A Twist In The Tail

‘Naturally. And sometimes the exact opposite.’

‘Good idea.’ Marlowe trotted back into the room. She sat on her haunches, licking her front paw. ‘Okay. I noticed a scent that shouldn’t be here.’

‘Indeed,’ Nero said. The young cat was coming along nicely. ‘And what do you make of it?’

‘Well, it’s salty like the sea but also has a tinge of seagull and wet dog. So, I’m guessing our victim was near the ocean and the gulls and possibly visited someone with a dog. Maybe near the cliffs where they nest or on the beach. Those darn seagulls are everywhere.’

The mention of the gulls had Nero cringing. ‘Tell me about it. One dive bombed me the other day and I had to do a tuck and roll right out in the middle of the street!’

‘I had to hide under an azalea bush to get away from one.’

‘They’re a nuisance.’

‘They don’t even taste good. Like bland chicken.’

‘And very dry.’

‘Too salty.’

Nero glanced out the window. The room had a partial view of the ocean and he could see the gulls flapping above the Smugglers Bay Inn. Good, let them stay over there. He didn’t mind them so much if they just kept away from him. Live and let live was his motto. ‘But still, they seem to be dying in droves. And I hate to think of anything dying before its time. They only have one life, you know.’

‘True,’ Marlowe sniffed at a pair of tan chinos that lay on the floor. ‘Judging by these pants our victim was up to something sneaky before he died.’

Nero nodded. He had wondered if the other cat would discover the scent of nefarious intention on the human’s pants. That was an advanced sleuthing skill and he was happy to see that Marlowe was mastering it. ‘What do you think our next move is?’

Marlowe raked her claws on the oriental rug. Millie would have a fit if she saw her. ‘We must talk to the gang at the wharf. One of them might know something about what our victim was up to.’ Marlowe started for the door.

Nero stayed rooted to his spot. The young cat would have to learn not to be so hasty. There was still something big left to be found. ‘Not so fast. There is another clue.’

Marlowe turned back, her green gaze slit. ‘There is? I skulked around the whole perimeter of the room and didn’t see anything that is not supposed to be here. Nor did I smell anything other than what I mentioned.’

‘Sometimes when looking for clues, it is not what you see, it’s what you don’t see,’ Nero said wisely.

Marlowe rolled her eyes. ‘Seriously? Could you be any more vague?’

Nero simply gave her a blank look.

Marlowe sighed. ‘Okay fine. I’m making another round.’

Nero watched the young cat carefully as she sniffed the perimeter, coming to stop in front of the small bookcase just as Nero had hoped. The bookcase was only two shelves that Millie had stuffed with a few old Reader’s Digest volumes. It looked like Charles had put those all on one shelf and added his own books to the other.

Marlowe turned around triumphantly. ‘Aha! One book is missing.’

Nero nodded. ‘Yes, and from the fact that the victim had placed books here in the first place, I think we can conclude that these books were important.’

‘Yeah, I see that. So how are we going to alert the humans?’

‘We’ll have to draw their attention to it somehow. Naturally they will think they made the discovery.’

‘I know! We never get credit,’ Marlowe said. ‘But how should we draw their attention? Hair ball? Incessant meowing? Leaping in the air?’

Nero watched as Marlowe pantomimed all of the above. He was proud that the young cat had figured out the clues, but she could be a little overzealous at times. ‘I think this calls for something more subtle. The good old pushing-everything-off-the-top-of-the-bookshelf routine should do the trick.’

The police had secured Charles’ room with a large ‘X’ of yellow crime scene tape. Was that really necessary? I worried that it would make the other guests nervous.

Millie must have had the same thought because she stopped in front of it. ‘Seems overly dramatic to have this here. What does he think this is, a scene from Castle?’ She ripped the tape off one side and Mom and I followed her into the room.

The first thing I noticed was that the duvet was messed up. It looked like something had been burrowing in it. A movement in the corner of the room caught my eye. The cats.

I was sure Nero was the culprit. ‘If you put any tears in that cover I’m not feeding you any more of that nice food with the gravy.’

Millie frowned. ‘Josie! That is no way to speak to the cats.’

As if understanding what she said, both cats trotted over to her purring and rubbing against her ankles while casting me angry looks.

‘But they messed up the bed!’ In my defense I had no idea how to talk to them. Should one let them just do whatever they wanted or was there some secret way to get them to obey you?

‘You must never admonish or threaten them,’ Millie said. ‘That will only make things worse. You should speak to them as if they are the superior beings that they are.’

The cats preened and purred.