Count Catula (Whales and Tails Cozy Mystery Book 9) by Kathi Daley Page A
Authors: Kathi Daley
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contact Tripp the next day.
“And who’s on the second list?” Finn asked.
“Cody, who I assume was added after Amanda found out Orson was dead and he now owned the paper, Victoria Edmonds, and Eric White. Amanda hadn’t checked off any of the names on that list, so I’m assuming she hadn’t spoken to them, although I’m not really sure what her checkmarks mean. Tripp’s name was checked off on the first list, and he verified that she’d spoken to him, so the theory seems to be holding true so far.”
I waited while Finn jotted down a few notes. “Okay, so what have you learned?”
“As I mentioned, my conversation with Tripp didn’t get me anywhere. Tara suggested I speak to Mrs. Hillford, which I did, and she mentioned Toby Willis, whose name was also on Amanda Lowman’s first list. According to Mrs. Hillford, Bronwyn dated Toby when she was a sophomore, and he was friends with Ruby when she transferred to Harthaven High.”
“I noticed his name on Tripp’s report as well,” Finn confirmed.
“Tripp’s report?” I asked.
“After Siobhan called to fill me in I tracked down a copy of the report from the original investigation and had it emailed to me. I haven’t had a chance to study it in depth, but I did see a list of people who attended the party or were seen hanging out with Ruby that night. According to the report, Toby was in both places. He was at the party but left early to meet up with Ruby.”
“Who else is on that list?” I wondered.
“Most of the people no longer live on Madrona Island, and there are too many names to read them all off right now. I’ll organize the names the best I can and email them to you tomorrow.”
“That sounds good. We have plenty of people to follow up with already.”
I looked at the others in the room. I’d done most of the talking, so I paused to let Cody, Danny, or Tara ask questions if they had any. Everyone looked at one another, but no one had anything to add, so we all said good-bye and promised to call Finn again the following evening.
“I’m wondering if we’re getting off track by looking into the cold case,” Tara asked.
“What do you mean?” I answered.
“Normally at this point in the investigation we’d be asking ourselves who Amanda Lowman was last seen with, who might have a grudge against her, who might have wanted her dead. If we assume the person who killed her did so because she was getting too close to the truth about the cold case looking into it would make sense, but talking to people who were involved with Bronwyn and Ruby fifteen years ago won’t help us at all if Amanda Lowman was killed by an ex-lover or a disgruntled ex-employee.”
“Tara makes a good point,” Danny jumped in. “You mentioned at dinner that Lowman changed lodging facilities and didn’t bother to tell her assistant. Why would she do that? Is there a problem between her and the assistant?”
“I suppose there could be,” I answered, “but I don’t think the assistant could have killed Amanda.”
“Why not?” Danny asked.
“For one thing, Lowman’s assistant didn’t come to the island with her, and for another, the assistant didn’t know where her boss had moved until after the murder.”
“How do you know?” Danny asked.
I frowned. “What do you mean, how do I know? I spoke to the PA on the phone this morning.”
“Danny’s right,” Tara spoke up. “We don’t know where the assistant was physically when you spoke to her. She said she was looking for Amanda Lowman, but do we know for a fact she wasn’t on the island?”
Tara and Danny both had points. If the assistant was on a cell there was no way to tell where she was physically when I spoke to her. And calling me to ask if I knew where Amanda Lowman was did provide an alibi for someone who was on the island, knew where her boss was, and had killed her.
“Can we find out where the PA actually was when I spoke to her?” I asked.
“Finn can get that
“And who’s on the second list?” Finn asked.
“Cody, who I assume was added after Amanda found out Orson was dead and he now owned the paper, Victoria Edmonds, and Eric White. Amanda hadn’t checked off any of the names on that list, so I’m assuming she hadn’t spoken to them, although I’m not really sure what her checkmarks mean. Tripp’s name was checked off on the first list, and he verified that she’d spoken to him, so the theory seems to be holding true so far.”
I waited while Finn jotted down a few notes. “Okay, so what have you learned?”
“As I mentioned, my conversation with Tripp didn’t get me anywhere. Tara suggested I speak to Mrs. Hillford, which I did, and she mentioned Toby Willis, whose name was also on Amanda Lowman’s first list. According to Mrs. Hillford, Bronwyn dated Toby when she was a sophomore, and he was friends with Ruby when she transferred to Harthaven High.”
“I noticed his name on Tripp’s report as well,” Finn confirmed.
“Tripp’s report?” I asked.
“After Siobhan called to fill me in I tracked down a copy of the report from the original investigation and had it emailed to me. I haven’t had a chance to study it in depth, but I did see a list of people who attended the party or were seen hanging out with Ruby that night. According to the report, Toby was in both places. He was at the party but left early to meet up with Ruby.”
“Who else is on that list?” I wondered.
“Most of the people no longer live on Madrona Island, and there are too many names to read them all off right now. I’ll organize the names the best I can and email them to you tomorrow.”
“That sounds good. We have plenty of people to follow up with already.”
I looked at the others in the room. I’d done most of the talking, so I paused to let Cody, Danny, or Tara ask questions if they had any. Everyone looked at one another, but no one had anything to add, so we all said good-bye and promised to call Finn again the following evening.
“I’m wondering if we’re getting off track by looking into the cold case,” Tara asked.
“What do you mean?” I answered.
“Normally at this point in the investigation we’d be asking ourselves who Amanda Lowman was last seen with, who might have a grudge against her, who might have wanted her dead. If we assume the person who killed her did so because she was getting too close to the truth about the cold case looking into it would make sense, but talking to people who were involved with Bronwyn and Ruby fifteen years ago won’t help us at all if Amanda Lowman was killed by an ex-lover or a disgruntled ex-employee.”
“Tara makes a good point,” Danny jumped in. “You mentioned at dinner that Lowman changed lodging facilities and didn’t bother to tell her assistant. Why would she do that? Is there a problem between her and the assistant?”
“I suppose there could be,” I answered, “but I don’t think the assistant could have killed Amanda.”
“Why not?” Danny asked.
“For one thing, Lowman’s assistant didn’t come to the island with her, and for another, the assistant didn’t know where her boss had moved until after the murder.”
“How do you know?” Danny asked.
I frowned. “What do you mean, how do I know? I spoke to the PA on the phone this morning.”
“Danny’s right,” Tara spoke up. “We don’t know where the assistant was physically when you spoke to her. She said she was looking for Amanda Lowman, but do we know for a fact she wasn’t on the island?”
Tara and Danny both had points. If the assistant was on a cell there was no way to tell where she was physically when I spoke to her. And calling me to ask if I knew where Amanda Lowman was did provide an alibi for someone who was on the island, knew where her boss was, and had killed her.
“Can we find out where the PA actually was when I spoke to her?” I asked.
“Finn can get that
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