THE CAT MURDERER

Chapter Five - Espionage

CHERRY GROVE - SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2014; 10:13 AM

That night I got home a little later than I intended, and a little later than my parents were okay with. So the next morning I got up early and mowed the grass with a small push mower. I didn't complain much because it wasn't particularly cold or hot outside. After finishing the front yard, I moved on to the backyard, an average-sized rectangle of grass surrounded by a high wood fence, and got to work.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead, heaved a sigh, and started on the last strip of grass right next to the fence. When I got to about the middle, Lynne's head peered over the fence. "Hidey ho, there, Fletcher."

I jumped, dropping the mower handle on my foot. "Jesus!" I swore and hopped up and down on my good foot.

Lynne took a moment to observe the scene. "What are you doing?"

I swung the bar back upright and continued making my way to the other side. "Mowing the grass. It's my punishment for getting home late last night."

Lynne nodded sagely. "Ah," She leaned against the fence and watched me work for a couple of minutes and then piped up, "Are we going to report what happened to the police?"

"Why should we?" I grumbled bitterly, guiding the mower around an anthill.

"Maybe they'll actually do something this time."

"Fair point," I admitted. I leaned the push mower against the fence with a sigh, then stood in front of where Lynne was leaning on her side of the fence. "Isn't the police station closed until noon on Sundays?" I contended.

"Crime doesn't rest on the seventh day," she stated and then snickered at my current situation. "Looks like you don't either."

I huffed and grumbled, "I'll go take a shower, be here in 15 minutes."

15 minutes later, Lynne and I got in the Jeep and headed downtown to the police station. We had to parallel park and walk most of the way. My hair was still wet and the wind had picked up, so I was shivering. When we got to the Mableton Police Department, Chief Stoney was walking out of the front door. We ran to catch up with him.

"Chief!" I called after him.

He turned around as we ran up behind him, out of breath. "Hey, Fletcher, what's goin' on?"

"There was another killing last night." I pulled out my phone and showed him the photos of Fudge that I took the night before.

Stoney scratched his stubble, looking perplexed and slightly uninterested. "Huh. Where was this?"

"Behind Nonny Donner's house. And he was at Mrs. Gresky's right before her cat was killed, so--"

"Wait, wait, wait--slow down," Stoney interrupted, and then he demanded, "You think the Donner kid did this?"

"At this point, it's pretty obvious, sir." I stated, unsure of why he didn't see it.

Stoney was flustered. "I don't believe this; Nonny Donner is a nice young man. And he couldn't'a done this. The Donners are out of town this weekend. It was probably that animal again."

Lynne and I looked at each other. "With all due respect, Chief Stoney, an animal couldn't have done this," she said carefully. "These are two identical attacks that show dexterity that only a human could have."

Stoney scoffed and started walking away. "You kids are in way over your heads."

My chest suddenly felt tight and I clenched my fist. Staring at his back, the anger flooding through me became stronger and stronger until I blurted out what I had been thinking since this whole thing started. "This isn't what Detective Fletcher would do!" I shouted after him.