The Cat Woman.

They never solved the murder.

Though the crazy woman at number nine said it was the husband.

This was ruled out in the early stages of the investigation.

At some point, they did talk to the woman at number nine.

She said the cats had left for a spell, then they came back.

The detective ignored her and left, no report was needed.

The case went cold.

It was later on when rechecking statements that the address of number nine came up.

The detective was asked to explain.

He said the woman at number nine just kept going on about the cats. She was obviously loopy.

On re-interviewing her, the senior detective asked her to explain.

She said the cats had left because the deceased was pregnant. But they came back when she wasn’t pregnant.

So, what you’re saying is, she lost the baby.

No, she didn’t lose it, she had to get rid of it.

Why did she have to get rid of it?

Because he couldn’t have children.

Alarm bells went off. Christ this was delicate. He couldn’t possibly go back to the station and put this forward as new information, they would give him to the boys in white coats. But something told him to go with it, he could put it down to a tip-off. This also meant two suspects, possibly three.

Getting the body exhumed would be the last resort.

Getting the abortion clinics to part with information would be tricky, but it was a murder investigation after all.

He had a gut feeling about this woman. She was careful, had to be. He didn’t think she would use her own name, he also reckoned she would go out of state. This brought its own problems, but he had connections, and he would use them.

Her photo was shown, and in the third clinic recognised.

Things went fast after that. The boyfriend was found. He was married. It was a long term affair. He was ruled out.

The husband had a watertight alibi but was brought in for questioning. They knew he hadn’t killed his wife, but that meant nothing. The senior detective just put a simple question to him. If your wife had told you about the baby, would you have brought it up as your own?

That was enough to break him. He confessed to having her killed, the killer has never been found.

Had she been killed two months later, he would have escaped the death penalty of lethal injection and been jailed for life. The death penalty was abolished that July.

He was the last to die in that state by lethal injection.

Reviews

[Katrina Mckeown]

I have to say I totally resonate with everything Barley Girl has mentioned. Good story, I like the fact the old lady is playing the crazy cat ladies card, or is she?

[Paul Bell]

Turned out she was the bright spark in the end. Never dis a cat woman. lol

[Katrina Mckeown]

Never ever lol

[barleygirl]

I love the way you tell a story by describing what is happening, along with an ample serving of what is or may be going thru the characters' heads. Your character observations are so wry & clever & unexpected, you build characters that are always compelling. Even if seeming to be half-nuts, the reader still feels a fondness for these characters becuz of the way you portray them with fond amusement! (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Paul Bell]

You knew the cat woman wasn't nuts.
Well, not till she met me anyway. lol

[Cherrie Palmer]

Cat People and aluminum foil go hand in hand but sometimes it pays off to play that old nut card.
Really good story.

[Paul Bell]

She had special powers.

[Annette Pisano-Higley]

The cats have it Paul- you have eminently let them out of the bag in this true crime write. Poe, Hitchcock, Sam Spade all nuanced in this subtle and shady tale. Great chronological, factual, narrative style keeps the mind guessing till the very end. Not for the faint at heart, but rings authentic and real. Embryonic screenplay, novella?- Hmmmmmm. Great ‘whodunnit’!

[Paul Bell]

Yeah, the cats always know.
I'll remember that when I plan a murder. lol

[Mrudula Rani]

You have the talent and technique to tell a story brilliantly, Paul. This gen has all the elements to become a crime novel. The way story unfolds in a slow process is fantastic. And an excellent title. I think you should consider developing this into ( with dialogues) a novel.

[Paul Bell]

If only I had the patience. Someday when I grow up. lol

[Neville]

Blimey... I was going to say catastrophic, but that could be misconstrued as me having a sense of humour and that is just pussytively out of the question.. well is it true or wot....

[Paul Bell]

Never dis the cats, bloody things have a habit of bringing the wrong bird back.

[Neville]

too true then..

[Onlyme]

Oh, my intrigue, drama and murder, inside this tail. Excuse the pun. Top cat cop on the trail to solve it all.

[Paul Bell]

Could have just asked me. lol

[john l smith]

Have you tried selling this one to Netflix?
If they don't dub in the audio, it would be a winner.

[Paul Bell]

I think you have to give TV companies about 40 pages of script before they even look at something. I lack patience to write in length.

[john l smith]

Have you tried selling this one to Netflix?
If they don't dub in the audio, it would be a winner.

[gram linski]

sounds like Karma ,dude, intense tale of life and death and cats,

[Paul Bell]

Cats are weird things.