The Cat's Paw

by Kat Shepherd

  Sophia leaned over her laptop. “Or maybe we’re searching in the wrong place.” She turned the monitor around to show SCAT’s website. “I was poking around Jersey’s website. It’s a pretty rinky-dink setup, but I thought it might have old lists of members or something like that. No such luck, but I did find photos from past events. And guess who I found!”

  CHAPTER

  12

  “That’s Abigail Morris,” Evie said with surprise. “She’s a member of SCAT?”

  “That gives her motive and opportunity,” Sophia said. “While Jersey was providing a distraction at the front of the zoo, Abby must have stolen Kris’s keys, hidden Marvin in a carrier somewhere, and left a fake bobcat print to throw us off the scent.” She folded her arms smugly. “I never trusted her.”

  “Oh, get over yourself, Sophia. You totally trusted her,” Evie retorted. “We all did.” Her face clouded in doubt. “In fact, I still have a hard time believing she would do this, especially if it meant implicating B-17. Abby seemed so excited when we showed her that photo.”

  “Seemed being the key word,” Sophia shot back. “She’s obviously a huge liar, so why should we believe anything she says or does?”

  “But framing B-17 for the crime put a target on the bobcat’s back. The city wants to kill her!” Zach said.

  “Abby couldn’t have known that would happen. In fact, she’s probably consumed with guilt over it, knowing that her rash actions have put B-17 in jeopardy.” Sophia rubbed her hands together. “I bet if we use that against her, we can crack her like an egg.”

  The others just stared at her. “Get her to confess,” Sophia explained. “Geez, don’t you guys ever watch detective shows?”

  ***

  Abby’s face broke into a broad smile when she opened her door to find the four young detectives on her front porch. Her pit bull mix, Ronin, squeezed past her to take a victory lap of joy around the yard before shoving her favorite toy in Vishal’s hand. He tossed it, and the black-and-white dog galloped across the yard to retrieve it. Thumbelina Feathertail pranced at their feet on her three legs, fluffy tail fluttering in the air like a banner. Zach bent down to pet the little dog. “Come on in,” Abby said.

  “Where’s Chicken?” Evie asked, looking for the tiny, toothless old Maltese.

  “She’s napping,” Abby explained. “Now that she’s lost her hearing completely, it takes a lot to wake her up these days.”

  The group settled in on the sofas of Abby’s cozy little living room. She shared the house with her parents, and three people’s accumulated collection of books filled every available shelf. There was even a tall pile next to the easy chair by the window.

  “I heard about Marvin,” Abby said. “Are you four doing okay?”

  “No,” Sophia said bluntly. She folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. “I suppose you also heard about B-17?”

  Abby’s face hardened. “I did, and I’m furious. What kind of backward city council would advocate for the destruction of a beautiful, innocent animal?”

  Sophia pounced like a cat. “So you know that B-17 is innocent?”

  “Of course she’s innocent. All animals are! Eating Marvin was just in her nature; we can’t blame her for that. As soon as I heard the news, I called MEOWS to see if there’s anything I can do to help.” Thumbelina hopped onto Abby’s lap, and Abby stroked her idly. “And believe me, I made it very clear to Gideon that we will not be supporting that blowhard Tommy Brown’s run for mayor anymore.”

  “I must say, that’s a pretty robust response,” Sophia said. “Methinks the lady doth protest too much, don’t you?” She turned to her friends for support, but they just gaped at her.

  “What is she talking about?” Vishal whispered.

  “Dude, I have no idea,” Zach whispered back. “She lost me at ‘robust.’” Vishal tittered.

  “For Pete’s sake, you guys, it’s a Shakespeare reference! Hasn’t anyone seen Hamlet around here? Seriously, keep up!” She pointed at Abby. “I’m trying to say that she’s going out of her way to act all innocent, which just goes to prove that she’s guilty.”

  “Guilty of what?” Abby asked.

  “See?” Sophia crowed. “That’s exactly what a guilty person would say!”

  “Or an innocent person who has no idea what you’re talking about,” Zach pointed out.

