Кэрол Дуглас - Cat In A Sapphire Slipper

Cat in a

Sapphire Slipper

By Carole Nelson Douglas from Tom Doherty Associates

MYSTERY

MIDNIGHT LOUIE MYSTERIES

Catnap

Pussyfoot

Cat on a Blue Monday

Cat in a Crimson Haze

Cat in a Diamond Dazzle

Cat with an Emerald Eye

Cat in a Flamingo Fedora

Cat in a Golden Garland

Cat on a Hyacinth Hunt

Cat in an Indigo Mood

Cat in a Jeweled Jumpsuit

Cat in a Kiwi Con

Cat in a Leopard Spot

Cat in a Midnight Choir

Cat in a Neon Nightmare

Cat in an Orange Twist

Cat in a Hot Pink Pursuit

Cat in a Quicksilver Caper

Cat in a Red Hot Rage

Cat in a Sapphire Slipper

Midnight Louie’s Pet Detectives

(anthology)

IRENE ADLER ADVENTURES

Good Night, Mr. Holmes

The Adventuress* (Good Morning, Irene)

A Soul of Steel* (Irene at Large)

Another Scandal in Bohemia* (Irene’s Last Waltz)

Chapel Noir

Castle Rouge

Femme Fatale

Spider Dance

Marilyn: Shades of Blonde (anthology)

HISTORICAL

ROMANCE

Amberleigh†

Lady Rogue†

Fair Wind, Fiery Star

SCIENCE

FICTION

Probe†

Counterprobe†

FANTASY

TALISWOMAN

Cup of Clay

Seed upon the Wind

SWORD AND CIRCLET

Six of Swords

Exiles of the Rynth

Keepers of Edanvant

Heir of Rengarth

Seven of Swords

* These are the reissued editions.

† Also mystery

Cat in a

Sapphire Slipper

A MIDNIGHT LOUIE MYSTERY

Carole Nelson Douglas

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This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

CAT IN A SAPPHIRE SLIPPER: A MIDNIGHT LOUIE MYSTERY

Copyright © 2008 by Carole Nelson Douglas

All rights reserved.

A Forge Book

Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

175 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10010

www.tor-forge.com

Forge ®is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Douglas, Carole Nelson.

Cat in a sapphire slipper : a Midnight Louie mystery / Carole Nelson Douglas.—1st hardcover ed.

p. cm.

“A Tom Doherty Associates book.”

ISBN-13: 978-0-7653-1861-9

ISBN-10: 0-7653-1861-X

1. Midnight Louie (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Barr, Temple (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 3. Public relations consultants—Fiction. 4. Las Vegas (Nev.)—Fiction. 5. Women cat owners—Fiction. 6. Cats—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3554.O8237 C27697 2008

813’.54—dc22

2008028538

First Edition: September 2008

Printed in the United States of America

0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For all the dedicated animal lovers who help feral cats lead better lives

through Trap, Neuter, and Release programs across the country,

and particularly for Alley Cat Allies and Feral Friends,

which helped advise me on our first feral rescue .

Contents

Previously in Midnight Louie’s Lives and Times . . .

Chapter 1:

A Surprising Scenario

Chapter 2:

Shallow Wound, Deep End

Chapter 3:

A Deeper Shade of Black

Chapter 4:

A Winning Pair of Diamonds

Chapter 5:

Cleanup Detail

Chapter 6:

Here Comes the Ride

Chapter 7:

Girls’ Night In

Chapter 8:

High Anxiety

Chapter 9:

From Here to Urbanity

Chapter 10:

Perennial Partner

Chapter 11:

Deja Vu

Chapter 12:

Cell in Solitary

Chapter 13:

Courtesans on Parade

Chapter 14:

Name Day

Chapter 15:

Bridesmaids Revisited

Chapter 16:

Champagne Suite

Chapter 17:

Garden of Lies and Spies

Chapter 18:

Boys Just Want to Have Fun

Chapter 19:

Peep Show at the Chicken Ranch

Chapter 20:

Dirty Laundry

Chapter 21:

Hen Party

Chapter 22:

Dead Spot

Chapter 23:

Rescue Party

Chapter 24:

Hitchhikers

Chapter 25:

Taking Back the Night

Chapter 26:

Eight Berettas for Eight Brothers

Chapter 27:

Mental Clime

Chapter 28:

Slippery Slope

Chapter 29:

Feline Fatales

Chapter 30:

Compromising Positions

Chapter 31:

Wildest Schemes

Chapter 32:

Terrorizing Trio

Chapter 33:

Posthomicidal Nerves

Chapter 34:

Highly Suggestive

Chapter 35:

Crime Scene

Chapter 36:

Mama Molina!

Chapter 37:

Three Cat Night

Chapter 38:

Devised to Disguise

Chapter 39:

Mass Matrimony

Chapter 40:

Memories of the Fall

Chapter 41:

Ladies-in-Waiting

Chapter 42:

Happy Hooker?

Chapter 43:

Command Post

Chapter 44:

Dead of Night

Chapter 45:

A Fine Kettle of Fish

Chapter 46:

Wheel of Misfortune

Chapter 47:

Loving Dangerously

Chapter 48:

Break Dancing

Chapter 49:

Louie’s Imps

Chapter 50:

Missing Max

Chapter 51:

Gossip Girls

Chapter 52:

Just Kidnapping

Chapter 53:

Babes to Boots

Chapter 54:

Meeting Mr. Wrong

Chapter 55:

Ex Marks the Spot

Chapter 56:

A Real Pickle

Chapter 57:

Peace of Paper

Chapter 58:

Not So Safe

Chapter 59:

Mincemeat

Chapter 60:

Monkey Business

Chapter 61:

Louie Puts Up a Red Flag

Chapter 62:

Leading Questions

Chapter 63:

Radio Silence

Chapter 64:

Peace in the Valley

Chapter 65:

Come Into My Parlor

Chapter 66:

Farewell, My Lovely

Chapter 67:

Traveling Music

Chapter 68:

Sanctuary

Chapter 69:

Endurance Vile

Chapter 70:

Family Circle

Chapter 71:

Nuptial Nuances

Chapter 72:

Resurrection

Chapter 73:

Au Revoir, Max

Tailpiece:

Midnight Louie Has Issues

Carole Nelson Douglas and Nitpickers

Cat in a

Sapphire Slipper

Midnight Louie’s

Lives and Times . . .

There are lots of fat cats in Las Vegas.

These glitzy media-blitzed streets host almost forty million tourists each year and a ton of camera crews. If lights, action, and camera are not recording background shots for CSI: Crime Scene Investigation , they are taping any of thousands of personal videos. People think they know this town—from film if not firsthand experience—know it from the flashy hotels to the seamy side of the Strip.

And a good number of them know one particular Las Vegas institution.

That would be me.

Every last neon bulb and grain of sand in Greater Las Vegas is my personal territory. Oh, I keep a low profile. You do not hear about me on the nightly news. That is the way I like it. That is the way any primo PI would like it. The name is Louie, Midnight Louie. I like my nightlife shaken, not stirred.