friends.â
âI like Kate all right. But I like Charlie, too. I thought you and Charlie might get married.â
Clyde stopped dishing up shrimp salad into his best porcelain bowl. âWhy do you always go on about my getting married? What earthly business is that of yours? Why do you always have toââ
âKeep in mind,â Joe said, âthat Kate canât repair the roof or fix the plumbing. Charlie can do those things. I donât even know if Kate can cook.â
Clyde wiped the rim of the bowl, licked half the spoon, then held it out for Joe. âWho I marry is mybusiness. If I get married. And in case youâre interested, one doesnât marry a woman because she can fix the plumbing.â
âYou have to admit, itâs a nice perk. With the cost of plumbers and carpenters, Charlieâs skills shouldnât be sneezed at.â
âIf I get married, I will pick the womanâwithout quizzing her on her skills as a handyman and without any help from a cat.â
Joe licked shrimp salad from his whiskers. âYour face is getting red. Have you had your blood pressure checked lately?â
âMarriage is serious business.â
Joe gave him a hard, yellow-eyed stare. âHas it occurred to you that Charlie Getz knows all about me and Dulcie?â
âSo does Kate.â
âBut Max Harper doesnât.â
âSo?â
âIf Charlie and Harper are as serious as they seem to be, and if they get married, what then?â
âWhat what, then?â
âItâs hard to keep a secret when youâre married. Every time Harper gets an anonymous phone call from me or Dulcie, he gets edgy. If the tip is something no human could easily knowâlike when we found that killerâs watch way back in that drainage pipe where no human could have seen it, he gets really nervous. If he finds cat hair at the scene of the crime, you can see him wondering. That stuff really upsets him.â
âSo? What are you getting at?â
âSo, how is Charlie going to handle that? Seeing him upset like that, when she knows the truth? Donâtyou think sheâd want to let him in on the facts, so he could stop worrying?â
Clyde turned hot water on the spoon, dropped it in the dishwasher, and turned to look at Joe. âYou think that would stop Max Harper from worrying? Charlie tells him that a cat is the phantom snitch? That Clyde Damenâs gray tomcat is messing with police business and placing anonymous phone calls? That is going to ease Harperâs mind?â
âIf she explained it to him, if he knew the truthâ¦â
Clydeâs look at Joe was incredulous. âThat information, if Charlie could prove it to Harper, could make him believe it, could put Harper right over the edge. Drop him right into the funny farm.â
âCome onâ¦â Joe said, trying to keep his whiskers from twitching. Clyde did rise to the bait.
âCops are fact-oriented, Joe. Harper couldnât deal with that stuff!â He looked hard at Joe. âAnyway, Charlie has better sense, she knows what that would do to Max.â
âPretty hard to keep her mouth shut when sheâs crazy in love and sees him suffering, and when she wants to share everything with him.â
âWho said sheâs crazy in love?â
âShe would be, if she married him. Donât you thinkââ
âI think you should mind your own business. I think that would be a nice perk in my life. And for your information, Max Harper is not constantly puzzled, as you seem to believe, about a few anonymous phone calls.â
âMore than a dozen arrests and convictions,â Joesaid, âthanks in part to our help. Harperâs record of solved crimes has made a big impression on the city council.â
âTalk about an overblown ego. You take yourself way too seriously.â
âSuch a big impression on the city council that the
William W. Johnstone
Alan Hunter
Bárbara Metzger
Donna Leon
Lisa Harris
Allison Hobbs
Daniel Stashower
S. M. Stirling
Curtis Jobling
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