Murder of a Cranky Catnapper Read Online Free Page A

accused me of selling cure-all elixirs from my traveling medicine show.”
    â€œPalmer is sort of old-fashioned about stuff like that,” Virginia said slowly, then added, “But I think the real problem is that he’s not an animal lover.” She frowned. “His mom bred prize-winning German shepherds. One day he and his mother were having some sort of argument and a couple of her dogs attacked him.”
    â€œAh. That explains a lot.” Skye nodded. “And I do have to admit, he didn’t get a very good introduction to the whole concept.” She smiled wryly. “I mean one kid running down the hall and the rest screaming about wolves.”
    â€œThat’s a real shame.” Virginia tented her fingers and rested her chin on them.
    â€œIt is.” Skye blew out a frustrated breath. “Because once Dr. Quillen properly introduced the animals to the boys, they really seemed to enjoy the therapy session.”
    â€œThey loved it.” Virginia nodded. “When they got back to class, Alvin and Duncan voluntarily talked to the other kids. They told them all about the dog andcat they got to pet. Then Clifford joined in the discussion, and he didn’t even try to read his book for the rest of the afternoon.”
    â€œThat’s amazing.” Skye beamed. “Way better results than I had hoped for.”
    â€œDid Palmer make you discontinue the pet therapy?” Virginia asked.
    â€œHe tried,” Skye said. “But Caroline told him he didn’t have the power to dictate her decision on that matter.”
    â€œOh, my! That’s not good.” Virginia’s voice held a note of alarm. “Palmer gets very angry when people question his authority.”
    â€œWhat do you think he’ll do about it?”
    â€œI’m not sure, but you and Caroline need to watch your backs.” Red crept into the teacher’s cheeks and she murmured, “Palmer demands complete control.”

CHAPTER 3
    Cats seem to go on the principle that it never does any harm to ask for what you want.
    â€”JOSEPH WOOD KRUTCH
    A fter Virginia’s warning about Palmer, Skye headed straight out to her car. Talking to Charlie had become more of a priority than checking in with Christopher and Gavin’s teacher. She’d send the man an e-mail when she got home. And just for good measure, she would e-mail all five of the boys’ parents with an update from the afternoon session. She’d found that keeping everyone overinformed often prevented frantic phone calls and lengthy explanations.
    When Skye slid inside her 1957 aqua Chevy Bel Air, she frowned. Her husband of a little over four months, Wally Boyd, wanted to buy her a new car. The moment that they’d found out she was pregnant, he’d started lobbying for a safer and more baby-friendly vehicle.
    Skye understood that Wally, as the chief of the Scumble River Police Department, had seen too many fatal accidents to be comfortable with his expectant wife driving a fifty-year-old automobile with retrofitted seatbelts and less than terrific safety ratings. However, lately he’d been muttering about moderate front overlap, side and roof strength, and head restraints, which made her wonder if she’d end up riding around in a tank.
    And while Skye wasn’t fond of her Chevy Bel Air, the aqua behemoth had been a gift from her father and Uncle Charlie. The two men had lovingly restored the vintage car and presented it to her when she was in dire need of transportation. If she traded it in for a new model, she was afraid her dad and her godfather would be hurt.
    Still, Wally was tempting her with offers of a Mercedes-Benz M-Class SUV. She’d always wanted a Mercedes, but had never dreamed she could ever afford one.
    Although no one knew it, Wally was the heir to a Texas oil dynasty. And while he didn’t work in the family business and lived on his salary as a police chief, his mother had left