James, Miranda - Out of Circulation (CAT IN THE STACKS MYSTERY)

“Thank you, Clementine, I will pour.” Miss An’gel nodded at her employee, and Clementine rolled the cart to a stop in front of her. She flashed a quick smile at me, but her gaze appeared riveted on Diesel.

“Is that a bobcat?” she asked, her voice deep and raspy. She sounded like a lifelong heavy smoker.

“No, ma’am. He’s a Maine Coon cat, and they can get to be really big. His name is Diesel, and he’s large even for a Maine Coon.” I smiled up at Clementine. “He’s actually a sweet-natured cat and very friendly.”

“Yes, sir.” Clementine grinned. “That the biggest ol’ cat I ever did see. I reckon I heard about him from Azalea Berry.” With that she turned and left the room.

“I believe Clementine was a good friend of Azalea’s late mother.” Miss An’gel began to pour out the tea, and Miss Dickce prepared a small plate of cookies for me.

I accepted both, worried that I might have one of my clumsy spells and pour tea all over the no-doubt priceless carpet underneath my chair.

Miss Dickce evidently picked up on my anxiety. She pointed to a small table at my elbow that I had overlooked. “There’s a table and a coaster all ready for you, Charlie.”

“Thank you.” I set the cup and saucer down gently. When I focused on the sisters again, I noticed that Miss An’gel had a small plate of what looked like chicken.

“Is it okay to give Diesel a little treat? I thought it would be rude of us not to include him, and Clementine cooked the chicken this afternoon.” Miss An’gel cocked her head to one side as she regarded me.

“That’s very kind of you.” I would have to watch what Diesel cadged from the dinner table tonight, but I figured a little chicken now wouldn’t hurt him.

Miss An’gel fed Diesel a couple of small bites of the chicken before passing the plate to her sister. Diesel quickly shifted position to keep the treats in sight.

I sampled one of the cookies, oatmeal raisin, and almost groaned aloud in pleasure. My expression surely communicated my happiness.

The sisters exchanged a smile, and Miss An’gel chuckled. “Yes, Clementine has quite the touch when it comes to baking.” She wiped her fingers on a linen napkin, then set it aside. Her tone turned brisk as she continued, “We’re delighted you could join us for tea this afternoon, Charlie. I’m sure you must be wondering, though, why we invited you here on such short notice.”

I set my teacup down with extreme care as I answered. “Yes, ma’am, I do admit to being curious.”

“My sister and I wanted to express our thanks, privately, of course, for the way you stood up to Vera Cassity yesterday. We know she threatened to retaliate.”

My jaw dropped in surprise. How on earth had the Ducote sisters found out about the episode? I hadn’t told anyone, and I couldn’t imagine even Vera having the gall to take her complaint directly to Miss An’gel or Miss Dickce.

As I struggled to frame a reply, Miss Dickce spoke. “We have our sources for what goes on in Athena. People tend to tell us things, and Vera isn’t always as discreet as she should be.”

“Especially when she’s annoyed with someone.” Miss An’gel shook her head. “Even after all this time, she never has learned that it doesn’t pay to shoot your mouth off to all and sundry.”

I could well imagine. Vera Cassity didn’t seem like the type to suffer in silence.

“She did make a couple of threats.” I really didn’t want to go into specifics and was hoping the sisters would let it rest at that.

“You don’t need to have any fears about Diesel,” Miss Dickce said with a serene smile. “Vera won’t be able to do a thing to harm him.” She stroked the cat’s head as he sniffed at the now-empty plate, eager for more tidbits. “Not this beautiful boy.”

Miss An’gel nodded. “And if she dares to cancel that nice young Wardlaw boy’s scholarship, we’ll see that she is thoroughly embarrassed for her meanness.”

Vera was evidently even more indiscreet than I expected. “Thank you,” I said. “I have to admit that her threats had me pretty worked up.” I wondered briefly who the informant was.

“Now you can rest easy.” Miss An’gel had a sip of tea. “We knew already that you were a man of integrity, Charlie, and your actions in protecting the privacy of our family show that clearly.”

As always, any kind of direct praise made me uncomfortable. I mumbled my thanks.

“And you’re modest as well.” Miss Dickce winked at me, and I relaxed. Somehow that little gesture made me feel more comfortable, less like I was having an audience with the queen.

“We’ve put up with Vera’s little tantrums for years because she does pour a lot of money into worthy causes in Athena.” Miss An’gel’s expression turned steely. “But there are limits, and lately Vera has been pushing the boundaries of the acceptable in terms of some of her behavior.”

“And it has nothing to do with her background,” Miss Dickce said. “Despite what she may think.” She shook her head. “Good people are good no matter what kind of family they have. Vera is just plain mean.”

“That she is.” Miss An’gel took back the reins of the conversation. “She thinks we are always thwarting her simply because we think she’s socially unacceptable, but that just proves how self-deluded she is.” She sighed. “But that’s neither here nor there. The problem is, Vera is getting nastier, and she has got to be stopped.”

“She’s meddling in things that don’t concern her,” Miss Dickce said. “Not just our family history, though what she expected to find in the family papers, I haven’t the faintest idea,” she sniffed. “The Ducotes have been boringly respectable for generations.”

“Sadly, yes.” Miss An’gel laughed. “Dull as ditch water, as the saying goes.” Her expression hardened. “All that aside, Vera is headed for trouble, the kind of trouble she may never survive.”

SEVEN

Miss Dickce burst into laughter. “Oh, Charlie, your face just now. You’d think An’gel was talking about strangling Vera the way you looked.”

Diesel tilted his head up at her and warbled.

She laughed again. “See, Diesel thinks it’s funny, too.”

Miss An’gel frowned at her sister. “I’m sure Charlie thought nothing of the sort. You’re entirely too frivolous sometimes.” She turned her attention to me, as I was trying valiantly not to laugh.

“There’s no need for something so extreme to bring Vera to heel,” Miss An’gel said, her tone repressive. “The moment I heard about Vera’s attempt to stick her nose into our family papers, I called our lawyer, Q. C. Pendergrast. He knew exactly what to do to put a halt to such nonsense. He simply got on the phone to Mr. Cassity and explained the situation. That was all it took.”

Miss Dickce rolled her eyes at her sibling. “Do you truly think Morty has that kind of control over his wife? You go into the library and pull the dictionary off the shelf. Look under loose cannon , and you’ll find Vera’s picture. That woman is crazy as a betsy bug.”

“Very amusing, sister.” Miss An’gel cast a venomous glance at Miss Dickce. “I know Vera as well as you do. She has never quite understood the meaning of restraint, but Mr. Cassity holds the purse strings in the family. Without the money to back up her oversized mouth, she can’t accomplish much.”

There had been no opportunity for me to contribute to the conversation, even had I wanted to. Diesel, however, continued to chirp and purr as the sisters engaged in their verbal sparring match. He appeared to be enjoying the exchange. I found it pretty entertaining myself, but I was afraid it might escalate into something unpleasant. I had heard stories of some of their epic arguments and didn’t really want to be witness to one of them.