The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell
Lilian Jackson Braun
 This story occurs during Pickax’s 150th anniversary celebration, called Pickax Now, and which takes place over the course of one year. Qwilleran’s barn is going to be sketched by an architectural student as part of his entry portfolio for architectural college. The young architect is Harvey Ledfield, nephew of Nathan and Doris Ledfield. The Ledfields are one of the rich old families who live in the community of Purple Point. Harvey brings along his fiancée Clarissa Moore, who is in Journalism School. When they arrive, Harvey begins sketching but then Koko drops on his head, something he had never done before. Clarissa breaks up with Harvey after they return Down Below, but she returns to Pickax looking for a job at The Moose County Something. She confesses to Qwilleran she never was really engaged to Harvey; he just wants Nathan and Doris to think he is going to get married and continue the Ledfield bloodline. As they are childless, he hopes they will support his plans and leave him a substantial inheritance. During the Pickax Now celebrations, Qwilleran attends the Ogilvie-Fugtree reunion, because he knows the hosts and plans to write about it for his column. Two cousins go out rabbit hunting, and only one returns. Both were set to receive a large sum of money from a rich uncle, so it would seem one killed the other for the money. The other rabbit hunter is indeed found dead, so the first is arrested. However, he is later released because of a lack of evidence. It is never said whether the shooting was murder or accidental death. In the meantime, the Ledfields have come down with allergies, but this seems unimportant until Clarissa brings something to Qwill’s attention. Harvey had never got Clarissa a ring so Doris gave her one before she knew the engagement was a ruse. Clarissa wanted to give it back, but she could not get the Ledfields on the phone nor was she allowed to go in their house. Qwilleran calls the Ledfields’ doctor, who says she too was considering calling in an allergy specialist. Before any more can be done however, both the Ledfields die from respiratory complications. Clarissa brings her friend Vicky to Pickax to participate in a kitten auction for charity and to watch the Labor Day Pickax Now parade. She leaves before she has a chance to speak to Qwilleran, but she leaves a letter for him. Apparently Harvey had come up to Moose County not too long ago, looking for money to finance a ski lodge. But the Ledfields are unwilling to give money to such a venture; they are only willing to pay for his college tuition. Clarissa informs Harvey, Vicky and Vicky’s boyfriend about deadly mold, which she wrote a report on for journalism school, and Vicky’s boyfriend, a construction specialists, said that it could be found in the closets of old houses. Clarissa tells Vicky how Harvey became furious when the Ledfields would not fund the ski lodge even though it seemed he would be entering college and he had a fiancée. He even refused to go to church that morning, and Vicky suspected he had used the time to put mold in the ventilation shafts of the Ledfields' bedroom. Qwilleran shared this with the police, and Harvey is arrested. In the meantime, the Ledfields' wills is opened, revealing that the Ledfields left their collection of mounted animals to the city and funded the creation of a music center in Pickax and a museum in their old home. They also gave funds for a massive music foundation that would make the Ledfield name famous worldwide, to be set up in a city with a population of one million or more. Shortly after the mystery is solved, a tragic accident at the ill-fated Black Creek bridge takes the life of Qwill's long-time eccentric friend, Elizabeth Hart, the owner of the Grist Mill fine restaurant. In honor of her, the Black Creek Bridge is set to be repaired so that no more deaths occur.