"Braun, Lilian Jackson - The Cat Who 014 - The Cat Who Wasn't There (b)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Braun Lillian Jackson)

"By flying low, bribing cops, and not giving my right name," Qwilleran retorted in the familiar bantering style that Brodie liked.

"How's it going, Andy? Have you logged any more reports of prowlers?"

"Nary a one! The incident on Goodwinter Boulevard is hard to figure.

Can't say that I buy your theory, Qwill.

Kidnapping is something we've never had around here, except once when a father snatched his kid after a custody battle."

"There was a stranger loitering in the reading room outside Polly's office a few minutes ago, a youngish man with a bushy beard and a gray sweatshirt.

He was driving a car with a Massachusetts license plate, but he pulled out of the lot before I could catch the number."

"Could it be Dr. Melinda's car? She's back in town."

"This was an old model, and muddy. I'm sure she drives something new and antiseptic-looking."

"If you see it again, get the number and we'll run a check on the registration just for the hell of it. Did you get a description?"

"All I can tell you is that it's a medium-sized car in dull maroon, and it looks as if it's been on dirt roads lately."

"Not hard to do in this neck o' the woods." Qwilleran looked over Brodie's shoulder toward the coffeemaker.

"Could the taxpayers afford a cup for a weary traveler?"

"Help yourself, but don't expect anything like that liquid tar that you brew!" Qwilleran pushed open the gate into the enclosure, poured a cup of weak coffee, and sat down in another hard institutional oak chair.

"Did you play your bagpipe at Dr. Hal's funeral, Andy?" The chief nodded soberly.

"Everybody broke up! Men, women, and children, all in tears! There's nothing sadder than a dirge on a bagpipe. Dr. Melinda requested it.

She said her dad liked the pipes." Switching to a confidential tone, he went on.

"She thinks she's gonna take over his patients, but the guys around here won't warm up to the idea of stripping and being examined by a woman doctor. I'm squeamish about it myself. I'll find me a male doctor even if I have to go down to Lockmaster. How about you?"

"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it," Qwilleran said carelessly, although he knew the situation would be awkward in his own case.

"Our health care setup will improve when the Klingenschoen Professional Building is finished. We'll be able to lure some specialists up here from Down Below. After all, it's a good place to raise a family; you said so yourself." His effort to divert attention from Melinda was unsuccessful. Brodie regarded him sharply.

"You and her were pretty thick, I understand, when she was here before."

"She was the first woman I met when I came to Moose County, Andy, but that's ancient history."

"I don't know why you and Polly don't get hitched. It's the only way to live, to my way of thinking."

"That's because you're a dedicated family man. Try to get it through your skull that some of us make rotten husbands. I found it out the hard way, to my sorrow. I lost several years of my life, and ruined another life in the process."

"But Polly's a good woman. Damn shame to see her wasted."