Meow or Never (Vanessa Abbot Cat Protection League Cat Cozy Mystery Series Book 3) by Nancy C. Davis

Chapter 1
    Vanessa Abbot and Pete Wheeler strolled
down the main street of Caspar Crossing. Their joined hands swung to the rhythm
of their stride. Pete stopped in front of the bank. “I should get back to work.
My lunch break is over.”

    Vanessa nodded. “Will I see you later?”

    “I have to go to a department meeting
tonight,” he told her. “Why don’t we put it off until tomorrow?”

    “I can’t see you tomorrow,” she
replied. “I’m meeting the state representative from the Cat Protection League.
What about Friday?”

    He laughed. “Listen to us. We have to
plan our meetings around our social schedules.” His phone jingled in his pocket
and he examined the screen.

     “I have to go. There’s been an accident over
at the aluminum plant.”

    “What happened?” Vanessa asked.

    He held up his phone. “The call-out
says a ruptured gas line caught fire. Someone has been killed, and two others
wounded.”

    Vanessa grimaced. “How awful.”

    “Why don’t you come with me?” he asked.
“You can help me with the investigation.”

    Vanessa backed away. “I don’t think
that’s such a good idea. What would Captain Jameson say?”

    “He won’t mind,” Pete replied. “He
knows you helped solve the last two cases. Besides, you’re just coming along.
You won’t be doing any real police work.”

    “Are you sure about this?” she asked.
“What if you get into trouble?”

    “I won’t,” he replied. “I wouldn’t
offer if there was any chance of that happening. Come on.”

    Vanessa smiled. “All right.” She fell
in at his side.

    “But we won’t be able to hold hands,”
he told her. “We have to keep it strictly professional.”

    “Right,” she replied.

    They crossed the town, passed the rail
station, and arrived at the aluminum plant. Police cars and uniformed officers
cordoned off the site, but they waved Pete and Vanessa through. Pete checked in
with the guard at the front gate, who directed them to the foundry on the east
side of the plant.

    Fire trucks, ambulances, water tankers,
and dozens of people surrounded the building as a dense black cloud of smoke
billowed out of the roof. Pete sidled up to another plain-clothes detective.
“Do you know what happened?”

    The other detective shrugged. “One of
the gas lines blew. It was one of the lines supplying the main furnace, and
when the line gave out, the pilot light of the furnace ignited the gas. There
was one huge explosion. The first victim was Ronald Eastman, one of the pipe
fitters. He was fixing a hinge on the cover of the main forge. The impact
knocked him off his scaffolding and he fell fifty feet onto the floor below.
The fall killed him instantly. The other victims were already on the floor, and
they were only injured.”

    “Does anyone know what caused the line
to fail?” Pete asked.

    “It could have been anything,” the
other detective replied. “Maybe it had some weakness. Who knows?”

    “Is the building secure?” Pete asked.

    The man gestured toward the fire crew.
“Ask them. I haven’t been inside to find out.”

    Pete nodded and went to talk to the
fire crew. He came back to Vanessa’s side. “They say it’s secure. Let’s go in.”

    Vanessa glanced up at the smoke. “Are
you sure this is a good idea? The place could explode again.”

    He shook his head. “The gas is turned
off. The power is turned off. The whole plant has been shut down until we find
out what caused the accident. Now come on.”

    He led her through the bustle of
emergency personnel to the main door. They tiptoed into the foundry and peered
around. Everywhere on all sides, gleaming metal equipment towered to the
ceiling. Only one giant container with pipes running all around it stood black
and destroyed in the middle of the main floor.

    “I guess that’s the forge that blew
up,” Vanessa remarked.

    Pete nodded. “I don’t think we’re going
to get a chance to inspect the gas line that broke either. It