The Cat's Paw

by Kat Shepherd

  This book is for P-22,

  and for the bits of wildness

  that make their homes

  in the hearts of all of us

  –KS

  251 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010

  Text copyright © 2020 by Kat Shepherd

  Illustrations copyright © 2020 by Little Bee Books

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  Yellow Jacket and associated colophon are trademarks of Little Bee Books.

  Manufactured in the China LEO 0620

  First Edition

  1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Shepherd, Kat, author.

  Title: The cat’s paw / by Kat Shepherd.

  Description: New York, New York: Yellow Jacket, [2020]

  Summary: Thirteen-year-old twins Zach and Evie and their friend Vishal investigate the disappearance of Martin the red panda from the zoo, but is the culprit a bobcat, animal activists, or exotic animal dealers?

  Identifiers: LCCN 2019001786 | Subjects: | CYAC: Zoos—Fiction. |

  Zoo animals—Fiction. | Twins—Fiction. | Brothers and sisters—Fiction. |

  Friendship—Fiction. | Mystery and detective stories.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.1.S514473 Cat 2019 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019001786

  ISBN

  978-1-4998-0810-0 (hc)

  978-1-4998-1037-0 (ebook)

  yellowjacketreads.com

  For more information about special discounts on bulk purchases, please contact Little Bee Books at sales@littlebeebooks.com.

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  CHAPTER 25

  CHAPTER 26

  CHAPTER 27

  CHAPTER 28

  CHAPTER 29

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  CHAPTER

  1

  Evie Mamuya looked critically at her twin brother, Zach. He stood in front of her expectantly, his skinny arms jutting out awkwardly from his sides. “I don’t know,” she finally said. “It’s hard to tell. Could you just act normal? You look like a scarecrow standing like that.”

  Zach sighed and dropped his arms. “Seriously? I’ve been standing here for like a hundred years, Evie. I just want to know if this is okay to wear to the dinner at the zoo tonight. Just say yes or no so we can both get on with our lives.”

  Evie narrowed her eyes at his pink button-down shirt and khaki pants, the pants a few shades paler than his light brown skin. “I don’t know; I think you might need a tie.”

  Zach’s eyes bulged. “A tie? Come on, Evie. We’re going to the zoo.” He folded his arms. “I’m not wearing a tie. That’s dumb.”

  “Fine. Don’t.” Evie turned her back to him and fluffed her shoulder-length twist-outs as she looked in the mirror. She held up two different cardigan sweaters, seeing which matched better with the pineapple-print dress she was wearing. “But just remember, Sophia said this dinner was for major donors. Do you really want to be sitting at a table full of rich people and you’re the only one not wearing a tie?”

  Zach rolled his eyes and slouched out of the room. “You are so annoying,” he muttered.

  “Where are you going?” Evie asked.

  “To put on a tie.”

  Evie smirked. The sharp sound of the front-door buzzer filled the apartment, and Evie heard her mom’s voice drift back from the living room. “Vishal’s on his way up!” Evie and Zach darted out of their rooms, almost colliding in the hall. Zach now sported a navy tie with a pattern of fluffy tan blobs.

  Evie laughed. “OMG, are you really wearing your hamster tie?”

  “It was the only one I could find!”

  “Well, I think you look very handsome in it.” Mrs. Mamuya stepped into the hallway and kissed the top of her son’s head, her blue eyes warm. “I still remember buying you that tie for your ninth birthday. Do you remember?”

  “Are you kidding? We all remember it. Hamsters were the only thing he talked about for our entire third-grade year!” Evie said. “I’m pretty sure he even wore that tie to soccer practice for a while.”

  “I did,” Zach admitted.

  “And here we are four years later and you’re almost all grown-up.” Mrs. Mamuya’s smile was tinged with melancholy. “Your dad would be so proud if he could see you now.” Evie and Zach leaned in for a family hug. Their father, Yaro, had died when the twins were three. Although they barely remembered him, they knew their mom still missed him.

  Vishal Desai let himself in through the front door and grinned at the knot of Mamuyas in the hallway. “Hey, Mam Fam.”

