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The fervor with which he spoke these words suddenly made Odelia suspect there was more than professional interest at play here.“You liked her, didn’t you?” she said.

He nodded, staring down into his drink.“She was a lot of fun to be around.”

“There’s a rumor going around that… Wolf and Dany were an item.”

Con didn’t look up, nor did he respond.

“And that she was blackmailing him?” she prodded.

He looked up, and she was surprised at the anger that flashed in his eyes.“She was too good for a guy like Wolf. Too sweet and too innocent. If only I’d known…” He abruptly stopped himself when he realized who he was talking to, then plastered a tight smile on his face. “I’m sorry. I’ve had too much to drink, and I’m boring you with my sad sack stories.”

“No, that’s all right. Do you think Wolf could have something to do with Dany’s death?”

He stared at her for a moment, then abruptly turned away and left her standing there.

“Well, it’s as good an answer as any, I guess,” she muttered to herself. It told her that she should probably look deeper into this affair between Wolf and Dany. She suddenly caught sight of Wolf’s assistant Kerry, who stood cuddling Wolf’s beloved Chihuahua. A thought suddenly occurred to her, and a slow smile crept up her face.

Yes. This was exactly the kind of assignment Max and Dooley would love.

Chapter 18

A tense hush had descended upon the house. Dooley and I were keeping Brutus company, even though I really didn’t want to choose sides on this one. Still, I could hardly leave the poor guy alone in this, his darkest hour. What I really wanted to do was attend cat choir and maybe sniff around the crime scene a bit more. You never know who else might have caught a glimpse of the killer. I mean, potentially a murder taking place in a park is seen by dozens of witnesses: the birds sitting in the tree overlooking the spot where the killer has chosen to plunge a knife into his hapless victim’s chest, a dog sniffing that same tree and contemplating making a small deposit, even the earthworms popping up for a bit of fresh air, or the moles taking a break from digging their holes—though the latter have notoriously bad eyesight and might not be the most reliable witnesses imaginable.

And then there were the aforementioned ducks quietly quacking away in the pond. Brutus had persuaded one duck to come forward and volunteer a formal witness statement, but perhaps there were other ducks—the quiet ones who rarely quacked—who’d seen more and could provide the telling clue. The mole on the killer’s nose. The harelip he carefully tried to hide beneath a bushy mustache. Or even the cleft chin that made him oh, so attractive to the opposite sex—a fact which will always puzzleme. Why are cleft chins so attractive to the human female? It’s a chin. With a cleft. Nothing special.

So there really was a lot of work to be done, and all I could do was sit there and babysit Brutus and nurse his wounded soul. Such a shame.

“Did you see the look on her face?” he said. “It spoke volumes.”

It did speak volumes. Volumes of verbal abuse.“It’s all those soap operas,” I repeated my favorite theory as to Harriet’s terrible temper. “If only she would watch more of the always pleasant Hallmark Channel, she might not be this unreasonable all the time.”

Brutus snapped his head up.“Harriet is not unreasonable. She’s the most reasonable feline in existence. In fact she’s put up with my horrible habits all this time, not a whisper of annoyance crossing her lips.”

I’d heard plenty of whispers of annoyance pass Harriet’s lips—in fact they weren’t whispers but more fully formed sentences, very eloquently and colorfully expressed. I wasn’t going to play devil’s advocate right now, though, so I wisely shut up. If Brutus wanted to believe Harriet was an angel sent by the heavens to walk this sacred earth, so be it.

“She used to call me all these wonderful names. Tootsie roll. Snuggle bunny. Twinkle toes. Baby boo. And now all she can say is what a cad I’ve been—and she’s right!” he wailed.

He was sitting slumped on the couch, his paws sticking out, his otherwise shiny black fur unkempt and looking dull in spots. In fact he looked like the epitome of the jilted male. Which he was. Only he’d jilted her first, if we were going to split hairs.

“Did you know that the spiny dogfish shark’s pregnancy lasts two years?” asked Dooley, who was watching the Discovery Channel, which was playing quietly in the background.

“No, I didn’t know that,” I said.

Silence reigned for a moment.

“Did you know unborn sharks sometimes eat their siblings?”

I groaned softly.

“And that sharks can have up to 35,000 teeth in their lifetime? Imagine being a shark dentist! Ha ha.”

“Ha ha,” I said without enthusiasm.

Once again, silence hung heavy in Odelia’s small salon. Except for the shark show which apparently was on.

“Did you know—”

“Dooley! Enough with the sharks already!”

Silence returned, with Dooley looking offended.

“Max?” asked Brutus at length.

“Mh?”