Harry kicked him once to see if he was a danger. She realized he was probably concussed.
The cats joined BoomBoom in subduing Matthew, who bent over in an attempt to toss her over his head.
Pewter sank her fangs into his left calf while Murphy attacked his right one. He bellowed in pain and frustration.
Tucker, gun in her mouth, flew past the struggling pair down the first flight of stairs to Harry.
Harry turned to run back up the stairs to help BoomBoom when Tucker reached her.
"Thank God!" She bent over to take the gun from the intrepid dog.
Then she bounded up, two steps at a time.
The fire alarm seemed inside her head but her mind remained clear.
"Matthew, stop." She hurried in front of him now, about three paces away. "Or I'll give you the third eye of prophecy."
BoomBoom did not relax her grip until he stopped struggling.
"Harry, you've got it all wrong. It was Fred. I just kind of got roped in," Matthew choked out.
"He's a liar, Mom, be careful." Murphy stopped biting his calf.
"Yeah." Pewter did likewise as Tucker circled around in front of Matthew in case he did something stupid.
"You girls know me. We work together on the St. Luke's Parish Guild. You know I'd never kill anyone." He took a step toward Harry.
"Matthew, don't move."
"Ah, come on, Harry."
BoomBoom, breathing hard, stepped up behind him ready to grab his arm.
"Boom, move away," Harry told her.
The tall blonde stepped to the side.
"You're not a violent person, Harry. I know you." He smiled.
The three animals never took their eyes off Matthew.
"I am as violent as I have to be, Matthew." Harry prayed the fire department, the sheriff, anybody would answer the alarm. As if in reply, she heard two sirens in the distance.
Matthew heard them, too. "You know me. You know I'd never hurt anybody. It's all Fred. He ran away. Isn't that proof enough?"
"He didn't run away. He's out cold on the stairs." Harry spoke firmly.
BoomBoom remained ready to fight, her fists clenched.
The sirens drew closer. Matthew assumed, as did many men, that a woman wouldn't really hurt him. He had to get out of there. If he could reach his car, he had a chance to escape.
He lowered his voice, a false warmth infusing his words. "It looks bad for me. I know. But I'm innocent. I need to call my lawyer. If you'll just let me go, I'll-" He took another step toward Harry.
"Matthew, stop." She didn't budge.
Then he leapt toward her.
She fired once. He dropped like a stone.
Blood spurted from his knee for she'd blown out his kneecap. Writhing, screaming, he slithered on the floor like a fish out of water.
"Should I tear out his throat?" Tucker bared her fangs.
"No. He's out of commission," Mrs. Murphy advised.
"I'd kind of like to." Tucker's eyes sparkled.
"You could lick up all that fresh blood." Pewter giggled, which sounded like "kickle, kickle."
"Gross out the humans. You know how they are." Murphy would have gladly killed Matthew herself.
Harry kept the gun trained on Matthew. His screams of agony pleased her. He or Fred or both had snuffed out the lives of two people, tried to pin the blame on an innocent widow, and would have killed Harry and BoomBoom to boot.
Let him scream his head off, Harry thought to herself. He's lucky I took out his knee and not his heart, if he has one.
"Harry." BoomBoom didn't get a response so she raised her voice. "Harry!"
"Huh? Are you all right?"
"Yes. I was about to ask the same thing of you." She shouted over Matthew's howls and the fire alarm.
The sirens sounded as though they were right outside. Within seconds Sheriff Shaw, Deputy Cooper, and the fire chief, Dodson Hawley, burst through the doors followed by firemen.
The clanging stopped as Hawley cut off the alarm.
"Here!" BoomBoom hollered above Matthew's screams.
Cooper ran toward them.
"There's no fire." Harry handed Cooper the gun when she reached her. "Fred Forrest is on the landing and needs attention. He's in on this." She pointed to the stairwell. "And this sorry son of a bitch is lucky to be alive. I hope he's tried and fried."
"Yeah!" the three animals concurred.
As Rick came up, Cooper said, "Fred's on the stairwell."
Rick's footsteps could be heard descending the stairwell.