  The hug broke up, and Mrs. Mamuya gave Vishal a warm smile. “How’s my second-favorite boy in the world?”

  “I’m pretty excited about tonight,” Vishal replied. He slouched effortlessly against the wall in a pair of dark pants and a pastel polo shirt, one hand tucked into the pocket of an unzipped charcoal hoodie. “The Boyds’ car is already outside.” He ran his free hand through his spiky hair and blinked at Zach. “Why are you wearing a tie?”

  Zach turned to his mother and sister. “See? I told you. Vishal’s not dressed up.”

  “I am too dressed up,” Vishal said. “This is my best hoodie. It doesn’t have a single hole in it!”

  Mrs. Mamuya gently pushed her kids out the door. “Different families, different rules, Zach. Have fun, and don’t forget to thank the Boyds for inviting you.”

  A large black SUV with tinted windows sat idling in front of the apartment. A man in a black suit and tie over a crisp, white shirt jumped out of the driver’s seat and came around to open the back door. He grinned at the kids and tipped his black cap.

  “Edgar!” Vishal’s face lit up as he high-fived the chauffeur. Edgar was the Boyd family’s driver, and he often ferried Sophia and her friends around town.

  Vishal hopped into the front seat next to Edgar, and the twins joined Sophia in the back row of soft leather seats behind her parents. Dashiell and Mareva Boyd were both dressed elegantly but casually, Dashiell in a blue Oxford shirt and gray flannel pants, and Mareva in a black silk jumpsuit and espadrilles.

  “Thank you so much for inviting us,” Evie said. “I can’t believe we get to go behind the scenes with some of the animals tonight!”

  “It should be superfun,” Sophia said confidently. “I heard some of the keepers talking about it.” At Sophia’s urging, her family had recently funded the zoo’s brand-new gibbon exhibit, and Sophia spent every weekend volunteering as a junior zookeeper. She smiled at her friends. “You’re gonna love it.” Her head tilted to one side when she noticed Zach. “Why are you wearing a tie?”

  “That’s it. I’m getting rid of this stupid thing.” Zach yanked off the hamster tie and shoved it in his pocket.

  The car turned from the main road and into the parkland that surrounded the city’s zoo and botanical gardens. The sun hadn’t set yet, but shadows were beginning to pool under the thick trees along the river. It was a warm spring night, and Evie opened her window. Flowers were starting to sprout on everything, and
the first bright leaves of spring covered the trees in a mist of fresh green. It was a peaceful scene, but then Evie straightened in her seat with a cry. “You guys! Look!”

  CHAPTER

  2

  Evie pointed at the animal she had spotted through the trees. “What is that?”

  Sophia shoved across the seat and squeezed in next to Evie. “Oh, my gosh! That’s B-17! It’s got to be!” She turned to her parents, eyes glowing. “Can you believe it? I never thought we’d be lucky enough to see her!”

  “What’s B-17?” Vishal asked, craning his neck to see across the car.

  Sophia stretched her phone out the window in an effort to get a photo. “She’s the wild bobcat that lives in the city. MEOWS has been studying her to learn more about how predators can adapt to new environments. I’m helping them plan a citywide festival this summer to raise awareness about her and other urban wildlife.” She smiled down at the gray, blurry image on her screen. “I’m gonna tweet them right now to tell them about the sighting!”

  Vishal cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, but did you just say MEOWS?”

  Sophia looked at him flatly. “Yeah . . . why?”

  Vishal snickered. “There’s a group that studies bobcats, and it’s called MEOWS?”

  “Yes,” Sophia said impatiently. “Minnesotans Empowering Our Wildlife Safety. What about it?”

  “It’s just, you know, MEOWS. Studying a cat? Don’t you think that’s kind of funny?” Vishal asked. Sophia stared at him. Zach and Evie shared a secret grin.

