Cat's Eyes

by Alan Scholefield

  “Have you thought of going about it the opposite way?”

  “Which way is that?”

  “It’s clearly desperate. If, as you say, its paw is injured, it means it may not be able to hunt. It’s searching for food. That’s why it comes here.”

  “Well?”

  “Why not give it food? Why not put food out for it?”

  Her brow furrowed for a moment and then her face cleared. “That’s brilliant! We could put poison in the food.” Out of the mists of her memory came a word. “Strychnine,” she said. “We could put strychnine in the food.”

  His mouth turned down in disgust. “Wasn’t Warfarin bad enough? My God, you want to see what strychnine does. I’ve seen animals die of strychnine poisoning. The convulsions are so great they’ve actually snapped their bones.”

  “That’s what I thought you ...”

  He shrugged. “If you’re that desperate, there’s only one thing to do.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Shoot it.”

  “I can’t shoot anything.”

  “I didn’t mean you. I’ve got a shotgun up at the cottage. I’ll shoot it.”

  “Would you really? I’d be so grateful. I know it’s a dreadful thing to do but — it’s just that ...”

  “It’s probably in pain anyway, with that paw. Put it out of its misery. Save it from a lingering death.”

  She smiled for the first time. “Thank you.” Then she remembered something. “What about the broken screen? Could you mend it before you go?”

  “What do you want to mend that for? It’s the one way we know it gets in. That’s the place to shoot it.”

  They heard the door of the cellar open and Penny put her head around. “Mrs. Chater,” she said, “Mrs. James is here.”

  “You go on up,” Alec said. “I’ll have a bit of a scout round.”

  Celia was in the hall and they greeted each other like old and intimate friends. Celia said, “I hope I haven’t come at a bad moment?”

  “You couldn’t have come at a better one. Coffee?”

  “Rachel, there’s something I ...”

  “Come and have coffee first.”

  They went through to the kitchen and sat at the table. Rachel told her what had happened.

  “You mean it was in there all the time?” Celia said. “Even when I was here?”

  “It must have been. Then I went down to get something out of the freezer and there it was.”

  She was making light of it now. “Alec said it was terrified. That’s why it attacked me. He said it was more terrified of me than I was of it.”

  “What do you think?”

  “No way,” Rachel said. “You’ve never seen anybody more terrified than me.”

  There was a pause, then Celia said, “I’d better tell you why I came.”

  “I thought it was to see me, or Alec.”

  “Of course it was, but there’s something else. I’ve lost the ring.”

  “Ring?”

  “The one I bought yesterday, made of Mexican silver. You remember, the woman parcelled up the bag and the ring and put them in my carrier.” Rachel nodded. “Well, when I got home last night I unpacked the carrier and there was only the bag. I wondered if you had seen the ring.”

  “No, I haven’t. It may be in my car, of course.”

  “Could we look?”

  They searched, but found nothing.

  “Let’s see, we got into the car at Chichester Station,” Rachel said.

  “Your car.”

  “We came back and Penny took my stuff inside ...”

  “I asked her to put my carrier into my car.”

  “Yes, I heard you. And you’ve looked there?”

  “I had the seats out, even had the carpets up.”

  “Let’s have a look on the drive.”

  They searched the area where the cars had been parked and around the base of the steps, and then Rachel said, “I wonder if it got mixed up with my parcels.”

  She went to the rubbish bin in the kitchen and pulled out tissue paper and crumpled carrier bags and they went through them.

  “You don’t think Penny might have seen it and thought it was yours?” Celia said.

  “I’ll ask her.”

  Penny had seen nothing. She stood at the kitchen door, frowning in concentration, her big face turned towards them like a radar dish.

  “I didn’t see nothing like it,” she said. “And I would have remembered. I love rings like that.”

  “You remember putting the carrier into my car?” Celia said.