  “Or a guilty person who has done so many terrible deeds, they aren’t sure which one the speaker is referencing,” Vishal added. Evie kicked him in the foot. “What? I’m just saying.”

  “Can we all please stay on track?” Sophia yanked her laptop out of her bag. “I’m trying to accuse someone of something, and you’re ruining my momentum!”

  “What exactly am I being accused of?” Abby asked with amusement.

  “This!” Sophia opened her laptop with a flourish and pointed to the SCAT photo. “You are a member of SCAT! You hate zoos and everything they stand for, so there’s only one reason you’d come to a donor event at the zoo: to kidnap Marvin!”

  Abby blushed a deep red, and Sophia cackled in triumphant glee.

  “Is it true?” Evie asked. “Did you kidnap Marvin for SCAT?”

  There was a long pause. “No,” Abby said finally. “It’s true I was a member of SCAT at one time. I’ve always loved animals, and SCAT’s mission was dedicated to protecting the rights of captive animals. We protested cruelty in greyhound racing and factory farming, and we even worked with other organizations to lobby for stricter penalties for animal abusers.”

  Evie looked sideways at Sophia. “Wow. That sounds a lot like stuff I’ve heard you talk about,” she said pointedly. Sophia refused to look at her.

  “But there were other things about SCAT that I didn’t agree with,” Abby continued, “Jersey and I used to stay up all night debating things like pets or zoos or eating meat. At first it was fun; we didn’t agree on everything, but we still listened to each other. She was a really good friend.” Abby hugged her dog closer. “Then over time, things changed. Jersey’s views got more extreme, and sometimes in SCAT meetings she would treat me more like an enemy than a friend. I thought we all still had the same goal, but somehow that didn’t seem to matter anymore. A bunch of the original members ended up leaving, and the newer folks were more like Jersey. When I finally left the group, Jersey called me a traitor and told me not to bother coming back.” She gave a sad shrug. “We haven’t spoken since.”

  Evie looked over at Sophia, who was silent. Finally, Zach spoke. “So you don’t think zoos are evil, and that’s why you quit the group?”

  Abby nodded. “I’ve always liked zoos, actually. And I think they do a lot to make people want to help animals that they would normally never have the chance to see. It’s much easier to care about elephants if you’ve seen one in real life.” She leaned back in the sofa. “It’s still a secret, but I may as well tell you that the reason we were at the dinner is because Gideon’s wedding gift to me is a big donation to the zoo. We’re helping to build a new orangutan exhibit.”

  “Wow!” Vishal said. “That’s so cool!”

  Abby smiled. “I’m pretty excited, actually.”

  Evie nudged Sophia with her elbow. “Isn’t that great, Sophia?”

  Sophia’s normally perfect posture was slumped in defeat. So far all of her leads had taken them straight to nowhere. “Yeah, I guess,” she said listlessly.

  “What’s wrong?” Zach asked her. “You look miserable.” Before she could answer, Zach turned to Abby. “Wait a minute. You just talked about how excited you are about helping the zoo, but you looked miserable in all the photos from the donor dinner. How come?”

  Abby let out a long sigh. “I was mad at Gideon. First he made that mean crack about Jersey on the tram, and then the minute we arrived at the cocktail hour, he got into an argument with Darwin.” She twisted her engagement ring around her finger. “He’s so charming and sweet with me. I don’t know why he can’t just be that way with everyone.”

  “Yeah,”
Evie said, thinking of Sophia. Maybe there was some kind of rich people disease that made them nice to their friends but rude to everyone else. “Did he say what the argument was about?” She wondered if Gideon could be the mystery person they had heard quarreling with Dr. Chang before dinner. She snuck a glance at Sophia to see if she was thinking the same thing, but Sophia was looking down at her hands.

  Abby shook her head. “He wouldn’t tell me. He just said it was stupid and he didn’t want to talk about it.” Ronin got up from her dog bed and shoved a toy in Abby’s hand. She tossed it, and the dog caught it in the air before bringing it back. “I thought he had shaken it off, but then when it was time for us to meet Shakti, I couldn’t find him anywhere. I checked my phone, and I found this text.”

