Cat on the Scent Read Online Free

appealing.
“That dog will never learn.”
    Pewter tapped her skull with one extended claw.
“Dog brains.”
    Mrs. Murphy jumped over to the window over the kitchen sink.
“They're coming inside. Off the table.”
    Pewter waited until she heard the screen door slam before leaving the table.
    â€œHi, kids,” Harry greeted her cats, who ignored her.
    â€œMake her suffer for leaving us here.”
Mrs. Murphy stalked into the living room.
    Pewter, knowing some manner of food would be placed on the table, decided to be mildly friendly.
    Harry spied the cat hair on the table and wiped it off with a wet dishrag. “You were on the table.”
    â€œWas not,”
Mrs. Murphy called from the living room.
    â€œWas too,”
Tucker tattled.
    â€œShut up, you little brownnose,”
Mrs. Murphy yelled at the dog.
    â€œBlair, thank you again for letting me drive a dream.” She opened the refrigerator door, removing corn bread and butter. Not that she had made the corn bread; Miranda had given her a big pan of it Friday after they left work.
    â€œAny time.”
    â€œOh, I forgot to tell you. Susan drove by while I was waiting for you and the sheriff. She said Ned expects you in the First Virginia for reenactment at Oak Ridge.”
    â€œI'll call him.”
    â€œI didn't know you were into that battle stuff.”
    â€œI'm not. They're short of bodies.”
    â€œIsn't it expensive to get the gear?”
    â€œYeah, but I can't complain if I've just bought a Turbo, can I?” He laughed. “Some of these guys are a little extreme, but I'm looking forward to it.”
    â€œExtreme?”
Mrs. Murphy sardonically replied as she walked back to the kitchen, pointedly not paying attention to Harry.
“They're a quart low.”
    â€œI think it's fascinating.”
Tucker sat down on Blair's foot.
    â€œYou think anything's fascinating that has dead bodies in it.”
    â€œWell, dogs eat carrion. That's what they're for, I guess.”
Pewter pressed against the refrigerator door.
“Nature's garbage collectors.”
    â€œPeople hang out deer for a few days,”
Tucker rejoined.
    â€œBetter gut them the minute you kill them or you'll have some terrible-tasting deer.”
Mrs. Murphy wasn't fond of venison, but she could eat it if prepared in buttermilk.
    Pewter moved back to the table.
“There aren't going to be any dead bodies at the reenactment, just people pretending to be dead.”
    â€œThe way things have been going, the commission meeting coming up might have a few dead bodies.”
Tucker giggled.
    Pewter turned her full attention on Harry, who had set out some thinly sliced roast beef.
    â€œStay on the floor.” Harry read her mind, not difficult under the circumstances.
    â€œOne teensy piece,”
Pewter begged.
    â€œMe, too.”
Tucker had been transformed into Miss Adorable.
    â€œNo,” Harry said, but without much oomph.
    â€œShe'll weaken if you sit by the chair.”
Pewter hurried to get on Harry's right side.
    â€œYou say that every time.”
The tiger cat laughed but she hurried to Blair's side, figuring he'd weaken before Harry.
    â€œI had no idea that Sir H. Vane-Tempest pestered Sheriff Shaw so often.”
    â€œTempest in a teapot is what Miranda calls him.” Harry stuck her knife into a pot of creamy homemade mustard. “But Archie's picking fights with everyone. Even though he and H. Vane seem to be in a phase of political agreement. He's even fighting Mim.”
    â€œNot a smart move.”
    â€œGetting on the wrong side of Sir H. isn't smart either. His net worth is more than the gross national product of Chile.”
    â€œMrs. Murphy, what do you know about H. Vane?”
Tucker never took her eyes off Harry's hands.
    â€œHe doesn't have cats or dogs, which bespeaks an empty life.”
    Blair dropped her a sliver of roast beef, which she daintily ate.
    â€œAre you going to the