Catch as Cat Can Read Online Free Page A

for peeling back layers of leaded paint. The choices were overwhelming and expensive.
    Cynthia and Miranda approached the counter.
    Sean asked his assistant, Isabella Rojas, to take care of the customer he was serving and he strode across the expanse to greet the two women. “Welcome. I think you're in luck.”
    Harry caught up with them, the three animals lagging behind. “This is wonderful.”
    â€œThanks.” He focused on Miranda. “Mrs. Hogendobber, follow me.”
    The humans and animals left the main building, walking about four hundred yards to the rear where thousands of hubcaps, sparkling in the sunlight, hung on wires. They were organized according to car model and year.
    The glare from the shiny surfaces caused Mrs. Hogendobber to shield her eyes with her hand. “My word, I had no idea there were this many hubcaps in the world.”
    â€œLet's cruise the outbuildings.”
Tucker wagged her nonexistent tail.
“Bet they're full of vermin.”
    â€œYou're a ratter, are you?”
Pewter sashayed, a superior air exuding from her gray fur.
“You couldn't catch a comatose mouse.”
    â€œLook who's talking,”
the corgi called over her shoulder as she sprinted toward the garage building followed by Mrs. Murphy. A trail of fading beer cans gave evidence of Roger O'Bannon's progress. Sobriety was not a virtue associated with Roger.
    Pewter declined. For one thing she really didn't care much about mousing or Roger O'Bannon. Birding was her game and she was still put out that Harry had saved the woodpecker for Don Clatterbuck's skills. She wanted to pull the feathers off. Truth be told, Pewter had never killed a bird but she picked up those who died or fell from the nest. She liked yanking out the feathers. She wouldn't eat one. Pewter wouldn't eat anything that wasn't well cooked except for sushi. Something about the darting and dodging of birds excited her and she dreamed of killing the blue jay housed in the maple tree. One day the arrogant fellow would fly too close, run his mouth too loud. She knew her day would come and she'd end his foul abuse. But for the moment she was content to sit at Harry's feet and listen to the tale of the hubcaps.
    â€œMy hubcaps!” Miranda reached for the only set of Ford Falcon hubcaps on the line.
    â€œNow, Mrs. H, if you file a theft report I have to impound the hubcaps as evidence. If you don't file, you can put them right back on your car,” Cynthia counseled her.
    â€œNo!” Miranda shook her head in disbelief.
    â€œThat's the law.”
    â€œHow long will that take?”
    â€œIt depends on whether we find the suspect or not. If we do and he comes up for a hearing and then a trial, it could take months—many months.” Cooper sighed, for the clogging of the courts wore her out as well as her sister and brother officers. She often thought to herself that people would be far better off trying to solve problems themselves instead of running to the sheriff's department or a lawyer to do it for them. Somehow Americans had lost the ability to sit down and talk to one another, or so it seemed to her.
    â€œOh, dear, what will the girls at church say?” Miranda worried about driving around undressed, as it were. “Well . . .”
    â€œMaybe we can solve this together.” Cynthia focused on Sean, now removing the hubcaps from the line. “The obvious question: who sold you the hubcaps?”
    â€œUsually Roger takes care of the car end of the business but he's not here at the moment,” Sean said. “I just happened to be outside when a kid drove up with the hubcaps.”
    â€œKnow him?”
    â€œNo. Never saw him before in my life. I knew the Falcons were rare so I paid fifty dollars for them, wholesale. I priced them at one hundred and twenty and hung them right on the line. If I'd taken a moment to think about it, I might have realized they were Miranda's but the kid said they