“That’s what I was going to ask you about. Apparently, the cat ran away again. He wasn’t in the house when I found Althea. A friend of mine has been checking every day, with no sign of Simon. Have you seen him by any chance?”
“No, I didn’t know he was missing. I thought someone had taken him in.”
“Well, I know Althea would want someone to take care of her cat, so if you do see him hanging around, I’ll appreciate it if you give me a call.”
She pulled a business card from her purse and handed it to him.
“I’ll be sure to do that.” He squinted at the card and put it in his pants pocket. “Did her niece inherit everything?”
“That’s what she said.”
“So she’s gonna sell this place?”
“Yes, I think so.”
He rubbed the top of his head in a circular motion. “Now…doesn’t it take some time for all that to go through the court and all before she can do anything?”
“All I know is that she’s the executor of the estate, so I think she can do whatever she wants.”
He nodded, not fully convinced. “Didn’t mean to be nosy. I was just wondering that’s all.”
Bill was quite a talker, and I realized that if Alyx didn’t make a move soon, she’d become his captive audience, so I let myself be heard.
“That’s my cat Murfy letting me know he wants to be let out of his carrier. Nice talking to you Bill. My friend Maggie and I own Antiques & Designs on Ocean Street. Althea’s niece has asked us to dispose of the contents of her condominium, so you’ll be seeing me again.”
She unlocked the front door of Althea’s house, and froze to the spot for a moment. It was evident the police had not conducted a neat and orderly investigation. It was disappointing that they had not shown a little more respect for the dead woman. Then again, maybe this was as neat as they were when they searched for evidence.
Alyx let me out of the carrier before she took the self-adhesive tags out of her tote bag and started inspecting each piece of furniture, marking those that Antiques & Designs wanted to buy for re-sale in the store, the first piece being the slant-front desk. Did Althea really think it was the same desk that she’d purchased all those years ago in Sierra Leone? Apparently, her story about the desk burning when the house caught fire was a lie.
Eventually, Alyx finished tagging items on the first floor and we moved on to the second floor. I was right behind her. Alyx looked confused as she stood in front of the portraits still hanging in the guest room. She took them down and put the portraits in the truck when she finished tagging the estate sale items on the second floor. Then, she took a walk around the outside of the building; I presumed she was looking for Simon. When she came around to the front, she waved at Bill, and we left.
When we returned to the shop, it was late morning, and Maggie hadn’t left for the day yet. Alyx asked if she had time to discuss a figure for Althea’s furniture and pick a date for the estate sale. Maggie said she did and when they decided that they couldn’t do it for another three weeks, Alyx told her about the family portraits that had been left hanging on the wall.
“Do you think you can get along without me tomorrow? I’d like to take the portraits to Althea’s niece and I don’t know how much time I’ll need.”
“Sure, that’s fine, except … why are you going?”
“Okay, I think there’s more to this than it appears. Don’t you think it’s odd for Carole to leave the family portraits for the estate sale?”
“Not really. Maybe she didn’t know the people.”
“Yes, she did, Althea told me who they all were. One is Althea and her husband on their wedding day and the other is Carole’s grandparents.”
“Alyx, not everyone has an appreciation of their ancestry, you know.”
“I know, yet something doesn’t seem right. I learned from her next-door neighbor that Althea had several visitors the day before I found her body.”
“Really. Who were they?”
“Carole and her son, Carole’s son and another man, and a different man whom he couldn’t identify––he only saw him from the back as he was leaving.”
“Do you even know where Umatilla is?”
“I know that it’s west of here. I have a GPS, I’m sure I’ll find it.”
“Okay, Alyx,” Maggie sighed, “No use trying to talk you out of it. Drive carefully; you know how bad the highway traffic can get.”
“Yes, I know. Unfortunately, it’s the only east-west highway. It seems that road has been under construction forever––long enough to build a new one, I’d say. Of course, by the time they finish the new road, traffic will have doubled again.”
The rest of the day at the store was uneventful. On the way home that evening, Alyx stopped at the supermarket and came out with a bag of unknown cat food. She filled one of the bowls at home with the new food, and we ran to sniff and taste. Misty and I agreed it was pretty awful, turned tail, and left Pooky crunching away as if it was her last meal. Her behavior was understandable though––she’d experienced hunger and nearly starved to death when her humans abandoned her by the side of a busy road. Misty and I have never experienced hunger; our bowl is always full. We let Alyx know when it isn’t.
“Your cat may never have to hunt farther than the kitchen counter for its supper nor face a predator fiercer than the vacuum cleaner.”
––Barbara L. Diamond
CHAPTER TWELVE: A Disappointing Trip
Something jarred me awake. I opened my eyes and saw Misty hunched down on all fours, her face only inches from mine. Annoyed at being disturbed, I flicked the tip of my tail. She insisted I sit up as she had something to say and wanted to be sure that I heard it. I indulged her request and started washing the sleep out of my eyes. She asked a legitimate question; I gave her a legitimate answer.
Relentless in her pursuit for answers, she demanded to know why I didn’t go with Alyx to Umatilla. I said I didn’t see any reason to go. She didn’t understand why I wasn’t concerned about Alyx any longer since nothing had changed. I had nothing to say and started to walk away. She persisted. Who was the cat that I’d spent the night with and why did I let him slit the screen? She wasn’t going to like the answer, so I said that I didn’t want to discuss that either.
Misty relied on me to explain things to her––things about human and cat behaviors, and she made it clear that she didn’t understand, and that there couldn’t possibly be an explanation for my behavior of late.
I knew she was confused, yet I couldn’t tell her of the conflict raging within me––there was so much that Simon said he could teach me. He confirmed what I’d suspected all along, that all cats have a purpose, and that is to provide comfort to humans, even if it’s just to purr. I learned that some cats possess better developed senses and can do more for their humans than others do––in some cases, actually protect them from harm. I wanted to know how.
You see, before I adopted Alyx, my mother told me that the M on my forehead made me special in the same way that it made my father special. She said he was a Felis catus genius and since I had the same mark, so was I. Sad to say, I never met my father. He was picked up as a stray by Animal Control before I was born––one of the dangers of being an outdoor cat even if you’re a genius.
Maybe my mother was right about the genius part. I did have a better understanding of humans and the laws that governed them than my housemates did, and I could do things that never even occurred to them. I concluded that since there are levels of intelligence for humans, this could also be true for cats.
Misty moved away, pulled her string closer, and held it securely in both paws. Pooky, who’d been grooming her tail, pretending not to be listening, curled up by her side––close, though not so close that one might think it was intentional.