Cat Under Fire

16

Late-afternoon sun slanted into the Damen backyard, warming the chaise lounge, and warming Joe where he slept sprawled across its soft cushions. He did not feel the gentle breeze that caressed his fur. He was so deep under that the term catnap could not apply-he slept like the dead, limp as a child's stuffed toy. He didn't hear the leaves blowing in the oak trees, didn't hear the occasional car passing along the street out in front. Didn't hear the raucous screaming above him where, atop the fence, six cow birds danced, trying to taunt him. Had he been lightly napping, he would have jerked awake at the first arrogant squawk and leaped up in pointless attack simply for the fun of seeing the stupid birds scatter. But his adventures of the morning, breaking into Stamps's room and his creative concert in the Blankenship fig tree, had left him wrung out. Only if one were to lean close and hear his soft snores, would one detect any sign of life.

He had parted from Dulcie at Ocean Avenue, had stood in the shade of the grassy median watching her trot brightly away toward the courthouse, carrying the photocopy of Stamps's list, the white paper clutched in her teeth as if she were some dotty mother cat carrying a prize kitten; and she'd headed straight for the Molena Point Police Station.

He had to trust she'd get the list to Harper without being seen. When he questioned her, she hadn't been specific.

"There are cops all over, Dulcie. How are you going to do that?"

"Play it by ear," she'd mumbled, smiling around the paper, and trotted away.

And Stamps would never know the list had left his room. What were a few little dents in the paper? Who would imagine toothmarks? Certainly by the time Stamps got home from work the list would be dry, Dulcie's spit evaporated.

And once Dulcie had delivered Stamps's game plan to the authorities, she'd be off for a delightful day of court proceedings.

For himself, a nap had seemed far more inviting. Arriving home famished, he had pushed into the kitchen, waking the assorted pets, had knocked the box of cat kibble from the cupboard, and wolfed the contents. He'd gone out again through the front-there was no cat door from the kitchen; Clyde controlled the other cats' access to the outdoors. Two of the cats were ancient and ought to be kept inside. And the young white female was too cowardly to fend for herself.

And in the backyard, moderately fortified with his dry snack, he had slept until 4 P.M.

He'd awakened hungry again, starved. Slipping back into the house, he had phoned Jolly's. When, twenty minutes later, Jolly's delivery van pulled up in front, he allowed time for the boy to set his order on the porch as he had directed and to drive away. There was no problem about paying-he had put it on Clyde's charge. When the coast was clear he slipped out, checked for nosy neighbors, then dragged the white paper bag around the side yard to the back and up onto the chaise.

Feasting royally, he had left the wrappers scattered around the chaise and gone back to sleep, his stomach distended, his belch loud and satisfied.

But now, suddenly, he was rudely awakened by someone poking him.

He jerked up, startled, then subsided.

Through slitted eyes he took in pant legs, Clyde's reaching hand. He turned over and squeezed his eyes closed.

Clyde poked again, harder. Joe opened one eye, growling softly. Around them, the shadows were lengthening, the sunlight had softened, its long patches of brilliance lower and gender. The cool breeze that rustled the trees above him smelled of evening. Joe observed his housemate irritably.

Clyde was not only home from work, he had showered and changed. He was wearing a new, soft blue jogging suit. A velvet jogging suit. And brand-new Nikes. Joe opened both eyes, studying him with interest.

Clyde poked again, a real jab. Joe snatched the offending fingers and bit down hard.

Clyde jerked his hand, which was a mistake. "Christ, Joe! Let go of me! I was only petting. What's the matter with you?"

He dropped the offending fingers. "You weren't petting, you were prodding."

"I was only trying to see if you're all right. You were totally limp. You looked dead, like some old fur piece rejected by the Goodwill."

Joe glared.

"I merely wanted to know if you'd like some salmon for dinner." He examined his fingers. "When was your last rabies shot?"

"How the hell should I know? It's your job to keep track of that stuff. Of course I want salmon for dinner."

Clyde studied his wounded appendages, searching for blood.

"I hardly broke the skin. I could have taken the damned fingers off if I'd wanted."

Clyde sighed.

"You jerked me out of an extremely deep sleep. A healing, restful sleep. A much-needed sleep." He slurped on his paw and massaged his violated belly. "In case you've forgotten, cats need more sleep than humans, cats need a higher-quality sleep. Cats…"

"Can it, Joe. I said I was sorry. I didn't come out here for a lecture." Clyde's gaze wandered to the deli wrappers scattered beneath the chaise. He knelt and picked up several and sniffed them. "I see you won't want the salmon, that you've already had dinner."

"A midafternoon snack. I said yes, I want salmon."

Clyde sat down on the end of the chaise, nearly tipping it though Joe occupied three-fourths of the pad. "This was a midafternoon snack? I wonder, Joe, if you've glanced, recently, at my deli bill."

