Chapter 3

“They all seem pretty healthy,”I said.“Nothing to deal with right away.”

“Yeah,”Kendall said.He wiped his face with a towel,handed it to me.“But healthyto what end?What a waste.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing.”Kendall turned his gaze away.

“What is it?”This was the time to push,when he was tired and vulnerable and might reveal something he normally wouldn’t.

“Not something you need to worry about.”

“But youneed to worry about it?”

He looked at me then.He wanted to tell me;I could read it in his face.He leaned against the wall,arms folded.I mirrored him,a technique I’d learned in an interrogation seminar.Mimic the suspect’s body language—he might change his attitude.And talk.

I pushed a little more.“Kendall,what’s wrong?It seems like something’s not quite right about these cats.”I leaned a little towards him.Did he lean back?I couldn’t tell,but I was close enough to see the pulse beat in his throat and smell him—sweat and rain and cat all mixed together.