Лилиан Браун - The Cat Who Tailed A Thief

The garrulous weatherman rambled on. "Fran Brodie is taking over the lead in Hedda Gabler, we're all glad to know. The bad news is that Danielle didn't pay her decorating bill before all this happened. Dr. Diane says the two fugitives wouldn't be alive if they hadn't drunk all those margaritas. They were so relaxed, they were like rubber... Have you been to Lois's since Lenny was cleared and got his job back?"

"I have! And she was so happy she was handing out free apple pie."

"Everyone in the bridge club thinks it was Danielle who framed Lenny. Did you know Willard very well? I've been wondering if he was in on the scam. He brought Carter Lee up here and was pushing his project."

"That's because his bank wanted to make restoration loans. It's my belief that he didn't know the score. He met Danielle in a nightclub and hadn't known her long before they married. I'd guess that she and Carter Lee had been longtime partners in the con game and everything else, and they thought a rich husband would be a big plus."

Wetherby was watching Koko slap the floor with tail. "What's he doing?"

"Communicating," Qwilleran said. "I've been trying to read that tail for years." Then he assumed a confidential tone. "Polly gave me a set of Melville novels for Chnstmas and Koko has been obsessed with volume ten. If you want to see something weird, have a look at the title of volume ten."

Wetherby went to the hutch cabinet and looked at the Melville shelf. "It's The Confidence Man! Are you kidding me?"

"Not at all."

"Is that a coincidence - or what?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Joe."

After the weatherman had taken his gas mask and gone home, Qwilleran watched Koko lashing his tail - right, left, right, left. He was trying to convey something else; he had not told the whole story. More likely, Qwilleran had failed to read it.

"What's bothering you, old boy?" he asked.

Koko stopped the tail business and walked across the room with Siamese poise, stopping on the way to give Qwilleran a stare that could only be described as scornful. He walked to the spot where Yum Yum was laying contentedly on her brisket and hit her on the head with his paw.

"Stop that!" Qwilleran shouted. "Stop tormenting her!"

Koko looked at him impudently and hit her again, adding a contemptuous "Yow-ow-ow" in Qwilleran's direction.

Qwilleran went immediately to the phone and called Andrew Brodie at home. He heard the passive hello of a televiewer who is watching a good show and resents being interrupted.

He asked, "What's on TV, Andy?"

"Look it up in the paper," Brodie barked.

"Don't go away, Andy. I have information. Remember when Willard Carmichael attended that banking seminar in Detroit? Carter Lee was down there at the same time, on business of his own." Qwilleran pounded his moustache with his fist. "His business, I say, was hiring a hit man to eliminate Willard!"

The successful prosecution of Carter Lee James would last all spring as preliminary arguments addressed change of venue, conflict of interest, selection of jurors, and TV cameras from Down Below. Newsmedia everywhere called it a bizarre case. Only Qwilleran knew how bizarre it really was, and he took pains to conceal Koko' s input.

One sunny afternoon he was lounging in his big chair and fantasizing about the "smart cat" in the witness bog, biting the defense attorney, yowling in spite of the judge's gavel, flying around the courtroom in a caffit, swinging from the chandelier.

As a matter of fact, both Siamese were busy being ordinary cats - Yum Yum lounging in the sun and Koko prowling, sniffing invisible spots, scratching an ear, grooming a shoulder blade. He was restless. He had lost interest in Herman Melville. He looked at everything and nothing, jerking his head without reason, racing madly, staring into space.

Qwilleran thought, Koko has more whiskers than the average cat and more senses than the average human, but basically he's just a cat. At that moment, Koko leaped four feet in the air, and Qwilleran looked up. He saw a tiny black speck darting around the room in wild swoops and circles.

"Mosca!" he shouted.

The End