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“I still can’t believe that Jeb’s daughter was behind this whole thing,” said Harriet. “She seemed like such a nice little poppet.”

“A nice little murderous poppet,” Brutus growled.

Fae had made a full confession and would soon appear in court. It was hard to believe that someone so young could commit an act so atrocious, but there it was.

“I heard that she used to hurt cats,” said Harriet.

“Where did you hear that?” asked Brutus.

“Hurt cats?” said Dooley, stunned. “But that’s terrible!”

“Tigger told me, and he heard it from Buster, the hairdresser’s cat, who heard it from one of the customers. Yes, she hurt little kittens when she was only a little girl herself. She was in therapy for a while, after her parents found out.”

“Obviously it didn’t stick,” said Brutus.

“But that’s awful!” Dooley cried.

“Yeah, that wasn’t very nice,” Harriet admitted.

“Not nice! How can anyone hurt a little kitten!” Dooley wailed.

Harriet had finally broken down and had accepted the kittens into her heart. A little late, though, for they’d gone home with Elsie.

“I need that video, Alec,” Gran was saying.

“You can’t have it! That video is police property now, not to mention evidence. You can’t just post police evidence on your blog.”

“Flog, not blog.”

“Vlog, Gran,” said Odelia. “Not flog.”

“Vlog, flog, who cares! I need that video. I’ll get millions of followers if I can just post that video, and—”

“And finally trump Scarlett? You should be ashamed of yourself, Mom,” said Marge. “Showing such a horrible video just to get more likes and followers. That’s just wrong.”

Gran seemed taken aback by this, then she nodded.“You know what, Marge, I think you may have a point.”

“Of course I have a point! If you post that video you’re no better than Scarlett who posts videos of her cleavage just to attract more views, or those women shaking their butts.”

“Murder isn’t the same as cleavage or butts,” said Tex, muttering his two cents. “Just saying.”

He was flipping burgers on the grill, and was actually getting pretty good at it, too.

“I still think it’s amazing how Odelia caught that girl,” said Chase, who still hadn’t gotten over the fact that his first hunch had been wrong and that Odelia was right.

“Intuition, honey,” said Marge, giving the burly cop’s shoulder a squeeze. “More potato salad?”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Chase, as Marge ladled a big helping onto his plate.

“And there’s chocolate cake for dessert, so leave some space in that stomach of yours.”

“Oh, the kid’s got a big stomach,” said Uncle Alec, slapping his own voluminous belly.

“You know?” said Gran. “Maybe I should give this whole flogging thing a rest. You’re right, Marge. Posting all that horrible stuff online just to get a couple more views is just not right. Maybe from now on I’ll post videos of cute kittens instead. How about that?”

“That’s the spirit,” said Uncle Alec, raising his glass in a toast.

“So what’s going to happen to Jeb now?” asked Marge.

“Looks like he’s cleaning up his act,” said Odelia. “There may even be a reconciliation in the works between him and Helena, who’s pretty devastated after what their daughter did.”

“She knew, didn’t she?”

“Fae told her just before we arrived for that second interview. That’s why she was crying so hard. She knew but didn’t know what to do. If she told the police, her daughter was going to jail. And if she didn’t, her ex-husband was. Either way, she was in hell.”

“I can only imagine what that must be like,” said Marge. “For your own daughter to do something so horrific, so evil.” She shivered.

“Let’s not talk about terrible stuff like that anymore,” said Gran. “Let’s focus on the good stuff and forget about murder and mayhem for a moment.” She raised her own glass. “To Odelia. The finest sleuth in Hampton Cove, maybe even the entire county.”

“Odelia,” said the others, and all drank to my human’s health.

“Pity we can’t toast her,” said Dooley.

“We can take good care of her,” I said. “That’s all she needs.”

“You know,” said Harriet. “I have an idea.”

Uh-oh.“Yes?” I said tentatively.

“Why don’t we suggest to Odelia that she adopt three new kittens. We can name them Bim 2, Bam 2 and Bom 2, and we’ll all take care of them together.”

Dooley and Brutus and I shared a look, then we all shook our heads.

“As much as I love Bim, Bam and Bom,” said Dooley, “I think four cats is enough.”

“Agreed,” Brutus grunted.

“Agreed,” I said.

Harriet rolled her eyes.“You guys! First you tell me to love kittens, and now that I finally do, you tell me not to! You’re more fickle than me! And that’s saying something.”

We all laughed at this, even Harriet.

And then Chase came walking over, and handed us all pieces of fresh burger, and for a few moments the only sound that could be heard was four cats munching on patties, and six humans munching on burgers, while more meat was gently sizzling on the grill.

Suddenly a black cloud rose up from the grill, and Tex shouted,“Darn it! Not again!”

12. PURRFECTLY CLUELESS

Chapter 1