The Cat Who Wasn't a Dog by Marian Babson

Author:Marian Babson [Babson, Marian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery
ISBN: 0312284977
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Published: 2002-12-31T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

‘I think we need a breath of fresh air,’ Evangeline decided as we left the theatre.

‘And a long walk to calm down,’ I agreed.

‘I am perfectly calm.’ Evangeline gave me a haughty look. ‘Which is more than can be said for some. That director is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, as well she might be.’

‘It’s too bad,’ I said. ‘Teddy is unbalancing the whole play. No timing, no voice projection, no … fire. He should be replaced.’

‘Not so easy to do when it’s her husband.’ Evangeline paused reflectively. ‘I hope, for her sake, he has some of that fire she wants in private life. He certainly isn’t wasting it on his stage performance.’

‘We haven’t actually seen her yet,’ I said, ‘but she sounds a lot more dynamic than he does. Of course, that wouldn’t be hard. They seem an oddly matched couple.’

‘So many of them are, but she has only herself to blame. He was engaged to another woman when Frella snatched him away. Another strong dominating woman - he seems to go for that type.’

‘Or they go for him.’ I could see Teddy as the natural prey of dominating women. The guy who couldn’t say no. ‘I suppose Cecile filled you in on all the gossip.’

‘And then some!’ Evangeline stopped and quirked an eyebrow at me. ‘Would you care to guess who that other woman was?’

‘No!’ I gasped. There was only one other woman in this scenario who could truly be called domineering. ‘Not -?’

‘Soroya!’ Evangeline confirmed. ‘Not only that - guess what she gave him for an engagement present when they became engaged?’

I could only stare at her. My mind was boggling.

‘A rare foreign breed of cat - the only known one in this country - she brought back from a location trip to Japan.’

‘Cho-Cho-San! So that’s why she says the cat belongs to her!’

‘She has a point. It used to be customary to return the gifts when the engagement was broken.’

‘Hah! I’ll bet she didn’t return the ring!’

‘That’s different.’ Evangeline was always on the acquisitive side. ‘He was the one who broke it off. She’s perfectly entitled to keep the ring - and I’d say she has a strong claim to the cat, too.’

‘She doesn’t care a thing about Cho-Cho and Teddy really loves that cat. She just wants to spite him.’

‘“Hell hath no fury

Had she been furious enough to consign Cho-Cho to Stuff Yours? Furious enough to bash the taxidermist’s head in when he demurred? To set the place on fire? That went beyond fury … into madness.

‘And you can’t get much more scorned than finding your lover has eloped with someone else,’ Evangeline continued. ‘Cecile says there’s been a custody war over the cat ever since. They’re forever kidnapping it from each other. The cat doesn’t seem particularly bothered, although she favours Teddy’

‘She’s such a dear little thing,’ I sighed, ‘with such a sweet placid temperament.’

‘Touch of the geisha there, I’d say. If she were human, that’s undoubtedly what she’d be.’

I couldn’t deny it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.