Morty’s Murder by Ivana Samoilenko

Morty, the scruffy cat, was lying dead
on the porch. His fur was sticky and dirty because of the dried blood and dirt. Myrtha felt a pitiful disgust towards the dead carcass that used to be a pet.
“Who would have done such a thing?” – Myrtha wondered. She didn’t feel much sorrow, for as she got older her heart grew stale and rarely bestowed her with emotions. She was grumpy and unpleasant so that she wouldn't get lonely. The cat kept her good company, anyway. She was determined to find out who the culprit of the deed was. Ah, it was probably the neighbour, Mr. Simons, was it? Or Simonds? Nevertheless, that man detested Morty for his habit of urinating on
the garden gnome.
“Oh, that ruthless man, Mr.Simonds, or Simons…” – Myrtha muttered to herself as she headed towards her neighbor’s door. She knocked on it heavily, displaying the seriousness of her attitude. An ugly young girl in a maid uniform answered.
“Mr. Simonds is out of town for a couple of weeks. It's jus` me lookin` after his house.” – she said in a revolting southern accent.
“Just how long has he been out of town, young lady?” – demanded Myrtha.
“About a week, misus” – the girl replied stupidly. Well, then it must have been the reckless and mischievous Gerald’s boy, whatever his name was. Last year, after a few suspensions he was kicked out of school for good, so his parents ordered him to work as a mail man all summer. In Myrtha`s opinion, the punishment should have been more severe. Every day, when he brought with Myrtha her daily newspaper, he really just was plotting to cause more trouble.
“Killing that poor thing just for fun, what a marginal!” She continued cursing under her breath as she dialled the Gerard’s (or was it Gerald’s?) number.
“Your son has viciously murdered my cat Morty! He is not getting away with this, I swear!”
“I'm sorry, whom am I speaking with?” - miss Gerald interrupted, - “That can't be possible, Michael was sent to a boarding school more than a month ago. Are you sure you have the right number, miss?”
Myrtha hang up. Her head felt messy, she was tired from all these accusations and investigations.
She decided to take a break to read the newspaper. It was time for tea, anyway. She wondered how she got this newspaper, considering the Gerald’s boy was gone.
Now, where were her glasses? She opened the cupboard and found there a kitchen knife smeared in blood. And suddenly it all came back to her. For weeks, the cat was being an annoyance. He was old and picky with food, and he just kept making this whining noise all day long. He filled the house with an intolerable stench. Myrtha couldn’t sleep because of him scratching the front door, so she stabbed the cat herself.
“Well, that does him justice” – said Myrtha and sipped her tea.