7c6cdd7d45cb035b54aafd3ac9eb9cc8

Jasmine didn’t even crack a smile. “I know,” she said simply. “Now if there’s nothing else, I’d like you to leave this room. I don’t like other cats to shed in my personal space, and I can already see that you two are shedding like crazy. Especially you, Hardy, spreading a thick carpet of red furall over my perfectly polished hardwood floor.”

“I’m sorry about that,” I said. “I always shed when I’m nervous.”

“Well, don’t,” she advised, and took a tentative sniff in our direction, then frowned. “Are you by any chance cohabiting with a Persian?”

“Yes, we are,” said Dooley. “Her name is Harriet and she looks a lot like you. Gorgeous and with beautiful white fur, I mean.”

“Mh,” said Jasmine. “Harriet. Strange name for a Persian. Then again, we can’t all be Jasmine. Well, what are you two still doing here? Didn’t I tell you to leave immediately?”

“There’s just a couple of questions I’d like to ask,” I said.

“That’s what detectives do,” Dooley pointed out with a lame chuckle.

“Oh, all right,” said Jasmine. “Go on. Ask your silly questions.”

“So you and Mia were in here when Kirk was killed, right?”

“If you’re going to make me repeat everything twice—”

“Just confirming,” I said quickly. “Now you say you heard a scream? How sure are you that it was Kirk screaming?”

“One hundred percent,” said Jasmine tersely. “I have perfect hearing, something which you two don’t seem to possess, in my opinion a serious failing for a pair of so-called detectives, though not unheard of in a comedy duo.”

“Why does she keep calling us a comedy duo, Max?” asked Dooley, but I decided to ignore him for now. Time was of the essence, before Jasmine got bored and kicked us out.

“Did you hear anything else? Voices or anything that might lead us to identify the real killer?” I asked.

Jasmine glanced up at the ceiling as she expelled a sigh.“No. Anything else?”

“So you have no idea who could have done this to Kirk?”

She was silent for a beat, then said,“My best guess would be Allison.”

“Mia’s aunt? But why?”

Jasmine leveled a long look at me, then said,“First off, I know there’s such a thing as a bond that pets share with their humans, and I personally have the greatest respect for this sacred covenant, all right?”

“Okay,” I said, wondering where this was going.

“Second, I’m not a liar. I pride myself in always telling the truth, no matter how inconvenient.”

“An admirable trait, I’m sure.”

“Oh, don’t patronize me, Hardy,” she said with a frown. “The thing is, if someone goes down for this murder, I’d prefer if it isn’t Mia, as I like her. Even though Allison is my human, I actually like Mia a lot more. She’s always been kind to me, whereas Allison only took me in because she needed another ornament to beautify her personal space. To her I’m like a piece of furniture, or a fancy dress that she can showcase to her friends. So at the risk of betraying the treasured bond that connects all cats and their humans…” She heaved a deep sigh. “Look, Mia was having anaffair with this Kirk Weaver fellow. But she wasn’t the only one. At the same time he was also having an affair with Allison.”

“What?” I said, a little shocked.

“Yeah, color me surprised when I walked in on the two of them doing it in the kitchen one night when Mia was out with her friends.”

“What were they doing?” asked Dooley, interested.

Jasmine gave him a critical look.“What do you think they were doing, Laurel?”

“Um… cooking dinner?” Dooley suggested.

“You’ll have to excuse my friend,” I said quickly. “He’s very young and not always familiar with the strange and wonderful habits of humans in love.”

“In love? In lust, you mean. The way they were going at it—”

“Yes, I can see what you mean,” I said, before she painted a vivid and colorful word picture of the kinds of actions Allison and the late Mr. Weaver had been up to that night.

“Well, anyway, it’s not entirely inconceivable that Allison was jealous of Mia and decided she wanted Kirk for herself. And when Kirk didn’t comply, is it so hard to believe that a woman scorned resorted to violence?”

“You mean… acrime passionnel?” I said delicately.

“Bingo, Hardy. And then she made sure that Mia took the blame.”

“But… she did everything she could to make sure the police didn’t get involved.”

“Of course. She doesn’t want the cops to come snooping around and discover she’s the real killer.”

I thought about this.“Mia said she was feeling woozy, and doesn’t remember kneeling next to the body,” I said. “What kinds of pills was she taking that she was so out of it?”

Jasmine smiled.“Now you’re talking, Puss Detective. The kind of pills a person would give her niece to make sure she wouldn’t overhear her aunt murdering her boyfriend, but not powerful enough to prevent her from waking up and stumbling, half asleep, into the next room and come upon the murder scene and implicate herself in the crime.”

“Has your fur always been this white, Jasmine?” asked Dooley now.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, get Laurel away from me,” she said, and I decided to comply before she called me Hardy again.