  The group waved goodbye to Edgar at the zoo entrance, where there were several open trams lined up along the curb. There was an elderly couple already seated at the back of one of them. The man was thin and bent, and he wore a red, white, and blue sweatband stretched across his spotted, pink bald head. His wizened wife dug around in her huge purse, her elbow jabbing his ribs as she rummaged. Other couples milled about and chatted with docents in khaki-and-white uniforms. Nobody seemed to have any kids with them, and Evie wondered if this was going to end up being one of those boring evenings where adults either ignored you or kept asking what you liked about school. She hoped it wasn’t.

  Then she spied someone she knew, and her face lit up. “Hey, look! It’s Abby! Let’s go say hi.” Abigail Morris was a kindergarten teacher they had met a few months earlier, when she and her fiancé, Gideon Doheny, had gotten tangled up with the kids’ last case. Evie still wasn’t too sure about Gideon, but she liked Abby.

  When the twins and their friends joined the group, Abby was standing a little bit to the side watching Gideon hold court with a cluster of people. “Abby!” Evie cried. “You’ll never guess what we saw on the way over here!” She pulled Sophia over, and they showed off the blurry photo of B-17 to Abby’s enthusiastic oohs and ahs.

  Gideon pulled his fiancée out of the conversation to introduce her to another couple and a jolly-looking man with ivory hair and fat, rosy cheeks. Gideon noticed the children and smiled broadly, his gleaming teeth the exact same shade as his immaculate white suit. “Fancy meeting you here,” he said with a condescending wink. “Tommy, let me introduce you to Sophia Boyd. She’s Dashiell and Mareva’s daughter.” Tommy shook Sophia’s hand vigorously. “And these are her little friends,” Gideon added, without bothering to include their names.

  Abby introduced Evie and the boys. The jolly man took Evie’s hand in a crushing grip, shaking her arm like a dog with a rope toy. Evie noticed he wore a circular BIG TOMMY BROWN FOR MAYOR button on his lapel. He slapped both boys on the back, and Evie noticed her brother stumble a bit from the force of it. “Always a pleasure to meet such fine junior citizens. I’m City Councilman Tommy Brown, but most folks around here just call me Big Tommy,” he said with a folksy grin. “It’s nice to see you young people out and about and interested in something besides your phones.” He laughed loudly at his joke, and it took everything Evie had not to roll her eyes. “Stay in school,” he added, obviously finished with them, before turning back to the other couple with Gideon and Abby.

  “I’ll tell you what, Tommy, it’s great to see you get the recognition you deserve for all the work you’ve done on behalf of the zoo over the years,” Gideon said.

  “Well, now, it sure was a surprise when the zoo called me a few months ago and said they wanted to honor me this evening,” Tommy said with false modesty. “But it’s been a treat to work side by side with them to plan this wonderful event and make sure that major donors like yourself have a really special time tonight.”

  “This is my new business partner, Dante Fishman, and his girlfriend, Bitsy Romanevsky,” Gideon said.

  “Of course!” Tommy said, slapping Dante on the back. “I’ll tell you what, Dante, I’ve been hearing all about you from Darwin. Your generosity has made quite a difference to the zoo, which is why I insisted you be included in tonight’s festivities.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, bro!” Evie watched in surprise as Dante grasped Tommy’s hand and leaned in for a chest bump. Gideon’s new business partner had curly dark hair and olive skin, and he was dressed like he had just wandered off a yacht. Evie could see bare ankles peeking out from between the hem of his duck-patterned pants and the shiny tops of his leather loafers. It was a warm evening, but his girlfriend, Bitsy, wore a luxurious red fox-fur jacket over her short dress, stroking it idly with her French-manicured fingers while she cast adoring glances at her boyfriend. A blond mane of hair, salon-perfect tan, and flashy designer handbag told Evie everything she needed to know about Bitsy, so Evie focused her attention back to Gideon.

  “Dante’s developing a new app that’s going to sweep the casual gaming world by storm,” Gideon said proudly, throwing his arm around Dante’s shoulder.

  Councilman Brown nudged Vishal with his elbow. “Uh-oh, sounds like something you boys are going to go crazy over with all your video gaming, am I right?” He guffawed.

  Vishal shrugged politely. “I’m not really much of a gamer, actually. What’s it called?”

