Shirley Murphy - Cat Spitting Mad

Every hair on Joe's back went rigid.

"When he looked in the window, I dropped off Wilma's desk and hid. When he went away, I followed him."

"I thought you hated that cat door."

"I hate it, but I wanted out. I followed him to where that oak tree grows through the middle of the street and there are pictures of a blue dog in the window and that place where Wilma likes to eat breakfast."

"The Swiss Cafe. Then what?"

"She was standing by the oak tree."

"Crystal?"

"They argued. They got so mad-mad as raccoons fighting over garbage. The man said that someone named Mel owed him money. Crystal said, 'You think I'm stupid? How could he owe you money when you didn't do anyone. You think he pays for nothing?' "

The kit looked from Joe to Dulcie, her round yellow eyes darkening. "What did that mean? How could he do someone? Do what?"

Joe dropped off the coffee table, nudging the kit out of the chair and toward the kitchen. "Did she call the man by name?"

The kit mewed a laugh, then hushed, staring back at Crystal's sleeping form. "She called him 'you stupid bastard.' She said, 'The deal wasn't with you, you dumb Welsh bastard. What makes you think…?' Then he interrupted her."

The three cats leaped to the kitchen counter. "How can you remember all that?" Dulcie said. "How can you repeat all that, word for word?"

"The big cats taught me-the cats I lived with. Well, then the man said, 'Don't be such a bitch. Who do you think did them? They're dead, ain't they?'

"Was he talking about those women? Is that what it means- to make them dead?"

"Yes, Kit," Joe said gently. "What else did they say?"

"She said, 'We'll see about that, you no-good deadbeat,' and she left. Walked away real fast and mad, and I followed her."

"Did Wark see you?" Dulcie said. "Did he know you were there?"

"I stayed way deep in the shadows. I followed her up and up the hill past the shops and saw her come in here. The light came on inside. I found where the screen was loose. I watched her until she went to bed, then I slipped under just like you would. And here I am," she said proudly.

Joe and Dulcie exchanged a look. Dulcie sighed. She wanted to cuff the kit's inquisitive little nose-and wanted to hug her. Across the room, Crystal stirred but didn't wake. Beside the cats, the kitchen window was brightening with dawn.

"Before she turned the light off," the kit said, "the phone rang."

"And?" Joe said impatiently.

"She listened but didn't say anyone's name. She said, 'Of course I met him. What do you think?' Then a pause. Then, 'No. I haven't the faintest. I'm still looking for her, you know that.' She was real angry. She shouted into the phone, 'Oh, right. And let them hang me, too? You think I want to spend the rest of my life in T.I.?'

"What's XL?" said the kit.

"It's a prison," Dulcie said shortly. "Go on, Kit."

"She hung up. And she opened up the phone and took out something. Like a little box. She put it in that drawer and put another like it in the phone. Then she poured a drink of that sharp-smelling stuff, there by the refrigerator. She drank it down and went to bed. And I came inside to see what I could see.

"What was that box?" the kit said. "What was she doing? After she went to bed I curled up in the chair to watch her, but I guess I went to sleep. Then you were here." The kit looked deeply at Dulcie, the tip of her tail twitching. "It's scary."

"What's scary?" Joe said. "Being in here with Crystal? Then why did you go to sleep here?"

She looked bright-eyed at Joe. "It's scary spying on humans. Coming into their den to spy on them."

"Then why did you do it?" Joe growled.

"Because you would have. Because humans do bad things, and you know how to make them stop. Because if you know enough about them, you can make them pay for being bad-like you did before, when that man was killed on Hellhag Hill. I followed her because she's a mean person."

Joe Grey sighed, and hid a grin, and pawed open the drawer beneath the counter.

Two reels of miniature tape lay inside, the kind used in answering machines. They were tucked down among some packages of plastic spoons and forks. Joe picked them up in his teeth and dropped them on the counter.

"Those paper towels behind you, Dulcie. To keep the drool off."

Nipping at the towels, Dulcie managed to pull one free. She was wrapping the tapes, folding the towel with her paw, when Crystal rolled over and pushed back the covers.

Joe glanced back at the escrow papers, then snatched up the package of tapes. Dulcie pushed out the window behind him, nosing the kit along, and they fled down the stairs and underneath.

Crouched in the damp shadows, they heard Crystal moving around in the kitchen above them, heard water running, then the sucking of a coffeemaker. A lone car passed, its tires hissing along the fog-damp street. Above in the apartment, a door slammed; the pipes rumbled as if Crystal was taking a shower.

Joe dropped the paper packet between his paws. "Now we're getting somewhere."

"Now," Dulcie said softly, reaching to pat at the packet of tapes, "one of us will have to phone Garza."

"Maybe," Joe said. "Maybe not. I can leave the tapes tucked into the morning Gazette."

"But what about the escrow papers? If she bought the house from Helen and didn't tell anyone… And if that was Wark she met last night…" She looked deeply at Joe, her green eyes burning. "What does this all add up to? Did Crystal pay someone to kill the Marners? How does this apartment sale fit in?"

Carefully, Joe Grey washed his front paw. "I guess, if Garza got a phone call from an escrow officer, that wouldn't be the same as an anonymous call."

"Except," Dulcie said, "he'd check it out with the escrow company. When there's no one there by that name-"

"So I get the name of the escrow officers. I think most of them are women-and you've been dying to call Garza. You can ask him to keep it confidential."

Dulcie purred. "You did very well, Kit. I can't believe you remembered that long conversation."

"I told you. The clowder cats. They tried to do magic, but they never could. I learned to say the spells the way they did. But they never worked, never made anything different. I was still cold and hungry."

Joe Grey licked the kit's ear. "You're fine now, Kit. You're just fine." And he picked up the packet of tapes and led the ladies away from Crystal's, through the bright, chill dawn.

THE GARZA COTTAGE smelled of spaghetti sauce laced with marsala. Beyond the windows, the February sky was dark but clear. A thin sliver of moon shone above the treetops. The ringing of the phone mingled with the chiming of the courthouse clock from down in the village. When Garza answered, Joe Grey was already stretched out along the back of the mantel, his eyes closed, his studied breathing deep and slow, feigning sleep. The time was 7 P.M. He could just hear the crackle of Dulcie's voice from the other end of the line.

Garza listened. "Peninsula Tide Company?" Then a long pause. Then, "Yes, of course I'm interested. Can you tell me your name?"

He listened again attentively, making notes on a pad. Dulcie's voice would have, Joe knew, that soft, insinuating tone that so annoyed Max Harper. The name Garza jotted down was Caroline Jacobs. Joe wondered why Dulcie had chosen that name, from the list of four woman officers he'd given her. Maybe because it had a nice rhythm.

Duplex, Dolores above First. Helen Marner to Crystal Ryder. $480,000. Closed February 9.

"Oh, yes, this is very helpful information. Any information we receive about Helen Marner is of course of departmental interest. Can you get me a copy of the escrow papers?