No Cats Allowed: A Cat in the Stacks Mystery by Miranda James Page B

Melba’s office and back out to the street.
    We hadn’t made it twenty feet down the sidewalk toward home when I heard Melba hail me. I turned, and Diesel almost jerked the leash out of my hand. He was that eager to see Melba. I held firm, though, and we walked back slowly toward her.
    “Morning, boys,” Melba said with a bright smile. She scratched Diesel’s head as he rubbed against her leg and meowed.
    “Good morning to you, too. You sound pretty cheerful. Did your meeting with Penny go well?”
    Melba nodded. “Yes, it sure did. I filed that complaint, and now I feel fine. Penny told me from now on I should call her the minute Oscar gets nasty over anything.” She nodded in the direction of the building. “Why don’t y’all come in with me, and let’s have some coffee?”
    “I don’t think that’s a good idea right now,” I said.
    “Why?” Melba looked startled. “Don’t tell me you’ve had another run-in with him this morning.”
    “Not exactly.” I filled her in on the encounter with her mysterious stranger and his meeting with Oscar.
    Her eyes widened at first, then she grinned when I finished. “Maybe this Stanley guy will solve the problem for us. If he beats Oscar up real bad, he won’t be able to annoy the rest of us.”
    “Melba, surely you don’t mean that?” I was a bit shocked at her bloodthirstiness, though I had to admit she had provocation.
    She rolled her eyes. “No, I don’t really want anyone to beat Oscar up that bad, but I wouldn’t mind if this guy scared the daylights out of him. Maybe after this he’ll be too shaken up to bother me or anybody else.” She laughed. “Once he finds out I’ve filed a complaint, he
really
ought to calm down.”
    “I don’t think he’ll be a problem much longer, frankly. He’ll have to behave properly because of the complaints, or he could lose his position.” I paused for a moment to consider that. “Once all this gets to the vice president for finance and the president himself, I imagine he could get fired right away.”
    “I hope so,” Melba said. “That would be the best outcome for the library, that’s for dang sure.”
    I considered telling her about the argument I’d overheard between Oscar and Cassandra but decided I had best keep that to myself for now. Melba would probably hear about it from another source eventually anyway.
    “If they do get rid of him,” Melba continued, “I wish they’d make you the director, or at least the interim. You’ve got the experience, and everybody likes and respects
you
.”
    “Thank you,” I said and tried not to blush. I have always had a hard time accepting praise, even from an old friend. “It’s a kind thought, but frankly I’m not interested. I don’t want the responsibility anymore. I like my life the way it is. Diesel does, too, don’t you, boy?”
    As ever, when I addressed him directly, he responded right away, this time with a loud meow.
    “Diesel has spoken.” I grinned.
    Melba laughed. “Since he’s in charge, not you, I guess that’s the end of that.” She turned to look toward the front of the administration building. “You think we ought to get in there and check on Oscar? How long has that stranger been with him?”
    “Not quite fifteen minutes,” I said. I had been facing the front of the building, and I hadn’t seen anyone come out. Maybe we should go in and make sure nothing had happened to our boss. I still felt uneasy about leaving Oscar alone with Porter Stanley when Oscar was so clearly afraid of the man. “We probably should. Come on.”
    Diesel for once did not appear happy to enter the building. I was sure he remembered the unpleasantness from earlier and was still unsettled by it. I stopped for a moment to talk to him and stroke his back.
    “Poor baby,” Melba said in an undertone as we resumed our progress. “He must have been terrified by it all.”
    I nodded. “I’m hoping we won’t encounter more of the same.” I opened the