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“You don’t have to keep calling me doggie,” said the doggie. “I have a name, you know, and it’s Ringo.”

“Ringo. Listen to me. This is very important. Who was that person?”

“I don’t know. I think it was a man, judging from his posture, though I can’t be sure. He had his back turned to me so I couldn’t see his face. All I know is that he was wearing—”

“A yellow parka. Yeah, we know.”

“If you knew already, why do you ask?” he said indignantly.

So maybe dogs are not so dumb after all.

“You never saw his face?” I asked, just to make sure.

“No, I didn’t. But I can tell you who did. Mr. Owl.”

“Mr. Owl,” I said dubiously.

“Yeah. He always sits in that tree. I’ve seen him every time. He’s very friendly, too. Always greets me with a nod and a kind word. He was in that tree today, so he must have seen the whole thing. You talk to Mr. Owl and he’ll tell you who killed Dany.”

I held out my paw and Ringo winced, probably expecting me to scratch him. Instead, I patted him on the shoulder.“Ringo. You have given us a vital clue.”

“I have?” he said.

“You sure have. You may even have solved Dany’s murder.”

A smile slowly crept up Ringo’s narrow face, and his big ears distended even wider, giving him an owlish look. “I like that,” he said. “It’s not nice when people kill other people, especially when they’re sweet and kind, like Dany Cooper.”

“You’re absolutely right. And we’re going to make sure the killer won’t get away with it.”

“Our human’s boyfriend is a cop,” Dooley explained. “So we tell our human who the killer is, and Chase makes sure he goes to prison.”

“Wait, you can talk to your human? And they understand what you’re saying?”

“She does. She’s one of those rare humans who understand cat language.”

Ringo cast a hopeful look at his inert human.“Boy, oh, boy. How I wish Wolf could understand me. The stories I would tell him!”

We said our goodbyes, and just as we left the room, Odelia and Chase entered. From behind us, Ringo asked,“And who are these people? Should I bark? Alert my master?”

“No, Ringo,” I said. “These are the humans I was talking about. They’re looking for your master’s phone.”

“On the nightstand. See ya, guys.”

“See ya, buddy.” To Odelia, as she entered, I said, “the phone is on the nightstand.” She gave me a wink in return.

“I have to say, Max,” said Dooley as we descended the stairs. “I may just have had a change of heart about dogs. They may not be as horrible and nasty as I always thought.”

“We met nice dogs before, remember?”

“Yeah, but I always figured they were the exception that proved the rule. Now I’m not so sure.”

“I’m not so sure either.”

“When Odelia gets a dog, I sure hope it’s a nice one like Ringo.”

And I sure hoped she wouldn’t get a dog. Nice or not, frankly speaking I was having enough trouble navigating the complicated relationships in Odelia’s menagerie as it was.

Chapter 25

Odelia snuck over to the nightstand, and grabbed Wolf’s phone. So the stories of the director sleeping with his phone under his pillow were greatly exaggerated.

“Hello, little one,” she whispered as she turned over the phone in her hand.

Next to her, Wolf stirred in his sleep, muttered something, then turned to his other side and went right back to snoring softly.

Meanwhile, the Chihuahua sat studying her every move. He’d clearly been briefed by Max, or else he would have barked his little head off.

She tiptoed back to where Chase was checking the pockets of Wolf’s jacket and together they clicked the phone to life. The screen lock was one of those password patterns.

She glanced at the doggie, which sat staring at her unblinkingly. Too bad she didn’t speak a dog’s language. And too bad Max and Dooley had already left, for they could talk to any animal in existence, apparently, and then relate what they told them to her. Her finger hovered over the phone, but Chase shook his head.

“Three attempts and the phone will be locked. Better not risk it.”

They hadn’t really thought this through, had they?

Just then, the little doggie softly barked once.

She turned to him and saw he was still eyeing her intently. He then did the most amazing thing. He slashed the air like Zorro used to do with his sword, creating the letter Z.

Both Chase and Odelia stared at the dog, who seemed to roll his eyes, then repeated the gesture. Slash. Yep. Just like Zorro.

She glanced down at the phone in her hand. Could it be?

Chase shook his head and mouthed,‘No! Don’t do it!’

She decided to throw caution to the wind and traced the letter Z across the small panel, connecting the dots. Instantly the phone unlocked and she made a little fist pump.

‘Omigod,’ Chase mouthed. He couldn’t believe it either.

Odelia turned to the Chihuahua and nodded her thanks. And she could have sworn the dog actually smiled!