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“They’re saying they thought you figured it out a while back—particularly that one time when you were out on the porch and you interrogated them.”

“They understood what I was saying? But this is incredible!”

“Yeah, it is kinda incredible,” said Odelia with a smile. “The thing is—no one can know, Chase. Which is why I didn’t want to tell you until… Well, until I was…”

“Until she knew you were the real deal,” said Gran, finishing Odelia’s sentence.

Chase glanced up at Odelia.“I’m the real deal?”

She nodded a little coyly.

He stared at me for a moment, then said,“Translate this for me, will you? What kind of underwear was I wearing yesterday morning?”

“No need to translate,” said Odelia. “They can understand us humans pretty well. Max?”

“Is this a trick question? Dancing blue mice on a pink background.”

“Dancing blue mice on a pink background,” said Odelia.

“Oh, my God,” said Chase with a grin of surprise. “He’s the only one who saw me, so it must be true.”

“Of course it’s true, you numbnuts,” said Gran. “Do you think we’d be lying about a thing like that? Now get with the program or remove yourself from the room already, would you?”

“Oh, I’m staying put,” he said, still staring at me. “Amazing. I mean, I had my suspicions, but…” He looked up. “Does Tex know?”

“Of course. Dad has known for years. And so does Uncle Alec. They’re the only ones, though.”

“My husband didn’t know—I never felt like telling him,” said Gran. “And he wouldn’t have believed me anyway. But then he was a jackass.”

“Can I… learn the language?” asked Chase.

Odelia shook her head.“It’s not so much about language than about some sort of mystical connection. Only the women in our family have the gift.”

“Yeah, Alec doesn’t have it,” Gran confirmed. “Though he claims he can talk to goats. Easy for him to say. I’ve never seen a goat in Hampton Cove.”

“Alec can talk to goats?” asked Chase.

“I think he was pulling my leg.” She clapped her hands. “Now can we get going on this murder business? I want this wrapped before dinner. I don’t do murder mysteries on a full stomach, and something tells me I’m going to indulge tonight.”

“Okay,” said Odelia. “Max, you and the others spread out and talk to as many pets as you can.”

“I thought we weren’t supposed to wander around?” said Harriet.

“Emerald isn’t allergic, I’m sure of it,” said Gran. “She didn’t even sneeze once. So you wander around to your heart’s content, my pet.”

“Meanwhile we’ll take another look at the crime scene photos,” said Odelia. “Maybe there’s something we overlooked.”

She opened the door to let us out, and the four of us tiptoed from the room. As we moved out, Chase gave us a big thumbs-up. We gave him a paws-up in return, and then we were off to the races.

Chapter 24

I thought our mission lacked both purpose and structure, and I said as much to the others.“I mean, it’s not as if we’re in downtown Hampton Cove and we can chat to Kingman and Clarice and the others and find out what the word on the street is,” I said.

“This time we have to find out what the word in the castle is,” said Dooley, as he glanced around this new environment admiringly.

“It’s not a castle, Dooley,” said Harriet. “It’s just a big house.”

“A castle is a big house,” I said.

“Fine, whatever,” said Harriet, who was clearly not in the best of moods.

“Are you all right, tootsie roll?” asked Brutus, who’d noticed the same thing.

“I don’t get why humans can settle down and have a nice little family and when us cats try to do the same they sound the alarm.”

“Didn’t you hear Gran?” I said. “A single cat can produce offspring numbering almost half a million souls. That’s a lot of mouths to feed. And where do you think those cats will end up? At the pound, being euthanized.”

“What’s euthanized, Max?” asked Dooley without missing a beat.

“That’s nothing for you to concern yourself with, Dooley,” I said.

“Euthanized is when they keep cats at the pound indefinitely,” said Harriet.

“Indefinitely, as in they never get to leave the pound and find a home?”

“That’s right,” I said. It wasn’t a lie, per se. Those cats would never leave the pound. Alive, at least. “So you see, this neutering business is the humane thing to do.”

“It may be humane, but it’s definitely not feline,” grumbled Harriet.

“We can still adopt, sweet pea,” said Brutus.

“It’s not the same and you know it,” Harriet said. “I’m going to ask Odelia to make an exception for me. All she needs to do is to ask Vena to untie my tube, then tie it up again when I’ve had my 2.4 babies. How hard can it be?”

“She also needs to untie my tube,” said Brutus, who didn’t seem to like the prospect of being operated on.

“So? That’s a small sacrifice to make for eternal bliss and familial happiness,” said Harriet, giving her mate a gentle nudge.

“Oh, all right,” he said. “We’ll ask Odelia once we’ve finished this mission.” He turned to me. “What’s our mission, Max?”

“Talk to all creatures great and small and report back to Odelia,” I said. “Oh, and try to stay out of Emerald’s way. She may or may not be allergic.”