Read Never Tease a Siamese: A Leigh Koslow Mystery for Free Online Page A

a partner. She parked close and beat a hasty sprint to the back entrance. Her father was in the treatment room, gazing at a series of x-rays with Nikki Loomis at his side.
    "Well," Leigh asked, almost breathless from her jog in. "Can you tell what it is?" Her eyes scoured the various x-ray views, trying to put the different shapes together like a three-dimensional puzzle. From side to side the white shape looked like a dagger symbol; from top to bottom it was only a thin line.
    "I think it's some sort of key," Randall stated. "What I'm wondering is what it's attached to."
    "One of those thin suitcase keys?" Leigh suggested. "Or a briefcase key, maybe?"
    "Either way, I can't think of any he could get to," Nikki said with frustration. "He spends a lot of time in Ms. Lilah's room, and I really don't know what all's in there. But I know she keeps it safe."
    Leigh's mind seized on several possibilities. "Does Mrs. Murchison have a locked briefcase in her room? Or maybe a jewelry case of some sort?"
    "What matters to the cat," Randall interrupted calmly, "is that the object passes without obstructing the bowel." He turned to Nikki. "We'll have to keep a close eye on him the next few days. I won't be back until tomorrow night, but I'll have Dr. McCoy come check on him if you'll leave him here at the clinic."
    "No problem," Nikki answered. "But I wish you’d come to the will reading tonight. The lawyer said it was important you be there."
    Leigh's eyebrows rose. She didn’t consider herself particularly materialistic, but the words "will reading," when applied to a millionaire, were enough to get any normal person's blood pumping. Particularly when her father seemed to be the only person in Pittsburgh who actually liked the woman.
    The veterinarian shook his head. "I'm sure it's just about making arrangements for the cats, and I can call her attorney Monday about that. But I’ve got to get Frances to Hershey ASAP, or I’ll be sleeping on dog-food bags tonight."
    Unfortunately, Leigh knew her father was only half joking. After twenty-odd years of planting tulips and pruning shrubs for various city beautification projects, her mother had finally won the coveted Garden Club Community Volunteer of the Year Award, entitling her to a plaque, a ribbon, and a free night’s food and lodgings at the Hershey Hotel. And if Randall didn't deliver her mother to that wondrous institution in plenty of time for a leisurely dinner, he would not only be sleeping on dog food—he would be eating it for breakfast.
    She, on the other hand, had nothing whatsoever to do tonight. With her handsome husband still out of town, her Saturday night was looking like a frozen dinner, a few taped episodes of That '70s Show , and about five hundred boxes to unpack. All while a bunch of other people were gathering in Lilah Murchison’s eerie old mansion, learning how much money they were in for when—or if—the mistress of the house was ever fished out of Lake Michigan. Might one of them be anxious to reacquire Number One Son’s little snack?
    "Dad," she began hopefully, "If the lawyer said it was really important, maybe I should go. As your proxy."
    The veterinarian didn't look up, but Leigh could feel his eyes swiveling suspiciously in their sockets. She was surprised when he gave the desired answer. "Makes no difference to me. But you should check with the attorney."
    His last words were only partly audible. A loud crash of shattering glass assaulted their ears, and she and her father both jumped in response. Nikki Loomis hit the deck. "What the hell was that?" the small woman boomed from the floor.
    Randall answered calmly, but his eyes were wide. "I'll check it out." He strode off in the direction of the noise, and both Leigh and Nikki took off on his heels. At the threshold of the waiting room, they all stopped abruptly.
    One of the colored glass windows that bordered the street was almost completely gone—its red shards scattered widely across the aged