O’Leary’s office was warm and cozy, a converted twostory house complete with screened-in front porch and second-floor balcony. Inside, there was a small waiting room that looked to be a converted front hallway, with several metal folding chairs and magazines on a table against the wall, and a closed door on the right-hand side. A stairway on the far right led upstairs, presumably to the vet’s private rooms. David placed his cold bundle on the table and sat down to wait for the good doctor.

A minute later, the door opened and a man with a shock of orange-red hair entered, his face freckled and plump.

“Jim O’Leary,” he said, extending his hand. The accent was not particularly strong, but certainly there.

David introduced himself and took the man’s hand, and it was dry and felt recently powdered. He had a strong, solid grip.

“What can I do for you, David?”

He took a deep breath. News travels fast in small towns.

“I’m the guy who called about the cat.”

O’Leary’s face crinkled into a wide smile. “Right, you want to know why it died. I can’t promise you anything, but I’ll give it a look. Bring it on in.”

David followed O’Leary through a doorway into a spacious, sterile room with a long metal table in the middle. Boxes lined the edges of a countertop and sink along the right wall. The air smelled of disinfectant.

“So the cat was a pet of yours?”

“We took it in when it was a kitten. Its mother was killed by a boy with an air gun.”

“Those young boys are trouble,” O’Leary said.

“I found it yesterday outside in the snow. Jessica—our little girl—doesn’t usually let it roam around, but I guess this time it got out. We’ve been looking for it for a few days now.”

The vet’s face took on an appropriate look of remorse. “She must be heartbroken. If you leave the animal here, I’ll get to work right away. If you want to come back…”

“I’ll stay, if you don’t mind.” Helen and Jessie weren’t due back from the doctor for another hour at least, and he wanted to get this done as soon as possible.

O’Leary nodded. “That’s fine. You can wait in the other room. I’ll do all I can here, but if I need some things analyzed, it’ll take a day or two. Have to send it to Edmundston, you know.”

“Right,” David agreed, though he hoped it wouldn’t come to that. He closed the door behind him, and sat down in one of the chairs to wait, flipping through the magazines. They were all several months old, and well perused. After a few minutes, he tossed the last of them onto the table and sat back in the chair, watching the door for O’Leary.