Read Online Cat Among the Pumpkins by Mandy Morton - Free Book Online
Authors: Mandy Morton
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whiskers, Hettie put thenewspaper-wrapped parcel of food down on the table. Tilly dished it up onto two plates while Hettie pulled off her day clothes and bounded into her armchair, glad for the warmth of her dressing gown.
‘Thank goodness it’s all over for another day! I don’t think I could take much more. Bruiser turning up in the middle of the night, Bugs Anderton and her gaggle of bloody Methodists, a corpse dressed up as a pumpkin with a dagger in her back, I-RE-NE Peggledrip and her friend Crimola stamping all over the crime scene and issuing invitations to talk to dead cats – oh and last but by no means least, Teezle Makepeace who eats us out of house and home and seems convinced that a psycho cat from longer ago than any of us can remember marauds round the town on Halloween stabbing elderly cats to death in their own homes.’
Tilly waited patiently until her friend had finished chronicling the salient points of the day, then placed a full plate of sausages and bacon in front of her and took her own plate to the fireside. The cats chewed and licked their way through their supper, gathering strength from the first decent meal they’d had all day. Full, warm and content at last, they were ready to discuss the day’s events in a rational and constructive way. Hettie began by bringing Tilly up to speed with her initial observations of Miss Spitforce’s body and her encounter with Irene Peggledrip.
‘She’s invited me to go and have a session withCrimola on Friday. She seems to think I’ll get some answers that way.’
Tilly clapped her paws excitedly. ‘Ooh, do you think I could come? I’ve always wanted to go to one of her séances. Jessie goes once a month to speak to Miss Lambert. She says Miss Peggledrip has a real talent.’
‘Yes, I bet she does,’ said Hettie, more sarcastically than she intended. ‘But I can’t help feeling that allowing Crimola to solve all our cases might just put us out of a job. I definitely think you should tag along, though – I’ll need you to take notes and keep your eyes peeled. If Miss Peggledrip turns out to be a fake, I’ll want to know how she knew that Mavis Spitforce had departed this world at midnight on Halloween. She has to be high up on the suspect list, along with Marmite Sprat.’
Tilly was delighted to be included in the Friday visit and, while Hettie filled her catnip pipe, she collected the empty plates and poured milk into their cocoa mugs, humming to herself as she went and excited at the prospect of another case for the No. 2 Feline Detective Agency.
‘There is just one thing I thought of,’ she said, returning to the fireside with the cocoa. ‘Who’s paying us to sort all this out?’
Hettie brought her smoke ring session to an abrupt halt, coughing and spluttering. Tilly had a point: who was going to pay them? Teezle Makepeace had soughtthem out after discovering the body, but she had no real responsibility to Mavis Spitforce, and from what they had heard about the dead cat’s family, there was no love or money there.
‘What a bloody nightmare! The best case we’ve had for ages and no one to pay the bill, not even expenses. Maybe the friendship club will have a whip round? Miss Spitforce was obviously well in there.’
Tilly looked doubtful. ‘Perhaps we could ask Crimola to see if Miss Spitforce would be happy to stump up for us herself?’ she suggested, before draining her cocoa mug and pulling her blankets around her. In seconds she was asleep, but Hettie sat long into the night, mulling over the day’s events and determined – money or not – to find the cat responsible for the tears she had shed at Whisker Terrace.
CHAPTER SIX
The money came by first post the following morning, a little later than usual and from a very unexpected donor. Both cats had woken early, and Tilly crawled out of her blanket to add some kindling to the fire, coaxing it back to life. She pulled the curtain open slightly and noticed that it was
‘Thank goodness it’s all over for another day! I don’t think I could take much more. Bruiser turning up in the middle of the night, Bugs Anderton and her gaggle of bloody Methodists, a corpse dressed up as a pumpkin with a dagger in her back, I-RE-NE Peggledrip and her friend Crimola stamping all over the crime scene and issuing invitations to talk to dead cats – oh and last but by no means least, Teezle Makepeace who eats us out of house and home and seems convinced that a psycho cat from longer ago than any of us can remember marauds round the town on Halloween stabbing elderly cats to death in their own homes.’
Tilly waited patiently until her friend had finished chronicling the salient points of the day, then placed a full plate of sausages and bacon in front of her and took her own plate to the fireside. The cats chewed and licked their way through their supper, gathering strength from the first decent meal they’d had all day. Full, warm and content at last, they were ready to discuss the day’s events in a rational and constructive way. Hettie began by bringing Tilly up to speed with her initial observations of Miss Spitforce’s body and her encounter with Irene Peggledrip.
‘She’s invited me to go and have a session withCrimola on Friday. She seems to think I’ll get some answers that way.’
Tilly clapped her paws excitedly. ‘Ooh, do you think I could come? I’ve always wanted to go to one of her séances. Jessie goes once a month to speak to Miss Lambert. She says Miss Peggledrip has a real talent.’
‘Yes, I bet she does,’ said Hettie, more sarcastically than she intended. ‘But I can’t help feeling that allowing Crimola to solve all our cases might just put us out of a job. I definitely think you should tag along, though – I’ll need you to take notes and keep your eyes peeled. If Miss Peggledrip turns out to be a fake, I’ll want to know how she knew that Mavis Spitforce had departed this world at midnight on Halloween. She has to be high up on the suspect list, along with Marmite Sprat.’
Tilly was delighted to be included in the Friday visit and, while Hettie filled her catnip pipe, she collected the empty plates and poured milk into their cocoa mugs, humming to herself as she went and excited at the prospect of another case for the No. 2 Feline Detective Agency.
‘There is just one thing I thought of,’ she said, returning to the fireside with the cocoa. ‘Who’s paying us to sort all this out?’
Hettie brought her smoke ring session to an abrupt halt, coughing and spluttering. Tilly had a point: who was going to pay them? Teezle Makepeace had soughtthem out after discovering the body, but she had no real responsibility to Mavis Spitforce, and from what they had heard about the dead cat’s family, there was no love or money there.
‘What a bloody nightmare! The best case we’ve had for ages and no one to pay the bill, not even expenses. Maybe the friendship club will have a whip round? Miss Spitforce was obviously well in there.’
Tilly looked doubtful. ‘Perhaps we could ask Crimola to see if Miss Spitforce would be happy to stump up for us herself?’ she suggested, before draining her cocoa mug and pulling her blankets around her. In seconds she was asleep, but Hettie sat long into the night, mulling over the day’s events and determined – money or not – to find the cat responsible for the tears she had shed at Whisker Terrace.
CHAPTER SIX
The money came by first post the following morning, a little later than usual and from a very unexpected donor. Both cats had woken early, and Tilly crawled out of her blanket to add some kindling to the fire, coaxing it back to life. She pulled the curtain open slightly and noticed that it was
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