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“I scared the living crap out of myself,” she said.

I suddenly noticed we weren’t alone in the room: Marge, Gran, Tex and Chase were all seated around Odelia’s sickbed. Chase was staring at me intently, and I realized he probably figured this whole talking cats thing was really weird. Like, really, really weird.

“You better don’t talk to Max too much, honey,” said Marge. “You should rest.”

“I’ll rest when I’m dead,” said Odelia, then realized her words could be interpreted as a little macabre, and corrected herself. “I’ll sleep when you guys have left, I mean.”

“The doctor is keeping her overnight,” Marge explained for our sake. “He says she has a slight concussion.”

“Nothing on the MRI, though,” said Gran. “Which is a good thing,” she added.

“Right,” I said.

“I know what an MRI is,” said Dooley. “I watchGeneral Hospital, remember?”

“Of course you do,” said Gran with a laugh.

They all laughed, except Tex and Chase and Alec, who weren’t in on the joke.

“Dooley says he watchesGeneral Hospital all the time,” Marge translated for the sake of the others. When Chase stared at her, she realized her mistake, and quickly shut up.

Too late, though, for Chase asked,“What’s going on here?”

Marge said, a little uncertainly,“Oh, nothing. Just messing around. We like to pretend we can talk to our cats. Isn’t that right, Mom?”

“Just a little game we play from time to time,” said Gran. “And of course those little furballs are big talkers and talk right back at us—isn’t that right, Maxie?”

She tickled my ear and I said,“I think you’re in big trouble now, Gran.”

“No, I’m not.”

Chase was frowning, but didn’t say anything.

“So what’s all this about you guys being attacked by the man in the yellow parka?” asked Odelia, a little hoarsely.

“Not now, honey,” said Marge. “You have to rest. In fact we should probably leave so you can get some more sleep.”

“Don’t leave. Just tell me what happened.”

“A flowerpot was thrown at me,” said Tex, his voice quaking with indignation. “Can you imagine? Someone actually tried to kill me with a flowerpot. I’m so upset right now.”

“And I slipped on a roller skate,” said Gran. “And I saw the guy who planted that skate. He was dressed in yellow—clearly the man in the yellow parka is working overtime.”

“And a piece of the pirate ship almost dropped on me,” said Marge.

“I checked the mast. It looks like it’s been tampered with,” said Uncle Alec gravely.

“So it’s obvious, isn’t it?” said Gran. “Someone is targeting this family, and they’re doing everything they can to murder us and make it look like a string of accidents.”

“Remember how they tried to run over Brutus?” Tex reminded the others.

“I don’t know about this, you guys,” said Odelia, her eyelids slowly closing. “It all seems far-fetched to me. Besides,” she added, making an ultimate effort to open her eyes and look at her uncle Alec, “you have the man in the yellow parka locked up, haven’t you?”

“I have,” Alec confirmed.

“So the case is closed. End of story.”

“He’s still out there,” Gran insisted. “And he’s targeting us.”

“Wolf Langdon has a mole on his hand,” said Odelia, her eyes closing again. “Ringo says the man who killed Dany had a mole in the shape of an owl on his hand. Case… closed.”

And so were her eyes. And this time she’d fallen asleep.

“Who is Ringo?” asked Chase in a low voice.

Uncle Alec waved his hand.“Just a witness who’s come forward.”

Chase looked taken aback.“What witness? I don’t know anything about a new witness, and I’m supposed to be in charge of this investigation.”

Alec shrugged.“Ask Odelia.”

Chase looked at Odelia and sighed.“Thank God her cats were home. I can’t imagine her lying there all alone.”

One by one, Odelia’s family members got up and left the room, to allow her some peace and quiet. Knowing them, they’d all stay right there, not leaving her side until she was well enough to return home.

And the same went for me, Dooley, Brutus and Harriet.

Only we had the luxury of being able to sleep at the foot of her bed.

At least until the nurse came in and ushered us off the bed and onto a couch in the corner.“Cats don’t belong in hospitals,” she muttered darkly, but allowed us to stay anyway.

Chapter 35

In the hallway, Gran confronted Chase and her son.“I don’t get it. You people are supposed to protect us. You’re cops, for crying out loud. Your family is being targeted and you do nothing?”

“We’ve arrested the man in the yellow parka,” said Alec, but he blinked under Gran’s intense scrutiny.

“That just goes to show you arrested the wrong man. Cause the man in the yellow parka is still out there, and he’s trying to kill us all. First Tex, then me and Marge. And it wouldn’t surprise me if this man in the yellow parka didn’t sneak into Odelia’s room last night and planted that rug for her to slip on.”

“That’s ridiculous,” said Alec.

“Odelia never trips and falls. And now she does? Just when the rest of this family is attacked? I don’t think so.” She poked a hole in Chase’s chest. “And where were you when all this was going down, sonny boy?”