Patricia Fry - Klepto Cat 05 - The Colony Cat Caper Read online

  “Did they find him?” Margaret asked as she hurriedly approached Savannah. She looked at the empty pen and then watched as Savannah sank down into a chair. “Oh, I guess not,” she said. She walked into the booth, wrapped her arms around her niece, and said, “They’ll find him.”

  “I don’t want him out there with the ferals,” Savannah said through tears. “They could tear him apart. He doesn’t know how to protect himself.”

  Margaret brushed her cheek up against Savannah’s hair and murmured, “He’ll be okay. The guys’ll find him. Don’t get yourself upset now.” She straightened up and looked around the room again.

  Suddenly, the boy and his mother appeared at the booth. She had her arm around her son’s shoulders. “Did he come back?” she asked.

  Savannah shook her head.

  “I looked,” the boy said through tears, “but I can’t find him.”

  “He has flat disappeared,” his mother said. “I’m so sorry.”

  Savannah reached out and took one of the boy’s hands. She glanced up at his mother, and then stared into the boy’s eyes. “I think it will be okay,” she soothed. “He’ll be back. I’m not mad at you. You didn’t do anything on purpose.” She squeezed his hand and then said, “Why don’t you go out and keep looking for him. I’ll wait here. You come tell me if you find him, okay?”

  After a while, Margaret pulled a bottle of water out of a small cooler and said, “Here, Vannie, have a sip of water.” Before Savannah could reach for it, Margaret looked out into the crowd and said, her voice raised, “What’s that woman doing?”

  “What?” Savannah asked, looking in the direction her aunt pointed. “Do you mean Leta? Yeah, what is she doing, trying to start a stampede?”

  “Wait, is that Rags?” Margaret shouted. “She’s chasing your cat,” she said in disgust.

  Savannah quickly stood. When she did, she could see Leta darting in and out of the crowd with Michael and Max trailing her. They were coming in Savannah’s direction. Before she could react, Rags tore into her booth and jumped up on top of the wire pen. “Rags!” Savannah said, rushing over to grab him. “Auntie, get the leash, would you?”

  Margaret picked up the leash and snapped it to Rags’s harness.

  “Give that to me,” Leta shouted as she approached Savannah and Margaret.

  They looked at the frantic woman. “What?” Savannah asked, holding fast to Rags’s harness.

  Just then Michael and Max arrived at the booth. “Oh, you got him,” Michael said, sounding a little out of breath. “Good!”

  “What a workout he gave us,” Max said, taking deep breaths.

  Leta, in the meantime, had pushed her way into the booth and was walking up to the cat. “Where is it?” she screeched.

  Savannah looked over at Michael, who shrugged his shoulders, and Max, who had a blank stare. Just then, Margaret stepped in front of Savannah toward Leta. “What do you think he has?” she asked, looking over at the cat. “I don’t see anything. Do you?”

  Leta stared at Rags. She glanced around the area where he sat and then peered into the pen. “Well, he had it. I saw him with it.” Suddenly, she said, “Oh my God, he must have dropped it.” She bolted toward the booth opening, stopping momentarily to address Michael and Max. She squinted her eyes and practically demanded to know, “Did you see where he came from?”

  The men looked at each other and then Michael said, “I’m afraid not. I just spotted him racing back toward the booth here—didn’t see where he’d been.”

  “From which direction?” she asked anxiously.

  “I think he was clear over on the northeast side of the room,” Max offered. “Why? Did he have something of yours?” he asked.

  Leta ignored the question, stepped out of the booth, and began walking slowly with her head down, as if she was looking for something on the floor. The foursome watched until she was out of sight behind a partition. “What do you think she thinks he had?” Michael asked, looking puzzled.

  “Hard to tell,” Margaret said. “I think the woman’s delusional.”

  Everyone laughed.

  Margaret then patted her husband on the chest and said, “We’d better get back to the Alliance booth.”

  “Yeah, now that everything’s calm over here.” Max smiled.

  “Thanks, Max, for your help,” Michael said.

