The Super Spies and the Cat Lady Killer by Lisa Orchard

Dark hair cascaded around her shoulders, contrasting with her white skin. Wow, she was pretty, S arah realized with a start. She looked like a normal person.
    â€œHave you ever heard of her having a family?” Sarah asked Jackie.
    â€œNo. I’ve only heard she was a crazy witch.”
    â€œShe doesn’t look like a witch in this picture, Jackie.”
    â€œLooks are deceiving.” Jackie stuck her nose up in the air.
    Sarah rolled her eyes. “Are you sure no one has ever mentioned a son before?”
    â€œNope.”
    â€œTake the picture apart, and see if there’s any writing on the back,” Sarah suggested.
    â€œIt says,” Lacey started, “’David and me on the fourth.’”
    â€œI wonder what happened to him,” Sarah frowned.
    Lacey put the picture back up on the shelf.
    â€œWipe off your fingerprints,” Sarah instructed.
    Sighing, Lacey used the hem of her T-shirt to wipe the picture off.
    Ja ckie pulled on one of her curls . “Yeah, is he still alive, or what?”
    Sarah shrugged. “Good question.”
    â€œHey, here’s another picture.”
    â€œIt’s the same little boy,” Lacey said.
    Jackie pulled the picture down off the shelf and pulled it out of the frame. “It says, ‘David Fedewa August 1978’.”
    â€œHe must be her son.” Sarah studied the other pictures on the shelf. “Jack, wipe off your prints before you put the picture back.”
    â€œThe police have already searched for prints.”
    â€œSo, they might come back.”
    â€œWe gave them elimination prints,” Jackie reminded her as she put the picture back on the shelf.
    The girls grew quiet as they searched for clues. Sarah kept returning to the pictures of the smiling young woman and compared her to the old woman she had found dead on the floor. They seemed like two different people. It wasn’t just the fact the Cat Lady had grown old. She knew old people, who slowed down in their old age, but the Cat Lady seemed withered, like her life energy had been drained. What could have happened to this woman that had made her change so drastically? Pondering this for a moment, the nagging question surfaced. Why would anyone want to murder her? Rubbing her temples, Sarah hoped an answer would appear soon.
    Lacey glanced at her watch. “Hey guys, I’ve got to meet Scott.”
    â€œWow, time sure does fly.” Sarah shook her head in surprise.
    â€œYeah, it does,” Lacey said, as she b rushed her hair out of her eyes .
    â€œOkay. Jack, why don’t you and I head down to the library and see if we can find some info on David Fedewa.”
    â€œThe library?” Jackie asked.
    Sarah snickered at her horrified expression.
    She led the girls back down the basement stairs, avoiding the squeaky one. They scrambled out the window, and Sarah returned it to its original position. The bright sun blinded her, and she stood in the yard blinking for several seconds.
    â€œTry and find out everything the police have on the Cat Lady’s murder,” Sarah instructed Lacey.
    â€œNo kidding, what’d ya think I was going to do? Ask him about Barbie dolls?”
    Sarah rolled her eyes. “Whatever, just be back at the willow tree by five.”
    With a wave, Lacey turned and walked down the street. Jackie and Sarah watched her walk away for a few minutes, and then began their short walk to the library.
    â€œYou know, the Cat Lady looked like a normal person in those pictures,” Jackie said.
    Sarah smirked. “See? I told you she wasn’t a witch.”
    â€œI don’t know if I’d go that far.”
    â€œOh, come on, you don’t still believe in witches, do you?”
    â€œWell, these stories have been around town…ever since I can remember.”
    Sarah chuckled. “That doesn’t make them true.”
    She peered down the street and saw the heat shimmering in the distance. It