Patricia Fry - Klepto Cat 03 - Sleight of Paw Read Online Free PDF Page B

you found anything…well, unusual while tearing out walls and floors and such?”
    He narrowed his eyes. “Um, no.” And then he chuckled. “Like what? Pirates’ gold or a lost Rembrandt?”
    “Noooo, maybe something sinister.”
    “Sinister?” the trio repeated.
    “In what way?” Michael asked. “Dead body?”
    “Been there, done that,” Margaret quipped with a shudder, remembering the day she found Marvin Byrd’s body in an upstairs bedroom of the old Forster home—her former home. “No, let’s don’t go there. No more dead bodies. No, Michael, from what I hear tell, it’s something a tad more…let’s say…eerie.”
    “A ghost?” Savannah asked. Her face lit up. “Auntie did you sell us a haunted house? How cool is that?”
    “No, I don’t think it’s haunted—unless old Jed Forster is still around.” Margaret thought for a moment and then smiled, her brown eyes sparkling under dark-brown bangs. “But his spirit would be gentle. He would fit in nicely with the two of you.”
    “Well, I don’t want anyone else living here with us and peering in on our private life,” Michael said emphatically.
    “The house isn’t haunted, Michael,” Margaret insisted.
    “Then what?” he asked.
    “To tell you the truth…”
    “Helllloooooo, anyone here? Michael? Savannah?”
    “Oh, it’s Iris,” Savannah said, rising carefully from her chair and hobbling toward the living room. She saw Iris peering through the open door and called out, “Come in, girlfriend.”
    Iris stepped inside and closed the door. She looked at Savannah, concern on her face. “I heard about the…trouble and came to see if you two are okay.” She glanced around behind Savannah. “Where’s Michael?”
    “He’s right in here.” Savannah grabbed Iris’s arm and began leading her along. “Come on in; have some cobbler with us.”
    Iris stopped. “Just a minute, let me find a spot for my purse—somewhere away from that thieving cat of yours.” She laughed.
    Savannah shook her head, grinning slightly as Iris reached up and tucked her large purse into a space on a bookshelf. Just then, Iris felt something against her leg. She looked down, a few curly wisps of red hair bouncing alongside her face. “Hi there, Lexie. How are you, girl?” She stooped over and ruffled the dog’s fawn-colored fur before entering the kitchen.
    Michael stood. “Hi Iris. Have a seat—join us.”
    Margaret reached out for Iris’s hand and the two former graduates of the Hammond High School class of 1973 greeted one another warmly. Iris patted Max on the shoulder. “Hi there, Max. Good to see you.” After sitting down in the chair Michael had pulled out for her, Iris looked over at Michael and Savannah, scrutinizing them carefully, and then frowned. “So how are you two? Sounds like you had an awful situation at the clinic this morning.”
    “How did you hear about it already?” Savannah asked.
    “Craig told me.”
    “Oh yes, your honey. We can’t keep anything from you anymore since you’re dating Detective Craig Sledge.” Michael laughed.
    “You were going to keep this from me? Why?” Iris looked hurt.
    “Noooo.” Savannah slapped her hand in the air in front of her. “He’s delusional.” She leaned toward Iris and whispered loudly, “…got a wallop on the head, you know.”
    Iris looked over at Michael again and noticed the purple swelling on the side of his face. “Oh Michael, you look like you took a beating. How are you feeling?”
    He grimaced slightly, took a deep breath, and coughed. “Not too bad—a little sore here and there.”
    “I would imagine.” Her eyes darted from Michael to Savannah. “So what happened?”
    The couple repeated the details of the story once again.
    “What does the doctor say?” she asked.
    “Just to take it easy, use icepacks—general stuff like that,” Michael said. “Oh honey, you’d better get that pack on your knee.”
    “Your knee?” Iris looked over at