The Purrfect Murder

people.”
    “Decompression.”
    She ate some more hot food. “I feel better.” She sighed. “I need a wife.”
    “Doesn’t every woman?” Harry smiled. “Although I give Fair credit: he really does his share, and he’s a good cook. He’s better than I am, but, of course, he has to cook on the grill. I think this passion for the grill occurs when they start to shave.”
    “Does taste good, though, and the different wood adds flavor.”
    “Have you seen my husband’s different wood piles? He puts them in small garbage cans—clean, I mean. He has mesquite, charred oak, regular charcoal, even dried sassafras roots. He has special sauces. He won’t give the recipe. That’d be like asking for the Coca-Cola formula.”
    Coop returned to the topic of the killer after listening to Harry.
    “Once you weed out the philosophy, the justification, the sheer insanity of Bechtal, you’re left with details, most of which correspond to the shooting.”
    “Most?” Harry’s interest spiked.
    “He puts the elevator bay on the west side of the lobby. It’s on the east.”
    “Is that so important?”
    “Harry, I don’t know, but I’m,” she paused, “unconvinced.”
    “That he’s the killer?”
    Mrs. Murphy’s ears pricked up. She walked over to the table. Pewter, face in food bowl, figured she’d get the information later from Mrs. Murphy, in case she missed anything while chewing lustily.
    “When Rick and I first arrived on the scene, we secured the area, investigated the body. Fortunately, backup came in less than five minutes. We walked over to the other building, because you could see immediately from his wound that he wasn’t shot face-to-face. We went inside. He couldn’t have been shot from an office window, because people were there. Nor could the killer have taken the elevator. We went to the roof. That’s where he had to have been, and forensics will confirm it. Oh, he confessed to using a silencer, too. When we came down the stairwell, there was a crushed Virginia Slims butt on the floor. I bagged it. Neither Rick nor I thought it came from our killer. Men don’t usually smoke Virginia Slims, not butch enough.” She smiled. “But maybe he did. A nicotine fit is a nicotine fit.”
    “What’d Rick make of it?”
    “Nothing.” She smiled again. “He owes me five dollars, though. I bet the killer was a man. Always is in a case like this. He said he’d be wild and bet it was a woman.”
    “People are supposed to go outside to smoke, but,” Harry shrugged, “probably someone in that building who wanted to stay in the air-conditioning.”
    “Could be.”
    “Have you mentioned the elevator-bay location to Rick?”
    “No. I will, but he’s distracted. All the chaos, plus he’s working up a budget request for the county commissioners. It’s always a fight. There are a couple of people on the commission who question him as though he were the enemy, not a public servant trying to protect life and property.”
    “Don’t you think Bechtal’s surrender might put them in a better mood?”
    “We can hope.” She paused. “I’ll bring this up to Rick in a couple of days.”
    “Want to hear about my day?” Harry smiled.
    “I’m sorry.” Cooper drained her beer.
    “Want another?”
    “No. But if you have green tea, I’ll take a cup.”
    “Do. Fair’s buying green tea, white tea, orange tea, and Sleepytime tea to drink at night. He reads everything about this stuff. I try it and if it works, fine. If not, I learned my lesson.”
    She rose, put the kettle on, and sat back down. “Not much for dessert, but I have cookies.”
    “No. I made a pig of myself.” Cooper patted her stomach. “I am sorry. Tell me about your day.”
    Harry related the events, laughing about Carla’s harassing Tazio.
    “She is a piece of work.”
    “Tazio swears she’ll kill her.” Harry’s peals of laughter filled the kitchen.
    “Well, if she does, I’m off duty and in my ball gown. Someone else can take care of it.”
    They both laughed.

15
    B ig Mim might be despotic, but she kept the large goal of a harmonious, well-knit community in mind. Although Mim passionately pursued politics, she gave democracy lip service. The most effective forms of organization were run by a strong individual with a clear purpose.
    Although much of what she pursued tended to duty, she possessed a kind heart, and her visits to those in distress, be it emotional or financial, buoyed her as well as the