“Did he turn his head?”
“No.”
I let the rest go, one every couple of minutes. He never noticed it.
We got out to the place, and it was still dark. I hadn’t had time to find the fuses, let alone put a new one in. When I pulled in, the cop went past, and was there ahead of me. “I’m taking a look at that fuse box, buddy.”
“Sure. I’m taking a look myself.”
We all three went back there, and he snapped on a flashlight. Right away, he gave a funny grunt and stooped down. There was the cat, laying on its back with all four feet in the air.
“Ain’t that a shame? Killed her deader than hell.”
He shot the flashlight up under the porch roof, and along the stepladder. “That’s it, all right. Remember? We were looking at her. She stepped off the ladder on to your fuse box, and it killed her deader than hell.”
“That’s it all right. You were hardly gone when it happened. Went off like a pistol shot. I hadn’t even had time to move the car.”
“They caught me down the road.”