Harper looked at her gently, and said nothing.
?And you caught Gail in her car, leaving town,? Alice said. ?That?s good police work.? She watched Harper expectantly, waiting for additional details.
Harper didn?t offer any. What was it about Alice Manning, Joe wondered, that put Harper off? The captain turned to Patty. ?You knew Larry had a fetish for you, Patty. For your movies, for your look-alikes, and for Patty Rose memorabilia. You saw his room after we searched it, the walls papered with your photographs and old movie bills.?
Patty laughed.?Some of that stuff is worth some money today. He had a real collector?s den. I knew he had a fixation about the old movies, but I didn?t think too much about it.?
?It didn?t occur to you that he might be dangerous? Why did you hire him??
Patty shrugged.? Alice asked me the same. I don?t know. I didn?t think he was dangerous, just a little strange. Harmless. I guess I liked the guy.?
Joe and Dulcie exchanged an amused look. And it was not until that evening, as the cats sat on the kitchen counter watching Clyde broil a steak, that the $1,500 turned up.
They didn?t hear a thing. The steak was sizzling and a CD was playing Dixieland. When Clyde went in the living room to change the record, he saw a white envelope lying on the rug inside Joe?s cat door. A thick envelope that, when he opened it, contained a sheaf of fifty and hundred dollar bills.
Switching off the porch light, Clyde stepped outside. Neither he nor the cats saw anyone. There was no note in the envelope, only the money. There were no cat hairs stuck to the bills. Joe examined it for tooth marks but found only one tiny indentation in the corner-it could have been made by any sharp object. The scent of the envelope was such a mix of perfumes, lotions, hamburger, French fries, and maybe cat spit, that even Joe couldn?t sort it out.
?So who left it?? Clyde said, laying the envelope on the coffee table and picking up the phone to call Harper.
?Likely we?ll never know,? Joe said. ?Wonder why they brought it here??
Clyde shrugged.?The shopkeepers will be happy to have it.? He made the call, then returned to the kitchen to carve half the sirloin into rare, thin slices for Joe and Dulcie. He served them on the best china.