7026d51896537f7070e55fc097206916

“Oh?” she said, a little distracted as she surveyed her troops. “Looks like some of our members have decided to skip tonight’s rehearsal,” she said censoriously.

“Yeah, I guess they don’t want to get caught in the storm.”

“What storm?”

I pointed up, where the tree branches were swaying in a powerful wind and the night had turned fully pitch black by now.“That storm.”

“Oh, that. Just a little wind, that’s all. Your true cat choir enthusiast doesn’t let that deter him from his true passion. Now you were saying something about your case?”

“Yeah, three people have been killed so far, but the evidence is pointing in different directions.” And so I explained to her about the difficult case we were dealing with.

“Well, it’s obvious who’s behind this, isn’t it?” she said finally, after hearing me out.

“It is?” I said, much surprised. Was it possible I’d overlooked the obvious?

“God is striking down these men,” said Shanille, as if it was the most logical thing.

“God?” I asked, and inadvertently my eyes slid upward to the sky above, where presumably the Big Man was looking down on us mere felines.

“Of course! They’re all confirmed bachelors, you say? Refusing to get married?”

“Yes, all except—”

“So of course the good Lord would strike them down, setting an example.” She eyed me with a look of amusement. “You can’t expect to go against God’s will and not suffer the consequences, Max. It simply doesn’t work like that.”

“But one of them—”

“Of course God didn’tpersonally set out to kill them. But one of his servants did. So you have to look for a person or persons who firmly believes that every man and woman should be joined in holy matrimony, and if they don’t? Well, they brought it on themselves, didn’t they?”

“That’s a pretty harsh view,” I said, after giving this novel theory some thought.

“It’s the only possible explanation. And now you’ll have to excuse me, Max. I have to get this unruly bunch in line for tonight’s rehearsal!”

As she did just that, I wondered about her words. There was of course one fatal flaw in her reasoning: one man had indeed decided to engage in holy matrimony. Dunc Hanover had been on the verge of the married state, and he, too, had been struck down.

So not the wrath of God after all?

Dooley had joined me.“Looks like it’s going to rain, Max,” he said nervously. “Maybe we should go. I hate to get wet. I really do.”

“All cats hate to get wet, Dooley,” I said. Just then, the first big drop of rain fell down, right on top of my nose. Yikes!

“It’s raining, Max!” my friend cried.

“Yeah, I can see that,” I grunted, and then we made a straight line for the nearest tree, which would give us some protection at least. And as we sheltered there, soon more cats joined us, and also under the other trees surrounding the playground.

Shanille wasn’t deterred, though. Shouting to make herself heard over the sound of the pounding rain and the wind that had picked up, she screamed, “Let’s not let a little bit of rain stop us from doing what is in fact our holy mission, people! Let’s sing our hearts out, my fellow friends! And take it from the top!”

So she held up her arms just so, and then we all launched into a rather unenthusiastic rendition of‘Raindrops keep falling on my head.’ It seemed particularly appropriate.

Chapter 26

Odelia had been sleeping more or less peacefully, when a deep voice raised her from her slumber. It was Chase, and he accompanied his words with a gentle shake.

“What is it?” she muttered sleepily.

“Just got a call,” said her husband, looking just as sleepy as she did.

“God, not another murder!” she said, instantly wide awake.

“The fire department, actually,” said Chase. “Something about cats in a tree.”

Her eyes flashed to the foot of the bed, and when she saw that Max and Dooley weren’t there, her heart skipped a beat. “Let’s go,” she said, and immediately swung her feet from under the duvet.

It was chilly out, and as they drove over to the park, where the person who’d called Chase had directed them, she wrapped her jacket more closely around herself.

“I hope they’re all right,” she said.

“I’m sure they are fine,” Chase reassured her. “They’re cats. They always land on their feet.”

“Hm,” she said quietly, sinking a little deeper in her seat. This whole murder business was starting to take its toll on her. Especially the fact that they didn’t seem to be getting any closer to identifying the killer. Pressure was mounting, but there were only so many hours in the day, and already they were using all of them to trace this elusive killer.

“We need to talk to the garage owner,” she reminded Chase. “Jefferson Gusta.”

“Way ahead of you, babe,” Chase grunted. “Jefferson Gusta died last month, but his son Vince took over the business. I’ve arranged to meet him first thing.”

“And we have to talk to the Careens again.”

“And we will. First let’s get your cats out of that tree.”

“I wonder what made them get up that tree in the first place.”

“Have you seen the weather?” asked Chase.