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CHAPTER EIGHT

A wanted woman

Patience was looking in the mirror; She was holding a long dress in one hand and a very short one in the other. ‘Which one should I wear tonight’ she asked Sally.

‘Wear the long one at church, the short one at the beach. I’m taking you shopping,’ said Sally.

In the end, they found the perfect dress that was neither long nor short.

Patience was waiting for Lone in the Japanese restaurant. She was watching the fish swimming in a big fish tank next to the table. Her face was close to the glass.

‘I’m hungry,’ she thought.

‘Pretty,’ said Lone behind her.

‘Thank you,’ said Patience.

‘Well, you are pretty,’ said Lone, ‘but I meant the fish.’

Patience went red.

They sat down at the table and ordered dinner. ‘Have you heard of Catwoman’ he asked as he poured her a drink.

Patience felt cold. ‘Yeah,’ she said after a moment. ‘She carries a whip, doesn’t she?’

‘She kissed me,’ said Lone.

‘Really’ said Patience. It was exciting when Lone talked about Catwoman like this. ‘I think I’m a little jealous,’ she thought. ‘How strange.’

‘So what do you think about me and Catwoman’ asked Lone.

A waiter arrived and put a huge plate of fish on the table. Patience quickly took a piece of fish and put it in her mouth.

‘That depends,’ she said. ‘Do you like bad girls?’

‘I’m a policeman,’ he said. ‘I put bad people in prison.’

‘Perhaps you don’t always know who’s good and who’s bad,’ said Patience.

‘You’re different,’ he told her. ‘You’re special. And I want to know more about you.’

‘Do you really’ she asked.

‘Yes, I do,’ he said.

Lone looked at Patience. She was asleep on the sofa and she looked beautiful. He went to the bathroom for a glass of water.

As he was walking back across the room, he stepped on something hard. It cut his foot. ‘Ow’ he said quietly. He didn’t want to wake Patience up.

What was it? He picked it up to see. It looked like a diamond claw. Lone looked at it for a moment. Then he began to realise the truth.

‘Oh no’ he thought. The cup and the box with ‘sorry’ on them. The way that Patience had saved the boy on the Ferris wheel. He was beginning to understand everything.

He sat down with his glass of water and tried to think. How could he get proof that Patience and Catwoman were the same person? He looked at the glass. Patience had drunk from the glass last night and left a red lip print on it. And Catwoman had left a red kiss on his nose at the theatre. There was a photo of it at the police station.

Patience woke up. Her mobile was ringing. ‘Hello?’

‘It’s me,’ said Laurel. ‘I can’t believe it, but you were right. I’ve got proof. We have to stop George. Beau-line will be in the shops by Monday. Can you come to the house immediately?’

‘OK,’ said Patience. ‘I’ll be there as soon as I can.’ Patience looked around the flat. ‘Tom’ she called. Where was he?

She saw a note on the chair: ‘Sorry. I’ve got to go–T.’

‘That’s not very nice,’ she thought. ‘Oh well. I’ve got more important things to think about.’

Catwoman arrived at Hedare’s house and climbed in through a window on the first floor.

‘I’m so pleased you came,’ said Laurel.

‘What did you find’ asked Catwoman.

‘Enough proof to put someone in prison for a very long time. Come and see.’ She turned and walked into her husband’s office.

Catwoman followed her. ‘I know it’s difficult for you,’ she said. ‘But you’re doing the right thing.’

‘Yes,’ said Laurel. Then, almost to herself, she continued, ‘I did everything that they wanted. Hedare Beauty was nothing before I did their adverts. But then, when I was forty, they didn’t want me anymore. I was too old.’

They went into Hedare’s office. ‘It’s all there,’ said Laurel. ‘Behind the desk.’

Catwoman looked behind the desk and saw George Hedare’s body on the floor. It was full of bullets and there were claw cuts everywhere.

‘What do you think? The claw cuts were quite difficult, but I think they work,’ laughed Laurel.

‘You killed him’ said Catwoman.

‘Yes, I did. Nobody’s going to stop Beau-line. Not Slavicky. Not George. And not you.’ Laurel gave Catwoman something in a scarf. ‘Take this. And can I get you anything? Some nice fish? A glass of milk?’ She laughed again.

Catwoman looked inside the scarf. It was a gun.

Suddenly Laurel pressed something on the desk and an alarm rang out loudly. ‘Oh no’ she screamed. ‘George!’

Armando ran into the room.

‘It’s the Catwoman! She’s got a gun’ shouted Laurel.

Catwoman pointed the gun at Laurel.

‘Sorry, Kitty. There aren’t any bullets in it,’ Laurel said. ‘You used all the bullets when you killed my husband.’

Catwoman miaowed and ran out of the room. The front door opened downstairs and crowds of policemen entered the house. Catwoman ran into Laurel’s bedroom. When she saw the cupboards full of clothes, she had an idea. She took a bag and threw some sports clothes into it.

She looked out of the window and saw policemen and police cars everywhere. Two men were carrying George Hedare’s body to one of the vehicles. When the body was inside, the men got into the front seat. As soon as they started to move, Catwoman jumped. She landed on the roof of the vehicle and lay down flat.

When they went under a bridge, Catwoman jumped up and held on tightly. Then she climbed down to the road. She took the sports clothes out of the bag and quickly put them on.

‘Why was I so stupid’ Patience thought. ‘Why did I believe Laurel?’

She walked past some shops. Suddenly she saw a large screen with the words: ‘CATWOMAN KILLS AGAIN’. It was the news.

‘Oh no,’ thought Patience. ‘Catwoman has got to disappear fast!’