Fat Cat Spreads Out

TWENTY-FIVE

“Excuse me, Mr. Harper.” She smiled to set the toymaker at ease. It didn’t work.

“Whaddya want now? Did you sic the cops on me?” He taped up a box. There were only two left in his booth. He must have started carting his toys to the parking lot much earlier.

“What? No. They’re questioning everyone. Please, I need some information you have. But first, you have to understand how important it is. Dr. Michael Ramos has been accused of murdering Larry Oake. He definitely didn’t do that.”

The man stopped working and scowled at her. “How do you know? Did you kill him?” Venom shot from Harper’s narrow eyes. Chase felt a chill inside.

“No, of course not.” She forced another smile, kept her voice light. “But I know Dr. Ramos very well. He devotes his life to helping animals. He couldn’t hurt anyone.”

The horrid man smirked, letting Chase know he thought she was extremely naïve.

“He couldn’t,” she repeated, more loudly, stepping closer. The man reeked of sweat and cigarettes. She tried to remember if he had worn the same thin flannel shirt every day. Didn’t the man have a coat? “But if you know something and don’t tell the police, he may go to prison for something he didn’t do.” She now took a judicious step backward.

“Worse things have happened. And I don’t know nothin’.” He shrugged and turned his back on her, lifting the two remaining boxes off his table with a grunt. They looked terribly heavy.

Chase shuddered and returned to the Bar None booth. It was so pleasant and cheerful compared to Harper’s. Mainly because Anna Larson was there and not that awful Harper. She had to let Detective Olson know that the man had important information. She started out of the booth.

“Chase, where are you going?” Anna was finishing up a transaction with a customer who was buying three boxes of Peanut Butter Fudge Bars. “We have to get Quincy ready.”

“Did you hear our conversation just now?”

“What conversation? Come on and help me. We have to get packed up.”

“With the toymaker.”

“No, but we’d better hurry or we’re going to be late.”

Chase didn’t want to take the time to explain. She snagged a Lemon Bar as Anna was beginning to seal the last box.

“You go get Quincy started,” Anna urged. “I’ll take this stuff to the car, then come back and help you.”

“Okay. Be careful.” She gave Anna a quick smooch on her weathered cheek and dashed to the big building. Maybe she’d meet up with Detective Olson somewhere. Maybe he was still with the body. She knew she couldn’t go back there without getting scolded. How long would he be there? Would he come to the contest arena when he finished? Surely, if the woman had been murdered, his best suspects would be there. They would need to detain people, question everyone. She had to find him soon.

Hurrying past the open doors to the large exhibition room, she saw that workers were getting ready for the Fancy Cat Contest in one half of the room. The dog agility trials were still going on in the other half. A ring made of metal supports and sturdy canvas was being set up for the cat show, with three-tier risers flanking it on one side for the judges and spectators. The canvas was printed with cats’ paws in pastel colors. This was supposed to prevent the cats from escaping, but they hadn’t met Quincy yet.

So many people milled about that she couldn’t tell if Olson was there or not. Two policemen stood guard near the door, but neither was Olson. She looked for Inger, too, but didn’t spot her. She didn’t know where else to look for the detective. Surely she’d run into him soon.

Going on, she opened the door to the vet’s office. Betsy, the receptionist, was alone in the outer room.

“I came to get my cat for the show.”

“Everyone else has already gotten theirs. Go ahead.” She waved Chase into the inner room.

Mike wasn’t there. Chase stuck her head out and asked where he was.

The woman shrugged. “He went off with some man. Something about a pet collar. Didn’t say when he’d be back. I might leave in a couple of minutes.”

Chase wondered why he had left. Maybe someone needed help with a pet in the show ring. The dog agility test was finishing up. There may have been some other shows in other corners of the cavernous room, too. Quincy’s Babe the Blue Ox costume was in a bag beneath the cage. The black cat, Shadow, was gone, probably being prepared for the show. Maybe even already dressed. It was still early, though. There was over an hour before the contest was due to start. She hoped Quincy would cooperate and make this relatively easy. She could envision taking an hour to get him costumed.

However, he cooperated fully when she did a test run. He seemed to enjoy the blue jacket she slipped onto him. He wouldn’t tolerate the horns that strapped around his head, though. She tucked them back into the bag. It would be easy enough to put them on at the last minute.

She lifted him into his carrier and picked up the costume bag. Incredibly, his little jacket stayed on.

Anna burst into the room. “Oh, good. You’re ready. Some of the other cats are already beginning to line up.” She grabbed the carryall and headed out the door.

“Really?” Chase followed her into the reception room, then stopped.

“A pet collar,” she said, slowly. “Mike left with someone who was talking about a pet collar.” Betsy had left already. Was there nothing that needed to be locked up here? Surely there were some animal medications. Maybe people didn’t steal those. Or maybe Betsy was as flaky as her daughter.

“I’m sure we’ll see him there,” Anna said. “Come on.”

Chase couldn’t help but think about the missing cat collar. Maybe Mike was finally finding out what had happened and where it was.