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Odelia frowned.“Maybe that’s not such a bad idea.” She’d never realized just how dangerous that park could be. Certainly at night. She knew about cat’s eyes being a lot more powerful than a human’s. But they weren’t infallible. On a moonless night, things got so dark that even cats wouldn’t be able to see where they were going. They might inadvertently stumble into the pond and… She shivered just thinking about it. With the swiftness that is the hallmark of your top reporter, she made a decision. “Let’s do it. Let’s teach you guys how to swim. Only I don’t think Chase is the right person for the job. For one thing, he won’t be able to understand you. No, I’ll do it. Or, better yet, Mom, Gran and I will do it. Only we’ll have to do it someplace where we won’t be overheard, or even seen.”

“Maybe we could go down to the beach one morning, very early?” Max suggested.

“Better not. Even when there’s no wind, those waves will be tough to negotiate for a beginning swimmer. And I don’t want you swept out into deeper waters. It has to be a pool. A shallow one.” Maybe a bathtub? Her own was too small, though, and so was her mom’s.

“There must be private pools we could sneak into,” said Max. “The Hamptons is teeming with pools.”

That was true. In the course of her work as a reporter for the Gazette she’d seen pools that would have made Esther Williams salivate. “I’ll figure it out,” she said. “Now tell me again what that funny little duck said.”

“Yellow parka—Knicks ball cap—sunglasses,” said Brutus dutifully.

“And she’s sure it was a man?”

“Pretty sure. Though she wouldn’t recognize his face if she saw it.”

“Mh. Too bad. Do you think we should take her to a sketch artist?”

Max, Dooley and Brutus shared a glance in the rearview mirror, then shook their heads in unison.“She’s not your most reliable witness,” said Max.

“What makes you say that? She volunteered the information, didn’t she?”

“She also declared Brutus an honorary duck on account of his unique bug-gathering skills,” said Max.

“And she called Max fat,” Dooley added.

Those were all proof she was an excellent eyewitness. Then again, it was one thing to take a cat to a sketch artist, and pretend Gran or Odelia were actually supplying the witness statement—like they’d done recently—and quite another to take a duck. Although the duck could talk to Max, and Max could join Odelia at the sketch artist. Or they could even take the sketch artist to the pond, and Max could translate the duck’s quackings to Odelia, who could relate them to the artist. She sighed. It all seemed fairly unfeasible. Not to mention the sketch artist would probably think she was nuts. Not that this would be a new thing. Many people in Hampton Cove thought she and her mom and grandma were a little… weird. The reputation of the Poole women as crazy cat ladies was well-established amongst the locals.

“Okay. For now I’ll tell Uncle Alec to look for a man dressed in a yellow parka, wearing a Knicks cap and sunglasses.”

Which could be anyone. And the killer would have removed the outfit the moment he left the scene. It still boggled the mind anyone would be so brazen to attack a woman in a public place in broad daylight and get away with it.

“Do I really have to see Vena?” asked Brutus for the umpteenth time.

“Yes, you do,” she said. “You almost drowned, Brutus. And that water is not clean. Who knows what diseases you picked up. You might have to get shots.”

“Shots!” he cried, sitting up.

“Or maybe not. Let’s see what Vena says.”

“That water was pretty rank,” Dooley agreed.

“Ducks poop in the water. Just saying,” said Max.

Brutus gulped.“The things I do for my human,” he muttered.

She stroked his head.“And your human appreciates it very much. Though next time you might want to be more careful. We don’t want to lose you, buddy. Talking about losing—where is Harriet? I haven’t seen her all day.”

Another shared look in the rearview mirror.“Um…” Brutus began.

“She’s home,” Max quickly interjected. “Doesn’t want to miss quality time with Gran.”

“Quality time with Gran,” Odelia repeated slowly. That was a first. There was something they weren’t telling her. She decided not to press them. Sooner or later they’d come clean.

She stomped her foot down on the gas, and soon they were hurtling along the road on their way to the vet. She parked right in front of Vena’s office and carried Brutus in, while Max and Dooley entered under their own steam. They might not like it, but Vena was a life saver. Literally. Soon she’d checked out Brutus and declared him fit for duty. Apparently even swallowing a gallon of pond muck hadn’t put a dent in the butch cat. Brutus clearly was a force to be reckoned with. And then they were cruising for the homestead. It had been a long day and Odelia couldn’t wait to be home and put the day’s events behind her.

But first she had an article to write. Or, rather, two: one about Dany, and one about Chase’s brave rescue mission. It was Dany Cooper she couldn’t stop thinking about, though.