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ôCotton Karat, or at least the man who was pretending to be Cotton Karat, was murdered last night. Someone shoved a tube down his throat, forced duck food into his stomach, and then proceeded to cut out his liver. Suffice it to say the man did not survive the treatment.ö

ôDid you say the man who was pretending to be Cotton?ö asked Scarlett, the first to recover from the shock.

ôYeah, turns out Cotton is in a rehab clinic, trying to kick a sex addiction,ö Chase grunted. ôSo the guy they hired to replace him for the time being ended up being the one who was murdered. Though itÆs safe to say that it was actually Cotton they were after.ö

ôSo let me get this straight,ö said Gran. ôThe man the killer thought was Cotton Karat was murdered in a manner very similar to the way ducks are slaughtered?ö

ôThatÆs exactly what happened,ö said Odelia, nodding. ôOnly his liver was subsequently removed and delivered to his office with a message from the Duck Liberation Front, announcing that this was only a first warning. So it looks as if your precious DLF is only getting started and more victims might follow this first one.ö

ôEspecially when they find out they got the wrong guy,ö Chase muttered.

ôI donÆt buy this,ö said Gran. ôMy DLF would never do such a horrible thing.ö

ôNo, weÆre all peace-loving people,ö Scarlett chimed in. ôWe donÆt condone violence.ö

ôAnyway, you can relax about Lita,ö said Odelia. ôTurns out she has a solid alibi for the time of the murder. Which isnÆt to say that someone else in your group isnÆt the murderer.ö

ôSpeaking of which,ö said Chase, ônow might be a good time to take a long, hard look at some of the other members, and find out who might be the person weÆre after.ö And to show them what he meant, he gave the twosome a long, hard look.

ôOh, no!ö said Gran immediately. ôYouÆre not going to get us to spy on our own!ö

ôVesta, maybe Chase has a point,ö said Scarlett. ôIf one of us is a killer, itÆs going to reflect very badly on the rest.ö

ôBut weÆre not police spies!ö

ôI thought that crime prevention was what the neighborhood watch did?ö asked Chase finely.

It was clear that two powerful emotions wrestled in GranÆs bosom: her allegiance to the duck cause on the one hand, and her leadership of the neighborhood watch on the other. Finally, the watch won, and she rolled her eyes. ôOh, all right. If youÆre going to get all heavy-handed on us.ö

ôSo youÆll take a closer look at the DLF membership?ö

ôYes, of course. Having a murderer in our midst probably is not a good thing.ö

ôIÆll say it isnÆt,ö said Harriet, as she gave me a curious look.

ôWhat?ö I asked, after having endured the look for all of five minutes.

ôI thought you were going to call us in when you needed our assistance?ö

ôI would have,ö I said. ôBut itÆs been one of those days. Hectic, if you see what I mean.ö

ôWeÆve been running around like headless ducks,ö Dooley added with a knowing nod.

ôAll right, fine,ö said Brutus. ôApologies accepted. So what do you want us to do?ö

I blinked. It only very rarely happens that Harriet and Brutus put their fate in my paws, and now that it had happened, I was unsure how to proceed. You see, IÆm one of those loner cats who like to do things all by themselves. I mean, I have Dooley assisting me, of course, but thatÆs it. IÆm not management material. I donÆt like to boss cats around.

ôWellàö I said, thinking hard if there was indeed stuff I could delegate. ôUmàö

ôOh, I see,ö said Harriet, her temper flaring up. ôYou donÆt want us around, is that it?ö

ôNo, of course not!ö I cried.

ôMax wants to have all the glory for himself, tootsie roll,ö Brutus grunted, giving me a dangerous look. ôHe wants to be the hero of this investigationùall the credit for himself.ö

ôNo, thatÆs not true!ö I said. ôOkay, look, I was thinking that maybe you can join Gran and Scarlett and infiltrate this duck group. And also, Cotton is holding a press conference this afternoon, and it might be a good idea to spread out and keep tabs on the crowd.ö

ôWay ahead of you, Maxie baby,ö said Brutus. ôAnd for your information: when the credits are finally awarded, I want it on record that we thought of it first, all right?ö

ôAll right,ö I said. ôOf course.ö

ôSo as it stands: weÆre the ones who are going to nab this vicious killer,ö said Harriet. ôNot you and Dooley. Me and Brutus. Capeesh?ö

ôAbsolutely,ö I said.

I must say that when the neighborhood watch finally rolled outùor should I say the Duck Liberation FrontùI was secretly relieved.

No, IÆm definitely not a born leader.

Chapter 16