Рита Браун - Whisker Of Evil

“Flu shots.” Fair exhaled.

“Told me. Questioned medical people,” Bill Langston added.

“Poor Jerome. He couldn’t resist showing off what he knew.” Susan pitied him.

“Well, they met on the road. Jerome didn’t have time to get out of the car. Tavener shot him with a gun bought at a gun show, a used gun. No papers. Then he disposed of it. He was bold and arrogant. He still thought he could get away with it.”

“He was clever.” Alicia’s eyebrows came together in disgust.

“Clever, and he relied on being a pillar of the community,” Cooper said. “He was protected by position. In fact, if Barry hadn’t found Mary Pat’s diary and breeding notes, none of this would have happened.”

“Curiosity killed the cat,” Little Mim said. “Two cats, Barry and Jerome. It seems to me like Sugar paid for Barry and Jerome’s curiosity.”

“Thank God for my two cats!” Harry beamed. “And Tucker. Or else I think curiosity would have gotten this cat”—she pointed to herself—“too.”

“You’re very lucky.” Alicia smiled. “Mary Pat’s ring protected you. She wanted us to find her. I really believe that and now she’s at peace.”

“I believe that, too,” Cooper said surprisingly. “But because of one man’s lust and greed, four people are resting—we hope—in peace but long before their time.”

“But it was their time.” Paul, usually quiet, spoke up. “When the Lord wants you, it’s your time, no matter how it looks to us.”

“I’m sure you’re right,” Tazio smiled, “but it’s all sordid and shocking.”

“Dreadful,” Big Mim pronounced judgment.

“Do not think to repay evil for evil, wait for the Lord to deliver you.” Miranda quoted from Proverbs, Chapter 20, Verse 22.

“I’m supposed to be the Bible-quoter here,” Herb teased.

“Well, nobody does it better than you.” Miranda raised her glass to Herb.

They toasted the good reverend and switched to happier subjects.

Harry, who rarely drank, sipped champagne in honor of Herb. Her normally sharp senses had been dulled by her own predicament. She felt if she were on top of her game she would have somehow figured out Tavener was in on this. She figured it out at the end and nearly got shot for it. She couldn’t control her impulses. She blurted out everything at the grave site, heedless of the consequences.

She would give her future some hard, clear thought. She hated being muddled. But whenever she’d think about what she wanted to do, all that came to mind was a big question mark.

Harry thought to herself, what was the Bible quote that Miranda would say on the days when Miranda’s arthritis kicked up? “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.” Ah, yes. Well, perhaps the Good Lord would strengthen her weak mind.

She slipped her hand through Fair’s and watched the fireflies come out to compete with the Japanese lanterns.

On the dais, the cats, filled with delicious food, observed the humans.

“Do you ever get tired of Herb’s sermons?” Pewter asked Elocution and Cazenovia.

“No. We like to help him.” Elocution lay on her side, her tail lazily waving to and fro.

“He gives good sermons, but all this life-after-death stuff—I don’t know,” Pewter said.

“I believe in life before death.” Mrs. Murphy smiled.

Dear Reader,

I’ve had my rabies shots, my annual FVR-CP shots, which cover just about everything a kitty can get. I endure worming once a month. Large ugh. My teeth are good.

I mention this because much of this book is about health.

Pewter also gets all her shots and is a big weenie about it. The dogs, on the other hand, are pretty good.

I hope you’ve taken care of your shots and teeth and whatever a human needs to do. Expensive though it is, it’s still not as expensive as being sick.

As I’ve gone along with this series I’ve found that I truly love the characters. Funny, isn’t it? I mean I even like the corgi and, well, dogs are okay but a cat can’t be but so close to them. They’re just so slavish! If I have to admit it, I like the dogs here at home, a motley crew of rescue mixes as well as Mother’s foxhounds, her pride and joy.

Now, I adore the horses but cats and horses have a special friendship.

Whoever you are reading this, I hope you have an animal in your life that you can tell everything to and know it won’t go any further. We make the best friends—just be sure we get our shots, okay?

Always and ever,

Sneaky Pie

Books by Rita Mae Brown

with Sneaky Pie Brown

WISH YOU WERE HERE

REST IN PIECES

MURDER AT MONTICELLO

PAY DIRT

MURDER, SHE MEOWED

MURDER ON THE PROWL

CAT ON THE SCENT

SNEAKY PIE’S COOKBOOK FOR MYSTERY LOVERS

PAWING THROUGH THE PAST

CLAWS AND EFFECT

CATCH AS CAT CAN

THE TAIL OF THE TIP-OFF

WHISKER OF EVIL

Books by Rita Mae Brown

THE HAND THAT CRADLES THE ROCK

SONGS TO A HANDSOME WOMAN

THE PLAIN BROWN RAPPER

RUBYFRUIT JUNGLE

IN HER DAY

SIX OF ONE

SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT

SUDDEN DEATH

HIGH HEARTS

STARTING FROM SCRATCH: A DIFFERENT KIND OF WRITERS’ MANUAL

BINGO

VENUS ENVY

DOLLEY: A NOVEL OF DOLLEY MADISON IN LOVE AND WAR

RIDING SHOTGUN

RITA WILL: A MEMOIR OF A LITERARY RABBLE-ROUSER

LOOSE LIPS

OUTFOXED

HOTSPUR

FULL CRY

WHISKER OF EVIL

A Bantam Book / April 2004

Published by

Bantam Dell

A Division of Random House, Inc.

New York, New York

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2004 by American Artists, Inc.

Illustrations copyright © 2004 Michael Gellatly

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law.

Bantam Books is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

Visit our website at www.bantamdell.com.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Brown, Rita Mae.

Whisker of evil / Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown.

p. cm.

1. Haristeen, Harry (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Murphy, Mrs. (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 3. Women postal service employees—Fiction. 4. Women cat owners—Fiction. 5. Virginia—Fiction. 6. Cats—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3552.R698W48 2004

813'.54—dc21

2003056262

eISBN: 978-0-553-89879-8

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