  CHAPTER

  13

  The young detectives looked in shock at Gideon’s text message. Had he just confessed to stealing Marvin to get back at Dr. Chang? “Was he still waiting out front of the zoo when you left?” Vishal asked.

  “He pulled up a minute or two after I got off the tram at the entrance,” Abby answered. “He said he had taken a drive to cool his head.”

  Or to drop off a stolen panda somewhere, Vishal thought. He tried to keep his expression neutral, but he saw Abby read the doubt in his face.

  “Listen, I know Gideon. He may be a bull in a china shop sometimes, but he’s all talk. He would never do something like that. Besides, he and I agreed that there would be no more secrets between us.”

  “But if that’s true, then why wouldn’t he tell you what the argument with Dr. Chang was about?” Zach asked gently.

  Abby paled. “I don’t know,” she finally said.

  ***

  The next day after school, Vishal and the twins stood at the flagpole waiting for Sophia. “Where is she?” Vishal asked. “She knows we’re going to go interview Gideon. You’d think she’d be the first one out here.”

  “She wasn’t at lunch. Maybe she went home sick or something,” Zach said. “She was really quiet the whole way home from Abby’s house yesterday. Not even Edgar could get her to crack a smile.”

  “She would have told us if she wasn’t coming.” Evie pulled out her phone. “I’ll text her.” But just as she was about to start typing, she noticed Sophia slipping out a side door and walking in the opposite direction toward the parking lot. “Sophia!” Evie waved her arms over her head. “We’re over here!” Sophia put her head down and picked up her pace. Evie looked at the boys. “Do you think she didn’t hear me?”

  “Doubtful,” Zach said. “I’m pretty sure people in space can hear you when you yell.” Evie playfully shoved her brother.

  “Let’s catch up with her,” Vishal suggested. He broke into a trot and the twins followed. They arrived at the parking lot just in time to see the shiny black SUV pulling away with Sophia inside.

  “That was weird,” Zach said. “Do you think she forgot?”

  “No way she would forget,” Vishal replied. “Sophia lives for this stuff!”

  “Maybe she had a last-minute doctor’s appointment or something,” Evie said, but she didn’t really believe it. Vishal was right. Sophia loved being part of the Gemini Detective Agency. She would have to be tied to a chair to miss a chance to interrogate a suspect. Something was wrong. Evie reached for her phone again.

  Evie stared down at the text. “Has Sophia been kidnapped by aliens? She’d rather go to her Mandarin lesson? Since when?”

  “Maybe that wasn’t really Sophia,” Vishal said. “Maybe it was a clone. Or a robot. They can make very realistic robots these days.”

  “Come on, I’m serious. This isn’t like her. Something’s up.”

  “Look, she says she’s fine.” Vishal checked his watch. “If we want to get the next downtown bus, we’ve gotta go. I want to find out what that argument was about between Gideon and Dr. Chang, don’t you? We can fill Sophia in later.”

  Zach saw Evie hesitate. “It’ll be okay, Evie. Maybe Sophia just needs some space or something. Right now we just have to let her be.”

  Evie followed the boys on the bus, but the whole ride over, she felt a tiny knot forming in her stomach. Sophia might not be her closest friend, but she was an important part of the Gemini Detective Agency. It felt strange to follow a lead without her. But Zach was right. They couldn’t put the case on hold because of Sophia. Saving B-17 was too important.

  Gideon’s new offices were in a historic downtown building with a black marble lobby and elevator doors that were covered with elaborate gold grillwork. After finding Gideon’s office number on the directory, the three stepped into the oak-paneled elevator and pushed the button for the eighth floor. “So, do we have a plan?” Zach asked. “Because we really need a plan. Let’s make a list of questions to ask so we don’t forget anything.”

  Vishal stretched, exposing a thin strip of belly under his T-shirt and hoodie. “No, dude. I say we just wing it. Take him by surprise. We don’t want to give anything away.”

  “I’m not saying we tell Gideon our plan,” Zach said. “We can list our questions beforehand and still take him by surprise. How would Gideon know what we were going to ask?”

  “We might give something away subliminally. He’ll just sense it, you know? Pick up our vibe.”

  Zach bristled. “Is Gideon psychic all of a sudden? How is he gonna pick up our vibe?”

