“I already found the other cameras,” he informed me with a pointed look.
My ears perked up, and my heart raced with excitement.“You did? Good kitty. But, uh, where are they?”
“Couldn’t get them down without you,” he said with a snarl. “But now that you’ve finally decided to show up for the job, let’s go.”
I swallowed back my retort so as not to waste any more of our time. Once this case was fully solved, I could give my cat an earful about his attitude and how it could sometimes hurt my feelings.
I didn’t expect him to care, but at least I would feel a little better.
18
“I found two other cameras,” Octo-Cat informed me as I followed him across the front lawn. “Both are in the forest. One points toward our house, and the other points toward her house. They weren’t too hard to spot. I’m sure even you would have found them eventually if you’d just tried.”
“Great. Lead the way,” I said, even though he already was.
My cat made a beeline through the woods until we came upon a thick tree with two cameras mounted on its trunk.
I positioned myself in front of the first and stared out across the forest, trying to determine the visibility of each camera. Despite the thick copse, I could just make out our front porch if I craned my head at the right angle.
I then moved to the other side when a flash of bright yellow caught my eye. It was coming from the neighbor’s backyard. Our witness!
I crept closer, not wanting to startle the buck away before I had a chance to speak with him.
“Um, excuse me! What about the cameras?” Octo-Cat hissed but then fell into step beside me anyway.
The buck didn’t notice our approach, not when he was so focused on whatever was in front of him. His massive brown body blocked it from view, but my ears soon revealed what my eyes could not.
“Tell me what you know, or it’s venison for you!” Pringle shouted and lifted his arms high above his head to make himself appear more threatening.
Irving shook his head back and forth, the yellow tape still tangled in his sizable rack.“Please. Please. I don’t know anything.”
Oh no! I never should have trusted the raccoon to do such an important job. This deer was already terrified enough without Pringle threatening to eat him. Besides, I happened to know the masked critter had a strong preference for processed food. He’d never eat fresh game, not so long as there was a steady supply of trash cans by the curb each week.
“Pringle, get out of here,” I commanded through clenched teeth, careful not to raise my voice and make the situation even worse. I softened my voice when speaking with the buck. “Irving, I’m sorry about him. Nobody is going to hurt you.”
“H-how did you know m-m-my name?” he stammered.
I smiled to reassure him that I was friendly.“I believe we have a mutual friend in Paisley.”
“The little dog? Yes, I like her, but I don’t like him.” Irving turned to Pringle with wide eyes as if he’d suddenly frozen and was now caught staring into oncoming traffic. “I do not like him at all,” he finished, hardly moving his mouth as he spoke.
And that was when Paisley came zooming onto the scene.“Did you call me, Mommy? Oh, hi, Irving.”
The buck still stood staring in fright at the raccoon.
“Is this guy bothering you?” Paisley asked with a ruff. Irving didn’t say a thing, but his doggie friend still charged at the trash panda, teeth bared, hackles raised. “Get out of here, you no-good meanie!” she cried and yipped and just generally created a huge ruckus.
“I was just trying to help!” Pringle ground out as he scampered off into the trees.
“Wow,” Octo-Cat said flatly, his expression bored. “You actually did a dog thing, Paisley. I’m impressed.”
She wagged her tail happily and gave her big brother a kiss on the cheek, unaware that he’d actually been insulting her.
“Ick. How many times do I have to tell you? No kissing the cat!” The tabby tensed at her affection, but Paisley was undeterred. She gave him a good lick-down, then trotted off to roll in a fresh pile of deer droppings. Gross. I’d have to hose her off once we got back home.
But first I had a witness to question.
“Irving, I know you’re frightened, but I promise none of us will hurt you,” I said, finally breaking him of his whole cliche deer-in-headlights thing. “We’re just trying to figure out what happened to your friend who lived in this house.”
“She died,” the buck whispered reverently. “I saw the whole thing. It was terrible.”
“Is that why you’ve been so afraid lately?” I ventured gently.
He shook his head, waving the tattered crime scene tape around some more.
I approached slowly.“Do you mind if I untangle this for you while we talk?” I asked, raising a tentative hand toward his rack.
“Please, it’s been bothering me so much, but nothing I’ve done has gotten it unstuck.”
I lifted both hands and got to work while Irving continued to open up.
“And to answer your question, I’m afraid because it’s hunting season. Each year I manage to evade the hunters, and each year I’m an even bigger prize for them as my antlers grow. They all want to turn me into a trophy… or dinner. It’s a horrible, barbaric thing.” He shuddered and froze again.
I made soft shushing noises and gently patted his flank.“I’m sorry. It must be very hard to live like that, in constant fear that someone is after you.”
I waited for him to thaw again before resuming my work on the mess in his antlers.
“I like these woods because there aren’t any large predators around,” he revealed. “You know, other than humans. I decided to make it my home when I met Angela. She gives me my dinner each night and talks nicely to me. At least she did until—” Irving choked on a sob.
“Until?” I prompted as I continued to work on the mess in his antlers.
“It’s all my fault,” he bleated. “She was getting me my dinner, same as every night, when her grip slipped. My dinner crushed her to death, and there was so much blood. I tried to help her, but I got afraid and ran away. When I came back, the police were here.”
“And you got stuck in the crime scene tape,” I finished for him. It all made perfect logical sense, but it still didn’t explain all the evidence we’d found.
“I’ve been running ever since. I keep checking back to see if Angela will return, but I’m afraid she’s really dead. I’m going to miss her,” he snuffled and wailed, inadvertently jerking his antlers out of my reach. “She was the nicest human I ever met.”
My heart went out to Irving. Ms. Miller too. It just went to show that people are incredibly complex and confusing creatures. The same lady was an enemy to me but a friend to Irving. Somehow she was both of those things at the same time, even though it seemed that shouldn’t have been possible.
“You said she lost her grip? That it was an accident?”
Irving nodded.“Yes, I’m positive. Oh, it was so terrible. I just hate thinking about it.”
“I promise not to bother you much longer.” I finally freed him of the torn yellow ribbon. Now I just had one last question to ask. “Are you sure you didn’t see anyone else around? Anyone who may have hurt Angela?” I knew I was leading the witness, but we weren’t exactly in court here. If Ms. Miller’s death had really been an accident, then what was with the dodgy warehouse guy paying her a visit?
Irving raked his antlers against a nearby tree and let out a giant sigh of delight. He seemed to smile as he turned to me, but then his mouth fell open in fear as he revealed,“I did see someone, but not until after she was gone. He came last night with a bright light…”