  “You were bringing all the parcels into the house,” Rachel said. “Mrs. James said, ‘that carrier’s mine’, or something like that. ‘Will you put it in my car.’”

  “I’m not sure I remember exactly.”

  “You put my parcels in the house and you took Mrs. James’ carrier and put it in her car. But we’ve searched in all the wrapping paper and we’ve looked in the cars and outside. Will you have a look around upstairs? It might have caught in your clothing or ...”

  “I’ll look everywhere,” Penny said anxiously, and went upstairs.

  Celia stepped away from the kitchen table and as she did so she backed into a Dutch dresser which Rachel used as a display for pieces of china of which she was particularly fond. Trying to regain her balance Celia put out a hand and knocked over a tall, slender Royal Copenhagen vase with a pattern of roses on it. She tried to grab it, but it fell to the quarry-tiled floor and smashed.

  “What a stupid thing to do!” she said. “Rachel, I’m terribly sorry.”

  She knelt and began to pick up the pieces as Rachel said, “Don’t be silly. It wasn’t much of a vase anyway.”

  Suddenly she heard an exclamation.

  “What’s that?” Celia said sharply.

  Something was glittering near the foot of the dresser and Rachel bent to pick it up. “Look!” she whispered, “It’s your ring!”

  They stared at each other and Celia took the ring. “It’s mine, all right. But how did it get there?”

  Rachel shook her head. “God knows. Could it possibly have been in the vase? But how on earth ... ?”

  Celia’s eyes flicked upwards to where they could hear Penny moving about.

  “You surely don’t think ... ?”

  “What else is there to think?”

  “That she stole it?”

  “It’s no use asking me. How do I know what happened? Why don’t you get her down and ask her?” There was a stiffness in her tone that Rachel had not heard before.

  “I couldn’t! I mean ...”

  “Why on earth not?”

  “There must be some mistake.”

  “I’d be fascinated to know how a ring that was wrapped up in a box unwrapped itself and placed itself in a vase on the dresser.”

  “I’ll get Penny down.”

  But Penny did not know either. She stood like a large, gawky schoolgirl called up before the headmistress, asked to explain something she did not understand. “But you might have forgotten,” Rachel said. “You might have unwrapped it just to look at it and then ...”

  “I’m sure I didn’t. I know I didn’t.”

  “It might have fallen, and you picked it up and put it in there for safe-keeping.”

  “And then it unwrapped itself,” Celia said.

  “I swear, Mrs. Chater ...” Penny began, then an expression of horror dawned on her face. “You don’t mean you think I took it for myself?”

  “Didn’t you?” Celia said.

  “Of course not,” Rachel said, embarrassed.

  Penny began to cry. It was like a bath-tap turned on. Tears cascaded down her cheeks. “I never ...” she said. “I never done anything like that!”

  There were footsteps outside the kitchen and Alec appeared.

  “Celia! Hullo, there ... what on earth’s the matter, Penny?”

  Penny, in her distress, failed even to acknowledge him. He put his arm around her shoulders and said gently
, “What is it?”

  She put both hands up to her face. Mucous was streaming from her nose and she sniffed loudly.

  “Celia lost a ring. I found it in that vase,” Rachel said.

  “And?”

  Rachel said nothing.

  “And you think Penny took it?” Alec swung his good eye on Celia.

  Celia shrugged.

  Looking at her, Alec hesitated, then seemed to make up his mind. “I’ve known Penny’s family for years and Penny since she was a baby and nothing like this has ever happened,” he said. “Someone has made a mistake.”

  There was nothing friendly in the cold stare Celia turned on him. For a moment there was silence as he met her eyes steadily. Then she moved towards the door.

  “Celia, don’t go!” Rachel said.

  “Thank you for the coffee.”

  As she opened the door of her car she turned and said politely, “Perhaps you’d let me know when you get things sorted out.” Rachel watched her drive away, feeling sick.

