Sleight of Paw by Sofie Kelly Read Free Book Online Page A

look. The young officer saw him and started toward us.
    “She’s dead. I couldn’t find a pulse.” I remembered the feel of Agatha’s skin under my fingers, so, so cold.
    “How did you find the body?” he asked.
    “I didn’t,” I said.
    Marcus held up a gloved finger. “Excuse me a moment,” he said. He walked a few steps to intercept the officer. Heads together, Marcus did all the talking, gesturing toward the body. The other man listened and nodded. Finally Marcus walked back to me, moving me to the side with a small touch on my arm.
    “So you didn’t find the body? What are you doing here?”
    “Maggie and I were having breakfast at Eric’s. We were waiting for Ruby . . . Blackthorne to join us.” I remembered Ruby’s face as she stood in the doorway. “Ruby was cutting through the alley,” I said. “She found Agatha.”
    My fingers were cold and so were my feet, despite two pairs of socks. I stuffed both hands in my pockets and shot a quick look back over my shoulder, but couldn’t really see anything now.
    I looked at Marcus again. “I came back here with Ruby to see if Agatha was alive.” I shook my head. “Maggie called nine-one-one, and then she took Ruby back to Eric’s. I waited for you.”
    He nodded. As usual he wasn’t writing anything down. “What did you touch?”
    “The collar of her coat when I felt for a pulse.”
    “Is that all?”
    “Yes,” I said.
    A police van pulled up next to the police cruiser. Marcus looked back down the alley again. “That’s all for now,” he said. “You’ll be at the library if I have any more questions?”
    I nodded.
    “Thanks, Kathleen.” He looked at me expectantly. For a second I was confused; then I realized I was being dismissed. He was already shifting into police officer mode. I didn’t think he even realized how cold that could make him seem. Without saying anything else, I turned and made my way back to the restaurant.
    Maggie and Ruby were at the table. I sat down opposite them, pulling off my coat and hanging it on the back of my chair. “The police are here,” I said.
    Claire came over unasked and brought a new coffee cup for me. As far as I could see, Eric still hadn’t shown up.
    I drank from my mug, the warmth from the steaming coffee spreading through my chest. We sat in silence, and finally Ruby looked at me.
    Her face was still very pale, but she seemed less distraught, like the initial shock of finding Agatha was wearing off. “Thank you for waiting for the police,” she said.
    I gave her a small smile. “It was nothing,” I said. “Detective Gordon is going to want to talk to you.”
    Ruby stared down into her teacup. “I thought she was . . . I thought it was a bag of garbage that had blown into the alley,” she said. “I didn’t know it was Agatha until I got right up to her.” She rubbed her finger along the rim of the cup.
    Maggie laid a hand on her arm for a moment.
    “I don’t understand what she was doing in the alley in the first place.” Ruby said. She picked up her cup and set it down again without drinking.
    Claire arrived then with our food. I’d forgotten that we’d ordered. She set the pancakes in front of me, then hesitated. “I’m sorry for eavesdropping,” she said to Ruby. “Eric let Mrs. Shepherd sleep in the back room when it was really cold. I guess she didn’t always have enough money to keep her house warm. Maybe that’s why she was in the alley.” She reached around Ruby and gave Maggie her plate. “If you need anything, let me know.”
    I slid the butter pats off the small plate they’d arrived on and replaced them with one of the pancakes and a few slices of orange; then I set the plate in front of Ruby. I waited until she speared a bite of fruit and put in her mouth before I picked up my own fork.
    “You know she had a stroke,” Ruby said suddenly. “That’s why she fell. That’s why she was in that rehab center in Minneapolis.”
    “Then maybe it was another