look back. She desperately wants to make sure hes not following her but resists the urge.

A hand on her arm catches her by surprise and she wants to scream. Karls smiling face is right next to her and panic grips Maggies heart.

"You forgot your bag," he says, handing her the green and tan canvas handbag she brings everywhere and depends on. Her phone, new Swiss army knife and tablet computer are all inside and shed be lost without them.

Relieved, Maggie thanks him and continues walking with purpose to her car, her heart never settling back into a normal rhythm.

Once safely inside, she watches him sit back down at the picnic table and resume calmly eating his lunch. Maggie drives back to Main Street, parks in the parking garage and orders a sandwich in the shop upstairs. The whole time, Two Forks, Iowa keeps running around in her mind, telling her its too much of a coincidence not to be connected to Mitch and Josh living there.

She pulls up the article Trista sent her that morning and reads it again. Its not until she stops to see who wrote the article that things start falling into place. She immediately uses every technological tool in her repertoire to see if theres a link between Karl Jacobs and Jake Carlson, the articles author. It takes only a few minutes until shes almost positive she knows shes found Claras killer, but for good measure calls the newspaper in Iowa to confirm her suspicions.

Maggie is only slightly more relaxed after a filling lunch and being confident that she knows what happened to Clara. Ginger Rae was right all along, but Maggie has to tell Daniel first. She has to present all of her evidence so he can arrest Karl.

She walks into the police station like a woman on a mission. At the front desk, she asks for Detective Daniel Stevens and is directed to his office.

"Maggie. I didnt expect to see you today. Whats going on?" Hes clearly happy to see her in person rather than just talk to her on the phone.

"I know who killed Clara it was Karl Jacobs," she spits out in one breath without a single pause before he has a chance to interrupt her.

Daniel had stood when she entered but now sits heavily back in his chair. He signals for Maggie to sit across from him on the other side of his desk. "The person who wrote the article about Clara on Sunday?"

Maggie nods.

"Thats hardly enough evidence to arrest him. So he didnt like her. But to kill her?"

"Theres more to it than that." Maggie pulls up the article from Two Forks, Iowa on her phone and hands it across the desk to Daniel. "This was written years ago by the same person, but under the name Jake Carlson. It was really Karl Jacobs."

Daniel looks at her and shakes her head. "I dont understand. How do you know that?"

"Karl told me he used to live in Two Forks. So I did some digging online and then called the newspaper in Two Forks and they confirmed that he actually wrote under a pseudonym for the newspaper. It was Jake Carlson."

"Still, thats barely evidence that he killed Clara."

"Claras murder is related to my parents murder and the break in at Erlines last month. He knew both of the perpetrators. Theyre all in on a scheme together. Karl was never going after Clara. He was going after something Ginger Rae has."

"And Clara got in the way?" Daniel asks, starting to catch on but still not fully believing Maggie.