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The RAM Cozy Mystery - Chapter 5
M'Lou
Of course, the minute I got out to the sidewalk, the noise stopped and I looked
around for quite a while, trying to locate the bagpipes. There was no sign of them. I began to
wonder if I had imagined that screeching, or if my cochlear implants were playing tricks on me
again. Oh, well -- I turned and went back inside.
“Who wants to go to the library?” I called out to the empty room. But they’d left me
alone as usual. Aunt Ellen had gone upstairs to take one of her many naps. The girls, KS and Beeg,
had run down to the park to play on the giant sluice. So it was just me and the cat. It took twenty
minutes to persuade Mr. Spoochy aka Miss MLou aka Sir Accuse to climb into the carrier. She
would rather drive, you see, but the local law frowns on that because she doesn’t have a license.
We arrived at the small brick building, and were greeted at the door by twelve tiny trolls hurtling
themselves between my legs. Each of them carried several oversized picture books, and three of the
tiny creatures dropped a book or two as they skittered out into the parking lot. When the mothers
pushed past us on their way to the SUVs, I realized that we hadn't seen dwarfs at all, but children
retreating from Story Hour. I was pleased to have missed that magical event, even though it's fun to
hear the lovely, charming and oh-so sexy Tama read to the kiddies in that funny voice she puts on.
The last curtain-climber scooted out the door and I went in, aiming for the office of the Head
Librarian, Paige Turner. She has a reputation for helping out in puzzling situations like this, so I
wanted her input -- as well as her permission to allow Sir Accuse to roam the stacks for a little
while. Paige and I go way back, and she knows how smart this cat is, so she quickly granted my
request. Carrying the bulky bag of cat, I walked across to the towering shelves and quietly went
over our mission with Mr. Spoochy. She didn't have any questions, so we began our work.
As we turned down the first aisle, into the non-fiction section, I stepped in something brown and
squooshy. Ugh. I recognized the familiar odor immediately, and called one of the library associates
over to explain. “What on earth is all this chocolate on the floor? And smeared on these books!”
Rita Lott, according to her nametag, stared down at her Birkenstocks as she meekly replied, “There
were some vandals in here earlier today. They were having a food fight with these funny-looking
cookies. As soon as we heard all the noise, Ms. Turner came over and made them stop. She wrote their
names down
on the Clipboard. They were local brats, mostly -- Sandi, Diane and Rosa. But Ms. Turner caught the
ring-leader, Bridget, trying to steal a volume of limericks! We called their mothers to come take
them away, but nobody has been able to clean up the mess yet.”
I made my way around the mess and turned a corner, where I placed my luggage on the floor and
unzipped the mesh opening. The cat jumped quietly out of the carrier and began to stroll up and down
the aisles between shelves. I hoped the book she wanted wasn't too high up for her to read the
title, or eventually reach by jumping. If necessary, I could lift her to the shelf, but it wouldn't
have the same effect. I've been accused of forgery and other trickery, but never would I falsify
this cat's extrasensory powers
Suddenly, the cat leaped into my arms, requesting a boot-up to the second shelf from the top. I
noticed all the books in this section had little labels on the spines: “Mystery.” Well, duh.
That’s why we’re here.
She slithered behind the row of books, and deftly poked at one from the backside, causing it to drop
to the carpet. Barely missing my foot, thank you very much. I picked it up to check out the title,
since that always seems to be the critical clue, and found that the cat had chosen Val McDermid’s
award-winning “A Place of Execution (A Thriller or a Cosy, Depending on What You Like to Read)”...
to be continued . . . |
