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“Nan’s always been a lot strange, but she’s also always been honest and upfront. At least that’s what I thought.” I sighed and took another sip from my can of Diet Coke. Yes, I knew he was hurting from that morning’s slight, but I was hurting, too—and if you asked me, it was for far bigger, far more painful reasons.

My cat studied me with large amber eyes.“You’re really upset by this, aren’t you?”

I nodded and sighed again.“I really am.”

He moaned as if in terrible agony.“Well, that won’t do. Let’s go rouse the raccoon and get this over with.” He traipsed out of the kitchen, his tail held high as he led the way to his electronic pet door and slipped outside.

Aww, he really did love me. Sometimes I still wondered about that, given his hot and cold behavior when it came to pretty much everything he ever encountered. But today his willingness to do something that mildly annoyed him in order to mend my badly broken heart gave me all kinds of warm fuzzies.

When I joined him outside on the porch, he sat and motioned with one paw toward the giant gaping hole that led into Pringle’s lair. “Well, go ahead.”

I approached slowly, my voice soft, beseeching.“Pringle?”

“What do you want?” the raccoon growled from somewhere under his porch. Actually, it was my porch. Must not forget that.

“I was wondering if you could help us get to the bottom of that secret you shared with me last night?” I begged.

If my cat’s moods ran hot and cold, Pringle wavered between the freezing and boiling points on that same wretched thermometer. His warm was almost angry, though. In fact, did we really need his help? Was it worth dealing with his attitude and trickery?

Yes, I realized, my heart dropping to the ground. Yes, we did need him. Darn it.

He poked his head out of the hole and grimaced.“Actually, I’m not very happy with you right now.” That was unexpected.

“What? Why?” I was already having a hard time coming to him hat in hands. If I had to spend half the morning groveling and begging, we’d never make any progress at all.

He rubbed his temples and squinted hard against the rising sun. Well, at least we both gave each other headaches.

“I wasn’t giving you the papers,” he explained with a tired yet demanding voice. “I showed them to you to see, not to keep. I refuse to help until you give back what’s mine.”

Octo-Cat came galloping over with impressive speed.“Excuse you? Don’t those papers actually belong to Nan? Didn’t you steal them away from her in the first place?”

“Not helping,” I groaned, nudging Octo-Cat gently to the side with my foot, a slight I knew I’d pay for later. “I’m sorry, Pringle. That was really rude of me. I was just in such shock that I forgot. I’ll go get them for you right now.”

When I returned with the letter and birth certificate in hand, Pringle was waiting on the porch.

“I’ll take those,” he said, yanking them away even though I would’ve given them to him freely. He tucked both into his armpit and crossed his arms over his chest. “Now, how can I help you? Make it snappy. I’m a very busy animal, you know.”

I nodded toward the papers he’d stashed within his gray fur. “Those told part of a secret, but not the whole thing. I need to know the rest. Can you help?”

He cocked his head to the side and sighed heavily.“That depends.”

Octo-Cat hissed and raised the hair on his back.“Depends? Depends! Stop being a furry jerk wad and help already. You started this!”

“Madame, please control your associate.” He shook his head as if this all pained him greatly.

“Octo-Cat, I’ve got this,” I told him with an apologetic smile, then turned back to the raccoon with what I was sure had to be a very poorly concealed grimace. “Go ahead, Pringle.”

The raccoon walked a few paces, then turned his face over his shoulder dramatically and sized me up.“I’m not sure how much you get around the forest these days, but I’m not just some amateur gumshoe. I’m a legitimate business animal now.”

Octo-Cat exploded upon hearing this claim.“I don’t believe this. Does he reall—”

As much as I hated to do it, I pushed my best feline friend through the pet door and then blocked it with my leg.“You’re in business?” I asked peaceably.

He nodded animatedly; his chest puffed with pride.“Yes, indeed. You’re looking at the proud owner and key talent behind Pringle Whisperer, P.I. I’ll have you know that it’s the very best investigation firm in the area.”

I pinched the skin on the inside of my wrist to stop myself from saying something snarky. I had no idea this masked thief stole ideas and business models in addition to papers and trinkets. I also hugely resented the implication that his P.I. outfit was superior to the one I ran with Octo-Cat. But, ugh, I still needed his help.

“Congratulations,” I managed, thinking it was a good thing I had pushed Octo-Cat in through the cat door, otherwise there would be a definite brawl right about now. “So can I hire you to help me out here?”