Part 15
(Just so I don't lose track of where I am in the story! MOL)
Fuskerton Grange had officially descended into chaos.
The once-elegant engagement party was now a crime scene, with uniformed officers stationed around the gardens, their flashlights cutting through the smoke-filled air, and one or two looking for a hosepipe to extinguish the flames
Guests huddled together, whispering in frantic tones, tails twitching, ears flattened. Nobody had expected murder, least of all Prudence, who sat stiffly at the edge of the marquee, staring into the distance, her paws trembling.
I barely had time to process the madness before an officer approached.
“Mam,” he said, flipping open his notepad. “Might we have a moment?”
Behind him, more officers combed the gardens, their boots crunching over gravel paths, while others pulled the dead lawyer from the pond and zipped him into a body bag.
The sight sent a cold shiver down my spine.
Hissy exhaled slowly beside me. “Cod help us all.”
I forced my expression into neutral politeness, nodding at the officer. “Of course, officer.”
“We’ve been informed that mew and your associate were seen near the gardens before the incident occurred,” he continued, scanning his notes. “Can mew tell us why mew were there?”
I hesitated, not because I didn’t know what to say, but because the truth was dangerous.
If I told the police about Clawdia, who was standing right next to me. There was no guarantee they’d believe me, not without physical proof beyond the hidden document we’d just uncovered.
Clawdia was watching with eyes narrowed, waiting to make the next move, with calculated coldness.
If I revealed too much too soon, she’d find a way to cover her tracks. I had to play this carefully.
“We were in the gardens following a lead regarding the estate,” I said carefully. “We happened upon the commotion just before the summerhouse caught fire.”
The officer raised an eyebrow. “A lead regarding the estate?”
Willie stepped forward, the document missing; I assumed she had hidden it on her purrson. Her voice was measured but urgent. “It’s about ownership rights,” she said smoothly. “I can provide documentation if necessary.”
Before the officer could press further, a shout echoed across the courtyard.
“There’s been a break-in, the study door’s been forced open!”
Heads whipped toward the estate, just in time to see Muskulls disappearing into the shadows.
He was making his move.
I grabbed Hissy's paw tightly. “Willie, now’s our chance!”
And before the officers could divert their attention back to us, we ran.
We burst through the courtyard, dodging confused guests and scrambling over upturned tables.
Muskulls was moving fast, his broad frame slipping through the dimly lit hallway toward the study, the heart of Fuskerton Grange.
“We have to stop him before he...” I began, but a loud crash from inside the study cut me off.
We froze.
The doors had been forced open, splintered wood littering the floor. Inside, Muskulls was rifling through scattered drawers on the floor, his movements desperate, his usually smug demeanour replaced with frantic urgency.
Willie gripped my arm. “He’s looking for something else!”
Hissy narrowed her eyes. “We have the document proving Prudence is the rightful heir, but what if there’s more?”
I stepped forward, heart pounding. “Only one way to find out.”
Just as Muskulls searched through strewn papers littering the floor, I lunged.
My paws collided with his, and we both stumbled backwards, knocking over a heavy lamp.
“Give it up, Muskulls,” I hissed, claws digging into the edge of the desk as I steadied myself. “Mew can’t run from this forever.”
His eyes flashed dangerously.
“Mew don’t get it, do mew?” he growled, voice low. “Clawdia never just wanted the estate. She wanted what’s buried beneath it.”
My breath hitched.
“Buried?” Hissy echoed.
Muskulls laughed, a dry, humourless sound. “Mew think this is about gold-digging? About fancy houses? It’s about power. And if mew’re standing in the way, mew better be prepared to lose.”
Then, before I could react. Muskulls flipped the desk over, sending more papers flying, slamming a bookshelf behind him, blocking the exit.
Smoke still curled in the distance from the fire. The police were preoccupied, and now we were trapped with a dangerous mancat who had nothing left to lose.
“Muskulls, think carefully about this,” Willie warned, bracing herself.
But Muskulls?
He wasn’t thinking anymore.
He was acting.
And that meant we had seconds before everything spiralled even further out of control.
>^.^<
Until next week's cataclysmic episode, when mew won't believe what happened next; seriously, who knew a simple plan to save Melvyn could have unravelled a mystery like this?!!
Snowballs, Fluff, and Murder
A group of friends at odds.
A cold case suddenly heating up amidst the chill.
Tablerock, Texas is not a town accustomed to blizzards. But as a once-in-a-lifetime freeze buries the town under piles of snow and ice, life grinds to a frosty halt. For Ellie and Evie Rockwell it means being snowed in at the Silver Circle Cat Rescue with their circle of friends—all of whom are feeling the chill in more ways than one.
