The Cats that Played the Market (The Cats that . . . Cozy Mystery Book 4) (2 page)

Katherine had to testify about discovering the two bodies. It was extremely stressful to recount those awful events, and to be in the same room with a woman who had caused so much sorrow. When the prosecuting attorney asked Katherine about the jimson seeds, which Patricia had placed in food, intending to poison her, Patricia stood up and started yelling obscenities. The judge ordered her attorney to silence his client, but Patricia threatened Katherine, “Wait and see what I do to you!” Members of the jury were shocked by the outburst. The judge recessed for the day and asked to speak to counsel in his chambers.  He advised Patricia’s lawyer that he should rein in his client’s verbal displays to prevent further criminal charges.

On the next day, Cokey Cokenberger, the estate’s handyman, was called to the stand to answer questions about his brief affair with Patricia — particularly how she used him to get in and out of the mansion. Patricia went ballistic and called Cokey a liar. Cokey’s wife Margie glared at Patricia. The judge had grown furious. “Ms. Marston, if I hear one more word out of you, I’ll have you removed from this courtroom.”

“I don’t care,” Patricia said. “I’m a dead woman walking.” The outburst sealed her fate. The jury deliberated for less than two hours. The only evidence they wished to revisit was the coroner’s toxicology report. When they returned to the courtroom, they found Patricia guilty on all counts.

Patricia’s sentencing was scheduled for today, but Katherine opted not to go and asked Mark to attend in her place. He said he’d call as soon as he learned something.

When the house telephone rang, Katherine flinched. She moved to the atrium marble-top curio cabinet to answer it. “Hello,” she answered anxiously, hoping it was Mark.

“Hey, Katz. It’s Mark. Happy birthday,” he said. “How does it feel to be twenty-seven?”

“Hi, Mark. It feels like being twenty-six,” she laughed, then asked seriously, “I take it the sentencing was postponed because of the weather.”

“Brook County isn’t part of the snow emergency so the courthouse is open.  I’m sorry I couldn’t be there in person, but I just got a call from the Prosecutor . . . ”

Katherine interrupted, “What’s the sentence?”

“The judge threw the book at her. She got maximum for Gary’s and her mother’s murders. She’ll spend the rest of her miserable life in prison, with little or no chance of parole.”

Katherine sighed. “I don’t know what to say. That I’m happy? That I’m glad? What she took from this world can never be replaced.”

“I’m truly sorry,” Mark consoled. “Chief London said she’ll be transferred from the Brook County Jail to the women’s correctional facility in Indy. It’s a done deal, Katz. Do you want me to call Gary’s sister, Monica, and tell her the verdict?”

“No, Mark, I will. Thanks for calling —”

“Before you hang up,” Mark interrupted. “I have a birthday surprise for you. Will you be home in the next half-hour? I want to bring it over to you.”

“You really shouldn’t have,” Katherine said, “but I’m flattered you remembered my birthday. How did you know, anyway? My Facebook page, bank documents . . . ”

“Oh, a little birdie told me,” Mark laughed on the other end.

“One that flies in Manhattan,” Katherine said in jest, realizing her best friend, Colleen, must have told him the previous month when Mark drove her to the airport.

“Guilty,” Mark said. “Be there in a minute,” he said hanging up.

Katherine tried to put the phone down, but Scout came out of nowhere and kicked the receiver out of her hand.

“Scout, what’s the matter with you? Gimme the phone,” she said, wrestling the instrument from the Siamese’s strong paws.

Jake knocked and opened the front door. He came in and stamped his boots on the hall mat. Iris ran to greet him, then began patting the snow that fell from his boots. With her deep-blue eyes, she looked up at Katherine and seemed to say, “What’s this, Mom? It’s cold on my paws.”

“Katz, are you okay?” Jake asked, concerned. “You’re three shades of gray.”

“I just got off the phone with Mark Dunn. Patricia Marston got the maximum sentence on each of the murder counts. Life in prison without parole.” She moved away, her jaw tightening.

Jake walked over to Katherine and pulled her into an embrace. “Finally, you have closure.”

