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“I like this show,” said Dooley, perking up at the sound of the narrator, who seemed intent on lulling his audience to sleep. Which maybe was a good thing. Odelia at least stopped worrying her fingernails and her shoulders, which she’d almost pulled up to her ears, relaxed a little.

“My main suspect is dead,” Dooley told Gran.

“Oh? And who was your main suspect?” she asked with a smile.

“A man named Dick. Or Willy. But actually his name was Jared. And he liked to send people pictures of his sausage.”

Gran burst into laughter, and even Odelia was grinning from ear to ear.

“What’s so funny?” asked Dooley.

“Nothing, buddy,” said Gran, patting my friend on the head.

“I can’t believe you watch this stuff,” Harriet said, referring to the nature show, where the vividly-colored bird had now flown to a different tree to continue his singing. “It’s so boring,” she complained.

“It’s interesting,” Gran said. “You learn something about life. A damn sight better than those terrible reality shows you like to watch.”

“At least those reality shows are real,” Harriet countered.

“Yeah, right,” said Gran.

“I like it,” Brutus announced. “I like to watch birds. It relaxes me.”

“It is relaxing,” said Gran. “And great for your blood pressure. Better than pills.”

“What’s better than pills?” asked Tex as he came walking in the same way Gran had done. He was accompanied by Marge.

“The Discovery Channel,” said Gran. “Half an hour of this stuff and my blood pressure is almost back to normal.”

“Is it true what they’re saying?” asked Marge, darting a worried look at her daughter.

“What are they saying, Mom?” asked Odelia.

“That Rose Wimmer has been arrested for murder? Apparently she killed both her dad and Jared Zmuda.”

Odelia stared at her mom.“Who told you that?”

“Nobody. It’s on the website.”

“What website?”

“The Gazette. I assumed you wrote it?”

“No, I didn’t. In fact nobody is supposed to know Rose was arrested. We’re still hoping she’s innocent.”

“Well, the news is all over the Gazette,” said Marge and took out her phone.

Suddenly all the humans in the room took out their respective phones, and after a moment of frantic surfing, Odelia cried,“Oh, no, she didn’t!”

“Who did what now?” asked Gran, who was always a little slower operating her phone than the younger generation.

“Kimberly! She wrote an article accusing Rose of murder!” Odelia seemed terribly incensed, for her face had turned red and she was gripping that phone so hard I was afraid it would fold under the pressure. “That’s my story! She had absolutely no right to…”

“Police sources,” said Gran, who’d managed to pull up the story and was intently staring at her phone. “What police sources?”

“Someone must have blabbed,” said Odelia. “And it sure wasn’t Chase or my uncle.” Her face had taken on a mutinous look. “I’m going to talk to Dan. This is outrageous.” But before she could call her editor, her phone sang out a tune and she immediately picked up. “Yes, Chase? Any news?”

“Put it on speaker, will you?!” Gran loud-whispered.

Odelia complied, and suddenly Chase’s voice sounded from Odelia’s phone. “I’m afraid we found some very damning evidence in Rose’s room, babe,” the cop said.

“What damning evidence?”

“A quick look at her computer reveals she’s been googling ‘Ways to make a murder look like a suicide’ and ‘How many sleeping pills does it take to kill a person.’”

“Oh, dear,” said Odelia, closing her eyes.

“Also your uncle discovered a police report filed three years ago. Turns out Rose stabbed her dad with a kitchen knife. Police were called for a domestic disturbance incident, but no charges were ever brought against her.”

“This isn’t good,” said Odelia, probably the understatement of the evening.

“So I’m afraid the Chief has placed her under arrest for the murder of her dad and the murder of Jared Zmuda. I’m sorry, babe.”

“I don’t understand. Why would she ask me to investigate her dad’s murder if she was guilty? And why kill Jared and then leave those wire cutters lying around, covered in her fingerprints?”

“She’s not a professional killer, Odelia. She’s just a girl who’s very disturbed. Look, I gotta go. Rose’s mom just arrived with a lawyer and we’re going to do the first interview.”

“Keep me informed, will you?”

“Will do,” he said, and signed off.

For a moment, silence hung heavy in the room, then that man on TV said, still in those same unctuous tones,“And there is the female of the species now, answering the male’s mating call. His colorful plumage has sealed the deal again.”

And Rose Wimmer’s amateurism had sealed her fate.

Chapter 27

That night Odelia slept a little fitfully. Chase hadn’t come home—he was probably still working on the case—and finally our human had decided to go to bed. And instead of going to cat choir, as we usually do, we decided to stay home and keep her company.

“Sad, isn’t it, Max?” said Dooley quietly.

We were both lying at the foot of the bed and didn’t want to disturb Odelia by talking too loudly.

“Yeah, terrible business,” I said commiseratively.