Free The Cat Who Played Brahms by Lilian Jackson Braun Page B

said, although "not at all" would have been closer to the truth. "I'm sorry, doctor, but I don't know your name."
    "Melinda Goodwinter ."
    "Related to the attorney?"
    "Cousin. Pickax is loaded with Goodwinters. My father is a GP there, and I'm going to join his office in the fall."
    "You probably know Fanny Klingenschoen. I'm borrowing her log cabin for the summer."
    "Everyone knows Fanny—for better or worse. Maybe I shouldn't say that; she's a remarkable old lady. She says she wants to be my first patient when I start my practice."
    "Why do you call her remarkable?"
    "Fanny has a unique way of getting what she wants. You know the old county courthouse?
    It's an architectural gem, but they were ready to tear it down until Fanny went to work and saved it—single-handedly."
    Qwilleran touched his moustache. "Let me ask you something, Melinda. This is beautiful country, and the people are friendly, but I have a gnawing suspicion that something is going on that I don't comprehend. Am I supposed to believe that Moose County is some kind of Utopia?"
    "We have our problems," she admitted, "but we don't talk about them—to outsiders.
    This is not for publication, but there's a tendency up here to resent visitors from Down Below."
    "They love the tourists' dollars, but they don't like the tourists, is that right?"
    She nodded. "The summer people are too smooth, too self-important, too aggressive, too condescending, too different. Present company excepted, naturally."
    "You think we're different? You're the ones who are different," Qwilleran objected.
    "Life in the city is predictable. I go out on assignment, eat lunch at the Press Club, hurry back to the paper to write the story, have dinner at a good restaurant, get mugged on the way home. . . no surprises!”
    "You jest. I've lived in the city, and country is better."
    The pasties were a success: flaky, juicy, turnipless, and of comfortable size.
    Qwilleran felt comfortable with Melinda, too, and at one point he smoothed his moustache self-consciously and said: "There's something I'd like to confide in you, if you don't mind."
    "Flattered."
    "I wouldn't discuss it with anyone else, but since you're a doctor. . ."
    "I understand."
    "How shall I begin? . . Do you know anything about cats? They have a sixth sense, you know, and some people think their whiskers are a kind of extrasensory antenna."
    "Interesting theory."
    "I live with a Siamese, and I swear he's tuned in to some abstruse body of knowledge."
    She nodded encouragingly. Qwilleran lowered his voice. "Sometimes I get unusual vibrations from my moustache, and I perceive things that aren't obvious to other people.
    And that's not all. In the last year or so my sense of smell has been getting unusually keen—disturbingly keen, in fact. And now my hearing is becoming remarkably acute. A few nights ago someone was walking on the beach a hundred feet away—on the soft sand—and I could hear the footsteps through my pillow: thud thud thud."
    "Quite phenomenal," she said.
    "Do you think it's abnormal? Is it something I should worry about?"
    "They say elephants can hear the footsteps of mice."
    "I hope you're not implying that I have large ears."
    "Your ears are very well proportioned," Melinda said. "In fact, you're quite an attractive man—for your age."
    On the whole Melinda Goodwinter was enjoyable company, although Qwilleran thought she referred to his age too frequently and even asked if he had grandchildren. Nevertheless he was feeling good as he drove home to the cabin; he thought he might start work on his book, or get some exercise. The fog had all but disappeared. Intermittent gusts of offshore breeze were pushing it out to sea, and the lake had a glassy calm. Perfect canoeing weather, he decided.
    Qwilleran had not been canoeing since he was a twelve-year-old at summer camp, but he thought he remembered how it was done. He found paddles in the toolshed and chose the longest one. It was easy to drag the aluminum