I took a gravy bone from the bone-print jar on the counter and threw it to him. It didn’t hit the ground.
‘A whole mackerel, Amber,’ I goaded. I could see she wanted to give in. ‘I need you to do a few things for me, that’s all.’
Amber was wrestling with her desire for the super-tasty treat and her need to be haughty and dominant.
‘It’s the dog’s job to do things and run around obeying,’ she replied, but her words had a frustrated edge to them now.
I crossed the room and gave her fur a stroke, smoothing it from head to tail. ‘A dog couldn’t do the things I need you to do, Amber. These tasks require a level of dexterity and agility only a cat can achieve.’ I had her, and she knew it.
‘What do you need me to do?’ she asked, closing her eyes, and leaning into my hand.
Deploying a Spy
Going through what I might need to do in my head, one task leapt to the fore. I needed to find out what Derek knew. He had been away from the office for some time with his ailments, but surely he would have at least an inkling as to what drove John to shove him over the balcony. I would also ask him about what John meant about not being the crook in the equation.
Did John mean it was Derek? Surely not. Then who? And who did I hear destroying evidence last night and what was it evidence of? These questions and more made a long queue in my mind and only Derek would be able to answer them.
I called Joanne, running through what I wanted to say in my head while I waited for the phone to connect.
‘Felicity?’ Joanne answered.
‘Hello, Joanne. I wanted to ask you about Derek,’ I got in quickly when she paused for breath. ‘Has his condition improved?’
I could hear the sorrow in her voice when she replied. ‘No, Felicity. There’s been no improvement. His condition was terrible before John tried to kill him. It’s a miracle he survived the fall. How he got away without broken bones I will never know.’
‘Is he still unconscious?’ I wanted to know.
A small sob and sniff came over the phone. ‘Yes. They sound hopeful, but I just don’t want to give myself too much hope. What if he never wakes up?’ she wailed.
Regretfully, I knew exactly how she felt. Archie faded fast after his diagnosis. He’d been putting off going to see a doctor because he was sure the pain he felt would turn out to be nothing. It wasn’t, and by the time he finally sought help, it was too late for them to do anything.
I wouldn’t wish the same experience on anyone. All I could do was make appropriate noises of sympathy and tell her to hope for the best. Given the state Derek was in prior to his ‘accident’ a pragmatist would argue it might be better to prepare for the worst.
When it felt appropriate to do so, I said, ‘You probably don’t know this, but I ran into John last night when I went out for dinner. He sort of threatened me …’ Joanne gasped, but I ploughed on, ‘and he said he wasn’t the crook at the firm. Have you got any idea what he meant by that?’
I suspected it was a dodgy question to ask. If Joanne knew something and it did tie to Derek, I doubted she would tell me anything. If it didn’t tie to Derek, I doubted she would know – she didn’t work at the firm.
Joanne repeated my words. ‘A crook at the firm?’
‘That’s what John said.’
‘No, sorry, Felicity. I don’t know anything about that. Derek rarely talked to me about the print business. He knew I found it boring. You could ask Tamara. Or Tarquin,’ she added with a suggestion of enthusiasm to her tone. It made me think she must really like her daughter’s choice of husband. ‘Tarquin is essentially running the place anyway.’ Her voice turned glum again and she murmured. ‘Especially with both Derek and now John out of the picture.’
We talked for a few more seconds. I got on okay with Joanne, but I was friends with Derek and didn’t really know his wife.
With the call ended, I finally got myself ready for the day. Selecting a black skirt and a pure white blouse, I paired it with black knee-length boots and a camel brown rainmac. I popped my Prada sunglasses on my face, hooked my handbag over my left arm, and went in search of Amber.
She has several favoured spots in my house, all of which are deliberately out of reach of Buster so he couldn’t mess with her while she slept. That didn’t stop him from sneaking up for a surprise bark attack when he felt she might not be expecting it, but today I found her on the windowsill in my bedroom, asleep and alone.
She opened a suspicious eye as I approached.
‘You really want to go through with this?’ she asked.
‘You really want a poached mackerel?’ Before she could reply, I scooped her up and onto my chest where she dug her claws in to hold on. Mercifully, the rainmac bore the brunt of her assault, but I felt the tiny daggers find my skin in several places even with it to protect me.
I needed to take Buster and Amber out at the same time and putting them in the front seat of my sports car at the same time would be much like putting them, and me, in a tumble dryer. It was for that reason that we were taking my other car.
Having two cars when I am a widow who lives alone might seem completely redundant and I would not argue. However,
