Bobo hardly seemed to notice but drew three chairs together around that one so that they could talk. They all sat, and the Rev told them that he had been alerted to Fiji’s plight—and he used the word “plight”—by the cat.

If the Rev had had much of a sense of humor, it would have been highly gratified by the expressions on Bobo’s and Manfred’s faces.

“And what’s so funny about that?” said the same small, bitter voice they’d heard in Fiji’s store.

They both turned to look at the cat.

Mr. Snuggly said, “I can talk. Woo-hoo.”

Manfred filled his lungs with an audible gasp. It appeared he’d forgotten to breathe. “I thought so!” Bobo said triumphantly. “From that day I dropped the gardening fork on my toe. I knew I heard someone laughing. So, cat, you were the one who actually saw someone take Fiji?”

The cat nodded and then closed his eyes, intending to resume his nap.

“Wait a minute,” Manfred said. “You have to tell us all about it.”

“The man came in the front door, and when she came from the kitchen, he took her.” He put his head back down and closed his eyes.

“She fought?”

“Oh, yes,” said the cat, opening his eyes a little, very reluctantly. “The case got broken, and some of the glass landed very close to me. I could have been cut! But he hustled her out into the rain and handcuffed her. I saw him when I got up on the counter to watch. He put something over her mouth and shoved her into his truck. Then I ran over to the chapel, because I knew she would give me permission to leave the grounds under the circumstances. I roused the Rev by an almost supernatural effort.”

“Almost supernatural,” Manfred repeated.

“Yes. He heard me and listened to me, and now here I am, warm and almost dry and in a good chair. When I wake up, you can give me some salmon.” Mr. Snuggly’s eyes drifted shut and he relaxed into sleep.

“Somehow I thought a talking cat would be friendlier,” Bobo said. “Ah . . . more caring?”

“He might talk, but he’s still a cat,” the Rev said, as if that were explanation enough.

“Setting aside the talking cat and the fact that he doesn’t seem too concerned about his owner, which I know is a lot to set aside, this is about Fiji,” Manfred said.

“Yes, and I will say two things here,” the Rev told them. “Bobo, though God tells us not to judge, you have taken the easy way out two times in a row, or your friend down below has.”

For a wild moment, Manfred thought the Rev’s downcast eyes meant Bobo had a connection with the Devil, but he understood after a long second that the Rev meant Lemuel.

“What do you mean?” Bobo looked bewildered.