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ôWhy not? Odelia kisses Chase all the time.ö

ôYes, but thatÆs because she makes allowances: because she loves him. But I donÆt think they love Diedrich, do they?ö

ôItÆs not about love, Dooley. ItÆs about saving a life.ö

ôBut cooties, Max! Think about the cooties!ö

Luckily Chase managed to calm the man down, and his face lost its dark color.

ôItÆs just a routine part of our inquiry, sir,ö said the cop. ôNow can you tell us if your son has any enemies that you know of? Apart from those angry shareholders, of course.ö

ôWell, Ebony Pilay was pretty upset with him, at least according to Tobias. And then thereÆs those duck people. The Duck Liberation Army or whatever theyÆre called.ö

ôDuck Liberation Front,ö Odelia corrected him.

ôIt must be them, right? TheyÆre the ones who sent BlandineÆs liver to the office.ö

ôThe person in charge of the Duck Liberation Front has a solid alibi,ö said Chase. ôSo it canÆt have been her.ö

ôSo one of her followers did it. TheyÆre all nuts, as far as IÆm concerned. Absolutely bonkers. Who would want to save a duck? You might as well try and save the pigeons. Though IÆm sure thereÆs probably a Pigeon Liberation Front out there as well. Or even a Rat Liberation Army. The worldhas gone stark-raving mad, thatÆs all I can think.ö

Dooley turned to me with a questioning look on his face, but even before he could speak, I said,ôNo, there is no Pigeon Liberation Front or Rat Liberation Army, Dooley. At least I donÆt think there is.ö

ôThere should be, though, wouldnÆt you agree? Those poor pigeons having to beg for corn kernels and those poor rats having to sniff around dumpsters and stuff.ö

I sighed.ôIÆm sure both pigeons and rats are perfectly happy with their lot in life.ö

ôAre you planning to increase security now that Cotton is returning home?ö asked Chase.

ôOh, absolutely. Tobias is handling all of that. And I hope he doesnÆt screw up,ö the retired business mogul added in a threatening tone. ôOr else IÆll have his hide.ö

Dooley chuckled quietly.ôTheyÆll have to start a Tobias Liberation Front soon,ö he said.

Chapter 19

Even though Cotton had pretty much dumped his wife like one does a pair of old socks, Dawn Karat hadnÆt suffered financially in the divorce, as the big pile where she lived proved. It wasnÆt as grand as Pop KaratÆs place, but it was nothing to be sniffed at either.

The former Mrs. Cotton Karat received us in what she called her library, though I didnÆt see a lot of books in evidence. Instead the shelves were loaded with DVDs.

I saw that Dawn still hadnÆt lost those thirty pounds, and probably had gained another thirty since the divorce, but she was still a handsome woman. She was dressed in a colorful flowing kaftan and was wearing a silk scarf around her head. Shiny gold earrings peeped from beneath the scarf, and she looked as healthy as shedid happy.

In fact it wasnÆt too much to say the woman was absolutely radiant.

ôSo they cut out his liver and shipped it off to his own office, did they?ö she asked. ôHow ghastly!ö But her beaming smile belied her words. ôHow absolutely ghoulish.ö

ôWhere were you last night between ten and midnight, Mrs. Karat?ö asked Chase. But if heÆd hoped to put a dent in the womanÆs sheer delight, he was disappointed.

ôI was right here, of course. A real homebody, me.ö

ôCan anyone vouch for you?ö

ôMy daughter, and a brace of servants. In fact Inari and I watched one of our favorite movies last night.Bedazzled! You know, about the man who sells his soul to the devil.ö She winked. ôRemind you of someone?ö

ôIf youÆre referring to your ex-husbandàö

ôOf course! Though in his case he couldnÆt sell his soul since he never had one to begin with. Or a heart, for that matter. Oh, there you are, sweetie. These people are from the police. TheyÆve come to question us about that gruesome murder.ö

A young woman had entered the room, looking a lot like her mother. Though she wasnÆt dressed in a kaftan but simple ripped jeans and a sweater. Her hair hung loose around her shoulders and she wore no makeup to speak of. She was pretty enough to pull it off. Not supermodel pretty, but beautiful in a wholesome way. She took a seat next to her mom, toed off her sneakers and sat cross-legged. ôSo was it really Dad they tried to kill?ö

ôAbsolutely!ö said her mother. ôThe man who died was pretending to be your dad, wasnÆt he?ö

ôWill he be all right?ö asked the young woman. ôDad, I mean. Is he being protected?ö

ôHeÆs fine,ö Dawn assured her. ôTheyÆre not going to let another madman near him now, are they?ö There was a touch of wistfulness in her voice. ôThe policeman just asked me where I was last night.ö

ôHere,ö said Inari immediately. ôWe were watchingBedazzled.ö

ôInari is studying to be a film director,ö Dawn explained. ôSo weÆve been watching a lot of movies together, havenÆt we, darling?ö

Inari nodded, and chewed a thoughtful fingernail.ôSo was it the duck people who killed that man? Did you arrest them?ö