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do realize that involving yourself in this case could be dangerous, right?”
    She shifted in her seat. “I feel obligated to do something.”
    He regarded her for a long moment. “It’s because you found her, isn’t it?”
    “In part, but also because Matilda lives with me now. I owe it to her.”
    Andrew blinked. “You owe it to a cat to investigate a murder?”
    “Not just any murder, Mrs. Tinsdale’s.” Kat paused, trying to figure out how best to put into words exactly how she felt. “It’s like Matilda lost her mother yesterday. Now that I’ve adopted her, I feel it’s my responsibility to bring her justice.”
    Andrew’s face softened. Kat knew what he was thinking. He figured she was equating Matty’s loss of her mother with Kat’s nonexistent relationship with her own mother. And, deep down, she knew he was right. She had always felt partially adrift in her own life, and she often wondered if growing up with a mother would have prevented that.
    Andrew cleared his throat. “Kat, I should tell you that until we know who did this, we have to view everybody as a suspect.”
    Kat raised her eyebrows. “Everybody?”
    His gaze didn’t leave hers. “Yes.”
    She folded her arms across her chest, challenging him with her eyes. “So, you’re treating me like a suspect?”
    “Technically, yes,” he replied evenly. “Since you’re known to have been inside Mrs. Tinsdale’s apartment around the time of her death, we have to consider the possibility that you’re responsible.”
    A burning sensation spread throughout Kat’s chest. “But I found her! And I called you guys as soon as I did. What was I supposed to do, just leave her there?”
    Andrew shrugged. “I’m just telling you what our procedure is.”
    “Andrew,” she said, dropping her elbows on the table and bending toward him. “We grew up together. You know I wouldn’t have killed Mrs. Tinsdale. Besides, what would be my motive?”
    “Kat, I’m obligated to follow procedure, whether or not I know you.”
    She gawked at him. Although she knew he was only doing his job, she couldn’t help but feel stung by his words. Worse, from the way he talked, he sounded as though he had no problems treating her as he would a potential murderer.
    Andrew slid his milkshake aside and hunched over the table. “Kat, I hope you understand that our consideration of you as a suspect is just standard procedure. You’re not even a suspect really, just a person of interest.”
    Kat didn’t see the difference, but she didn’t care to belabor the point either. “I understand,” she said instead. “But that makes it all the more important that I help find the real killer, don’t you agree?”
    Andrew sighed. “Well, I can’t tell you what to do on your own time.”
    Kat let out a breath. “Great, than—”
    “But I also can’t condone you interfering with an active police investigation,” Andrew continued, his face stern.
    Kat’s eyes widened. “Oh, I’m not trying to interfere. I’m trying to help.”
    “That’s what I’m afraid of,” Andrew mumbled just before Kat slipped out of the booth to return to work.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    Noise from the other side of her bedroom wall awoke Kat late that night. She sat up and listened quietly, unsure whether she had actually heard something or merely dreamed it. But the faint sounds indicative of someone moving around next door didn’t fade as the seconds ticked by. Not only that, but her bedroom shared a wall with the master bedroom of Mrs. Tinsdale’s apartment. Whoever was next door was currently bumbling around where a woman had recently been murdered.
    Blood rushed through Kat’s ears as her adrenal glands revved up. Deciding she wouldn’t get any sleep until she saw for herself exactly what was going on next door, Kat eased out of bed, pulled on her bathrobe, and crept into the living room. Flicking on a light, she glanced around for a makeshift weapon. She wasn’t about to wander into what