31906844db5c02010017a90f3f2ca805

“And an entire room just to fit all of her clothes. You should see the size of it—there’s easily thousands of dresses in there, and the most gorgeous outfits. And shoes. Oh, my God so many shoes!”

“There’s also a private dining room with a window that overlooks the pool and gardens. I mean, this is something else, you guys.”

“We saw her personal stash of Coke Emerald. There’s a roomful of them, and she keeps them chilled, the AC at full blast. That woman loves Coke.”

“There was a maid there, which is how we got in. But then she saw us and started chasing us around with a broom! So we had to hide out on the balcony, which is how we got back here—hopping from balcony to balcony.”

I stared at Brutus for a moment.“Do you think that’s how Verna got into Kimberlee’s room? By climbing over the balcony? That would explain how the door was locked from the inside.”

“I’m sure Uncle Alec looked into that,” said Harriet.

“Yeah, I guess he would,” I said. But I was still going to mention it to Odelia when I got the chance. With this whole Harriet drama I hadn’t found the right opportunity to talk to Odelia about our big discovery either.

“I wonder if Coke Emerald tastes different from regular Coke,” said Dooley, harping on a topic I thought we’d exhausted already.

“It’s a little sweeter,” said Harriet.

“And how would you know?” I asked.

“Cause I tasted it, of course!” said Harriet. “Emerald poured some into a bowl for her doggie. So I had a lick and it tastes exactly like Coke but sweeter.”

“Yeah, sweeter,” Brutus confirmed.

“You drank from a dog bowl?” asked Dooley, shocked.

“It’s a clean dog,” said Harriet defensively. “I’ll bet Emerald’s dog is probably the most pampered, cleanest dog in the country, maybe the world.”

“The whole apartment was clean,” said Brutus. “Squeaky clean.”

“You could eat off the floor,” Harriet added. “Not that I did, though.”

“So is everything settled now?” I asked. “About the baby situation?”

“We’re going to adopt,” said Harriet, entwining her tail with Brutus’s. “Isn’t that right, sweetums?”

“Chase’s idea. And I like it,” said Brutus. “That way we’ll have our own little family and we won’t have to give away dozens of kittens to the pound.”

“Lady cats never have a dozen kittens, silly,” said Harriet.

“They don’t? I thought that was about the size of a single litter.”

“More like three, four, five… sometimes more.”

Brutus gulped, clearly happy he’d dodged a bullet. Fathering half a dozen kittens takes a lot out of a gentleman cat, and Brutus wasn’t exactly the father type. Then again, maybe he was. We’d soon find out.

“I can’t wait to select a kitten,” said Dooley now.

“It’s our kitten, Dooley,” said Harriet. “Not yours or Max’s or even Odelia’s. Ours. So we’ll be the ones to pick it out. Isn’t that right, angel bunny?”

“Exactly right, buttercup,” said Brutus, and I had the impression he was already dreading the moment he came face to face with his future offspring.

Chapter 30

As we headed down the stairs to go into dinner, we attracted a lot of attention. It probably wasn’t a common practice for one of Emerald’s guests to come loaded with furry felines as opposed to fluffy canines. Whereas Verna, Abbey, Alina and Emerald all carried their respective furballs in their arms, Harriet, Dooley, Brutus and myself walked down the stairs under our own steam—which just goes to show, once more, that cats really are the superior species when compared to the canine of the animal kingdom.

“Oh, by the way, Odelia,” I said as we traipsed down. “Dooley and I have solved the case.”

“You have?” said Odelia, sounding surprised. “That was quick.”

“Yeah, we just happened to be there when Verna Rectrix admitted guilt.” And in a few brief words I told her what we’d overheard Verna and her husband Thaw Roman discuss. I also mentioned our little chat with Kimberlee’s dog Stevie about the person who was in the room with her when she died and how they talked about Kimberlee directing something.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” said Odelia. “Sounds like you’re right. Verna did it.”

“Which still doesn’t explain how she did it,” said Gran. “I mean, that locked door is still a mystery to me.”

“We’ll figure it out. But this is an important breakthrough. Well done, you guys.”

“Or is it? Verna could have been referring to something else entirely.”

I decided to write off Gran’s skepticism as sour grapes because she hadn’t been the one to crack the case. As usual, it was us, the cats, who’d found the telling clue. But then wasn’t that usually the case?

“What are you guys talking about?” asked Chase.

“Max and Dooley have cracked the case,” said Odelia.

Chase lifted an eyebrow.“You don’t say.”

“I do say.” She paused for suspense. “It was Verna.”

“Verna Rectrix?”

“Yup.”