  In the house Alec was saying, “Now come on, Penny, a grown girl like you doesn’t act like this. Here, take my handkerchief, it’s a nice big one.” He looked over her shoulder at Rachel. “Now, wipe your eyes and wash your face and have a good blow. Make you feel a lot better. Then, when you feel up to it, come back.”

  Penny turned away and went towards the downstairs cloakroom.

  “I’m afraid she’s taken it badly,” Alec said.

  “I know, and I’m terribly sorry. Celia was upset and I suppose she couldn’t think of any other explanation. I’m sure there’s some mistake. But how did it get there?”

  “It wasn’t Penny,” he said flatly. “Her family are as honest as the day is long. Anyway, that’s not the only problem now. She says you’ve accused her of stealing and she can’t stay.”

  “I haven’t accused her of anything!”

  “She thinks you have.”

  “Alec, I don’t want her to leave! Look, I’ll go up to Sophie now. You talk to her. Tell her we need her. Tell her Sophie needs her. Tell her anything you like so long as she stays.”

  “Lord, what a mess! Well, I’ll see what I can do, and then I’d better go to the cottage and soothe Celia down. I didn’t mean to make her angry.”

  He looked suddenly wretched and she wondered if this was the first disagreement he’d had with Celia.

  It was half an hour before he emerged from the kitchen. She had been with Sophie much of the time, then she had stood at the top of the stairs and listened to the rumble of his voice. When he came out, he nodded. Penny would stay.

  That afternoon, Celia telephoned. Rachel took the call in Bill’s study.

  “Rachel, I’ve called to apologise for this morning. It was one of those stupid things. I got angry and I’m afraid my anger spilled over.”

  “Penny was pretty upset.”

  “I know. Now look, I’ve some other news, which might make you feel better. As I drove out of your gates on the way home I saw a dead cat lying in the grass.”

  “My cat?” She caught herself. She was doing it too.

  “It was certainly black. I expect it was knocked over by a car.”

  Relief flooded through her.

  “That’s something positive, at any rate,” Celia went on. “Especially as I’ve been responsible for you losing Penny.”

  “Losing her? Didn’t Alec tell you? He persuaded her to stay.”

  “I haven’t seen Alec.”

  “But he was going to see you when he left here, to explain.”

  “I was out for a while. I must have missed him. You’re going to keep her?”

  “Celia, I’m sure she didn’t take your ring.”

  “You said that this morning. Perhaps you’ll explain how you think it happened.”

  “Maybe it fell out of the box ...”

  “And into a vase? Without either of us noticing?”

  “No. But Penny might have picked it up for safe-keeping, not knowing whose it was. And then she forgot. Or under pressure panicked and denied everything. It’s possible. Anyway, she was so distressed she wanted to leave, but Alec managed to talk her into staying.”

  “I see.” There was a chill in her voice.

  “It wasn’t easy. She was determined to go. But he has known the family for a long time.”

  “Yes. Of course, he could talk Penny into anything. Rachel, let me tell you something: Alec’s prejudiced about that family. He had an affair with Penny’s mother. Someone in Addiscombe told me about it.”

  “What!”

  “It’s true.”

  “While his wife was alive?”

  “Yes. They kept a couple of horses — Penny’s family, I mean — and he was always round there, allegedly treating them. But it was only an excuse.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure. Penny may even be his daughter, for all I know.”

  “Celia, I thought you and Alec ...”

  “Well, think again! And if I were you I’d also think very hard about keeping that girl in your house!”

  When she had hung up the telephone Rachel put on her sheepskin coat and went to the front door. As she opened it, she saw Alec hurrying up the drive towards her, a shotgun tucked under his arm. Alec — who had deceived the wife he talked about so often by having a squalid little affair with a village woman ...

  “Rachel!” he called. “I’ve just seen ...”

  “I know,” she said. “Celia just telephoned. You don’t have to shoot it after all. It must have been run over.” She paused, then frowned. “Funny, though, Celia’s the only person who’s been here in a car today. It must have happened yesterday.”

