Cat on My Shoulder
A Small-Town Murder—Times Two
by
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“Mary Joe Rollins is visiting her Aunt in Chicago.” She stated flatly. I wanted to ask her who the fuck is Mary Joe Rollins and why should I care that she is in Chicago; but I simply sat staring at her.
“I would never go to such a big city.” She muttered out loud, “There is nothing but murderers and muggers on the streets.”
“Wasn’t there a murder here last month?” I tried to not smile, after all murder is nothing to smile about. However, my cousin’s ramblings are just so stupid they always make me want to laugh no matter how gory the subject happens to be.
“I would like to forget about that.” She cringed, “I just can’t believe that someone in this town was actually murdered.”
“Happens in the best of places!” I grinned sheepishly. “And from what I have heard the police don’t have a lead.”
Marta’s eyes were suddenly the size of saucers, “It is just so scary. Mrs Phelps told me that the police are not even working the case any more. Can you imagine?”
I laughed at her and watched as her face turned red, “Hell cousin!” I laughed harder, “I am writing a murder mystery so imagining it is exactly what I do.”
Her eyes were huge brown blobs now, her face red and it was suddenly matching the red dye job that I knew she did herself. “How can you write stuff like that?”
“It’s fun!” I laughed again and leaned back in my chair.
“You are twisted!” she got up and headed for the door. “And I can’t believe that you would write about poor Mrs Pettigrew. Her son is still mourning her you know.”
“I said I was writing a murder mystery, I did not say I was writing about the murder of Mrs. Pettigrew.” I rose slowly to my feet and followed her to the door. “Since I don’t know who killed her I couldn’t write about it anyway. I am writing about a made up murder in a made up town.”
She turned at the door to face me, “Well I still think it is twisted.”
She left in a huff, which was about par for the course.
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About the Book
She’s not writing true crime—she just isn’t. She just happens to love a good murder mystery. So, as she pens her most recent crime thriller, she’s a bit more than shocked to find out a murder has taken place right down the street. It takes all her intellect to convince her cousin, Marta, that no, she is not trying to solve the case. She’s only writing.
The novel is about the character Helen and her police officer nephew who strive to solve a murder in a small town. In the novel, Helen goes for the Miss Marple routine, but she receives less respect than she expected. The killer is possibly someone Helen has known her whole life; how will she spot the fiend among her group of friends?
Off the page, in the midst of real murder, the author has a right to be worried. The killer is concerned that this real-life sleuth might crack the case. What began as merely a flight of fiction has mimicked true life. The author fears for her safety, so of course, the only person she can turn to for advice is her cat Winston.
About the Author
B.J. Chatfield works as an English teacher in the far reaches of Northern Saskatchewan on a First Nations reserve. She divides her time between the frozen north and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where she shares an apartment with a clever cat who was the inspiration for her first novel.