Katherine gave a forced smile and hugged him back.

“Oops, I forgot to take off my boots,” he apologized.

Iris was now rolling on the snow tracks. She abruptly stopped, then rolled on her back and kicked her paws in the air.

Katherine broke into a laugh. “I think she likes it.”

Jake walked back to the front vestibule and took off his boots, placing them on a large boot mat next to the door. He then announced, “The kids and I are baking you a cake.”

“Get outta here,” Katherine said with a loving look on her face.

“Yep, headin’ to the kitchen now, but just want to warn you in advance, it will be a surprise, this masterpiece cake, so you’ll have to find something to do and stay out of our way,” he said, walking in his stocking feet to the kitchen, with Iris on his heels.

“That shouldn’t be hard to do,” Katherine called after him. “Mark Dunn said he had a surprise for me and was stopping by.”

Jake stopped. “A surprise? Don’t tell me he’s baking you a cake, too,” he said mischievously.

“That’s for me to know and you to find out.”

“How’s he going to get here in that Honda he drives when the snow plows can’t even keep up?”

Katherine shrugged. “It’s a mystery.”

*              *              *

The front doorbell rang with a festive holiday ringtone. “Dashing Through the Snow” had replaced the Addams Family “You Rang.” Katherine got up from an Eastlake chair to open it. Mark stood outside, shivering in his faux fur-lined parka. Katherine looked past him at an older model Ford Explorer.

“Come in,” she said, opening the door wider. “Did you get a different vehicle?”

Mark walked in. “It’s my dad’s. My parents are vacationing in Florida. Since I’m minding their house, he let me borrow the Explorer. It has four-wheel drive.”

Mark sat down on the vestibule’s Eastlake bench and removed his boots, placing his pair next to Jake’s on the boot mat. He gave Katherine an inquisitive look.

Katherine read his mind, “Jake’s snowed in, so he’s staying with me for a few days.”

“Where is he?” Mark said with a smile. “He’ll want to be in on the surprise, as well.”

“Jake and the cats are baking me a cake,” she announced with a wide grin. “I can go get him.”

“Yes, please do.” Iris ran in and collapsed against Mark’s leg. He picked her up and gave her chin scratches. Iris yowled affectionately.

Katherine smiled. “Mark, hand me your parka.”

Mark set Iris down and slipped off his coat. Katherine took it and said, “Make yourself comfortable in the parlor. I’ll go get Jake.” She hung the parka on the Eastlake hall tree and left.

Mark sat on the loveseat in front of the wide picture window. Katherine returned, holding Jake’s hand.

“Hey, Mark,” Jake said, dropping Katherine’s hand and extending his to Mark.

Mark shook it. Jake found a chair nearby and Katherine sat opposite him. Scout and Abra strolled in, with a hint of flour on their velvet noses. Lilac and Abby jumped up smoothly to the large window valance and perched like vultures.

Katherine observed the cats and said, “I think the cats want to be in on the surprise, as well,” and then, “I don’t see a pony, or any wrapped presents. The suspense is killing me.”

Mark reached inside his zipped fleece pull-on and pulled out a check. “I had the bank cut a distribution check just in time for your birthday,” he said, holding the check.

Jake and Katherine exchanged inquiring glances.

“Katz,” Mark continued, “since it’s obvious you have satisfied and will satisfy the requirements of your late great aunt Orvenia’s will, I am authorized to give you this check in the amount of five million dollars.”

Katherine’s mouth dropped. Suddenly the reality of inheriting a huge fortune hit her like a ton of bricks. She was momentarily speechless.

“Ma-waugh,” Scout cried, breaking the silence. She jumped on Katherine’s lap and wrapped her slender, brown paws around her neck.

“Ahhh, thanks, Scout,” Katherine said, as Scout made herself comfortable on her lap, circling two times, then lying down.

“Katz, what a special birthday present,” Jake remarked, without something better to say. He was in shock, too.

“The estate will receive some tax advantages by making this distribution before the year ends. Actually, by giving you this money now, the bank’s trust department will be doing the estate a favor.”

