The Tail of the Tip-Off (29 page)

53

L
ater as Harry watched the fire, Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, and Tucker snuggled up against her on the sofa, she thought about what had happened.

What kept nibbling at her was how she accepted Matthew at face value for so long. But then how else can you live in a community? She couldn't very well spend all her time being suspicious of everyone, trying to ferret out their secrets. He had fooled her for a long, long time.

She felt stupid but not totally stupid.

She felt totally stupid about her attitude toward BoomBoom. True, they were very different kinds of personalities but BoomBoom had held out the palm many times and Harry had refused it. For whatever reason, Harry was getting something out of being angry, out of not letting go.

Time to let go.

Time to grow up.

Time to accept Fair's genuine apology, to cherish him for the man he had become.

Mrs. Murphy put her paw on Harry's forearm.
“Close call.”

“Yes,”
Tucker agreed.

“Think Matthew will get the death penalty?”
Pewter wondered.

“No. Rich people don't get the death penalty, their lawyers see to that, but he'll spend some time in jail. I just hope it's a lifetime,”
Mrs. Murphy sagely predicted.

“BoomBoom has guts,”
Pewter purred as she snuggled even closer to Harry.

“Mom, too. I'm proud of her. She finally apologized to Boom,”
Murphy said.

“Why are things so hard for humans?”
Tucker sighed.

“They walk on two legs. Beginning of all their troubles,”
Pewter saucily replied and they all three laughed.

Dear Reader,

A certain party has taken to demanding tuna packed in water.

She plops her striped derriere in the best seat in the house.

A photo of her oh-so-adorable self without me (have you noticed?) graces the back of this volume.

Alas, she's gotten the big head. Where will it end?

Yours truly,

P. S. She lies!

P.O. Box 696
Crozet, Virginia 22932
www.ritamaebrown.com

Books by Rita Mae Brown
with Sneaky Pie Brown

WISH YOU WERE HERE

REST IN PIECES

MURDER AT MONTICELLO

PAY DIRT

MURDER, SHE MEOWED

MURDER ON THE PROWL

CAT ON THE SCENT

SNEAKY PIE'S COOKBOOK FOR MYSTERY LOVERS

PAWING THROUGH THE PAST

CLAWS AND EFFECT

CATCH AS CAT CAN

THE TAIL OF THE TIP-OFF

Books by Rita Mae Brown

THE HAND THAT CRADLES THE ROCK

SONGS TO A HANDSOME WOMAN

THE PLAIN BROWN RAPPER

RUBYFRUIT JUNGLE

IN HER DAY

SIX OF ONE

SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT

SUDDEN DEATH

HIGH HEARTS

STARTING FROM SCRATCH: A DIFFERENT KIND OF WRITERS' MANUAL

BINGO

VENUS ENVY

DOLLEY: A NOVEL OF DOLLEY MADISON IN LOVE AND WAR

RIDING SHOTGUN

RITA WILL: A MEMOIR OF A LITERARY RABBLE-ROUSER

LOOSE LIPS

OUTFOXED

HOTSPUR

The Tail of the Tip-Off
A Bantam Book/March 2003

All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2003 by American Artists, Inc.
Illustrations copyright © 2003 Michael Gellatly.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information address: Bantam Books.

Visit our website at
www.bantamdell.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Brown, Rita Mae.
Tail of the tip-off / Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown.
p.         cm.
1.         Haristeen, Harry (Fictitious character)—Fiction.                  2.         Murphy, Mrs. (Fictitious character)—Fiction.                  3.         Women postal service employees—Fiction.                  4.         Women cat owners—Fiction.                  5.         Virginia—Fiction.                  6.         Cats—Fiction.                  I.         Title.

PS3552.R698 T35 2003
813'.54—dc21
2002074792

Published simultaneously in the United States and Canada

Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words “Bantam Books” and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books, New York, New York.

eISBN: 978-0-553-89725-8

v3.0