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“Any case updates from Chief Kenny?” Kat asked as Imogene Little entered her apartment.
Kat had called Imogene soon after leaving the library. She hoped her friend—who knew more people in town than anyone else in her social circle—could help her narrow down a suspect list that only seemed to keep expanding.
Tom raced over to join them by the front door. Not only did Imogene know a lot of people in town, but she also knew a lot of the local animals. In fact, if it weren’t for Imogene, Kat never would have met Tom. Imogene had played a major role in rescuing the affectionate feline and introducing him to Kat last year. Now Kat couldn’t imagine her life without him.
The way Tom was behaving he might very well feel as indebted to his savior as Kat did. Right now he was busy weaving in between Imogene’s legs and meowing with such vigor anyone would think her visit was as monumental an event as the Second Coming.
“Kenny refused to discuss the case when I called him earlier,” Imogene said, stooping down to give Tom a pat. “He practically hung up on me. The way he was grumbling you’d have thought I’d phoned merely to fish for information.”
Kat wouldn’t be surprised if Chief Kenny had been spot-on about Imogene’s motives, but she wasn’t going to point that out to her friend. “I was hoping he’d had a chance to look at the microfiche.”
Imogene scrunched up her nose. “What microfiche?”
“The one that was loaded into the reader when we found Amelia’s body.”
“I don’t remember that. However, I freely admit to being rather distracted by the dead body on the floor.”
“I remember,” Kat said. “And I think whatever’s on there might be related to her murder.”
“How so?”
“Tiffany Reed told me Amelia had discovered something scandalous in the newspaper archives. It could be someone killed her to keep their secret safe.”
Imogene pulled out her cell phone and started punching buttons. She had perked up considerably since this conversation began. “Kenny didn’t say anything about an article, but that doesn’t mean anything.”
“Are you calling him? I thought he didn’t want to discuss the case with you.”
Imogene flicked her wrist, as if the police chief’s wishes regarding his homicide investigation were of no importance to her.
“Kenny!” Imogene said into her phone. “Yes, it’s me again. . . . Goodness gracious. There’s no need to be so rude. I’m calling with important information. Kat here says you recovered a microfiche film from the library yesterday, and I . . . Huh. Okay.” Imogene pulled the phone away from her ear and stuck her tongue out at it. “Goodbye to you, too.”
“What did he say?” Kat asked.
“That his crew didn’t take any microfiche into evidence.”
“How can that be?” Kat stormed into the living room and plopped onto the sofa. “Nobody else would have had the opportunity to take it between the time we found Amelia and when the police arrived on the scene.”
Imogene lowered herself onto the opposite sofa. “Well, somebody must have. I don’t think Kenny was being evasive. He truly sounded like he was clueless.”
“I don’t understand where it could have gone.” Kat paused, then said, “Was he able to tell you anything?”
“As a matter of fact, he did tell me one thing.”
Kat jerked forward, hope sparking inside of her. “What’s that?”
“He told me to tell you to butt out of his investigation.”
Kat collapsed back against the couch. That wasn’t the case-cracking clue she had hoped for.
Tom let out a howl. He had followed Imogene into the living room and was clearly displeased that she hadn’t yet invited him to join her.
Imogene hefted him off the floor. “You missed me that much, huh, Tommy?”
Tom confirmed with a high-pitched meow. Imogene parted her lips to respond, but Tom bumped his head against her jaw, effectively closing her mouth. Then he proceeded to drape his front paws over her shoulder as though to give her a hug.
Imogene chuckled as she returned the embrace. “My, my, my. Aren’t you a love bug?”
“He hasn’t gotten much attention today,” Kat said, tamping down a flash of guilt. “I only just returned from the library.”
Imogene regarded her over Tom’s head. “You went back to the library?”
“Don’t tell Chief Kenny.”
“My lips are sealed. But I wouldn’t worry too much about Kenny. He’s all bark and no bite. I never pay him any mind myself.”
“In that case, maybe you could share what you know about some of the locals who seemed to have issues with Amelia. Starting with Roland.”
