The Cat Who Had 14 Tales

He said: “Wally’s kids—they got a black cat. Wally brought it to the bar sometimes when the rats got bad.”

“Was the cat in the bar New Year’s Eve?”

“I dunno,” he said. “I wasn’t there.”

And yet there was a big yellow ring around his eye! “Oh, dear!” I said. “You got a bad poke in the eye, looks like.”

“Yeah,” he said. “Been playin’ ice hockey.”

That’s all so far, Tom. Write when you can. I read your letters over and over.

Mother

January 9

Dear Tom,

A quick note to let you know my suspicions were correct! After dinner Friday night I said to Jim: “Do you believe in Providence, dear? When Wally Slaon was killed, Providence arranged to have a detective’s wife looking out the window—an old busybody who reads mystery stories.” I said: “I think Wally Sloan was murdered. I think the garage mechanic loosened a steering knuckle on his car so Wally would lose control when it hit the first bump. You know Gus at the gas station? The police ought to pick him up for questioning. The woman in 503 might know something, too. Also a male nurse in 311.”

Tom, I wish you could have seen the flabbergasted look on Jim’s face.

That was Friday. Today the Homicide men got the whole story. Gus lost Larry’s five hundred in a crap game—never placed the bet at all! Then Gus tried to wiggle out of the mess by blaming it on Wally. To cover up, he rigged Wally’s car for the fatal accident.

There was no snow on that car, so I was sure it had been inside the garage, and on a crazy hunch I suspected Gus of tampering with it. Jim is very proud of me, and I hope you are, too, Tom dear.

Love from Mother

P.S.

Forgot to tell you. Shadow disappeared mysteriously Friday night. He got out somehow, and we haven’t seen him since. It’s almost as if he wanted to tell me something, and after the truth came out, he just vanished! Too bad. He was a nice cat. I liked him.

Table of Contents

Cover

Copyright

Jove titles by Lilian Jackson Braun

Title Page

Contents

Phut Phat Concentrates

Weekend of the Big Puddle

The Fluppie Phenomenon

The Hero of Drummond Street

The Mad Museum Mouser

The Dark One

East Side Story

Tipsy and the Board of Health

A Cat Named Conscience

SuSu and the 8:30 Ghost

Stanley and Spook

A Cat Too Small for His Whiskers

The Sin of Madame Phloi

Tragedy on New Year’s Eve