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Chapter 25

Margot

Oh fuck! The bloody cat! I forgot all about it. I wake up with a start at just past 9 a.m. realising that thing has been locked in the garage for the best part of three days. I was going to let it out after a few hours, but I’m easily distracted sometimes and it slipped my mind.

I’m still in my pyjamas when I hurry downstairs from the bedroom and slip into the garage through the side door.

‘Cat Face?’ I whisper in the most pleasantly apologetic voice I can muster, while realising how stupid I must sound. ‘Are you there? I’m really sorry.’ I turn on the lights, expecting her to be feral by now, either hissing or rushing past me at breakneck speed, desperate to escape. But neither happens.

‘Cat Face?’ I repeat, a little louder.

Again, there’s nothing.

Ours is a large double garage, but most of the space is taken up with boxes of crap and gardening detritus. It’s then I see it, a small pile of vomit on the floor by the Peloton. I cup my hand over my mouth and nose and take a closer look. There’s a chunk of something blue in it. It’s the poisoned bait we put in here and up in the attic for the mice. Cat Face must have eaten it. So where the hell is she now? I look everywhere but there’s no trace of her. I do, however, find her blue collar and tag on a shelf.

I can only assume Nicu must have found her and disposed of her body. It was him who scattered the bait about, so he must’ve thought he’d killed her, felt guilty about it and decided to keep it to himself.

In any event: RIP Cat Face. The kids will be devastated.

On the other hand, perhaps I’m not the only one to keep secrets from my partner.