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“No, that never happened,” Reinhart protested. “Look, I admit I wanted to—and when she came on to me I was sorely tempted. But I was strong—for you and for the kids—for our family!”

“Oh, aren’t you the big hero.”

“I never gave into temptation!”

“You’re lying, I can tell.”

“I’m not!”

“Your ears are twitching.”

“They’re not,” he said with a little laugh.

“They are, too.” There was a pause. “So you and Kimberlee never…”

“Never,” he said, and sounded earnest. “Besides, she was already having an affair with Verna at the time, and I didn’t want to be just another notch on her belt, you know.”

“So you wanted to have an affair but you decided she didn’t like you enough, is that it?”

“That’s not what I said. She tried to seduce me, and I told her in no uncertain terms no way, no how. I was married to one of her best friends, for crying out loud. She didn’t seem to think that mattered one way or the other.”

“She was never my friend,” said Alina quietly. “I thought she was for a while, but now I see she was just playing me, like she played everyone she came into contact with. We were all simply means to an end. Stepping stones for her to reach the top. The only reason she wanted to sleep with youis because you’re a very important recording artist, Reinhart. And you could have introduced her to a lot of very important people. Helped her career.”

“Could being the keyword. I never gave into temptation, babe, I swear.”

“Oh, Reinhart, you’re such a jerk.”

“I know, babe. But I’m your jerk.”

“What am I going to do with you?”

I had the distinct impression the scene was about to turn mushy so I told Dooley,“Let’s go. There’s nothing more for us to learn here.”

Kissing sounds came from inside the room, and some moaning, too.

“I think Alina is in danger, Max,” said Dooley. “We should do something.”

“She’ll be fine. This has got nothing to do with the case and everything to do with human frailty and the tendency to fall for the wrong person.”

So we hopped the balustrade again and when we reached the next balcony I was over the moon to discover we’d finally reached our destination: inside Chase, Odelia and Gran were arguing about something.

“You have to tell them, Odelia!” Gran was saying. “It’s not fair to keep them in the dark like this.”

“I’ll tell them when this is all over. When we’re home.”

“Better tell them now, or they’ll never trust you again.”

“Maybe I can tell them,” said Chase, a smile in his voice.

They both ignored him.“Let’s talk about this later,” said Odelia.

“No, let’s talk about this now. For the last time,” said Gran, “youhave to tell the cats the operation is irreversible. They’llnever have baby cats.Ever.”

Chapter 27

“Oh, hey, you guys,” said Odelia when Max and Dooley stepped into the room. “Um… how much did you hear?”

“We heard everything,” Max said ominously.

“They heard everything, right?” said Chase. “They don’t look happy.”

“You wouldn’t look happy if you just overheard someone say you could never have babies,” said Gran.

“Sorry,” said Chase, a little lamely, then picked up Max and repeated, louder, “I’m very sorry about that, Max—but you can still lead a full and happy life, even though you can’t have babies!”

“They’re cats—not deaf,” said Gran.

Chase put Max down again.“Sorry, buddy. This is all new for me.”

“Look, just tell us already,” said Max. “We’re big cats. We can take it.”

“I’m sorry,” said Odelia, crouching down and sitting cross-legged. “The thing is, this operation you both had? It’s irreversible.”

“So the stuff Milo said…”

“No operation is going to fix this, no matter what Milo said.”

“Harriet is not going to like this,” said Max.

“Or Brutus,” said Dooley.

Odelia eyed Dooley with concern.“Dooley, I know I should have had the talk with you a long time ago, but I always figured you were too young.”

“Wait, you never had the talk with your cats?” asked Chase. “That’s crazy!”

“Chase, shut up,” said Gran.

“Shutting up,” Chase muttered.

“What talk?” asked Dooley.

“This is the birds and bees thing I was telling you about,” said Max.

“Look, when a man and a woman want to make a baby…” said Odelia.

“This is so weird,” said Chase with a light chuckle.

“Chase,” said Gran warningly.

“Or when a tomcat and a queen want to have a baby cat.”

“Or half a million baby cats,” said Max.

“So the thing is…” Odelia said. “Um…”

“Oh, just tell him already!” said Gran.

“Shut up, Gran.”

“Maybe I’ll tell them,” Chase suggested. “Man to man, you know.”

“Shut up, Chase,” snapped Gran.

“The thing is…” said Odelia, then faltered again.

“It’s not that hard,” said Max. “Look, Dooley. You know how a bee flies from flower to flower right?”

“Uh-huh.”

“And the bee takes a little bit of pollen from one flower and delivers it to another flower, and it sets in motion a process of creating new flowers?”

“Uh-huh,” he said again, listening attentively.

“Well, the same thing happens when a male and a female of the species meet. The male takes the pollen to the female, and poof! A new baby is born.”

“Ooh, I think I understand,” said Dooley with a smile.