Cat Fear No Evil

by Murphy Shirley

• ISBN13: 9780061015601
• ISBN10: 0061015601
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2018-06-22
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

What's the perfect read for fans of New York Times bestselling mystery authors Lilian Jackson Braun and Rita Mae Brown? This delightful ninth Joe Grey Mystery from awardwinning author Shirley Rousseau Murphy. When antiques and valuables begin to disappear from residents' homes, Joe Grey, Feline Detective, knows that something is very wrong in sleepy Molena Point, California. Lost are a five hundred thousand dollar painting, a diamond choker, and most shocking to Joe, his owner Clyde's vintage Packard roadster. But even a seasoned tomcat like Joe isn't prepared for the return of a yelloweyed, sinister black cat who had terrorized him and his girlfriend Dulcie years before. The acidtongued Azrael had paired with an old crook to loot the town and spread fear among the unsuspecting residents. Could Azrael and his partner be connected to this new set of crimes? But when a local waiter dies mysteriously at the art opening of one of Joe and Dulcie's closest human friends, the pair know that someone much more powerful and evil than Azrael's aging human friend is involved. And when miles away in San Francisco the cats' friend Katea woman with a mysterious, troubling secretis followed by a stranger and robbed, the cats dig in their claws and investigate. Along with their tattercoat friend Kit, they pass clues to the police, and under the often sceptical eye of Clyde, slowly begin to sniff out the truth.

Excerpts

Cat Fear No Evil

Chapter One

During the first week of October, when an icy windblew off the Pacific, rattling the windows of MolenaPoint's shops, and the shops, half buried beneath blowingoaks, were bright with expensive gifts and fall colors,residents were startled by three unusual burglaries.Townsfolk stopping in the bakery, enticed by saffronscenteddelicacies, sipped their coffee while talking ofthe thefts. Wrapped in coats and scarves, stridingbriskly on their errands, they had left their houses carefullylocked behind them.

Burglaries are not surprising during the pre-Christmas season when a few no-goods want to shopfree of entailing expense. But these crimes did not involveluxury items from local boutiques. No handwroughtcloisonné chokers or luxurious leather jackets,no sleek silver place settings or designer handbags. Thevalue of the three items stolen was far greater.

A five-hundred-thousand-dollar painting by RichardDiebenkorn disappeared from Marlin Dorriss's oceanfronthome without a trace of illegal entry. A diamond choker worth over a million vanished from Betty andKip Slater's small, handsome cottage in the center ofthe village. And the largest and hardest to conceal, avintage Packard roadster in prime condition was removedfrom Clyde Damen's automotive repair shop,again without any sign of forced entry.

Police, searching for the 1927 Packard that was valuedat some ninety thousand dollars, combed the villagegarages and storage units, assisted by Damenhimself. They found no sign of the vehicle. Police departmentsacross the five western states were alerted tothe three burglaries. Now, three weeks after the events,there were still no encouraging reports, and police hadfound little of substance to give detectives a lead. AndMolena Point wasn't the only town hit. Similar theftshad occurred up and down the California coast.

With most of Molena Point's tourists gone home forthe winter, and local residents settling in beside theirhearths in anticipation of festive holidays, the disappearanceof the valuables made people nervous -- though certainly the victims themselves were abovereproach. All three were law-abiding citizens wellknown and respected in the community. Clyde Damenran the upscale automotive repair shop attached toBeckwhite's foreign car dealership. He took care of allthe villagers' BMWs and Jaguars and antique cars as ifthey were his own children.

The owner of the Diebenkorn painting, Marlin Dorriss,was an urbane and wealthy semi-retired attorney,active on the boards of several charities and local fundraisers.Betty Slater and her husband, Kip, who reportedthe diamond choker missing, ran the localluggage-and-leather shop and were long-time residents who traveled to Europe once a year and gave heavily tolocal charities.

Both residences and the Damen garage had alarmsystems. All three systems had been activated at thetime of the thefts, but no alarm had been set off. Consideringthis, the citizens of Molena Point thought tochange the locks on their doors and to count the stocksand savings certificates in their safe deposit boxes inthe local banks.

When there was a lull in the thefts for a few days,people grew more nervous still, waiting for the nextone, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

But maybe the sophisticated thief had moved on,tending to the similar thefts along the California coast.All California police departments were on the alert.The newspapers had a field day. However, MolenaPoint police captain Max Harper and chief of detectivesDallas Garza offered little information to thepress. They pursued the investigation in silence. TheMO of the thief was indeed strange.

In each instance, he left all valuables untouched exceptthe single one he selected. In the case of the diamondchoker, he had ignored pearl-and-ruby earrings,a sapphire bracelet, and five other pieces of jewelrythat together totaled several million dollars. In the theftof the painting, only the Richard Diebenkorn landscapehad disappeared -- it was Dorriss's favorite fromamong the seven Diebenkorns he owned. And ClydeDamen's Packard was only one of twelve antique carsin the locked garage, several of them worth more thanthe Packard.

Clyde had purchased the Packard in rusted and deterioratingcondition from a farmer in the hills north of Sacramento, who was later indicted for killing hisgrandfather. It was now a beautiful car, in finer shapethan when it had come from the factory. Just before itdisappeared, Clyde had placed several ads in collectors'magazines preparing to sell this particular treasure.At the time of the theft, the gates to his automotivecomplex had been locked. The lock and hinges did notappear tampered with, nor had the lock on the doorthat led to the main shop -- Clyde's private shop -- inany way been disturbed. The deep-green Packard withits rosewood dashboard and soft, tan leather upholsteryand brass fittings was simply gone. When Clydeopened the shop very early, planning to spend themorning on his own work, the space where the Packardhad stood beside a half-finished Bentley was empty.Shockingly and irrefutably empty. A plain, bare patchof concrete.

Before calling the cops Clyde did the sensible thing.He locked the shop again and went out into the villageto find his housemate, a large gray tomcat. Finding JoeGrey trotting along the street headed in the direction ofthe local deli, Clyde had swung out of the car andrudely snatched him up. "Come on, I have a job foryou!"

"What's with you!" Joe hissed. "What the hell!" Hehad been headed to Jolly's Deli for a little late snackafter an all-night mouse hunt. He was full of mice, buta small canapé or two, a bit of Brie, would hit thespot -- then home for a nap in his private, clawed-andfur-covered armchair.

"I need you bad," Clyde had said. "Need you now."

Cat Fear No Evil. Copyright © by Shirley Murphy. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

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Excerpted from Cat Fear No Evil by Shirley Rousseau Murphy
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