by John Clement
I said, “You know, if it hadn’t been for you, this whole thing wouldn’t have had such a happy ending. In fact, I’m not sure any of us would still be around to talk about it.”
She plunged her head underwater and back up again, stretching her neck and puffing her feathers out like an Elizabethan ruff, then she hopped up on the lip of her bowl and blinked at me a couple of times.
It made me smile. That look in her eyes … I recognized it. My mind flashed back to that little sparrow I’d rescued when I was a girl, how its tiny black eyes had seemed so wise and deep, as if they somehow held all the wisdom of the world—everything that had ever happened and everything that was to come, all the twists and turns that life had in store for me.
I could hear the ocean outside, the waves rolling in like hushed breathing, as a series of images flashed through my mind—like a slide show in fast motion or a movie montage with hundreds and hundreds of pictures—my grandmother’s kind eyes as she slid a plate of floppy bacon in front of me; my grandfather’s hands as he showed me how to tie a Windsor knot; my mother’s sewing scissors, her stern voice, her warm fingers on the back of my neck as she braided my hair; my brother’s sweet smile and his baseball hat collection; my father’s strong arms as he carried me up the stairs to bed—all the things I had ever loved. Ella and Billy Elliot and Charlie and Gigi and Michael and Paco and Ethan and Judy and Tanisha and Todd and Christy …
It’s good to be alive, I thought to myself.
Just then, there was a knock on the door and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I’d been so lost in thought I hadn’t heard anyone coming up the steps, and I’d forgotten to turn the porch light on so all I could see through the glass was a looming shape, large and utterly still in the blue moonlight.
I winked at Jane. “That’ll be Michael.”
He’d probably seen the lights and was wondering why I was up so late, worried about me as usual. Maybe, I thought, he’d brought me a mug of hot chocolate. I rubbed my hands together excitedly as I headed for the door, thanking the powers above that I have a brother who’s always looking out for me.
I turned the handle and pulled the door open.
It wasn’t Michael.
The man was tall, with broad shoulders, a beaky nose, and hints of silver in his dark hair, which was disheveled and wild. He wore a white tuxedo shirt, unbuttoned at the top and wrinkled, and there were the open ends of a black bow tie dangling unevenly from his neck. Dark circles framed his desperate eyes, which were red and swollen as if he’d been crying, but there was a light in the center of his black pupils that lit a fire in the depths of my soul … a fire that I thought had long ago been extinguished. When I finally spoke, my voice was barely a whisper.
“Guidry…”
His face softened as he gave me a halfhearted smile.
He said, “Surprise.”
ALSO BY BLAIZE AND JOHN CLEMENT
The Cat Sitter’s Whiskers
The Cat Sitter’s Nine Lives
The Cat Sitter’s Cradle
ALSO BY BLAIZE CLEMENT
The Cat Sitter’s Pajamas
Cat Sitter Among the Pigeons
Raining Cat Sitters and Dogs
Cat Sitter on a Hot Tin Roof
Even Cat Sitters Get the Blues
Duplicity Dogged the Dachshund
Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter
About the Authors
JOHN CLEMENT is the son of BLAIZE CLEMENT (1932–2011), who originated the Dixie Hemingway mystery series and collaborated with her son on the plots and characters for forthcoming novels. The series includes Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter, Duplicity Dogged the Dachshund, Even Cat Sitters Get the Blues, Cat Sitter on a Hot Tin Roof, Raining Cat Sitters and Dogs, Cat Sitter Among the Pigeons, The Cat Sitter’s Pajamas, The Cat Sitter’s Cradle, The Cat Sitter’s Nine Lives, and The Cat Sitter’s Whiskers. You can sign up for email updates on John Clement here.
Sign up for email updates on Blaize Clement here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Epigraph
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
Chapter 30
Also by Blaize and John Clement
About the Authors
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
A THOMAS DUNNE BOOK FOR MINOTAUR BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.
THE CAT SITTER AND THE CANARY. Copyright 2016 by Blaize and John Clement. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.thomasdunnebooks.com
www.minotaurbooks.com
Cover design by David Baldeosingh Rotstein
Cover illustration by Adrian Chesterman
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Clement, Blaize, author.|Clement, John, 1962– author.
Title: The cat sitter and the canary: a Dixie Hemingway mystery / Blaize and John Clement.
Description: First Edition.|New York: Minotaur Books, 2016.|“A Thomas Dune Book.”
Identifiers: LCCN 2016030748|ISBN 978-1-250-05117-2 (hardcover)|ISBN 978-1-4668-5203-7 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Hemingway, Dixie (Fictitious character)—Fiction.|Women detectives—Florida—Fiction.|Pet sitting—Fiction.|BISAC: FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Women Sleuths.|GSAFD: Mystery fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3603.L463 C378 2016|DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016030748
e-ISBN 9781466852037
Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at [email protected].
First Edition: December 2016