  “Monkeyfarts Mayhem,” Dante said.

  Vishal’s eyes lit up. “Forget everything I just said. That sounds amazing!”

  Zach chimed in. “Seriously. Do you need testers, because we will totally be testers for that!”

  Everyone laughed except Sophia, who shook her head. “I still do not get what people think is so funny about”—she lowered her voice to a whisper—“farts.”

  Evie sighed. “Pretty much everything, Sophia. I don’t really know how to break it down for you.”

  “Whatever,” Sophia said dismissively. Leaving the boys behind with Dante, Sophia and Evie joined Sophia’s parents, who were talking to a conservatively dressed man with high cheekbones and short-cropped salt-and-pepper hair.

  Mareva reached out her hand to draw Evie into the conversation. “Evie, I’d like you to meet Dr. Darwin Chang. He’s the zoo director. Our family worked closely with him on the gibbon exhibit, and he’s become a good friend.”

  Dr. Chang shook Evie’s hand, but his smile was tight and didn’t spread to his eyes. He glanced quickly at his watch and gestured to the carts. “We’re behind schedule; it’s already six forty-seven. Shall we head into the zoo?” The docents ushered everyone on board.

  The trams were just beginning to pull onto the path leading through the entrance when they were interrupted by an electronic screech. Evie spied the source of the noise across the parking lot. A young woman held a megaphone in one hand and a homemade sign in the other. She shouted something into the megaphone, but the sound was too garbled to understand what she was saying.

  Sophia groaned in the seat next to Evie. “It figures she would be here.”

  “Who?” Evie asked.

  “Jersey Sinclair. She’s always in the parking lot, shouting at people.” Sophia sounded irritated.

  “What’s she doing?” Evie asked.

  “Protesting,” Sophia answered. “She’s an ‘animal rights’ person.” Sophia made air quotes around the words animal rig
hts.

  The other guests craned their necks to see what the ruckus was about, and a few grumbled as they tried to read the green paint on her cardboard sign. Gideon made a loud joke at the woman’s expense, and Abby looked down at her hands, which were twisted in her lap.

  “Why would animal rights people protest a zoo?” Zach asked. He lowered his voice. “Do the keepers, like, mistreat the animals here or something?”

  “Of course not,” Sophia snapped. “Do you think I would volunteer here if they did?”

  Sophia didn’t speak for the rest of the ride, and Evie had an uneasy feeling as the trams wove through the unlit paths of the empty zoo. The sun was setting, and the animals they passed seemed wilder somehow in the quiet empty of the park. A tiger stood on its hind legs and stretched, raking its claws into the bark of a tree in its exhibit. Its powerful shoulder muscles rippled beneath striped fur as it cast a contemptuous glance at the carts driving by.

  A few moments later a docent parked the cart near a warmly lit pavilion that overlooked the zoo’s expansive elephant habitat. Evie could see the large barn in the distance, and a bull elephant slowly ambled through the tall grass over to a hay feeder near the pavilion’s railing. Zach and Vishal ran over for a closer look, but Evie hung back for a moment to read the sign set up near the cloth-covered dining tables: TONIGHT’S DINNER HONORING LONGTIME FRIEND OF THE ZOO, COUNCILMAN TOMMY BROWN. There was a photo of the councilman from a previous zoo event, where he was grinning broadly and holding up a large boa constrictor, his round red face shiny with exertion.

  Evie heard Vishal’s excited cry. “Check it out, dude! He’s just going for it!” Vishal pointed at the elephant that was using its trunk to insert an entire butternut squash in its mouth.

  The old lady with the giant purse cackled next to him. “Oh, that’s nothing! I’ve seen ole Billy here gulp down an entire watermelon like it was a jelly bean!”

  Zach laughed and called to the girls. “Evie! Sophia! Come here! You gotta see this!”

  “You guys go ahead. I’ll be there in a sec,” Sophia said to Evie. “I just want to show Dr. Chang my photo of B-17. Maybe I can get the zoo to offer to host the wildlife festival this summer.” She looked up from her phone. “Where is Dr. Chang anyway? He was here a second ago.”