Free Faux Paw: A Magical Cats Mystery by Sofie Kelly Page A

He’d arranged to meet her at the library in the morning and walk her through it. Listening to his end of the conversation made it clear that the system should have been on.
    “I appreciate you taking time to walk Detective Lind through the alarm system, Gavin,” Everett said. He looked tired. There were deep frown lines between his eyes and bracketing his mouth. Rebecca came to stand next to his chair. She put her hand on his shoulder and I could see him relax a little at her touch. Everett looked at me then. “Kathleen, I’m sorry about all the disruption this is going to cause for you,” he said. “But the only thing that matters is that the police catch whoever killed Margo.”
    I nodded my agreement.
    “If you need extra staff hours once the police release the building, go ahead and schedule them,” he continued. “I’ll clear that with the board.”
    “Thank you,” I said, getting to my feet. I smiled at Rebecca. “And thank you for the hot chocolate.”
    “You’re welcome, dear,” she said.
    Gavin got to his feet as well. “Kathleen, can I give you a ride?” he asked.
    I tipped my head in the direction of the backyard as I pulled on my hoodie. “Thanks, but I’m just across the back and I left the porch light on. The only thing I might run into is a raccoon.”
    “If you’re sure,” he said, looking a little skeptical.
    “I am,” I said.
    “I shouldn’t be more than an hour with the detective in the morning, probably less,” Gavin said. “Could we get together after that? By then I know I’m going to have a list of things I’ll need input on from you.”
    I ran through the mental checklist of things I needed to get done first thing in the morning. I had more phone calls to make and a quick check-in with Lita. It seemed callous to be thinking about all those mundane details with Margo dead, but they had to be taken care of. Margo would have been one of the first to point that out. “How about quarter after ten at Eric’s Place?”
    “That should work,” he said.
    Rebecca walked me to the door and stepped out onto the back stairs. “I don’t see any sign of Oswald,” she said.
    “Oswald?” I asked. I had no idea whom she was talking about.
    “The raccoon,” she said. “I saw it crossing the Justasons’ yard last week and I said to Everett that it reminded me of Uncle Oswald. He had big black-framed glasses and those bushy sideburns called muttonchops. And a rather unfortunate raccoon coat.”
    She was trying to distract me for a few moments, I realized, from thinking about what had happened. I leaned against the railing and looked out across Rebecca’s yard and mine. “I don’t see anything with or without a raccoon coat.”
    I gave her a quick hug. “Thank you for the hot chocolate,” I said as I started down the stairs. I cut across the back lawn and all but sprinted through the patch of darkness in between the reach of Rebecca’s porch light and my own. I had no desire to meet anything in a raccoon coat, no matter whose family member it might look like. I’d seen enough of what the bogeyman could do for one night.

6
    G avin walked into Eric’s Place at about five minutes after ten the next morning. I had called Harrison first thing and postponed our visit, promising we’d get together in a few days. Claire picked up the coffeepot and started toward the table as soon as she caught sight of Gavin. She had a cup poured before he had a chance to sit down.
    “Thanks, Claire,” he said, reaching for the sugar. “You read my mind.”
    She put two fingers to her right temple and narrowed her gaze at him. “Now you’re thinking about a sausage-and-apple breakfast sandwich,” she said, a hint of a smile playing across her face.
    Gavin laughed. “I actually am.” He looked across the table at me, raising an eyebrow. “And one of those cinnamon roll things?”
    “Please,” I said. I slid my mug toward Claire and she refilled it for me.
    “It’ll just be a few