Mrs. Mikulka

Mrs. Mikulka had thought long and hard.  It was her; it had to be.  It all started when she moved into Folcroft.  What right did she have to live here anyhow?  She wasn't mentally ill.  Next thing Mrs. Mikulka knew, Sarah was shacking up with Dr. Smith's young assistant.  And he used to be such a sweet young man; now look at him.  Dr. Smith was so fearful and unhappy.  Even that nice eccentric elderly Asian man had gone flat-out mad.   He looked ridiculous with his dyed hair and spandex.  His attendant had become extremely disrespectful; it made Mrs. Mikulka so angry.  It wasn't the poor old man's fault.  Senility could afflict anyone.

But what could she do?  She pondered it all day long at work; it was the last thing on her mind when she fell asleep. When the word murder first came into her mind, she was appalled, then intrigued.  She could never harm a living creature.  She volunteered at the homeless women's shelter weekends.  She fed birds and squirrels and strays in her neighborhood.  Funny, she thought, when she met that scary homeless woman, how her thoughts turned immediately to Sarah Slate.

Mrs. Mikulka waited until Friday, late enough that Dr. Smith had gone home.  Mr. Chiun and Romeo had gone on one of their extended visits to the elderly man's family in Korea.  She had asked Sarah Slate to meet her near the basement stairs.

"I hope you don't mind, dear?"  Mrs. Mikulka was holding a small dish and a can of cat food.  "I'm afraid Dr. Smith would be very displeased with me bringing a stray in here.  The poor little thing was starving.  Since you live here, I was wondering if you could feed her for me over the weekend?"

"Why don't you just take it home?"  Sarah was bored.

 It had been fun having Mark as her devoted slave.  It had been amusing letting Dr. Smith know just how powerless he was.  Old Chiun and she were just like girlfriends, giggling over the Blogs together.  Now this foolish old lady was bugging her about kitties.  Maybe she'd teach the old girl a lesson, turn the mangy little thing free.

"Oh I couldn't.  My son is allergic,” Mrs. Mikulka lied.  "I've already fed her this morning.  If you could just go down and meet Judith, while I'm here.  Then she won't be scared of you."

"Alright, alright.  Judith's a pretty stupid name for a cat."

"I didn't name her.  Just go downstairs, and I'll call her."

"It's awfully dark down there?  Where's the light?"  Sarah fumbled for the switch at the top of the staircase.  "How big is that cat?  She purrs like a tiger."

"The light switch is broken but you can make it down the steps using the light from the hallway.  There’s another switch at the bottom of the stairs. She's purring loudly because she's so happy to see you.  Here, kitty, kitty!"

Mrs. Mikulka waited until Sarah had gone halfway down, then slammed and locked the door.  Well, she thought to herself with a smile.  Time to go home.  Things would be back to normal Monday.