Joe stared at him, his yellow eyes wide.

"Ever since you learned how to use the phone, my bill at Jolly's has been unbelievable. It takes a large part of my personal earnings just to… "

"Come on, Clyde. A little roast beef once in a while, a few crackers."

Clyde picked up a wrapper. "What is this black smear? Could this be caviar?" He raised his eyes to Joe. "Imported caviar? The beluga, maybe?" He examined a second crumpled sheet of paper. "And these little flecks of pink. These wouldn't be the salmon-Jolly's best smoked Canadian salmon?"

"They were having a special." Joe licked his whiskers. "You really ought to try the smoked salmon; Jolly just got it in from Seattle."

Clyde picked up yet another wrapper and sniffed the faint, creamy smears. "And is this that Brie from France?"

"George Jolly does keep a very nice Brie. Smear it on a soft French bread, it's perfection. They say Brie is good with fresh fruit, but I prefer…"

Clyde looked at Joe intently. "Doesn't Jolly's deliveryman wonder, when he brings this stuff and no one answers the door? What do you tell him when you call?"

"I tell him to leave it on the porch. What else would I tell him? To shove it through the cat door? I can manage that myself. Though this evening I carried it around here, it's so nice and sunny. I had a delightful snack."

"That, as far as I'm concerned, was your supper."

"You might call it high tea."

"And where's Dulcie? How come you didn't share with her? She loves smoked salmon and Brie."

"She planned to spend the afternoon at the courthouse. She said she was going home afterward, for some quality time with Wilma. Dulcie is a very dutiful cat."

Clyde wadded up the deli wrappers. "You were taking a nap pretty early in the day, so I presume you're planning a big night."

Joe shrugged. "Maybe an early hunt, nothing elaborate." He had no intention of sharing his plans for the evening. This proposed break-and-enter into the Aronson Gallery was none of Clyde's business. It would only upset him. He looked Clyde over with interest. "And what about you? Looks like you have big plans. Is that a new jogging suit? And new Nikes? They have to be, they're still clean. And you just had a haircut. What gives? You going walking with Charleston?"

Clyde stared.

Joe bent this head and licked his hind paw. "Simple deduction," he said modestly. "I know that Charlie likes to walk; Dulcie says she's learning the lay of the village, learning the names of the streets. And you told me yourself, she doesn't like fancy restaurants and doesn't hang out in bars. And a movie date is so juvenile. Ergo, you're going walking, and then for dinner either to the Fish Market or the Bakery."

"I don't know why I bother to plan anything about my life. I could just ask you what I'm going to do for the day. It would be so much easier."

Joe lifted a white paw, extended his claws, and began to clean between them.

Clyde glanced at his watch and rose. In a few minutes Joe could hear him in the kitchen opening cans, could hear the two old dogs' nails scrabbling on the kitchen floor in Pavlovian response to the growl of the can opener, and the three cats begin to mewl. Annoyed by the fuss, Joe rose, leaped to the top of the fence and up into the eucalyptus tree. There he tucked down into a favorite hollow formed by three converging branches and tried to go back to sleep.

But within minutes of his getting settled and drifting off, the back door burst open and a tangle of dogs and cats poured out into the falling evening. The dumb beasts began to play, driven by inane, friendly barking and snarls and an occasional feline hiss. Joe climbed higher.

He wasn't to meet Dulcie until eight-thirty, but he needed to be fresh. It would take some quick maneuvering to slip into the gallery unseen just before it closed, find an adequate hiding place, and remain concealed until Sicily locked up and went home. He had a bad feeling about tonight. But Dulcie wasn't going to rest until they took that gallery apart looking for Janet's paintings.

He supposed if they didn't find them, she'd want to search Sicily's apartment next, and who knew where else.

What they should do, of course, was inform the police. Let Captain Harper know about the missing paintings-make one simple, anonymous phone call so Harper could start looking for them.

But try to tell Dulcie that. She'd got her claws into this and was determined to do it her way, to come up with the killer unaided, like some ego-driven movie detective.

Yet he knew he was being unfair. The excitement of the hunt stirred his own blood. And he knew Dulcie was driven not so much by ego, as by her powerful hunting instincts and an overwhelming feline curiosity. Her tenacity in tracking the killer was as natural to her as stalking an elusive rabbit.

But now, of course, one crime wasn't enough, now she'd honed in, as well, on Stamps's early-morning burglary scheme.

Harper should be delighted. Why pay all those cops, when he has us?

But, to be honest, his own curiosity nudged him just as sharply. And what the hell? Breaking into Stamps's place had been a gas. He liked nosing around other folks' turf.

Anyway what choice did he have? What else could he do when Dulcie flashed those big green eyes at him, and extended her soft little paw? Might as well relax and enjoy an evening of burglary. What harm-what could go wrong? What could happen?