INKIER THAN THE SWORD by Andrea Frazer

Author:Andrea Frazer [Frazer, Andrea]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781783751594
Published: 2015-01-06T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

A Penny A Point

Saturday, 9th January

I

As Falconer headed for his car the following morning, his neighbour on the drive side of the house, called out to him over the dividing fence, ‘That cat of yours is very protective of your property, isn’t he?’

‘Which cat?’ Falconer asked, more out of politeness than interest. ‘I’ve got three now.’

‘That dark brown Siamese one: the one you’ve always had.’

‘What about him?’ If this was about Mycroft, Falconer wanted to know if he’d been involved in any more criminal activities.

‘I saw that big black one of yours high-tailing it out of the cat flap the other day, with a raw salmon steak in his mouth.’

‘The black one? Tar Baby?’ Falconer had believed that Mycroft had stolen the salmon he had defrosted for his own supper.

‘That’s the one. Then the other Siamese-y one came haring out of the cat flap after him, and bopped him round the head with a paw so that he dropped the salmon. Then the Siamese one picked it up and took it back through the cat flap again. I just thought you ought to know how honest and loyal he was, bringing your supper back like that, as that’s what I presume it was.’

‘Thanks. I caught him having a chew at it, and thought he was the one who’d taken it.’

‘Nah! It was that big black one. Your other one was probably just having a little bite as a well-earned reward,’ and at that, his neighbour moved away from the fence with a wave, and got into his own car.

Well, what about that, thought Falconer. So it hadn’t been Mycroft after all, and the poor thing had been blamed needlessly for something he hadn’t done. He’d set a trap: that’s what he’d do, he decided. He’d set up some prawns between two plates when he got home, for he had some in the fridge, and see which of the three of them went a-stealing. If it was Tar Baby again, at least he’d know he had a thief in the house, and exactly who it was, and would leave nothing to chance again. And he’d have to make it up to Mycroft somehow, as he had been rather ignoring him since the incident as a punishment.

He was first to arrive in the office, but Carmichael was only a few minutes behind him, dressed soberly in jeans, a white sweatshirt, and white trainers. At Falconer glanced up at him, the sergeant jumped the gun a bit and said, ‘There’s no need to look so surprised. Kerry might have suggested dress-down Fridays, but that doesn’t apply to the weekend. She expects me to turn up to work on a Saturday or Sunday respectably, if not formally, dressed.’

‘I wasn’t going to criticise, Carmichael. I was just surprised, that’s all. I had no idea until yesterday afternoon how used to your – um – bright garb I had become. When you came in yesterday morning, it was like seeing an old friend again, that’s all.

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