Read Online Please Do Feed the Cat by Marian Babson - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Marian Babson
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the staircase, Macho went forward and picked up Roscoe. ‘It’s all right, boy. It’s all right.’
It patently wasn’t. While Macho did not want to look at Cressie’s body, Roscoe could not stop staring at it. The tip of his tail twitched slowly and rhythmically. He might have been watching at a mousehole.
Lorinda found herself on Macho’s side. She did not want to look, either.
Freddie was more intrepid. Moving slowly and carefully, she circled the body and stood looking down. Lorinda forced herself to go over and stand beside her.
There was an awful lot of blood. Dried blood. Smeared over Cressie’s face and neck, arms and hands, the dark reddish-brown coagulating blood was a gruesome sight, not to be looked at too closely. An arteryful of blood. But … didn’t arteries spurt? And … where was the break in the skin from which all that blood could escape?
‘How long were you out shopping, Macho?’ Freddie asked.
‘About an hour.’ Macho still would not look in their direction. He cradled Roscoe and added defensively, ‘She was perfectly all right when I left.’
‘Freddie …?’ Lorinda had a question of her own. ‘How long does it take blood to dry?’
‘Good question.’ Freddie bent closer to the inert form and took several deep sniffs before straightening up with a triumphant look.
‘Up, Cressie!’ She prodded Cressie’s ribs with a none-too-gentle toe. ‘Up! The game is over. You’ve been rumbled!’
In the long moment that followed, Macho and Lorinda
drew closer. Lorinda did some sniffing of her own with a dawning suspicion … there was something awfully familiar about the scent reaching her nostrils.
‘What do you mean?’ Macho looked from Cressie, who had not moved, to Freddie, who was drawing back her foot again. ‘No, don’t kick her! She’s —’
‘She’s shamming – and you’re the one who ought to kick her! That isn’t blood – that’s Angostura bitters!’
‘Of course!’ The vaguely familiar scent identified, Lorinda could not imagine why she had not recognized it at once. On the occasions when drops had flown astray in the cocktail mixing process, she had even noticed the resemblance to blood herself.
‘Gotcha!’ Cressie’s braying laugh rang out as she rolled away before Freddie’s foot reached her again. ‘Told you none of you would recognize a dead body if you saw one. Now I’ve proved it! You fell for it! All of you!’
‘Not for long,’ Freddie said grimly.
‘Long enough!’ She was triumphant. ‘Long enough to send him —’ she gestured dismissively towards Macho – ‘running like a frightened rabbit! Or maybe I should say a scaredy-cat. Yeah, that’s right – scaredy-cat! Even the cat was braver than you. At least it came close enough to sniff!’
And that was why Roscoe had resisted the pull of the butcher’s parcels. He had known she wouldn’t let him get away with it. Whatever games she might be playing, she was still an active and dangerous force.
‘You’re disgusting!’ Macho’s colour had been returning to normal, now he paled again.
‘Macho is right. Go and wash your face!’ If Cressie wanted to act like a child, Freddie was prepared to treat her as one. ‘And change your clothes. Although,’ Freddie added with gleeful malice, ‘I wouldn’t be prepared to bet you’ll ever get those stains out. I hope you weren’t planning on ever wearing that outfit again.’
‘Oh!’ Obviously, Cressie had not thought of that. She squinted down at her ruined top, although most of the
damage was around the neckline and not visible to her. For a moment, she looked childlike and vulnerable.
‘I don’t care!’ Abruptly, she shrugged herself back into her normal persona. ‘I can buy more. Plenty more!’ She whirled away, snatched up her shoe and dashed up the stairs. A door slammed defiantly.
‘Macho …’ Lorinda began tentatively.
‘That woman is poison!’ Freddie was not prepared to be discreet. ‘You’ve got
It patently wasn’t. While Macho did not want to look at Cressie’s body, Roscoe could not stop staring at it. The tip of his tail twitched slowly and rhythmically. He might have been watching at a mousehole.
Lorinda found herself on Macho’s side. She did not want to look, either.
Freddie was more intrepid. Moving slowly and carefully, she circled the body and stood looking down. Lorinda forced herself to go over and stand beside her.
There was an awful lot of blood. Dried blood. Smeared over Cressie’s face and neck, arms and hands, the dark reddish-brown coagulating blood was a gruesome sight, not to be looked at too closely. An arteryful of blood. But … didn’t arteries spurt? And … where was the break in the skin from which all that blood could escape?
‘How long were you out shopping, Macho?’ Freddie asked.
‘About an hour.’ Macho still would not look in their direction. He cradled Roscoe and added defensively, ‘She was perfectly all right when I left.’
‘Freddie …?’ Lorinda had a question of her own. ‘How long does it take blood to dry?’
‘Good question.’ Freddie bent closer to the inert form and took several deep sniffs before straightening up with a triumphant look.
‘Up, Cressie!’ She prodded Cressie’s ribs with a none-too-gentle toe. ‘Up! The game is over. You’ve been rumbled!’
In the long moment that followed, Macho and Lorinda
drew closer. Lorinda did some sniffing of her own with a dawning suspicion … there was something awfully familiar about the scent reaching her nostrils.
‘What do you mean?’ Macho looked from Cressie, who had not moved, to Freddie, who was drawing back her foot again. ‘No, don’t kick her! She’s —’
‘She’s shamming – and you’re the one who ought to kick her! That isn’t blood – that’s Angostura bitters!’
‘Of course!’ The vaguely familiar scent identified, Lorinda could not imagine why she had not recognized it at once. On the occasions when drops had flown astray in the cocktail mixing process, she had even noticed the resemblance to blood herself.
‘Gotcha!’ Cressie’s braying laugh rang out as she rolled away before Freddie’s foot reached her again. ‘Told you none of you would recognize a dead body if you saw one. Now I’ve proved it! You fell for it! All of you!’
‘Not for long,’ Freddie said grimly.
‘Long enough!’ She was triumphant. ‘Long enough to send him —’ she gestured dismissively towards Macho – ‘running like a frightened rabbit! Or maybe I should say a scaredy-cat. Yeah, that’s right – scaredy-cat! Even the cat was braver than you. At least it came close enough to sniff!’
And that was why Roscoe had resisted the pull of the butcher’s parcels. He had known she wouldn’t let him get away with it. Whatever games she might be playing, she was still an active and dangerous force.
‘You’re disgusting!’ Macho’s colour had been returning to normal, now he paled again.
‘Macho is right. Go and wash your face!’ If Cressie wanted to act like a child, Freddie was prepared to treat her as one. ‘And change your clothes. Although,’ Freddie added with gleeful malice, ‘I wouldn’t be prepared to bet you’ll ever get those stains out. I hope you weren’t planning on ever wearing that outfit again.’
‘Oh!’ Obviously, Cressie had not thought of that. She squinted down at her ruined top, although most of the
damage was around the neckline and not visible to her. For a moment, she looked childlike and vulnerable.
‘I don’t care!’ Abruptly, she shrugged herself back into her normal persona. ‘I can buy more. Plenty more!’ She whirled away, snatched up her shoe and dashed up the stairs. A door slammed defiantly.
‘Macho …’ Lorinda began tentatively.
‘That woman is poison!’ Freddie was not prepared to be discreet. ‘You’ve got
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