31906844db5c02010017a90f3f2ca805

“Yup. On his right hand—the hand he stabbed the woman with. Very inappropriate. I mean, I admit to enjoying a nice, juicy mouse from time to time, but I’d never kill a fellow owl. That’s just so… human.”

“You’re right,” I said. “Only humans kill other humans.”

“That’s not entirely true, though,” said Dooley, surprising us. “There are plenty of species that kill their own. In fact the most murderous mammal species are meerkats. Meerkats kill twenty percent of their own kind.”

“Interesting,” I said, wondering why, oh why I had ever extolled the virtues of the Discovery Channel. He wasn’t finished, though. Like a real professor, he just droned on.

“It is true, however, that most mammal murders involve infanticide—the killing of babies. In meerkat society it’s the dominant female who routinely murders the pups of the subordinate females in their own group. Humans are part of a small group of mammals—among them lions, wolves and spotted hyenas—that routinely murder the adults of their own species. And of course humans are very creative to find ways to kill each other. Lions or wolves or spotted hyenas will never use poison or guns or knives or whatever to kill other lions or wolves or spotted hyenas.”

“That’s fine, Dooley,” I muttered.

“You’re very smart, for a cat,” said Rita appreciatively.

“One of Gran’s soaps is on hiatus so I’ve been watching the Discovery Channel.”

“I can tell,” I said.

At any rate, we’d gotten what we’d come here to find. Now all we needed to do was find out if Wolf Langdon had a mole on his hand in the shape of an owl. If he had, Ringo had been lying to us when he said Wolf was standing right next to him when Dany was killed.

We thanked Rita profusely and I like to think that we left her with the impression that not all cats are vicious bird-eaters.

“I only wish more cats were like you!” she said. “Vegetarians, I mean.”

We took our leave, and as we walked away, Brutus said,“I hate broccoli. And quinoa.”

“And I hate lentils,” I said.

“I actually like tofu,” said Dooley. “I think I could get used to it.”

“It’s all matter of perspective,” I said with a grin.

Brutus didn’t even crack a smile.

Probably too soon.

Chapter 28

As she was driving home, Odelia got a message from her uncle.

‘If you’re going to inject yourself into this investigation, you might as well drop down to the station to watch the interview.’

She smiled, performed a quick U-turn and headed down to the station. She didn’t particularly enjoy police interviews, but she did want to see what Wolf had to say for himself. Even though her cats were pretty convinced the director had nothing to do with Dany’s murder, the presence of that yellow parka in his closet proved otherwise. As Chase had said, it was an open-and-shut case. One of those cases where the killer is so cocky he trips up even before the person he murdered has arrived at the morgue.

She parked in front of the station house and quickly hurried inside, not even bothering to lock up her car. The pickup was so old and decrepit no one in their right mind would steal it.

She arrived at the interview room at the back of the station, and when she entered found her uncle already standing at the two-way mirror.

He looked up when she entered.“I thought you’d want to see this.”

“Thanks, uncle,” she said, and gave his shoulder a squeeze.

“I know it’s hopeless to try and keep you from putting your sleuth cap on, but you can’t blame me for trying,” he said in response. “Especially considering how much the victim resembled you.”

“Well, you were wrong about me being the killer’s target.”

“It would appear so,” he said cautiously.

She thought about Brutus almost being run over, but decided not to mention the fact. That was probably a coincidence. There was, after all, probably more than one person dressed in a yellow parka driving around Hampton Cove.

In the interview room, Chase and Wolf sat, the director uncharacteristically ill at ease. His hair was a mess, and so was his beard, and he was still dressed in his silk pajamas.

“I didn’t do it, detective!” he exclaimed. “You have to believe me! I liked that girl. She had a gift. Why would I kill a promising young talent like that!”

“I’ll tell you exactly why,” said Chase, who was his usual unruffled self. He was never better than when interviewing suspects and making them sweat. “You were having an affair with Dany Cooper, and when she pressured you into getting a divorce from your wife, you knew it was time to get rid of her.”

“That’s… crazy,” blustered Don. “Who told you that?”

“You told me yourself.” Chase placed Wolf’s own phone on the table and tapped it. “I’ve made a printout of your WhatsApp chats. Pretty hot stuff, Mr. Langdon.”

Wolf’s face turned white as a sheet. “I thought WhatsApp messages were automatically deleted?”

“That’s Snapchat. You should probably read up on your social media. Now do you still deny having an affair with Miss Cooper?”