Paws For Murder by Annie Knox

Author:Annie Knox [Knox, Annie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2013-11-26T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

Fourteen

“There, in the map.” Richard Greene pointed at a wall unit packed with rolled maps, his finger gnarled by age and arthritis, but his tone and determination harkening back to his days in the military. It was that tone that brought me running to save Gandhi when Richard stuck his head inside Trendy Tails to inform us he was calling an exterminator.

I followed his gesture. Sure enough, two button eyes peered out at us from a map tunnel.

I clicked my tongue softly against my teeth and extended a hand with a piece of carrot. “Come on, little guy. Come get some delicious carrot.”

Gandhi’s nose twitched in his tiny auburn face.

I kept up a steady mental monologue, silently willing Gandhi to take my bait: Yummy, yummy carrot. You need to come out now, little friend, or Mr. Greene might fry you up for his supper. And wage a private war against Trendy Tails to boot. Come on. Yummy, yummy carrot.

The nose twitched again, and I was sure the pig was about to cave, when suddenly he bolted.

Quick like a bunny, I dashed to the wall unit, hoping to catch sight of Gandhi before he disappeared again, but no luck.

I glanced at my watch. I only had twenty minutes before Sean would be picking me up for our trip to the Mission, and Gandhi was nowhere to be seen.

“Mr. Greene, I don’t think this is working.”

“Your powers of observation are stunning, Miss McHale,” he snapped bitterly. “How do you propose to remedy this problem?”

“I’ll get you some humane traps, help you set them with some greens and carrot to try to lure him out. We’ll get him, Mr. Greene. I promise.”

“You better be right. I’ve been an upstanding member of this community for sixty-nine years. I believe I can call in a few favors and get that planning and zoning board meeting moved up a bit. One way or another, this animal nuisance will be eliminated.”

• • •

I dressed in a rush, spritzing on a little perfume to cover the scent of moldering paper that clung to my skin and slapping some mascara on my eyelashes so I’d look a bit less frazzled. Jinx sat on my dresser, tail flicking occasionally, but otherwise unmoved by my antics. I sometimes wondered if that cat thought I was just a big monkey, dancing around for her amusement. Packer, on the other hand, leapt frantically around the room, trying to help but managing only to get underfoot as I tugged on a pair of reasonably dressy boots. A quick barrette to hold back my hair, as I’d worked up a bit of a sweat hunting guinea pig and my wavy hair had worked its way into Medusa-like curls.

I dashed down the stairs to find Rena, Ingrid, and Aunt Dolly each holding a spoon, a quart of ice cream between them on the shiny red table.

“Great dinner,” I chided.

“Hey, you get to eat at one of the nicest restaurants in outstate Minnesota tonight,” Rena said. “I think we’re entitled to a little mocha almond fudge.

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