1 A Paw-sible Theory

by Anna Kern

  “The reason cats climb is so that they can look down on almost every other animal...it’s also the reason they hate birds.”

  ––K. C. Buffington

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR: Loss Of Resolve

  Alyx watched Maggie get in her car, waving as she backed out of the drive. Although the sun was shining and the temperature was in the high seventies, Alyx shivered again. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and called her brother who had only recently given her his cell phone number to call in case she needed him.

  “Hi, Tom; are you busy?”

  She strolled to the end of the driveway, turned around, and looked at the house as if she was seeing it for the first time.

  The renovated cottage-style bungalow clad in cedar shingles and clean white trim sat back from the road, the old brick walkway leading to the front porch lined with a variety of annuals and perennials. The blooming azalea bushes across the front of the house reflected the season, and the white wrought-iron settee under the old magnolia tree completed the Southern picture. She waited for Tom on the covered front porch that was just big enough for a white wicker chair and a huge clay pot filled with pink geraniums.

  When Tom arrived and asked, “What’s wrong? Has something happened?” she burst into tears. He put his arm around her shoulders and helped her inside.

  Once in the living room, she wiped her tears with her T-shirt, and, in control again, sat on the couch. Tom sat next to her.

  “I used to love this house. Now I’m scared to be in it.”

  She took a deep breath and told him about the run-in with Ramsey. “Maggie thinks he was just trying to scare me, but it upset me anyway. I’m afraid, Tom. I’m afraid for me because someone tried to kill me, but mostly, I’m afraid for Ethan. Things don’t look good for him. What if his lawyer can’t convince the jury of his innocence? How can I live my life with my son locked up for something, I know, he didn’t do?”

  “I’ve heard really good things about his lawyer. Don’t you think he’s doing a good job so far?”

  “Yes, I do. I trust him, and so does Ethan. I know he’ll do the best he can.”

  “Well, then, give him the chance to do that before you decide it’s a lost cause.”

  “I know you’re right, and it does help to hear it from someone else.”

  “Call the lawyer and tell him about your conversation with Dan Ramsey.” He got up to leave and gave her a hug. “I have to keep this appointment. I couldn’t postpone it for more than an hour.”

  He added as an afterthought, “If you’re uncomfortable here, why don’t you come and stay with us for a while?”

  “Thanks for asking, and don’t think I don’t appreciate it, but I should stay here. I have the cats, and I’ve imposed on Maggie too much already. Besides, I have to face this too; this is my home and I’m not leaving.”

  “Okay, take care and call me if you need me. We’re family and I love you, even though we don’t see much of each other.”

  She almost started to cry again as she waved good-bye.

  “A cat is a lion in a jungle of small bushes.”

  ––Indian Proverb

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: In Their Own Language

  I had convinced the felines––actually, I threatened them with bodily harm––not to do anything foolish when I showed Alyx what happened. Their concern was justified. Alyx would undoubtedly think I was the guilty party but they understood there was no other way. Neither did I have a guarantee that Alyx would understand my message. What I was about to do might just land me in a lot of trouble.

  As expected, my loud, guttural yowling propelled Alyx and my housemates to the kitchen to see what was wrong. I gave one big roar, and leaped on the counter, then straight up in the air, just catching the edge of the upper cabinet with my front paws, digging up the side with my back claws. In a perfect replay of what Pooky had said happened, I struggled to hang on and knocked down a basket in the process

  Alyx rushed to help, but I pulled myself up, purposefully knocked down another basket, and paused to look at her.

  “What’s gotten into you, Murfy? Get down from there!” she admonished.

  Maggie had told Alyx about my odd behavior with the lawyer and she had probably attributed it to the changes in the household. Now, watching me deliberately knock down another basket, she didn’t know what to make of it.

  “What is going on here? You get down from there before someone gets hurt.”

  While she was coaxing me to come down, Misty leaped on the counter on the other side of the sink, onto the refrigerator and lithely up to the top. She gently pushed off a bunch of dried flowers, and before Alyx could do anything, Pooky joined Misty and me. Alyx stepped back, hands on hips, astonished as we continued to push items off, stopping to look at her as the things fell to the counter or to the floor, with a so what are you going to do about it attitude.

  She dropped into the nearest chair, flabbergasted at our behavior. The others jumped down––one by one; I defiantly stayed where I was, my eyes boring into hers.

  Finally, she got it. She immediately called the number David Hunter had given her, and then sat on the floor.

  “This goes way beyond imagination. If I hadn’t known better, I would have to say you did that on purpose.”

  Ethan’s lawyer arrived an hour later and Alyx ushered him to the kitchen. If David Hunter thought it strange when he saw all the items on the floor, he didn’t say so.

  “You sounded sure when you said you knew what happened. What did you remember?”

  “Actually, my cats told me what happened.”

  He looked at her askew. “Your cats talk to you?”

  “Yes, cats do talk when humans are willing to listen. True, their native tongue is body language, but house cats have developed a wide variety of meows intended to alert humans to their needs and intentions. Sometimes I get the feeling that Murfy can read my mind, and lets me know what he wants me to know is going on in his. I think it’s just a lucky guess when I get it right, but who knows?”

