Cookies for Mr. Martin

Doug Martin, 40-ish, is depressed to hear that cats and kittens are going missing in his condo complex. He begins wondering if his elderly neighbor, Mrs. Fiedler, might be involved when he spots some inconsistencies in her story about her new cat, Bogie. Against advice to butt out, he breaks into her condo when she leaves to do her food shopping. He finds no evidence of a cat - especially no litter box. Having forgotten her coupons, Mrs. Fielder returns and finds Doug in her home.

Holding him at gunpoint, she confesses that there is no Bogie and that she has been stealing from condo owners courtesy of some forgotten passageways in the building. She has killed all the missing cats to give the powers-that-be something to keep themselves busy. She's concerned that they plan on renovating the buildings, which would lead to her passageways being found.

What she's also been doing, Doug learns to his disgust, is cooking the remains of her husband - a hefty man that everyone (even his children) believes was cremated. She looks upon it as a way to stretch her fixed income. She tells Doug that, if he doesn't help her dispose of her husband's remains, she will visit his condo through the secret passageways one night and kill him. Seeing what she is capable of, he believes her.

The story ends with him having gone over for dinner every night and wondering what kind of wine would go best with tonight's meal.