Just then, she sensed a presence behind her, and turned to see a bobcat regarding her with a sort of cool curiosity. She was uniformed as a police officer, but her approach had been dead silent. Vera suddenly had the sense that Highbank probably did not have too much difficulty with crime.
“I’m Philomena Ambler,” the bobcat said, looking Vera up and down with a quick, intelligent glance. “What can I do for you, ma’am?” She sat in the chair behind the desk and picked up a pen, perhaps automatically, as if she were very used to writing reports.
“Good evening, Officer Ambler,” Vera said. “I traveled here from Shady Hollow to learn anything I can about a creature who may have lived here, specifically a rat by the name of Thomas Springfield.”
The bobcat looked much more alert now, and gave Vera a second examination, as her tufted ears twitched just a tiny bit. “Looking for Springfield, eh. In what capacity?” she asked, still giving nothing away.
“I’m a reporter with the Herald. Vera Vixen. His name’s come up in the course of a story I’m doing.”
Ambler relaxed. “That makes sense. Old Tom, as he was known around here, though he wasn’t old when he lived here, and he’s definitely not getting any older.”
“How’s that?” Vera asked.
“Well, he’s dead.”
“What!”
“Oh, yes. A few years ago now. Just before I took this position, in fact. My predecessor had plenty of trouble with Old Tom, and I saw some of it too while I was helping out part-time.”
“What happened? How do you know he’s dead, Officer?”
“’Cause that’s what the gravestone says. His body was found in the river one morning, not too long after he tried to run away from Big Eddie, who’s our local troublemaker. A bad-tempered otter who deals in stolen property, some smuggling, a little light moonshine production…and loans.”
“Oh,” Vera said, sensing what was coming. “Thomas borrowed money from him and couldn’t repay?”
“Pretty much. Eddie will lend you fifty, but you’ll be paying back one-fifty, and you’ll pay it when he says. Big Eddie is not to be trifled with. I’d arrest him if I could, but there are…complications.” Ambler looked disgruntled as she said it, and Vera guessed that someone else in a criminal network was protecting Eddie.
“So you think this Big Eddie had Thomas killed?”
“I know it, though no one was officially charged with a crime. Eddie has a certain style, you see. Miss one payment, you lose a couple digits.” The bobcat wiggled her paw meaningfully. “Miss the next payment, you lose more. Miss the third…well, there’s a certain place in the river we know where to look. Eddie’s eddy, we call it. We’re very droll here in Highbank.”
“You’re sure it was Thomas?”
“Eddie himself came down to identify the body. Said he recognized his old friend, which I took to mean that he recognized which toes he removed. A drowned rat is a very sad sight, especially one as skinny as Old Tom got. He didn’t eat well toward the end—he couldn’t afford to.”
“I’d like to see the grave,” Vera said.
“Certainly. The cemetery is just up the road—”
The front door banged open, and a wolf walked in.
“Oh, here it comes,” Vera muttered under her breath.
“Vera, I thought I’d never find you!” Marvel announced, loud enough for probably the entire town to hear. “What sort of backwater is this? I walked past four times before I saw that the police station is inside the post office!”
“We share the space,” Ambler replied evenly.
Marvel turned, suddenly noticing that Highbank’s cop was female. He leaned in, saying, “So you’re the law in this town? Interesting! Very appealing, for a twist on a thriller. I’m Bradley Marvel, by the way. You probably recognize me from the back of my book jackets.”
“Huh,” the cop said, not sounding too impressed. “I usually recognize folks from their Wanted posters. I’m Officer Philomena Ambler.”
“Can I call you Philomena?”
“You can call me Officer Ambler,” the bobcat said, just happening to stretch her forelimbs and extend her front claws a bit.
Bradley took a step back.
“One more question, Officer,” Vera said then. “Are you sure it’s a gravestone and not a cenotaph?”
“What’s a cenotaph?” Marvel asked.
“It’s a memorial erected to commemorate the death of one who is buried elsewhere,” Ambler said, then looked at Marvel with puzzlement. “Shouldn’t you know words? I thought you were some kind of writer.”
“I have assistants for that sort of thing,” he said.
The bobcat rolled her eyes and looked back to Vera. “It’s definitely a grave. I remember the funeral quite well, mostly because only myself and my superior officer attended. We knew Old Tom best, you see. And even we weren’t too cut up about his death.”
“All right,” Vera said. “I’m going to go have a look. Thank you, Officer Ambler.”
“Call me Phil,” the bobcat told her. “Head straight up the hill and take a left at the top. You’ll see the cemetery from there. Old Tom was buried somewhere in the far corner. If you need anything else, you know where to find me.”
Vera thanked her, jerked her head to indicate that Bradley should hustle, and started heading for the door.
Bradley pulled a couple of bookmarks from his bag and laid them on Ambler’s desk. “Just in case you’re looking for an exciting new read,” he said with a wink.
“I prefer the classics,” she replied, not picking the bookmarks up.
“Now, Mr. Marvel,” Vera said from the door. She strolled outside, half hoping that he’d get lost, but then thinking that it wouldn’t be very fair to either the cop or the postmistress to have to deal with him. Well, he’d catch up eventually.
Vera walked up the road to the top of the hill and turned left. She spotted the cemetery immediately. It was a ways out, just before the green wall of the forest began again. Advancing, Vera passed through an