  “Yes, thank you, so much,” Savannah called after Margaret and Max as they walked away.

  Margaret raised her arm and waved back over her head.

  Just then Rags let out a meow. Savannah noticed he was looking out into the crowd.

  “What does he see?” Michael asked, looking in the direction the cat was staring.

  “Oh, it’s Charlotte,” Savannah said. “Hi hon. Rags saw you coming and started meowing.”

  “Funny! Hi Ragth,” she said from outside the booth.

  “Come on in and see him,” Savannah invited. “He’s going to pull me over trying to get to you.”

  “Did he run away?” Charlotte asked.

  “Yes, he did,” Savannah said. “Did you see him?

  “Yeth, he found thomething,” she said with her usual lisp.

  “He found something?” Savannah asked.

  “Did you see him with something in his mouth?” Michael asked. Both he and Savannah waited for her response. But before she could answer, a couple of women walked up to their booth.

  “Hi,” one of them greeted with a smile. “I have a medical question.”

  “Sure,” Michael said walking toward her. “I’m Dr. Michael Ivey, how can I help you?”

  Savannah watched Michael and then turned her attention back to their young friend—Rags’s favorite playmate. “So what did he have?”

  “Thith,” she said holding up a small white bag with a drawstring for Savannah to see.

  “Mom thaid theeth are crythtalth,” Charlotte said.

  “What?” she asked, opening the bag to peer inside. “Oh, crystals.” She poured a couple of them into her hand. “Hmm, I wonder where he got these. Do you know?”

  “No,” Charlotte shook her head back and forth slowly. “He ran into my mom’th booth, thpit it out and ran away.”

  “Was someone chasing him?”

  “Yeth,” Charlotte said, her eyes widening. She looked around the room; pointed. “That lady over there.”

  “Oh, Leta,” Savannah said.

  “Leta, what?” Michael asked when he returned to where Savannah and Charlotte were conversing.

  “Well, Michael, “Savannah said in a hushed tone, holding up the little white bag, “this must be what Leta was after. Charlotte said Rags brought it to her just before he showed up here with Leta on his tail.”

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “Not sure. Reba says ‘crystals.’ They’re some sort of…stones. Do you suppose they belong to Leta?”

  “They must,” he said, taking the bag from Savannah.

  She looked down at the bag and the sparkly stones Michael poured into his hand. “You know,” she said, “somehow I don’t feel right just giving them to her.”

  He looked up at Savannah. “Why not?”

  “Just a feeling. I’m going to show these to Auntie and see what she thinks.” She turned toward Charlotte, who was petting Rags. “Hon, are you going to stay for a few minutes or do you need to get back to your mom’s booth?”

  “Uh,” Charlotte said looking at Rags and then Savannah, “I don’t know.”

  “Well, when you’re ready to go back to your booth, would you put him in his pen and close the door?”

  “Okay.”

  “I’ll be here,” Michael said. “You go ahead.”

  As Savannah walked up to the Hammond Cat Alliance booth, she noticed several people gathered around, listening to Ida talk about the work of the Alliance. Margaret and Max were sitting in chairs toward the back of the booth. When Margaret saw her niece approaching, she invited her in. Max stood and offered his chair to Savannah.

  �
�No, that’s okay—you sit. I’m fine,” she said.

  “I was just getting ready to tour around,” he said. “Go ahead, keep your aunt company.”

  After she was seated, Savannah leaned toward her aunt and held out the white bag. “This is evidently what Leta was after,” she said quietly.

  “What is it?” Margaret asked.

  Savannah said, “Hold out your hand.” When she complied, Savannah poured a few of the small stones into her palm.

  “Holy cow!” Margaret said rather loudly. She then glanced up and noticed Ida staring down at her—a few booth visitors were also looking her way. She quickly closed her hand into a fist, and sank down into her chair. When the focus was off her, she whispered to Savannah, “Are these diamonds?”

  “Well, wouldn’t that be crazy? I don’t think so. Who would be carrying around a bag full of diamonds in a place like this?” she reasoned. “I think they’re some sort of crystal—just costume jewelry stones, don’t you think?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never been one who could tell real gems from fake ones,” Margaret said. She looked down at the stones in her hand again and said, “These sure are pretty—look how they sparkle.”