BoomBoom, suddenly exhausted, leaned against the wall.
Harry knelt down to pet her animals. She, too, felt as though someone had pulled the drain plug. Her energy was ebbing away.
"Boom?" Cooper's eyebrows shot upward.
"I'm okay."
"Boom, I was wrong about you." Harry stood up. "Forgive me."
BoomBoom smiled, too tired or too overwhelmed to respond. She held up her left hand, palm outward, a sign of acceptance.
"Can you two give a statement now? How about if I have someone fetch you a coffee or a Coke?" Cooper asked, ignoring the commotion around them.
"Tuna!" Pewter resolutely requested.
Harry glanced down at her gray cat. "These guys fought as hard as we did."
"I'll order a ham sandwich for each of them." Cooper smiled.
The ambulance crew arrived.
Harry, oblivious to the chaos around her, followed Cooper back to the main entrance, a little bit away from the gurneys being rolled in. BoomBoom, Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, and Tucker followed also.
"We can tell you what happened," BoomBoom said, "but we don't know why it happened. Harry, what on earth were you thinking, going back to the Clam, knowing Matthew was going to follow you?"
"I don't know. I had to get to the bottom of it. I was pretty stupid to be unarmed. Really stupid." Harry inhaled, then touched Cooper's arm. "Do you know what's going on?"
"Think I do," Cooper tersely replied above Matthew's screams of pain and innocence.
52
The ham sandwiches and coffee appeared within fifteen minutes. Cooper used up all her quarters in the vending machines to purchase the indifferent fare.
"I promise better food tomorrow." She smiled as she slid the blister-wrapped sandwiches across the table to the humans and animals.
She'd shepherded them into an office. With the door closed, it was almost quiet.
"If you don't want your ham, I'll eat it," Tucker helpfully offered.
"Why wouldn't I want the ham?" Pewter tilted her head sideways, staring at the dog.
"You said you wanted tuna."
"Nice try." Murphy laughed as she bit into the ham, which tasted better than Matthew's hand or leg.
As Harry and BoomBoom began to breathe normally, Cooper took out her notebook, flipped open the top cover.
"Okay, let's go."
She listened carefully, jotting down notes. When the two had completed their statements and she'd asked a few questions, she flipped the book closed.
Harry, somewhat restored by the sandwich and coffee, pleaded, "Can you tell us what's going on? Now that we've made our statements?"
"I can try." Cooper slipped the notebook back in her chest pocket. "Matthew Crickenberger knew we were closing in. Anne was under our protection. She was a suspect initially but once we realized she was in danger, we kept someone with her. Matthew knew that. But Harry, you were the one-you pushed him over the edge."
"When I pelted him with the pea! The noisemaker!" Harry tapped the table with her forefinger.
BoomBoom's eyes widened. "I still don't get it."
Cooper sipped her coffee for a moment. "H.H. was furious at continually being in Matthew's jet stream, so to speak, and figured out their scam. I'll tell you about that later. He put in months of patient research, visiting old and new projects Matthew had built. H.H. was determined to find something, and he found more than he bargained for. We think he confided in Mychelle-and clearly Matthew thought that as well-but we don't know that for a fact. I would think Mychelle would have come directly to us after H.H.'s death and tell us H.H. was blackmailing Matthew. I don't know, but"-Cooper shrugged-"people are often afraid of us. Of course H.H.'s death looked like a heart attack. When Rick gave a statement to the press that H.H.'s death was suspicious, Mychelle must have known why H.H. was killed. If she had any doubts about his demise she should have seen the handwriting on the wall. We don't know if she contacted Matthew. After all, it could have been worth money. We still don't know why Mychelle withdrew five thousand dollars from her bank account. Was she going to run away? But Matthew either had hard evidence that Mychelle knew what he was doing or he didn't want to risk that she knew. Her hesitation cost Mychelle her life and could well have cost Tazio hers once word got around that Mychelle wanted to see Tazio that Monday. I think Tazio would have been the next victim if you hadn't triggered Matthew. He was losing his composure. The manner in which he killed Mychelle suggests that."