  “So what did they tell you?”

  “They didn’t tell me anything. They helped me figure out that what happened was an accident.

  “The first time you asked me to tell you what happened, I said I was sitting at the kitchen table and the cats were being cats. What I meant by that was that they were eating, sleeping or chasing something around.

  “When I came back to the kitchen from checking out the noise in the guestroom, I saw one of those green lizards you see everywhere frantically climbing the wall and, because of the sounds I heard in the living room earlier, I thought one of the cats must have been after it. Usually, I rescue them from the cats, but this one seemed safe, so I paid no more attention.”

  The quizzical look on Hunter’s face must have irritated her as much as it did me.

  “Don’t you see? One of the cats must have been stalking it, jumped up there and accidentally knocked down the pot that hit me.”

  “Those lizards are called Green Anole and that’s pretty high for a cat to jump. Did they ever do that before?”

  “I’ve never seen them do it, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t done it in the past.”

  His skepticism was annoying, and what did Alyx care about the proper name of the lizard?

  “Do you have any cats?” she asked.

  “No.”

  “Have you ever spent any time with cats?”

  Again, he responded with a negative and at the same time backed into the closest chair.

  “So you don’t know anything about them. Well, I have three. They do things that can make you crazy if you try to figure it out. Cats aren’t show-offs, and you have no idea what they can do until they do it.”

  Her cheeks turned red when his mouth twitched, holding back a smile or maybe laughter, infuriating her even more.

  She sat across from him and he turned to face her.

  “Okay, how did they do it? How did they get to the top of the cabinets?”<
br />
  “Misty went by way of the refrigerator. The other two went floor to counter and straight up. Murfy almost didn’t make it and knocked down a basket in the process.

  “Don’t you see––it could have happened just like that. It’s bizarre, I know, but I read an article in the newspaper some time back, about a man shot in the rear by his cat while he was standing at the stove cooking his breakfast. The article said that he had placed his loaded handgun on the counter and his cat had accidentally knocked it off, causing it to fire. And that, you can find in the paper’s archives, I’m sure.”

  “I agree it’s a paw-sible theory but...”

  She looked away hiding a smile. “You called it a paw-sible theory.”

  “I know you want to help your son and believe me, so do I. As I said, it’s a plausible theory, but it isn’t enough to convince anyone. The prosecutor will focus on the witness account of Ethan arriving here ten minutes before Maggie saw him. We need proof that Ethan was at the convenience store buying cat treats. What we need is that receipt with the date and time on it. Ethan doesn’t know if the receipt was in the bag and he doesn’t remember seeing it fall out of the bag, and Maggie didn’t see it either.”

  That was my cue and I had it covered. I snaked my paw under the stove, meowing desperately. Alyx shot out of her seat and dropped to her knees, stretching her hand under the stove, and didn’t feel anything. Hunter suggested removing the bottom drawer of the stove, an easy task made more difficult by all of us crowding around.

  The drawer came out and there it was. Alyx grabbed Hunter’s arm and squeezed as he scrutinized the receipt. A broad grin spread across his face. The time printed on the receipt proved Ethan innocent without a doubt. Alyx laughed and cried all at the same time.

  Hunter cleared his throat, “Next time I have a tough case, I’ll hire you and your team to investigate.”

  “You mean Murfy and his team; I was just the interpreter in this case.”

  “Murfy is a very clever cat; where did you get him?”

  Alyx told him the story as she walked him through the living room on his way out. Hunter sat his briefcase down and leaned against the back of my favorite chair.

  “My next-door neighbor, Joann, told me about the kittens. The owner hadn’t advertised the free kittens for fear they might be abused or used for experiments, so she was trying to place them through word of mouth.

  “I remember the day I rang the doorbell with a little excitement and a lot of trepidation. I promised Ethan he could have a pet and decided that a cat would be a better fit for our lifestyle, but wasn’t sure, if I truly wanted the added responsibility or the extra expense involved in keeping a pet.

  “A pleasant, attractive woman wearing a sari, and cradling a white Persian cat in her arms, answered the door.

  “I introduced myself and she said she was expecting me.

  ‘“I’m Brenda, by the way, and this is Duchess, the kitten’s mother. I don’t know who the father is, but he must have been a good-looking tomcat. Wait until you see the kittens.’

  “When she said that, Duchess catapulted out of her arms and ran ahead. ‘She’s a calm, affectionate cat, but very protective of her babies.’

  “Brenda didn’t exaggerate about the kittens; they looked like the most adorable stuffed animals––soft and furry. They all stopped playing and looked up when I walked in, but only one of them––a longhaired, cream tabby ran to me without hesitation when I went down on my knees.

  “Under his mother’s watchful eyes, I gently lifted the kit, and he nestled under my chin, stealing my heart.

  “I wondered which one Joan had picked and Brenda said she was still working on convincing her husband that they needed a cat.

  “I asked if that meant I could choose any one of them. She said it was clear that the kitten had already made his choice. And so he had. He was the biggest and the spunkiest of the litter, and Brenda said that he seemed to be a natural born leader judging from the way the others followed his lead.