  “No. It’s been killed within the last couple of hours,” he said. “It wasn’t there when I left you this morning.”

  “But it must have been! Celia saw it — and she left before you.”

  “Well, it wasn’t!” he said flatly. “I couldn’t have missed it. It’s half on the road, half in the grass on the left. Exactly where I walked. Come and see.”

  She followed him out the gate and as soon as she had left the drive she saw the black, limp body lying on the tarmac.

  “I don’t know how you ...” she began, then stopped. Alec had one dim eye. Nobody else could have missed it, but he could.

  He read her thoughts. “I know I don’t see too well, Rachel, but I tell you, the cat was not here this morning.”

  “Oh well, it doesn’t matter,” she said quickly, wanting to avoid an argument which could only emphasise his increasing blindness. “It’s dead.”

  They had reached the body and, feeling slightly sick, she looked down at it, then drew in her breath sharply.

  “Alec, this isn’t the cat!”

  “What do you mean?”

  “This isn’t my cat! Look, it’s not much more than a kitten. Mine is huge.”

  He knelt on the road. “Animals always look bigger and more sinister in the dark. Haven’t seen any other cats around here, have you?”

  “No. But this isn’t it. Look at its paws. Is there any injury?”

  He examined it. “No. Nothing wrong with any of the legs. Funny, though ...”

  “What?”

  He was running his hands over its head, probing in the neck fur.

  “What is it?” she said again.

  “What ... ? Oh, nothing. Rachel, could you fetch me a plastic bag or something. I’ll get rid of it for you.”

  When she returned with a green Harrod’s carrier bag he bundled the body in and tucked the shotgun under his arm.

  “Glad I won’t need this,” he said. “I’m sure this is your cat. Everything will be all right now, you’ll see. No more frights.” But as she watched him stump off towards his cottage she knew in her heart that he was wrong.

  *

  That night she was making her usual rounds just after dark, locking up, and was drawing the sitting-room curtains when she heard a scratching on the glass, like fingernails. Her heart almost stopp
ed. She stood, clutching the fabric. Everything was silent. Then it came again. A sort of tapping ...

  She felt the scream in her throat but managed to control it. A modicum of sanity returned and she knew she had to see what was out there. It must be a branch, blown by the dark wind; a thread of the old clematis, now skeleton-like without its leaves. It was, perhaps, nothing more than imagination. But another series of taps, more insistent, were real, and she twitched aside the curtains. Pressed against the glass was the grotesque, animal face she had seen in her dreams: black, triangular, with shining, green pinpoints of light for eyes, a pink mouth open in a silent snarl. One moment it was there, framed by the window and then, abruptly, it was gone and the frame was empty.

  11

  Alec and Rachel sat side by side on two chairs in the cellar, facing the mesh-covered window. It had been snowing on and off during the afternoon and was very cold.

  Alec was on the right, the shotgun on his lap. Rachel held a powerful spotlight. It had not occurred to her that she would have a part in his plan to kill the cat but when she had rung him, hysterically, the previous evening, he had explained that she would have to be his eyes. It was only later she had realised that he had made no further attempt to argue that her cat was dead.

  Before they took up their positions he had explained his plan.

  “We’ll only have a few seconds. It will come to the window and stop. Then anything can happen. It could get our smell — although the whole cellar must smell of humans — and it’ll be gone like a flash. Or else it will be so intent on getting to the food that it will jump through the tear in the mesh into the cellar. I must shoot it in the second when it’s framed in the window. Can’t try to kill it in here. It’s too dangerous in a confined space.”

  She could feel herself trembling and knew she would have difficulty controlling the light. She could just make out the shape of the plate they had set on the chute, containing the contents of a tin of cat-food.

  Alec whispered: “Don’t forget, I’ll have to shoot along the light beam, so you must aim it at the tear in the mesh. Only way I can see with this bloody eye.”