Death by Tea Read Online Free PDF

you!” I practically screamed it in triumph. Misfit struggled for a moment before he sagged in my grip, panting.
    Carefully, so as not to give him a chance to free himself, I adjusted my grip so I could see his tail. There, on the underside, was the twine. I grabbed the end and pulled, thinking it would simply fall off and he’d be fine.
    Boy, was I wrong.
    Misfit let out a tortured yowl that reverberated throughout the house and probably woke the neighbors if all of the screaming and crashing hadn’t done so already. A dog started barking somewhere down the road. The twine pulled taut, only moving a tiny fraction before becoming caught on something.
    â€œNow, what in the world?” I lifted Misfit’s tail and instantly saw the problem.
    The twine wasn’t just wrapped in his fur like I thought; it was coming out of his, well, you know, backside.
    â€œOh no,” I moaned. I’d completely forgotten about the twine while planning my not-so-daring heist. He must have eaten it after I’d gone to bed. I knew better than to leave something like that lying around. I might as well have sprinkled it with catnip and set it in his food dish.
    Misfit looked back at me with a “This is your fault” look on his face. I tugged gently on the twine, pulling it an inch. Misfit squirmed in my arms, clearly not liking the sensation of a long piece of twine being pulled out of his rear. Really, I don’t know many people who would.
    â€œIt will be over in just a few moments,” I told him as gently as I could. “Maybe this will teach you not to eat things you aren’t supposed to.” I grinned, despite the situation. “Everyone could use a little cleaning out every now and again.”
    â€œWhy are you flossing your cat?”
    The sudden voice startled me so badly, I slackened my grip on Misfit while jerking back with the hand holding the end of the twine. Misfit shot toward the couch so fast, he was nothing but an orange blur. The twine whipped out of him at high speed.
    I looked up with a grimace to find Officer Paul Dalton standing just outside my screen door, in full uniform, sandy brown hair tucked under his police hat, with a perplexed look in his startling deep blue eyes.
    â€œI wasn’t flossing him,” I said, standing. I could feel my face flaming, but what could I do? He’d seen me pull something out of my cat’s butt; I’m not sure how a relationship—no matter how limited it might be—could recover from that.
    â€œAre you sure?” he asked. “It looked like you were flossing him to me.”
    I dropped the twine into the trash. “I’m sure. I was definitely not flossing the kitty. He’d eaten some twine and . . .” I trailed off, knowing how silly it sounded.
    Paul stood there a moment, looking bewildered, before glancing toward the door. “May I?” he asked.
    â€œSure.” What else could I say? I wasn’t about to tell him to go away, no matter how unflattering I must look. I was still in my black outfit and my hair had to be a mess.
    As he entered, I patted my head, winced at the tangles of my hair, and then tried to adopt a relaxed posture.
    â€œDon’t mind the mess,” I said. “Misfit went on something of a rampage.” I plastered on a fake smile. “So, what’s up?” The smile slipped when I saw the look on Paul’s face.
    Normally, he was all dimples and bulging muscles, but today he was anything but. Even after witnessing what would probably be forever known as the Flossing Incident, he didn’t even show a hint of being amused. That was definitely not a good sign.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” I asked, straightening. I felt a sudden urge for coffee and headed into the kitchen to turn on the pot.
    â€œI wouldn’t do that,” Paul said, voice grave. “You won’t have time for it.”
    â€œWhat? Why?” I turned to face him, a