“Roland. Now there’s a story.” Imogene rearranged Tom until he was cradled in her arms like a big, furry baby. “Did you know Amelia fought that poor man when he asked to have a wheelchair ramp installed outside the library?”
Kat’s jaw dropped. “She protested a disabled man having access to the library?”
“Hard to believe, isn’t it? She said adding a ramp would ruin the historic integrity of the building.”
“Wow.” Kat felt a spark of outrage on Roland’s behalf. “That’s shameful.”
“You can say that again. Luckily the town council overruled her and had the ramp installed anyway. That was several years ago now.”
It was no wonder the man didn’t have any warm feelings toward Amelia Haveshin, Kat thought. But it was a big stretch between not liking someone and actually killing them.
Matty chose that moment to come tearing through the room. The rambunctious feline circled around the coffee table once, then made a full stop near the base of her cat tree. Her green eyes were wide and wild as they ping-ponged every which way. What she was searching for, Kat had no idea. But Matty looked so convinced there was something to be found that Kat caught herself checking the room’s corners even as the tortoiseshell proceeded to pounce on nothing but air.
Tom’s ears pricked. He flipped himself out of Imogene’s arms and hunkered low on her lap, his eyes pinned on Matty. With three wriggles of his rear end, he pushed off of Imogene’s legs and shot into the air like a thirteen-pound rocket.
“Ouch!” Imogene winced as she ran her palms up and down her jeans-clad thighs. “Somebody evidently needs his nails trimmed.”
“Sorry about that,” Kat said. “He’s gotten to the point where he tolerates having his front claws cut, but he still refuses to let me touch his hind feet.”
“Yes, well, you’ve got him trained better than Clover. That cat absolutely detests even the sight of the nail clippers. The second I pull them out he makes a mad dash for the bottom of the bed. And with his nails being practically talons that he doesn’t mind digging into my carpets, good luck getting him out from under there.”
Now that Tom had joined the fray Matty no longer needed to rely on her imagination for entertainment. She currently had Tom in a headlock while she used her own overgrown claws to kick the big cat in his ample stomach. Tom retaliated by sinking his teeth into one of Matty’s legs, but the guilt must have gotten to him because a second later he was licking the spot he had bitten.
“My goodness, those two are certainly riled up,” Imogene commented.
“It’s because I’ve been away,” Kat replied. “I’m pretty sure they save up all their energy while I’m gone, only to have it come bursting out when I return.”
“That wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest. No sense in putting on a show if nobody is around to watch it.” Imogene paused, then said, “You were asking about Amelia. Well, I can tell you, she was another one who thrived on attention. And I presume she found the easiest way to gain it was to shove her nose in everybody’s business and make it as difficult as possible for them to move peacefully about their lives.”
“I suppose I should consider myself lucky I never knew her,” Kat said.
Imogene slumped against the sofa. “This is an awful thought on my part, but I must confess I’ve felt a bit lighter knowing Amelia is no longer around to protest Pepe’s adoption. When she made such a fuss about Charlotte taking him in, I feared that poor cat’s first three days in the library might be his last. It’s not that I’m happy she’s dead, but at the same time I can’t help feeling relieved. Does that make me a horrible person?”
Kat was about to reassure her friend that a horrible person would never care so much about a stray cat’s welfare, but something Emme Cauldwell had said yesterday derailed her train of thought.
It’s the skunk kitty! I want to pet him again.
The words buzzed through Kat’s brain, setting off warning bells. Hadn’t Mia claimed that the only time she and Emme had visited the library this past week was for Saturday storytime? But Pepe had only moved in on Wednesday. How could Emme have petted him already?
“Kat?” Imogene peered at her, her brow furrowed. “You think I’m an awful, horrendous human being, don’t you?”
“No, I don’t. But I can’t talk right now.” Kat jumped off the couch, startling Matty and Tom and sending the wrestling animals shooting in opposite directions. “I’ll call you later. Lock up when you leave, please.”
Then, before Imogene could say another word, Kat raced out of the apartment as fast as her legs could carry her.
