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“And may I remind you that you’re my guests?” Jock added. “I don’t want to play hardball here, but you don’t even have a warrant. So technically I could ask you to leave.”

“Do you want to find your wife or not, Jock?” said Chase.

“Of course I want to find my wife! But you’re not going to find her in a trailer!”

“Grace!” Odelia called out. “Grace, are you there?”

“Oh, please,” said Jock. “This is embarrassing. Please, for her own sake, stop your niece, Alec.”

“Odelia, honey,” said Alec. “Maybe it’s time to head on home now.”

“Grace!” Odelia bellowed, now running towards the trailer. Suddenly the door opened and Gino walked out.

When he saw Odelia racing towards him, he directed a look of uncertainty at Jock.

“Stop her, Gino! She’s completely lost it!”

“Um, miss. You’re not supposed to be here,” he said, holding up his hand like a traffic cop.

But Odelia wasn’t deterred. “Grace!”

“Stop her, for crying out loud! Can’t you see she’s deranged?!”

Odelia had now entered the trailer, and we all waited with bated breath. Had Bertha made a bloomer? Had I?

And then, suddenly, Odelia reappeared, a look of satisfaction on her face. Behind her, Grace walked out, looking much the worse for wear, and then, finally, Fabio.

“Jock, you bastard!” Grace yelled.

And then Jock was running up that hill.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” said Uncle Alec, but lucky for him he had a fit and healthy deputy, and within seconds Chase was in hot pursuit.

We watched on as Jock clambered up the hill, but even before he reached the summit, Chase was upon him, and grabbed his legs. Both men fell and came tumbling down. At the bottom, a puddle of chicken dung was waiting, and they now both plunged into it.

“Yuck,” said Harriet. “That’s going to smell.”

Jock wasn’t giving in, though, and put up a good fight. The men exchanged a few blows, then fell down again. By then they were both covered in mud and chicken muck from head to toe, and were grappling like a pair of wannabe pro wrestlers.

Finally Chase got the upper hand and managed to subdue the chicken wing king, who cried out,“You can’t do this! I didn’t do anything!”

“You locked me up in a frickin shed, Jock!” Grace yelled. “Who does that?”

“I’m lodging a formal complaint with the painters’ association,” said Fabio. “And I can you tell right now they are not to be trifled with.”

Chase dragged the other man to his feet and came trudging out of that puddle.“Handcuffs, Alec,” he said, panting.

“Use your own,” said Alec. “I’m not giving you my nice and shiny handcuffs. You’ll only get them dirty.”

“Oh, just give him the handcuffs, Uncle Alec,” said Odelia.

And so Alec did as he was told. In due time Jock was handcuffed and read his rights while Alec called in reinforcements.

“I owe you an apology, Max,” said Harriet. “I thought you and Dooley had imagined things, but clearly you hadn’t.”

“I guess it wasn’t an oasis in the desert,” said Brutus, eyeing Chase with distaste.

“Jock knows about you guys,” said Odelia now. “He must have heard the rumors about me and my cats, and when this Gino Nickel guy told him he saw you in that shed up there, he must have figured better safe than sorry, and had Grace and Fabio moved.”

“Well, now he’s the one being locked up,” I said. “And good riddance, too.”

“He’s a smooth operator,” said Odelia. “He’s such a skilled liar I was actually starting to doubt myself.”

“Good thing Marge never married him,” said Harriet. “Or else he’d be your dad.”

“Oh, God forbid,” said Odelia with a slight shiver.

Alec had placed Gino Nickel under arrest, and both him and Jock now sat gloomily waiting to be taken to the police station.

“You did great, Odelia,” said Alec now. “And I’m getting animal control out here ASAP. I’m pretty sure there’s about a ton of regulations Jock has been violating.” Just then, his phone dinged, and he picked up. “Yes, Marge,” he said good-naturedly. He listened for a moment, then his face sagged. “The bank? Robbed? You’ve got to be kidding me!”

Chapter 39

Mayor Dirk Dunham was in his office, staring out the window. Down below, Hampton Cove stretched out before him. His town. His dominion. He smiled as he watched Hampton Covians walk past Town Hall, going about their business, while their beloved Mayor watched on, guarding over them like a benevolent god—all-knowing, all-seeing.

He liked the feeling. He liked being in control, and as he contemplated expanding his vision to include not just Hampton Cove but perhaps the entire county, or even the state, his thoughts returned to some troubling events that had transpired that morning.

Jock had called, telling him that nosy reporter Odelia Poole had been snooping around his chicken farm last night. At least he thought it was her, for no other reporter would be accompanied by a small contingent of cats. He had been able to confirm that it had, indeed, been the Poole woman, as her editor had called in to tell him they were running an article on the chicken farm and he should probably call animal control.