Free Framed in Cherry Hills (Cozy Cat Caper Mystery Book 2) by Paige Sleuth Page B

help to arrive, Kat felt she had an obligation to investigate.
    Kat poked her head around the doorframe. “Mrs. Tinsdale?”
    Nobody responded. For that matter, Kat didn’t hear anything at all except the hum of the air conditioner. She didn’t know if the AC would drown out the sound of a burglar climbing through a back window and down the fire escape, but, if a burglar was in the apartment, she would prefer that he duck out now. Kat didn’t care to run into anyone in the middle of committing a crime.
    Stealing another peek at Matty—who watched her with that disdainful look that cats had mastered over the years—Kat pushed the door open wider.
    “Mrs. Tinsdale?” Kat called out again.
    She stepped over the threshold when only silence returned. Looking around, nothing struck Kat as out of place in the living room. Neither did she see Mrs. Tinsdale anywhere.
    Kat moved farther into the apartment, scanning the dining area and kitchen as she circled around the coffee table. Everything looked normal in those rooms too.
    Taking a deep breath, she rotated toward the hallway.
    A shadow flashed on the wall, causing Kat’s stomach to leap into her throat. She whipped around, noting that Matty had followed her into the apartment unit. Her shoulders dropped three inches.
    “You scared me,” she scolded. Then, remembering how silly Mrs. Tinsdale always sounded when she talked to the cat, Kat spun around and refocused on her mission.
    Kat moved down the short hallway and glanced into the first room. The unoccupied bedroom appeared to be ready and waiting for Mrs. Tinsdale’s next guest. The duvet looked freshly laundered and put Kat’s own rumpled sheets and unmade bed to shame. The only off-putting touch was the patch of fur smeared across the decorative pillows piled near the top of the mattress. Matty clearly thought the guest bed looked as inviting as Kat did.
    The door on the other side of the hallway led to a small bathroom. Peering inside, Kat didn’t see anything amiss there either.
    She turned her attention to the closed door of what had to be the master bedroom. Assuming Mrs. Tinsdale was inside her apartment, that was the only place left where she could be.
    Kat swallowed as she crept toward the end of the hallway. As much as she prayed that Mrs. Tinsdale had just popped out to do a little grocery shopping, she knew her neighbor would never have left Matty free to wander the building while she was away. Kat knew something was seriously wrong, no matter how badly she wanted to find a safe explanation for the open front door.
    Kat paused when she made it to her destination. She gripped the doorknob, glancing back at Matty as if seeking the cat’s permission to enter. Matty’s eyes were huge as she stared back at her from the other end of the hall.
    Kat positioned her ear closer to the door. “Mrs. Tinsdale?” she called again—fruitlessly, as she already knew there would be no response.
    Left with no other options, Kat turned the doorknob. The hinges creaked as she slowly pushed the door open. She dreaded what she would find, but it wasn’t until she saw the disarray in the bedroom that she realized she was holding her breath.
    The rumpled bedspread dangled halfway off the mattress. She didn’t know for sure if the mussed-up comforter had resulted from a scuffle or if Mrs. Tinsdale had simply not finished making the bed after waking up this morning, but she suspected the former. Mrs. Tinsdale struck her as the type to keep her living quarters neat and organized. Making the bed was likely one of the first things she did after waking up in the morning.
    Kat’s eyes veered toward the floor, where a lamp was smashed next to the nightstand. The disorder—and what it implied—made her woozy. She leaned against the doorframe for support, envying Matty and her position in the hallway. If Kat had her own way, she would plant herself outside as well, then wait for someone else to deal with this.
    But she knew she