Speaking Cat by Beverley Coghlan - Traveling to Weybridge Where Some Residents Speak Cat!

 

The Surrey Tale The first of three Surrey women murdered in Weybridge that exceptionally cold winter of 2009, was a dignified civil servant, Celia Greenwood.  Laura Matthews had worked with Miss Greenwood in the same department of Jobcentre, for going on five years. She became concerned when her colleague hadn’t returned to work after her annual holiday. ‘Mr Van, I’m worried about Miss Greenwood,’ she told her manager, ‘she’s normally so reliable and should’ve been back at work on Monday 29 November, after her hols. Remember, she went off on Friday 5th and it’s now Wednesday 2nd December and I know it’s only a few days over, but she's seriously dependable and always on time. Has she phoned in sick?’ ‘Nee, no, I don’t think so,’ replied Kobus Van der Merwe distractedly.   ‘Would you mind if I popped over to her house at lunchtime? I think she lives in York Road, off Queens Road.  I’ve seen her go into a house there and she told me she lives in York Road.’ ‘Ja, that’s right, she lives in York Road. We share a gardener and I have dropped off his pay there a couple of times.’  

Fergus

A few minutes after noon, still eating her sandwich, Laura was at Celia’s front door.  The thick snow lay fluffy and undisturbed. She knocked several times but there was no reply. A long-haired black and white cat appeared next to her. Laura waited several minutes and then knocked again. There was no response.  ‘Well cat, where could she have got to?’ The cat looked up at her and mewed loudly as she continued talking quietly to herself.  ‘I know she was planning to go away on some kind of coach trip and I think she mentioned the coast. Humm, our Celia was polite and superficially friendly but didn’t talk much about her private life.  In fact, the way we all call her Miss Greenwood is quite weird in this day and age.’  Laura realized that she knew very little about her colleague. 

The black and white cat was joined by a tortoiseshell cat; they watched her as she made her way back down the road.  At around 14:45 she tapped on the manager’s glass office door. Kobus Van der Merwe waved her in.  He was eating a large pasta salad from a pink Tupperware bowl. She reported to the burly rugby forward who hailed from South Africa.  ‘Now, Mr Van, I’m even more worried about Miss Greenwood. She’s not at home. We must find out if anyone knows where she is and why she hasn’t come back to work. Would you mind checking her file to find out if she has any family or friends listed? I think she has a nephew.’ ‘Ag, doll, she’s probably met a toy-boy and run off. Let’s wait until next week before we start phoning and bugging her family.’  He had a broad Afrikaans accent. Laura wasn’t smiling when she quickly responded.  ‘Indulge me, Mr Van, indulge me. Please get hold of someone?’ When Kobus looked at Miss Greenwood’s file, there was only one contact - a nephew, Luke Greenwood.  He lived in Brighton.  ‘Ag hell, I suppose I’d better give him a ring,’ he muttered.  About thirty minutes later Kobus stood in front of Laura's desk. She looked up. ‘Ek is nou bekommerd,’ (I am now worried) he said, in his native tongue.   ‘Luke Greenwood, Miss Greenwood's nephew, said that he last spoke to her the day before she was going away.  She told him that she was taking a bus trip to St. Ives in Cornwall.  It was one of those organized things that these old aunties take.   After I spoke to Greenwood he called the tour company and they said she didn’t arrive at the bus station on Saturday 6th November and they assumed that she had made other plans because of the snow. The nephew also tried several times to get hold of Miss Greenwood on her mobile but there was no response, nothing!  This Luke okie said he’d leave work early and come up to Weybridge today.  He’s got a key to his auntie’s house.  Ag, sorry to do this to you, doll, but I have given him your mobile number; I’ll be away from tomorrow for a few days.  I told him to let you know what was happening. That OK, doll?’ Laura pushed a strand of her straight blond hair behind her ear, pulled at her pony tail. She looked at him with relief.  ‘I really don’t mind at all. I’m pleased that someone is going to check up to see where she has got to. She may be ill.   And by the way, if you call me doll once more, I will empty my coffee on your head.’  He thought this was hilariously funny. ‘Hey, where I come from, it’s a compliment.’ ‘Well, it’s not remotely funny or complimentary where I come from!’ she replied, stood up, straightened her short black skirt and walked to kettle in the staff room more to mask the smile on her face than to get another cup of coffee. That evening Luke Greenwood phoned Laura.  He apologized for bothering her at home but he was worried. He said that he had found his aunt’s house in order but her handbag and another carrier bag were on the bed upstairs and a large suitcase was packed and ready. Her mobile phone was on the windowsill in the hallway downstairs.  ‘...and so Miss Matthews, I don’t think she went away at all. Where can she have gone? Did she tell you of any change in her plans?’   ‘No, sorry, she’s a very sweet lady. I’ve worked with her for years but she’s a reserved, private person.’  ‘Yes, I know. When I arrived earlier, Fergus, my aunt’s cat greeted me meowing and making a fuss. After looking around I went next door to the neighbours’ to see if they knew anything. They told me that they had offered to feed Fergus in the heated greenhouse as arranged; but now they too were worried because my aunt had said that she would be back after two weeks, as she wanted to have a week at home to potter around and it was now well into the third week and she hadn't returned. They tried ringing her mobile but it went to voicemail and when they went up to her door, they could see it on the window-sill. Naturally they thought she had left it at home by mistake. This is not like her at all. Where on earth is she?’ ‘I really don’t have a clue,’ Laura answered quietly.  