  Savannah watched as her aunt continued to examine the stones. “What should we do with them, Auntie? I just don’t feel right handing them over to Leta after the way she acted. How do we even know they’re actually hers?”

  Margaret contemplated the logic for a moment and then said, “I hear ya. Her behavior was a tad strange. You know, Jim’s around here someplace—oh, and I saw Craig at Iris’s booth earlier. Maybe you should show these to the authorities. Heck, we don’t know where Rags found them.”

  “Good thinking. Wanna come with me?” Savannah invited.

  Margaret looked around. “Okay. Here let’s put these back in the bag.”

  Savannah held the small bag enclosed in one hand and the two women set out to find someone to relieve them of Rags’s latest treasure.

  “Oh hi, Jim,” Margaret said, “can we talk to you for a minute?”

  The uniformed deputy looked around and then said, “Sure. Want to go outside?”

  The women followed him out through the entrance, where he stopped next to the building. Savannah pointed off to the left and said, “Let’s go stand in the sun, shall we?” Once they had moved closer to the fence, she said, “Ahhh, much better.”

  “So what is it, ladies?” Jim prodded.

  Margaret took a deep breath. “Well, Savannah’s cat found something and we’re not sure what it is or what we should do about it.”

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “This,” Savannah said, handing the bag to the deputy. “It’s crystals or cubic zirconia or… maybe the real thing.”

  He took the bag, opened it, and stared down into it for a moment. He reached in and pulled out one of the stones, examining it carefully before dropping it back into the bag. “Where did you say you found these?” Jim asked, suddenly expressing keen interest.

  “My cat got loose,” Savannah said, “and when he came back to the booth there was a woman chasing him, saying that he had something that belonged to her. Well, he didn’t have anything when he came into our booth, so she went out onto the floor searching, I guess for those,” she said.

  “Yeah?” Jim said, hoping for more information.

  “Well, it seems the cat did have this little bag; but before he came back to our booth, he visited Reba’s booth and dropped it off with her daughter Charlotte. Charlotte brought it to me.”

  “Well, that’s odd,” Jim said rubbing his cheek with his palm. “So no one saw where he found these?”

  Both women shook their heads.

  He peered at them sideways and asked, “So why didn’t you just give them to the woman who was chasing the cat?”

  Savannah and Margaret exchanged looks. Savannah said, “I’m really not sure. I just don’t trust her. There’s something not quite right and I can’t put my finger on it. I talked it over with my aunt here and we decided to bring them to you. So what do you think?”

  He raised his brow, moved his head from side to side, and said, “I think your cat might have uncovered some evidence in a jewelry heist.”

  Chapter Nine

  Late Sunday afternoon, after everyone had packed up and moved out of the Fischer building, the Iveys and the Sheridans kept an appointment with Detective Craig Sledge. At his suggestion, Savannah and Michael brought Charlotte along.

  “Well, no one has come forward claiming to have lost anything of value here yesterday,” Craig said, “…at least nothing like a bag of diamonds. I spoke directly with Leta Barnes and it doesn’t appear that it belongs to her. She described something small and white—maybe a pouch of some sort, but she couldn’t accurately identify the contents.” He tightened his lips and stared down at the ground. “We believe the cat may have found the diamonds hidden here in the building.”

  “What?” Margaret gasped. “Those actually are diamonds?”

  Craig nodded.

  “Holy cow,” she said.

  Max shook his head. “Imagine that.”

  “I sure couldn’t identify them as the real thing,” Savannah said. “Shows you how sophisticated we are, doesn’t it, Auntie?”

  Michael grinned and spoke to Max as if in confidence, “Glad to know, huh, Max? We don’t have to buy the real thing for these two.”

  “Nope, we can shop at the five-and-dime and they’ll be happy,” he agreed with a laugh.