  Vishal shrugged. “I don’t know; he just will.”

  “Seriously? That’s not even a real reason!” Zach threw up his hands. “All I ask is if for once we could take five minutes to make a plan before we go rushing in, but you guys never listen to me!” He turned to his sister. “Come on, Evie. If you take my side, it’ll finally be two against one. What do you say? Plan?”

  Evie bumped against her brother. “Sorry, little bro, but this whole not-listening-to-you thing has worked out pretty well so far. I say we keep it going.”

  “I hate it when you call me ‘little bro,’” Zach said. “You’re only seven minutes older than me.”

  Evie patted her brother on the head. “And I’ll never let you forget it.”

  Zach was ready with a sharp retort, but before he could speak, the elevator doors opened and the others strode quickly down the hall. Zach scurried after them, cursing inwardly at the disloyalty of best friends and sisters.

  Gideon’s new offices were smaller and less flashy than the vast glass-and-chrome space they remembered from their previous run-in. In the reception area, leather chairs flanked a glass-topped brass table that held a perfectly arranged fan of glossy business magazines. The gleaming wood reception desk was empty, and the kids could hear Gideon talking loudly on the phone down the hall. Their feet sank into the thick pile carpet, and when they heard a piercing bray of laughter behind a heavy oak door, they knew they had found the right office.

  The door was slightly ajar, so Evie gave it a quick tap. “I’ll call you back,” she heard him say before he shouted, “Come in!” Gideon was ready with his trademark megawatt smile when Evie pushed open the door, but his face fell when he recognized the young detectives. “Oh, it’s you.”

  Evie smiled nervously. “Yep, it’s us.” No one said anything. There was a leather sofa and several expensive chairs in the room, but Gideon didn’t invite them to sit down. Evie cast an uncertain glance over at Zach, who was looking at her reproachfully. Evie knew from those tightly pressed-together lips and sternly waggling eyebrows that Zach had probably been right about making a plan, and he knew it. Ugh, Evie thought. I hate it when he knows he’s right. Now what?

  There was a soft thunk as Vishal flopped down on the buttery leather sofa and stretched out his lanky legs, ankles peeping out of pants that were somehow always an inch too short. “Hey, Gideon. What’s new?” His confidence seemed to shake Gideon, who blinked in surprise and suddenly seemed very busy with papers on his desk.

  How does Vishal do that? Evie wondered. How does he walk through the world like he just belongs everywhere he goes? Vishal flashed Zach a
smirk; he was winging it, and it was working. Gideon was obviously rattled. Evie sat down in one of the luxurious side chairs in front of the desk and spared a moment of pity for her brother. If Vishal came out triumphant today, Zach was never going to hear the end of it. “I’m actually pretty swamped right now, as you can see, and I would hate to keep you waiting in this boring old office while I finish.” He looked up, his smile tight and brittle. “Why don’t you kids run along and play?”

  Vishal leaned back on the sofa. “It’s okay. Take all the time you need. We don’t mind waiting.”

  Zach perched stiffly on the sofa’s edge, trying his best to radiate a confident ability to wing it, although he was pretty sure he just looked like he had to use the bathroom. “Yeah, go ahead; we’re very patient.” He pulled a little notebook and pen out of his backpack and started scribbling something, hoping he looked like a person who had all the time in the world.

  Evie leaned back in her chair and folded her arms, staring Gideon down. She gave him her best don’t-start-none-won’t-be-none face. It seemed to work, because he broke down almost immediately. “Okay, look. What do you want? Abby said you came by yesterday about some kind of missing animal. Merlin? Marcus? Something like that. Anyway, I don’t know why you’d want to talk to me. The zoo is Abby’s thing, not mine.”

  “You seem a little on edge,” Vishal said. “Is everything all right?”

  “Well, I’m a little irritated, quite frankly,” Gideon shot back.

  “Oh, really?” Evie leaned forward. “And why might that be?”

  “It’s hard to put my finger on it, but I think it might have something to do with having my workday interrupted by a gaggle of third-rate teen Sherlocks snapping at shadows like a dog chasing its tail.”