  “I was sure Ethan was going to love the tough little guy. I put him down and watched him practice his hide-wait and pounce technique on one of the other kittens, before he started gnawing on a plastic straw. When I said, “I’ll see you soon, kitty, he sealed the deal with a tiny “mew.” At the time, I foolishly thought I was the one who did the choosing––little did I know.”

  “I promised Brenda I’d mention the kittens to everyone I knew and I did.”

  “Did she find a home for all of them?” asked Hunter.

  “I was happy to hear that she did eventually.”

  “Well, I’d better go and start working on bringing Ethan home.”

  Hunter reached for his briefcase, glancing at the patio door as he straightened up. He commented on the pet door, drawing Alyx’s attention to the propped open screen door. Alyx explained that Pooky got out during all the commotion with the ambulance and the police and Maggie left the door propped open for her to come in when she got hungry.

  “Has Murfy figured out how to open the cat door yet?”

  She looked at him funny. ”No, but I did see him fooling around with it soon after it was installed.”

  “I suggest you keep an eye on it.”

  He said it in jest, and they both laughed. I didn’t see any humor in it. I lost some of my freedom when Alyx closed and locked the screen door.

  “Of all God’s creatures, there is only one that cannot be made slave of the leash. That one is the cat.”

  ––Mark Twain

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX: One of a Kind

  She had nothing to do but wait. The hands on the antique mantle clock didn’t seem to be moving fast enough. Hunter had called early that morning and told her that the judge had signed the release papers.

  “It looks like I’ll have to bring that clock to the repair shop,” she said with a heavy sigh.

  Sitting innocently at her feet, I looked up and gave her a short meow.

  “You’re right, Murfy; there’s nothing wrong with the clock. I’m anxious, is all,” she admitted, “I can’t wait for Ethan to get home. Thanks to you, David is on his way to the County Branch jail right now to pick him up.”

  She smiled, probably thinking that anyone hearing her talking to her pet would think she’d lost her mind, but if that’s the case, there’s lots of crazy folks out there.

  When finally, Ethan walked in, we were all so happy to see the radiant smile on Alyx’s face that Misty didn’t even pester Ethan for cat treats. We were totally surprised when he pulled out our favorite from his pocket.

  The following day was Alyx’s first official day back to work; I followed her to the two-year old truck, jumped in when she opened the door and wedged myself under the passenger seat.

  “Come on, Murfy; I have to get to work. Maggie needs me,” she said, grabbing my back foot and gently tugging. I’d wrapped my paws around something solid under there and I held on tight. She pulled and I protested loudly.

  “Okay, cat, you win, but you won’t have the run of the place like you think you will. I don’t want to worry about you running out every time someone comes in or goes out.”

  I knew what that meant. A few minutes later, she came back out from the house, loaded with necessities, including the much-hated harness and leash. I hissed, she laughed, my roommates watched from the house, horrified.

  “Hey, don’t hiss at me––it was your idea to come, remember?”

  It was a short ride to Antiques & Designs, and I was only slightly hyperventilating. Alyx had called on the way, and Maggie was waiting for us at the back door.

  “Since we have another half-hour before we open, let’s leave Murfy free to explore the store. It’s been a long time since he was here last. It will give him a chance to get reacquainted with the surroundings, and then I’ll put the harness and leash on him.”

  “That should be fun,” Maggie said, laughing “If I remember right, you didn’t have him on a leash the last time he was here.”

&nb
sp; “That was because the store was closed––as it is now. I’ll take it off when I’m sure he’ll stay put without it.”

  “Did he ever let you put him on a leash before?”

  “When we first moved in and before I had the back porch screened. He gave me a hard time at first, but as smart as he is, he quickly figured out that if he wanted to be outside, he would have to be on a lead. I only had to do that a couple of times, and then he just started to stay close and I let him free.

  “I remembered that was also the first time he met Smooch, the Pomeranian next door––his first encounter with a dog. Murfy was exploring the bushes a few feet away from me, and without any warning, Smooch came charging across the lawn barking raucously, as small dogs often do. The dog meant business, and I feared for Murfy’s safety and mine.

  “Murfy is roughly the same size as the dog, but when he puffed out his fur, he look twice as big. He strutted towards the dog, ready to rumble. Smooch stopped in his tracks, turned and went running back to his home, his tail tucked between his legs. He had obviously had other encounters with cats and had learned his lesson. Murfy held his position until the dog left his territory, then swaggered back, and nonchalantly draped himself across my feet.”

  I remembered that day as well. My mother didn’t have time to teach me much, but the first thing she taught me was that although it’s not true that dogs and cats are natural enemies, some dogs do hate us just because we’re cats and will attack on sight. She said our claws gave us the advantage, and I needed to be judicious about using them. Well, I didn’t have claws, so I bluffed. Smooch is a simple dog and was just as scared to get into a fight as I was and it had worked.

  Closely observed by Maggie, I cautiously set off to investigate the store with a sniff here, a taste there––rubbing against some pieces of furniture to mark them mine, while gingerly touching other things with my paws in order to determine if they were friend or foe.