Pringle paced from one side of the living room to the other. Half the time he walked on his hind legs, and the other half he hobbled along on all fours. The entire time, however, he talked and talked… and talked.
I barely had time to translate for Nan and Charles before he’d cut me off to continue with his monologue.
“Whoever took Octavius, we’re going to make him pay. We’re going to make him pay big.” The raccoon pounded his tiny black fist into his open palm for emphasis. “I won’t rest until he’s brought home safely. I won’t eat a single—Actually, okay, I’m going to have to eat. A raccoon’s gotta keep his strength up if he’s going to rescue his cat pal from clear and imminent danger.”
“Um, excuse me?” I said, raising my hand to draw Pringle’s attention my way. “Have you ever even met Octo-Cat?”
The raccoon sighed and heaved his furry shoulders. “Not yet, but I assume you’ll introduce me once he’s home again, yeah?” His eyes grew wide, and for a brief moment he stopped pacing and started shaking instead. I assumed it was with excitement.
Although I was tempted to reach out and pet him, I didn’t know how he’d take to such an intimate gesture. “I can promise he’d love nothing more than to meet the president of his own personal fan club,” I said with a huge grin. “Thank you for being so willing to help us with this.”
Pringle stretched on his tiptoes and spread his arms out wide as he boomed, “Of course. This is what I was put on this earth to do. Octavius is a legend, but he’s not yet ready to be a memory. He must live another day to inspire animals both near and far.” The raccoon pounded his fist on his chest and then kneeled and bowed his head reverently.
Not knowing what to do, I patted him between the ears and said, “Thank you for your service.”
He lifted his head but kept his fist held firmly to his chest. “It is an honor to serve him. What is my first assignment?”
Uh-oh. Had I just unwittingly knighted a trash panda?
I blinked hard at the creature who remained kneeling before me. This whole scene would have been hilarious if I weren’t so worried about Octo-Cat.
Pringle cleared his throat. “Lady Angela, my assignment?”
“Oh, oh, yes.” It took me a second to snap back to reality. So what if the creature before me was half-medieval knight and half-screaming fanboy? He had pledged his service to finding Octo-Cat. We now shared a passion and a cause. Hope sprung anew as I racked my mind for a list of tasks I could give Pringle to keep him busy.
“I need you to talk with the other animals around the forest. Find out if they saw or heard anything that could be useful. After night falls, come back here and keep an eye on things around the house. If you see anything suspicious, be sure to let us know.”
“On my honor.” Pringle gave me one last lingering look before racing back out through the cat door and, presumably, setting to work.
“Hopefully he’ll be more successful than we were,” Charles said, reminding me that I wasn’t alone. Sometimes when I got deep into a conversation with an animal, I forgot about the humans nearby.
“If nothing else, at least it will keep him busy,” I said with a shrug.
Nan flipped the poster board over and uncapped a purple marker. “Now, dear. I know this won’t be easy, but it’s time we discussed you a bit more. Or more specifically, who might have it out for you.”
A fresh wave of panic bubbled inside me. “Do you think someone kidnapped Octo-Cat to get back at me?”
“Well, it’s not like he had any enemies of his own, so I guess it’s a possibility.” Charles scooted up to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. I laid my head on his chest and tried not to feel as if I’d somehow signed my best fur friend’s death warrant. When it came right down to it, though, we had no proof he would ever come home again—or that he was even still alive.
“Now, dear. Who hates you most in this world?” Nan asked, completely oblivious to the emotional river that raged within me. She was never one to use a gentle word when a stronger one would do.
Hate, wow. There were people out there who actually hated me. That was, indeed, a tough pill to swallow.
“But also knows you well enough to know that taking your cat would be a huge punishment,” Charles added softly.
“Oh, excellent point,” Nan said with a giggle. She spied Charles’s hand on my shoulder and tossed a wink my way, enjoying this whole mess far too much for my liking.
“Hate’s a really strong word,” I hedged as I shook free of Charles’s arm. Immediately the cold took his place and sent a shiver rushing down my spine.
“It’s a strong feeling, too,” Nan agreed. “I know it’s hard to think about, but I’m almost certain the folks you put in prison aren’t too happy with you about that.”
I got up and walked across the room, then sank down onto the sofa with a groan. “Okay. First of all, I didn’t put them in prison. Their crimes did that. And second, they’re in prison. How could they have possibly taken Octo-Cat even if they’d wanted to?”
“She’s right,” Charles told Nan, and they let out matching sighs. It was eerie how well we all knew each other and had even started to pick up some of each other’s mannerisms. “We may be working against a two-man operation here.”
“Or a two-woman gig. Girls can be bad, too, you know.” She seemed to take perverse pride in this observation. Now that was a really messed-up form of girl power.
“That Peter guy who worked with us briefly certainly didn’t like you much,” Charles added, referring to Bethany’s creepy cousin who had worked as a paralegal at our firm. We’d even been forced to share the same desk. I was definitely happy he’d moved down to Georgia, putting a comfortable number of miles between us.
“Yeah, and didn’t another fella get fired after you complained about sexual harassment?” Nan quickly interjected. “Brad, was it?”
“Yes and yes, but both those guys were skeezy,” I whined. Was my proud feminist grandmother really giving me a hard time about standing up against inappropriate advances? Unbelievable.
“Brad sexually harassed everyone and should have been fired a long time before I finally complained about him. And by the way, I’m not the only one who complained, either. Meanwhile, Peter seemed to have it out for me from day one. Thank goodness they’re both gone now.”
Nan frowned and fiddled some with her markers. “I’m not trying to upset you. Just trying to help bring our buddy home.”
“Look. I can see we’re not really getting anywhere with this line of questioning, so let’s back it up,” Charles said, jumping graciously to my rescue.
“Yes, and Angie seems quite worked up now, too.” Nan came to join me on the couch and placed one aged hand on my knee.
“It’s not fun making a list of people who despise you,” I told them both. It seemed like this day just kept getting worse and worse. “You should try it and see.”
“Oh, nobody dislikes me.” Nan fluffed her hair and wiggled in her seat. “I’m just a quirky old grandma.”
“Uh-huh.” I smirked. At least we’d moved on from compiling our Angie’s-worst-enemies list.
Charles came over and sat on my other side. “More and more this looks like it must be tied to Ethel Fulton’s estate and somebody who was unhappy about how the inheritance was doled out.”
“He’s right,” Nan said, leaning back into the hard antique cushion. “The timing is too suspect to be anything else.”
“And we’re sure he didn’t just wander off on his own?” Charles raised one eyebrow and waited.
“No way,” Nan and I cried in unison.
He pressed his lips in a thin line and made a harrumph sound. “Then that narrows our pool considerably. Since Ethel used our firm for her will, I should be able to get a copy. You’ll have to catch me up on all the key players and what we know about them so far, though, since this all happened before I moved to town.”
“Should we call Officer Bouchard and let him know?” Nan asked. She’d had a crush on this particular member of local law enforcement for close to a year now. Jeez. Between me and Nan, we were crushing on practically everyone in our small town. Not that either of us ever went out on any dates, but still.
Charles shook his head and frowned. “Let him know what? Unfortunately we haven’t got any proof.”
“You know what that means, then.” Nan pressed down hard on my knee and pushed herself back onto her feet. “We need to go find some.”