Софи Келли: A Case Of Cat And Mouse

“Why did you come back here? Why didn’t you just go back to where you’re staying?”

She brushed a stray wisp of hair off of her face. “Because I wanted to bake. It’s what I do when things or people make me feel crazy. And by the way, I’m not crazy.”

“I know that,” I said. “You’re smart. You can think on your feet. So why did you come here to cook?”

She held up her free hand. “Because the oven in my apartment isn’t working right. You know, if it had been, I would have just gone home and Kassie might be alive now. Imagine that.” She studied my face for a moment. “How does that saying go? ‘For want of a nail the shoe was lost?’”

“For want of a nail, the shoe was lost; for want of the shoe, the horse was lost; for want of the horse, the rider was lost; for want of the rider, the battle was lost; for want of the battle, the kingdom was lost; and all from the want of a horseshoe nail.”

She nodded. “That’s it. Benjamin Franklin?”

“He often gets the credit,” I said, “but there are variations of the words in both German and French literature that go back hundred of years before him.”

“I knew you would know that.” Kate smiled. “For want of an oven a life was lost.”

Something was broken inside her.

I shifted Hercules from one arm to the other. His head was cocked to one side now and he seemed to be listening to every word Kate said. “One thing I couldn’t figure out was how did you get in that night? I knew there was some confusion when everyone left at the same time and Zach wasn’t good at keeping track of people. But how did you get past him the second time?”

“Did you know Elias has a master key so he can use that other door?”

I nodded.

She shrugged. “He should have taken better care of it. Anyone could have copied it.”

“Why didn’t you show up on the security footage the way Elias did?”

She answered my question with a question. “Did you know there’s a basement door into this building? No cameras there. Not then, anyway.”

“Somehow you drugged Kassie.” It was a detail I hadn’t been able to figure out.

“No, I didn’t,” Kate said. “Not on purpose.” Anger flashed in her eyes and the gun jerked in her hand. “Not on purpose. I’d start shaking whenever I thought about what Kassie had done to me. When Stacey first gave me those pills I . . . I didn’t want to take them, but I didn’t think I would ever be able to stop the shaking if I didn’t.”

Her hand was starting to tremble a little now. Even though she was holding a gun on me, even though she wanted to kill me, part of me just wanted to wrap my arms around her.

“So what happened?” I asked. “How did Kassie end up taking them?”

“I don’t like to swallow pills so I made hot chocolate and I put them in it. Then I realized I’d left my bag in the washroom. I went to get it and when I came back Kassie had my drink. She thought everything was hers. I guess she didn’t have the same tolerance for that kind of medication as I do.”

I shook my head. “I would have been so angry at her.”

She nodded in agreement. “See, you get it, don’t you? I told her what she’d done to me. How she ruined my life. Those pills, they were making her sleepy, but she was the same as she always was. She didn’t care. She didn’t care about anyone but herself.”

Hercules leaned his head against my chin. I reminded myself we’d been in worse situations—or close to it. Somehow I was going to figure something out.

“Do you know what Kassie said?” Kate asked. “She said I didn’t have what it takes to be a model unless maybe it was walking a runway at the mall. And then she said I was going to be eliminated in the next episode of the show. I said she couldn’t do that but I knew she could. She was slurring her words by then and she started to slump forward. She was next to the table and there was a bowl of whipped cream on it. I don’t even know where it came from. It was so easy to just put my hand on the back of her head and hold it down. She didn’t even struggle.” She tugged the front of her sweater a little closer around her body.

Hercules gave a soft mrrr.

“I took the cup with me and I smashed it later and put the pieces in the garbage. Then I just started walking. What had happened didn’t even seem real. So I pretended that it wasn’t.”

“And then you happened to come across Caroline.”

Kate nodded. “I was just walking. I wasn’t pay attention to where I was going. When I met Caroline I knew where she’d come from. I realized Caroline wanted it to seem like we’d been together and so I just went along with it. I put Kassie and all the bad stuff out of my head the way I always do.”

She took a step toward me and she smiled at Hercules. “I like your cat,” she said. “Maybe I could keep him when you’re gone.”

She reached out to take him and the gun dipped toward the floor. I started to tell her not to, but the words died on my lips.

Hercules yowled and slashed one paw at Kate. His claws caught the back of her hand and drew blood.

She yelped, grabbed her hand, and the gun hit the floor, skittering along the tile.

Hercules launched himself out of my arms.

“Run!” I yelled and we both bolted down the corridor and around the corner. We made it out to the main hallway and I realized the mistake I’d made. I should have gone the other way, past Kate, toward Harry and safety.

It was too late now. I pulled an office door a tiny bit ajar and hoped that would distract Kate for a few seconds.

Hercules was all the way at the end of the hallway. I could just barely make him out. We needed to get to the other set of doors, the one with the alarm. I realized the best way to do that was to go through the kitchen. I could feel my way there in the almost total darkness.

I felt my way past more offices, all of them locked. We made it to the kitchen and I worked my way around the room. The door that led to the back corridor that would take me to the main doors was blocked—probably for security reasons.

Hercules rubbed against my ankle. I knew Kate wasn’t very far behind us. We had to find somewhere to hide.

I pictured the layout of the kitchen There was a closet on the left side of the room. It was filled with supplies like birthday candles, muffin cups and parchment paper but it was too small for me to fit inside. So was the pantry cupboard stacked with flour and sugar and other supplies at the other end of the long counter.

I felt a bubble of panic expanding in my chest. Standing in the middle of the room the way I was made me an easy target.

I bent down and picked up Hercules. He nuzzled my neck. I looked around. I could just make out the table where I’d found Kassie’s body. A stack of what looked to be folded tablecloths was at one end. Part of the table extended into a small alcove. It was better than nothing. At least I’d be out of sight when Kate opened the door. I scrambled onto the table and pressed myself into the back corner.

I knew Kate was coming. I could hear her opening office doors. She was methodical, careful. That bought me a little time.

What I needed was a distraction, something else like Hercules attacking so we could run back the way we came in. What my mother, when she was on stage, called smoke and mirrors.

There was a recycling bin next to me, pushed against the end wall of the alcove.

Smoke and mirrors.

I had an idea. I felt around inside the plastic bin and found a glass mayonnaise jar. That would work. I patted my pocket. I still had Marcus’s gum along with his lighter. I set Hercules on the table. “Stay here,” I whispered. I slid along the tabletop, leaned over and managed, somehow, to open the pantry door and grab the side of a bag of flour. At least that’s what I hoped it was. I teetered on the edge of the table and almost lost my grip on the bag. I stuck my foot out to brace myself against the counter but I’d misjudged where I was and instead I hit the edge of the bottom cupboard. My foot turned in and a sharp pain sliced through my ankle. I bit down hard on my tongue to keep from making any noise. Somehow I managed to roll onto my side still clutching the flour, then righted myself and crawled back to my corner.