No Cats Allowed: A Cat in the Stacks Mystery Read Online Free PDF Page B

down the walk to where her car was parked on the street. Diesel and I watched until she was safely in her car, and then I closed the door.
    What the heck was Oscar Reilly up to? I considered that as Diesel and I wandered back into the kitchen.
    I couldn’t fathom the method to his madness—for surely it was madness to antagonize one person after another in the library. I wondered if he had bullied other library personnel in this manner. Or had he made Melba, Lisa, and me targets for a particular reason?
    Could he be trying to make us all quit of our own accord? I couldn’t imagine why he would, but in my case at least he was doing a darn good job.
    I decided I might as well start getting my dinner ready. I took the casserole dish out of the fridge and put it in the oven, following Azalea’s instructions about the proper temperature and timing. Then I went to the utility room to open a can of wet food for Diesel. I left him scarfing it down while I went back into the kitchen.
    I would love to talk all this over with Helen Louise, but I knew she would be too busy right now to chat. I would have to wait until later tonight. For a moment I was tempted to take thecasserole out of the oven, pack Diesel into the car, and drive over to the bistro and have dinner there.
    But then I realized that I was being selfish. Helen Louise needed to be able to focus on work, not sit and hold my hand and listen to my troubles when she had customers lined up, waiting to be served.
    The noise of a key turning in the lock of the kitchen door brought me out of my reverie. I looked in that direction to see Sean stepping into the room.
    “Hi, Dad, how are you?” Sean came over to the table and set his briefcase down. He went to the fridge and rummaged around for a beer.
    “Doing okay, Son, how are you?”
    “Better now,” he said, brandishing the bottle of beer. He popped the cap off and came back to the table to join me.
    “Rough day?” I asked.
    Sean shook his head. “No, not that bad really, just intense. Crazy family members challenging a will. Like something out of a really bad movie. Hard to believe lunatics like these guys are free and on the street.” He grinned suddenly. “They’re going to make a heck of a chapter in my memoirs one of these days.”
    “With the names changed to protect the not-so-innocent,” I said, and he grinned even more broadly.
    “Something like that.” Sean sipped at his beer. “What about you? You were looking pretty serious when I came in.”
    Diesel chose that moment to amble back into the room. He chirped several times and approached Sean for attention. Sean complied, rubbing the cat’s head until Diesel purred.
    “Actually I do have a matter to discuss with you. I might need your professional services.”
    Sean regarded me with concern. “What happened?”
    He had already heard me talk about Oscar Reilly, so now I simply related what had happened today. As an afterthought, I included the incident in the parking lot. I wouldn’t put it past Oscar to try to blame me for it.
    Sean listened without comment until I finished. Then he shook his head. “Wonder what his game is?” He thought for a moment. “Until he produces his proof of allergy to cats, I think it’s probably best that you don’t take Diesel with you. Or simply don’t go to work at all.”
    “That’s my plan,” I said. “I don’t want to deal with him. In fact, I put in for a leave of absence. I figured I could take time off until the college finds a new library director.” I sighed. “The only problem is, Oscar has to approve the leave.”
    Sean drained his bottle and set it on the table. “You think he will?”
    “I don’t know. He might, but I think it’s more likely he’ll refuse.”
    “If he does turn out to be allergic to cats, and he won’t approve your leave request, what will you do?”
    “I’ll quit,” I said. “I don’t want to, because I love what I do there. But I’m not going to leave Diesel at