SOLVED. Fantasy/fiction, about sociopathic artistic prodigy; he has a pet cat that talks to birds [s]

[caracal-eyes]

I think this was a fairly short book, or else a short story. The boy from a young age was clearly an artistic genius. His mother got a (retired?) art teacher to give the kid lessons. Pretty sure the drawings were pen-and-ink. One of the characters is his pet cat who sits on the roof sometimes and talks to the birds there--crows? (view spoiler)[The parents divorce, possibly because the son's a sociopath. I think the mom and the art teacher end up together. Eventually the kid's drawings become these complex tangles of lines on large canvases, in which different people see completely different subjects with strong emotional impact to them, presumably projected by their own subconscious. At some point the boy pushes his dad down the stairs when he comes to visit (the mom and kid live in an apartment). He later kills an old woman (I think) by dropping something out the window, then pushes his friend out, blames his friend, and says the boy fell by accident while dropping something heavy (candlestick? lamp?) out window, or maybe jumped. Either there's a trial, or he's at home awaiting the trial. He goes up to roof of the apartment building, accompanied by the cat. Pretty sure one of the birds there helps push the boy when he's standing on the edge of the roof in indecision. His art becomes very famous; many are convinced by what they see in it that he was innocent, but others who see it are equally convinced he must have been guilty. (hide spoiler)]

It is maddening that I can remember so many details, yet completely blank on author or possible title. There may be a cat on the cover--possibly a black cat, not sure. Hope the description rings a bell.

[caracal-eyes]

Never mind! After A LOT of searching, I finally found it: A Peaceable Kingdom by Richard Borovsky. It wasn't on Goodreads, so I've added it. As I remember, it was pretty good--certainly it made an impression, or I wouldn't have remembered so much.

Guess I'll just change this to "solved."