Empress Isabella and her cohorts are back under wraps, but now evil forces are toying with the imperial succession. Feline or canine, a plot to undermine the peace and security of Ramses is afoot, and it's up to Herc Tom, Champion of the Empire to discover what treachery is behind the cat's paw.

"The Cat's Paw" is a speculative fiction novelette, and is the tenth of the "Herc Tom, Champion of the Empire" stories, following "Purr Mission", "Nipped in the Butt", "Cat and Mouse", "Baastards' Revenge", "Imperial Purrogative", "Cats Out of the Bag", "Reining Cats and Dogs", "Imperial Imperilment", and "A Tail of Two Species."