“Luckily, I didn’t see Tavener, or he would have slashed my throat.” Harry breathed a sigh of relief.
“Barry was young and strong. He lasted longer than most people.” Cooper rested her hand on the table edge.
“The ring?” Alicia asked.
Cooper shrugged. “He swears neither he nor Barry had it.”
“Fate,” Big Mim said.
“And Jerome?” Little Mim, who’d found Jerome, would not soon forget.
“Tavener lured Jerome out. Given Jerome’s ego and excitement, that was easy. He told him he could show him how to collect the live rabies virus. He said he’d just found an injured animal by the road, which he believed was rabid.”
“Jerome didn’t suspect Tavener?” Fair thought Jerome wouldn’t have trusted Tavener at this point.
“Jerome, like us at the time, was focusing on Marshall Kressenberg. Tavener had been helpful; none of us suspected anyone so close to our community. Jerome didn’t, either. And Jerome’s curiosity got the better of him. He wanted to see Tavener collect the live virus. He’d told Tavener and others how someone could be killed, remember?”
“Flu shots.” Fair exhaled.
“Told me. Questioned medical people,” Bill Langston added.
“Poor Jerome. He couldn’t resist showing off what he knew.” Susan pitied him.
“Well, they met on the road. Jerome didn’t have time to get out of the car. Tavener shot him with a gun bought at a gun show, a used gun. No papers. Then he disposed of it. He was bold and arrogant. He still thought he could get away with it.”
“He was clever.” Alicia’s eyebrows came together in disgust.
“Clever, and he relied on being a pillar of the community,” Cooper said. “He was protected by position. In fact, if Barry hadn’t found Mary Pat’s diary and breeding notes, none of this would have happened.”
“Curiosity killed the cat,” Little Mim said. “Two cats, Barry and Jerome. It seems to me like Sugar paid for Barry and Jerome’s curiosity.”
“Thank God for my two cats!” Harry beamed. “And Tucker. Or else I think curiosity would have gotten this cat”—she pointed to herself—“too.”
“You’re very lucky.” Alicia smiled. “Mary Pat’s ring protected you. She wanted us to find her. I really believe that and now she’s at peace.”
“I believe that, too,” Cooper said surprisingly. “But because of one man’s lust and greed, four people are resting—we hope—in peace but long before their time.”
“But it was their time.” Paul, usually quiet, spoke up. “When the Lord wants you, it’s your time, no matter how it looks to us.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” Tazio smiled, “but it’s all sordid and shocking.”
“Dreadful,” Big Mim pronounced judgment.
“Do not think to repay evil for evil, wait for the Lord to deliver you.” Miranda quoted from Proverbs, Chapter 20, Verse 22.
“I’m supposed to be the Bible-quoter here,” Herb teased.
“Well, nobody does it better than you.” Miranda raised her glass to Herb.
They toasted the good reverend and switched to happier subjects.
Harry, who rarely drank, sipped champagne in honor of Herb. Her normally sharp senses had been dulled by her own predicament. She felt if she were on top of her game she would have somehow figured out Tavener was in on this. She figured it out at the end and nearly got shot for it. She couldn’t control her impulses. She blurted out everything at the grave site, heedless of the consequences.
She would give her future some hard, clear thought. She hated being muddled. But whenever she’d think about what she wanted to do, all that came to mind was a big question mark.
Harry thought to herself, what was the Bible quote that Miranda would say on the days when Miranda’s arthritis kicked up? “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.” Ah, yes. Well, perhaps the Good Lord would strengthen her weak mind.
She slipped her hand through Fair’s and watched the fireflies come out to compete with the Japanese lanterns.
On the dais, the cats, filled with delicious food, observed the humans.
“Do you ever get tired of Herb’s sermons?” Pewter asked Elocution and Cazenovia.
“No. We like to help him.” Elocution lay on her side, her tail lazily waving to and fro.
“He gives good sermons, but all this life-after-death stuff—I don’t know,” Pewter said.
“I believe in life before death.” Mrs. Murphy smiled.
Dear Reader,
I’ve had my rabies shots, my annual FVR-CP shots, which cover just about everything a kitty can get. I endure worming once a month. Large ugh. My teeth are good.
I mention this because much of this book is about health.
Pewter also gets all her shots and is a big weenie about it. The dogs, on the other hand, are pretty good.
I hope you’ve taken care of your shots and teeth and whatever a human needs to do. Expensive though it is, it’s still not as expensive as being sick.
As I’ve gone along with this series I’ve found that I truly love the characters. Funny, isn’t it? I mean I even like the corgi and, well, dogs are okay but a cat can’t be but so close to them. They’re just so slavish! If I have to admit it, I like the dogs here at home, a motley crew of rescue mixes as well as Mother’s foxhounds, her pride and joy.
Now, I adore the horses but cats and horses have a special friendship.
Whoever you are reading this, I hope you have an animal in your life that you can tell everything to and know it won’t go any further. We make the best friends—just be sure we get our shots, okay?
Always and ever,
Sneaky Pie
Books by Rita Mae Brown
with Sneaky Pie Brown
WISH YOU WERE HERE
REST IN PIECES
MURDER AT MONTICELLO
PAY DIRT
MURDER, SHE MEOWED
MURDER ON THE PROWL
CAT ON THE SCENT
SNEAKY PIE’S COOKBOOK FOR MYSTERY LOVERS
PAWING THROUGH THE PAST
CLAWS AND EFFECT
CATCH AS CAT CAN
THE TAIL OF THE TIP-OFF
WHISKER OF EVIL
Books by Rita Mae Brown
THE HAND THAT CRADLES THE ROCK
SONGS TO A HANDSOME WOMAN
THE PLAIN BROWN RAPPER
RUBYFRUIT JUNGLE
IN HER DAY
SIX OF ONE
SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT
SUDDEN DEATH
HIGH HEARTS
STARTING FROM SCRATCH: A DIFFERENT KIND OF WRITERS’ MANUAL
BINGO
VENUS ENVY
DOLLEY: A NOVEL OF DOLLEY MADISON IN LOVE AND WAR
RIDING SHOTGUN
RITA WILL: A MEMOIR OF A LITERARY RABBLE-ROUSER
LOOSE LIPS
OUTFOXED
HOTSPUR
FULL CRY
WHISKER OF EVIL
A Bantam Book / April 2004
Published by
Bantam Dell
A Division of Random House, Inc.
New York, New York
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2004 by American Artists, Inc.
Illustrations copyright © 2004 Michael Gellatly
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law.