I hope by now you all know that I'm somewhat of a cat fanatic... I love cats--as pets, as characters in books, and especially as part of the team that solves mysteries. Beverley Coghlan has created a fascinating story that not only includes cats as characters, but her main character is an individual who speaks cat! In fact, there will be several others through the book that is discovered to speak cat! Now I must sadly say that I don't speak the cat language, but I've had a number of cats throughout my life who have been very good at listening to what I say and responding to my words. Of course, their names are fairly easy to pick up if you start calling them by their names right from the beginning. I take it a step further and mimic some of their sounds and have found they immediately come to see what's going on... LOL

Coghlan has given the  skill to speak cat to the main detective, Detective Sergeant Veronica Witherspoon. She happens to be a member of an aristocratic family--maybe that is what differentiates the royalty from we common people? Readers will not learn whether that is the case, because Veronica doesn't let too many people know that she is really Lady Veronica... She even uses Ronny as her name for most everybody--to me, that means she's not an uppity individual who wants to be known for her title as opposed to herself... What we do learn is that she is an excellent police officer! And she is now lead in a series of murders that have started to occur.

Civil Servant Celia Greenwood had planned on a short bus tour. When  she was gone beyond the day she was to return to work, one of her coworkers brought her absence to their boss. The coworker talked her boss into allowing her to take a longer lunch and drive to her home to check on her. She was not there and when her boss called the company with whom she would be traveling, he was told that she never arrived. By that time, they checked and discovered that she only had one relative--a nephew, Luke, who quickly made a trip to her home. Having a key, he discovered that her luggage was still in her bedroom and contacted the authorities. Fergus, her cat, was quickly on the scene when the two came into the Greenwood home. And he was quite surprised when Ronny bent over when Luke was in another room and told Fergus that she'd be talking to him later! As an aside, a romantic connection began at that point as Ronny decided she found Luke Greenwood attractive... Ronny knew that Luke should be considered at least a "person of interest..." But...

After a marvellous dinner, the dancing started. Prince Jojo Zwelithini, a young man of about thirty swung me onto the dance floor. My word, what a brilliant dancer!   At the end of the second dance I was far from my table and I saw Luke making a bee-line for me.  Despite every effort to avoid him, he made it very clear that he was having the next dance with me. We went around the floor a few times before he spoke. ‘Shall we say that our previous meetings are off-limit tonight?’ ‘Hummm...good idea, thanks Luke.’ I relaxed, the music swirled around us. I lost track of time as I was enraptured and transported to a beautiful, dreamy place. Then the musicians started playing Lady in Red, (I don’t know if it was requested by Luke - that is something I have yet to ask him). I was embarrassed but I felt intense, paralyzing desire for the man who was holding me in his arms as if he too never wanted the music to stop.  When the song ended we walked out onto the balcony. He put his coat around me and took my face in his hands, beautiful hands. ‘Ronny, please don’t mess me around,’ he said, his voice hoarse with emotion, ‘this amazing overwhelming pleasure, love - it’s mutual, isn’t it?’

As we rounded a bend in the path, Luke came into view.  At first he didn’t see us.  He was singing.  ‘Well, well...here’s your man, Baby.’ ‘Shall we pretend we haven’t seen him?’ I whispered. ‘Yes, pull in behind the holly bush.’  We watched and listened as Luke sang.  He had a marvellous rich smooth tenor voice and he was singing a hymn, How Great Thou Art. Then he stopped and looked over the valley. It was a still, ethereal moment and I knew that more than anything, I wanted to be part of his life. I can still go into that magic memory place; the crisp cold air, snuggled next to father, dogs panting, and the delicious mossy smell of the undergrowth. Then the dogs broke cover and ran up to Luke. He turned to see us hiding.  ‘What a sunset!’ he said, his face glowing. ‘How can you not believe in God when there is such beauty all around us? My heart just swells with joy and I want to praise Him.’ ‘OOOOOOK,’ said father who was agnostic.  ‘Luke, my boy, you’ve got a good voice there. Good voice.’  After a short polite exchange, father remembered something that required his urgent attention and strode ahead purposefully. Luke and I ambled back to the house.

~~~ 

The investigation began tracking Celia Greenwood, but was getting nowhere. And soon a body was found floating in the Thames, but not Greenwood! The housekeeper had already contacted the authorities and reported her employer, Emily Zulch, had not returned as expected. Soon, Lilka Kowalski’s body had been found in a bunker on the St. George’s Hill Golf Course. While Greenwood had not yet been discovered, the closeness of the three disappearances was soon leading to officials thinking they had a serial killer in the area...

So, of course, each of the three women had cats who were instrumental in helping Ronny with these investigations... I read an ebook of this novel. There were pictures of the cats included. With the upgraded methodology for inserting pictures in an ebook and then being able to increase the size, these pictures added depth to the story. Here is an example of the original picture and how it looks resized.

I was fairly certain I knew who the serial killer was, but when there are lots of cats, a song or two...hey, I enjoy a book no matter who was the bad guy! I think you'll enjoy this one as much as I!

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