Katherine was still reeling in the shock of reality. Mark stood up and placed the check in her hand. She gazed at it in disbelief. Finally she stuttered, “Thank you. And thanks for bringing it over in this horrid weather.”

Mark said, “I need for you to sign this receipt, then you’re good to go.” He extracted a small document from his fleece jacket, and handed it to her along with his Pelikan fountain pen. When Katherine leaned forward to take the receipt, Scout didn’t like being disturbed, so she sprang off and cried a barrage of Siamese mutterings that only the other cats seemed to understand.

Katherine signed the receipt and handed it back to Mark. He put the pen back in his pocket. “Katz, since it’s your money, you can do with it whatever you want. But there’s a new financial advisor in town — straight from Wall Street — and he has some interesting investment ideas. You could easily triple your money. I’ve already invested.” Mark handed Katherine the advisor’s business card, which she accepted.

She read, “G. Robert Brentwood, 531 Fifth Avenue, Twentieth Floor, New York, New York. Why is someone of this caliber in Erie?” she asked.

“Robert’s mother lives here. He’s moved in to care for her. She’s eighty-nine and needs someone at the house. As long as Robert has Wi-Fi, he can work at home. By the way, his mom, Elizabeth, hung out with your great aunt. In fact, they were best friends back in the day.”

“Really?” Katherine asked. “I’d love to meet her.”

“She’s in a band; they play the senior centers in this area.”

“I’ve met her,” Jake added. “When I was writing my dissertation, I interviewed her. She was too young to remember Prohibition, but she gave me a lot of local information about the swing era.”

“The swing era?” Katherine asked. “When was that?”

Jake explained. “The swing era is also referred to as the big band era. That’s when Elizabeth hung out with Orvenia. In the Forties.”

“Cool,” Katherine remarked, then asked Mark, “I have a question about the Erie properties my great aunt left me in her will. Is there any way I can have a portfolio for each one, including the estate’s appraisals, property taxes and zoning rules?” She thought,
I wonder if any of these properties could house the new, no-kill animal rescue center I’m planning to finance.

“Sure, give me a couple of days and I’ll compile that for you,” he said, standing up. “I’ve got to head home and answer a ton of emails. Katz, I’ll text you Elizabeth’s phone number. I’ll have the Colfax properties summary to you as soon as possible.”

Katherine and Jake walked Mark to the door. Iris followed them and yowled softly.

“Goodbye, Iris. Hope to see you soon.” Mark pulled on his boots. Katherine handed him his parka, and then the estate attorney left with a smile on his face.

“Katz, this is your special day. Money, cake, and me. What more could you ask for?” Jake kidded.

“Maybe I should call this Brentwood guy and see what he has to say. Tripling my money sounds like a good thing. I’ve got lots of ideas about how I’m going to spend the inheritance. I’ll call him and schedule a time to meet.”

Jake looked at his watch. His brown eyes grew big. “I forgot the cake!”

In the kitchen, the smoke alarm blared its sharp, irritating screech. Iris, Lilac and Abby thundered upstairs to avoid the sound.

The smell of smoke floated through the air. Jake and Katherine bolted to kitchen. While Katherine climbed on the kitchen footstool to disable the alarm, Jake opened the oven door. A thick, black cloud rose from what remained of the masterpiece cake. “I think I need to edit what I just said. How about money and me? I’ll have to bake another cake. Cats? Where are my helpers?”

Scout and Abra sprinted in with their upper lips curled. “Waugh,” Scout coughed. The two hiked up their tails and trotted off to another room.

Katherine sat down on the kitchen chair and laughed until her side hurt. “I’ll help you,” she said. “Where’s the recipe?”

Chapter Two

Cokey drove his new Dodge Ram, equipped with a snow blade, to the mansion and plowed the driveway, so that Katherine could move her Subaru out from under the covered carport. She drove Jake to the garage to pick up his Jeep so he could drive to the university, where he taught a one o’clock class. Katherine was meeting G. Robert Brentwood, the financial advisor, who had an office in Mark Dunn’s building downtown. As she pulled into a parking space and got out of her car, a very tall, barrel-chested man approached her.