  Craig smiled and then turned serious again. “Okay, what I want you to do is walk me through the scenario that took place yesterday when the cat ran off. Can you do that?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I think so,” Michael said, glancing at Max.

  Max nodded. “Uh sure, we should be able to.”

  “Our booth was over here,” Michael explained, walking toward the south side of the large space. “The cat was here with us. From what the boy told us, he ran in that direction,” he said, pointing. Michael ran his hand through his hair. “I went looking for him from one direction and Max went another.”

  “Show me,” Craig said,

  “Shall we take the route I took first?”

  “Okay.”

  “Now, keep in mind, I didn’t have Rags in my sight the entire time. In fact, I didn’t spot him until he’d been gone for a while.”

  “How long?” Craig asked.

  “Maybe as long as five or six minutes. The first time I caught sight of him, he was about here,” Michael said walking to a point near the southeast corner of the large room.

  “Did he have anything in his mouth then?”

  Michael thought about it and said, “I didn’t notice if he did, but I didn’t have a clear view of him, did you, Max? I mean there were a lot of people here—baby strollers, wheelchairs, feet…”

  “Michael’s right,” Max said. “I walked along the south wall and it appears that I spotted Rags about the same time Michael did. Yeah, he was trucking through a maze of feet. I could see him in bits and pieces, is all. No, I couldn’t see whether he was carrying anything.”

  After the group had retraced Michael’s and Max’s steps, Craig asked Charlotte where she was when Rags came to her. She and Savannah showed him where Charlotte’s mother’s booth was. The girl explained which direction Rags had come from when she first saw him with the bag in his mouth and what had happened when he arrived at her booth. “He dropped the little bag,” she said, “and then he ran away, I think becauth thome lady wath thathing him.”

  Craig strained to understand Charlotte’s lisp. To clarify, he repeated, “A lady was chasing him?”

  “Yeth,” she said, nodding.

  Suddenly a voice called out from the entrance, “Helloooo.”

  “Oh hi, Reba,” Savannah said, walking over to the woman. She bent down and greeted Charlotte’s little sister, “…and how are you, Ruby?”

  The child moved closer to her mother and stared up at Savannah with round eyes.

>   “We have a dinner date,” Reba said. “Just wondering if you’re finished with Charlotte.”

  “I think so,” Savannah said. She called out to Craig, asking, “Can Charlotte go now?”

  Craig looked up from his notes, and said, “Yeah, I think so.” He addressed the girl, “Thank you for your statement, Charlotte.”

  “Uh, yeth,” she said.

  Savannah gave Charlotte a hug and the teen rushed off with her family. When Savannah looked back at Craig, she saw him scrutinizing the inside walls of the empty building, paying particular attention to the areas where the cat had been observed. “Maggie,” he said, “I’d like to have my men do a search—can you come back to lock up in…say…an hour?”

  Margaret scowled slightly and looked up at Max. “Well, we do have cats to feed here, but it won’t take us that long.”

  “Do you want to leave the key with me?” Craig asked. “I can put it under a rock or something when we’re finished here,” he suggested.

  Margaret thought about it and then said, “I think I’d feel better keeping it with me. How about this: we’ll feed here, go home and feed, and then come back in an hour.”

  Craig nodded. “Sure, that’ll work.” He pursed his lips, and then said to Margaret, “I’d like to keep this building off-limits to everyone. Your group has no reason to come inside any more, do they?”

  Margaret made eye contact with Savannah and then Michael. “No, I can’t think of any.”

  “Then I’d appreciate it if you’d just stay out of here for the time being, okay?”

  “Sure,” Margaret said.

  Savannah, Michael and Max all nodded.

  Craig started to walk away, then turned back and said, “If any of you think of anything that might be helpful in locating the spot where the cat found those gems, don’t hesitate to call—day or night, okay?”

  They all agreed.

  As they exited the building, Michael asked Margaret, “When will you be trapping again?”

  “I think Bud or Spence is coming out tonight, actually,” Margaret said.

  “Well that’s strange,” Savannah said as she leaned over a little to see more clearly through a rip in the green mesh around the fence.

  “What?” the others asked.