Paws vs. Claws by Spencer Quinn

Author:Spencer Quinn [Spencer, Quinn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2019-11-18T16:00:00+00:00

ALONE IN THE BREAKFAST ROOM with Deputy Sheriff Carstairs. How do I end up in situations like this? I have no problem with being really alone, all by myself. That’s probably best, but I’m always happy to be in the company of a very few—namely Mom, Harmony, and Bro—and sometimes happy to be in the company of a few others—like Bertha, say; as for Deputy Sheriff Carstairs: nope.

Yet here we were, me on the window seat, Carstairs at one end of the table in the chair where Harmony always sat. What made him think that was okay? I gave him a look that asked that very question in no uncertain terms, a hot, golden look that could not be ignored. He did not appear to even see it. Some humans don’t notice me. In fact, many creatures don’t notice me. Birds, for example. Or mice. Until it’s too late. There are upsides and downsides to so many things in life. Perhaps Carstairs was the unnoticing type when it came to me and my kind. I filed that thought away. I had no intention of hunting the deputy sheriff. Not now.

He took out his notebook, leafed through, stopped at a page. His eyes went back and forth, back and forth. Then he spoke. Some humans talk to themselves. I’ve picked up a lot of information because of that, much of it boring. Mostly they talk about their worries. Sometimes they talk about what to do next. That seemed to be where Carstairs was headed.

“What I need is a theory of the case,” he said. “That’s almost always about why. But. But. But.” He sighed. “You can’t let the theory run too far in front of the facts, especially when so many of them are missing.” He gazed at the ceiling. “That was Hunzinger’s downfall.” Carstairs looked down, and all of a sudden he was noticing me, actually meeting my gaze. “The town wants this case solved. I solve it and I win the next election. Sheriff Al Carstairs. Why not me?” He wrinkled up his nose, trying to charm me, perhaps? Like that was going to work? His daughter, Emma, does that same wrinkle-nose thing, but on her it looks cute. Unlike him, she has pigtails, so she’s off to a head start when it comes to cuteness. Was she leaving town with her mom? Something about a divorce? So many humans have untidy lives. I just can’t relate.

Meanwhile the deputy’s nose had unwrinkled at last. “Why not me?” he said again.

Grow some pigtails and get back to me. That was my answer, an answer I was still enjoying when the door opened and in came Mom and Jimmy.

“Jimmy’s agreed to talk to you,” Mom said. “In my presence.”

Carstairs rose, his head almost hitting the little crystal chandelier Mom got at a lawn sale. “Wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said. “First off, Jimmy, I’m very sorry about your dad and am hoping real hard that he’ll pull through.”

Jimmy just stood there.

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