Кэрол Дуглас - Cat In A Quicksilver Caper

Cat in a

Quicksilver

Caper

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

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

Quicksilver

Caper

A MIDNIGHT LOUIE MYSTERY

Carole Nelson Douglas

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This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this novel are either fictitious or are used fictitiously.

CAT IN A QUICKSILVER CAPER: A MIDNIGHT LOUIE MYSTERY

Copyright © 2006 by Carole Nelson Douglas

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

A Forge Book

Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

175 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10010

www.tor.com

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

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Douglas, Carole Nelson.

Cat in a quicksilver caper / Carole Nelson Douglas.—1st ed.

p. cm.— (A Midnight Louie mystery)

“A Tom Doherty Associates book.”

ISBN-13: 978-0-765-31400-0

ISBN-10: 0-765-31400-2 (acid-free paper)

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. 7. Art thefts—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3554.O8237C2769 2006

813’.54—dc22

2005032801

First Edition: July 2006

Printed in the United States of America

0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For Janice Carlson-Buffie aka Ashland Price,

my longtime great and foresighted friend

through all the thick and thin of writing

and publishing

Contents

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

Prologue:

Eve of Destruction

Chapter 1:

Swept Off Her Feet

Chapter 2:

Louie Agonistes

Chapter 3:

The Deal of the Art

Chapter 4:

Eat Till You Drop

Chapter 5:

The Softer Side of Vegas

Chapter 6:

Designing Man

Chapter 7:

The Russians Are Coming

Chapter 8:

Friendly Fire

Chapter 9:

Brothers Under the Fur Skin

Chapter 10:

Kit and Caboodle

Chapter 11:

Spider Men

Chapter 12:

Who Do You Trust?

Chapter 13:

Depend upon It

Chapter 14:

Louie’s Choice

Chapter 15:

Old Acquaintances Not Forgot

Chapter 16:

Siamese If You Don’t Please

Chapter 17:

A Heist Hoisted

Chapter 18:

Dudley Do-Right

Chapter 19:

Rushin’ into Trouble

Chapter 20:

Maximum Insurance

Chapter 21:

Playing Chechen

Chapter 22:

Better Bred Than Red

Chapter 23:

United We Stand

Chapter 24:

Police Work

Chapter 25:

Dead Man Falling

Chapter 26:

A Moving Experience

Chapter 27:

Bedtime Stories

Chapter 28:

Afternoon Delight

Chapter 29:

Little Black Dress

Chapter 30:

Cat in the Hat

Chapter 31:

Accursed

Chapter 32:

A Bottle of Red, a Bottle of White Russian

Chapter 33:

The Wrath of Carmen

Chapter 34:

Home Invasion

Chapter 35:

High Anxiety

Chapter 36:

Cat’s Cradle

Chapter 37:

Brass Tactics

Chapter 38:

My Baby Tonight

Chapter 39:

Triple Threat

Chapter 40:

Deadhead Curtain Raiser

Chapter 41:

Who, What, Why?

Chapter 42:

When, Where, Why For?

Chapter 43:

Home, Sweet Homicide

Chapter 44:

The Murderer in the Gray Flannel Suite

Chapter 45:

Mad Matt

Chapter 46:

Mum

Chapter 47:

Riding Shotgun

Chapter 48:

Free to Good Home

Chapter 49:

Telling Temple

Chapter 50:

Miracle Worker

Chapter 51:

Maxamillion

Chapter 52:

Leaving Las Vegas

Chapter 53:

Foreplay

Chapter 54:

Crystal Shoe Persuasion

Chapter 55:

Maxed Out

Chapter 56:

After Max

Tailpiece:

Midnight Louie Mourns the Status Quo Vadis

Carole Nelson Douglas Professes Innocence, or Maybe Just Ignorance

Cat in a

Quicksilver

Caper

Midnight Louie’s

Lives and Times . . .

I cannot say why I am always hip-deep in dames.

Not that I object to said state.

It is just that I am a noir kind of guy, inside and out. My singing voice is more scat than lyrics, and my personal theme song would have to be “There Is Nothing Like a Dame.”

I admit it. I am a shameless admirer of the female of the species. Any species. Of course, not all females are dames. Some are little dolls, like my petite roommate, Miss Temple Barr.

The difference between dames and little dolls? Dames can take care of themselves, period. Little dolls can take care of themselves also, but they are not averse to letting the male of the species think that they have an occasional role in the Master Plan too.

That is why my Miss Temple and I are perfect roomies. She tolerates my wandering ways. I make myself useful by looking after her without letting her know about it. Call me Muscle in Midnight Black. In our time, we have cracked a few cases too tough for the local fuzz of the human persuasion, law enforcement division. That does not always win either of us popularity contests, but we would rather be right than on the sidelines when something crooked is going down. We share a well-honed sense of justice and long, sharp fingernails.

So when I hear that any major new attraction is coming to Las Vegas, I figure that one way or another my lively little roommate, the petite and toothsome, will be spike heel–high in the planning and execution. She is, after all, a freelance public relations specialist, and Las Vegas is full of public relations of all stripes and legalities. In this case, though, I did not figure just how personally she would be involved in murder most artful.