Collared For Murder by Annie Knox Read Free Book Online

come.
    I heard sniggering behind me and turned to find both Rena and Jack, heads down, shoulders shaking suspiciously. “You two are not helping,” I hissed. “Dolly, you have got to take Packer home.”
    “But I want to stay.”
    I pinned Jack with a stern look. “Jack will take you back to 801 Maple so you can drop off Packer and leave him with Wanda, and then he will bring you back to the show. Right?”
    “Yes, ma’am,” he said, scuffing his toe like a wayward child.
    Before they could move, a
thunk
ing sound resonated from the hallway, and the lights in the ballroom went out. In the vast windowless room, there wasn’t so much as a glimmer of light. After a heartbeat of silence, both the cats
and
the people began to whine and call out, everyone disoriented in the sudden darkness. Not to be outdone, Packer took up a howling complaint.
    I felt a rush of air as someone moved quickly past me. I was disoriented by the dark, but I got the distinct impression that the person was moving from my right—from somewhere near the main ballroom door—to my left—toward the back corner of the ballroom, where the conformation-judging rings started to wend their way around the room, forming a big U that ended right by the other front corner of the room, where Pris’s grooming station had been arranged.
    A minute later, I was blinded by light from the corridor as Jack threw open the main doors and secured them to the heavy magnets set in the wall. A maintenance worker rushed up to him, and the two exchanged a few brief words.
    Slowly that beacon of light from the doorway lowered the level of chaos in the room. Jack yelled out across the crowd, “Just a tripped fuse, everyone.” Everyone hushed, and it seemed like all attention—humanand feline—had turned to Jack. I felt a swell of pride at his confidence, the way he commanded the room. “We’ll have light again in a second.”
    As his last syllable trailed away, there was another
thunk
, and the lights returned, leaving a roomful of people blinking as their eyes readjusted to the bright ballroom chandeliers.
    “On that note,” Jack said, “we’d better get going. Heaven forbid the lights go off again and we lose Packer in the ensuing panic.” He gently took Dolly’s elbow and, like the big Boy Scout he was, drew her toward the wide-open entrance to the ballroom.
    Dolly and Jack were almost to the door when Packer suddenly let out a yip and pulled away from Dolly, ripping his leash from her hands. Dolly looked back at me in helpless horror as Packer did a joyous pirouette and landed in a crouch, ready to sprint off to heaven knows where.
    Great. I get invited to a potentially life-altering cat show, and I manage to release both a guinea pig and a dog into the mix within the first hour. Brilliant. At least the lights were on.
    Without hesitation, I dashed after the dog, praying I’d get to him before he knocked over a table and sent a dozen cats hurtling through space. He started to scamper behind the table holding the grand-prize collar dangle, so I made an end run around the other side, trying to cut him off.
    When I reached the back of the table, only a few feet from the ballroom wall, I realized Packer wasn’t running anymore. He’d found what he was looking for.
    Packer sat, restlessly shifting his little body from haunch to haunch and occasionally licking his chops with his long taffylike tongue. Right at his feet, a plaid pant leg protruded from underneath the table.
    My heart caught in my throat. I reached out a toe to nudge the leg, but I got no response. Passed out, or dead? There was only one way to know.
    I stood on my tiptoes, caught Jack’s eye, and beckoned him over. A mischievous smile played across his lips and he gave me a suggestive wink as he walked across the room to join me, but when I pointed at the leg, he sobered right up. Dashing Jack disappeared and Detective Collins took charge.
    He met my eyes and, without either of us saying a word,