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I shook my head sadly. Human drama. It never fails to grip. It’s just so much more poignant than feline drama, don’t you think? Just look at all the soap operas. Or have you ever seen a soap about cats pulling each other’s hair? Then again, cats don’t often buy soap, so daytime TV doesn’t have that much of an incentive to target them as their audience.

Chase’s pickup pulled off the road and stopped in front of a wooden gate. A cop was parked in front of it, and when he saw Chase he held up his hand in greeting and used a button on a keypad next to the gate. He spoke into the intercom and the gate swung open.

Outside the gate, a dozen news vans were parked, with two dozen reporters, camera crew and photographers trying to catch a glimpse of what was happening beyond that gate.

When we arrived and were waved through, they started snapping pictures of Odelia and Chase and even me and Dooley. I grinned.“There are going to be a lot of editors in a lot of newsrooms across the country wondering what two cats are doing visiting the crime scene of one of the world’s most famous actors.”

“They’re probably also wondering why I’m the only reporter allowed to enter the place,” said Odelia, who didn’t seem to enjoy being photographed by her colleagues as much as I’d expected. Then again, Odelia is not used to being at the center of attention. Usually she’s the one out there, snapping pictures of the stars driving by in their limos.

“At least you didn’t bring the kittens along,” said Dooley, harping on the same theme that had occupied his mind from the moment we’d left the house.

“They’re too young to travel,” said Odelia absentmindedly as she slipped her car into a parking spot, then unfastened her seatbelt and turned to us. “So you know what to do, right?”

“Relax,” I said. “We’re old paws at this by now.”

“Old paws,” said Dooley, chuckling. “Funny.”

Odelia smiled.“Great. Go get them, boys.”

Our task, if we chose to accept it, which we did, was to gather background information, and talk to any creature that might have seen something, heard something, sniffed something, or generally had information and a unique perspective to impart. It provided Odelia with those telling details that made her stories so vivid and unique.

So we set off in the direction of the lodge that was the hub of activity, crime scene people and cops buzzing about like so many flies, and vowed to make Odelia proud.

Chapter 5

It was with a heavy heart that Odelia took out her notebook. Normally she loved reporting on crime and spinning an entertaining yarn for her readers, but this particular case had struck close to home. She’d been a fan of Jeb’s for as long as she could remember, and this murder suddenly painted her hero in a very unfavorable light indeed. Could it be that Jeb wasn’t the quirky, talented actor she’d come to adore but a murdering psychopath instead?

Uncle Alec came walking out of the small lodge. He looked stricken, and held up a meaty paw when he saw her.“Better don’t go in there, honey. It’s not a pretty sight.”

She nodded.“Where is Jeb?”

“We took him away already. He’s cooling his heels in the lockup.”

“Are you sure he did it?” she asked. It was the question that had been at the forefront of her mind ever since Chase had delivered the shocking news.

“No doubt about it,” her uncle grumbled with a sad look on his hangdog face. At fifty-four, Alec Lip’s face displayed the mileage he’d racked up as the town’s chief of police and then some. His wispy gray hair was plastered to his skull as usual, and he hadn’t shaved yet, probably having been called out of bed and having driven straight there.

“And is it… Camilla Kirby?”

He nodded dourly.“No doubt about that, either. She has so many stab wounds it looks like Jeb must have been in a murderous frenzy.” He shook his head again. “Terrible business. Just terrible,” he muttered.

“Maybe someone else did it and is trying to put the blame on Jeb?”

Her uncle gave her a skeptical look.“The knife was right next to him on the bed, his prints all over it. Her blood on his hands and clothes. Almost as if he’d been bathing in it. We even found her blood in his ears. I’m sorry, honey, but Jeb Pott is guilty as hell.”

“But what was Camilla doing out here? I thought they were divorced.”

“They were. All we know for certain right now is that she took a flight out here from LA late last night, then took a taxi here. She arrived at exactly…” He took out his notebook. “Three forty-five.”

“Middle of the night.”

“Uh-huh. The taxi driver told me he warned her about getting out of his cab in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere but she was unconcerned. Giddy, even, according to his statement. As if she couldn’t wait to meet…”

“Jeb,” said Odelia quietly. “So who else lives here?”

“Place belongs to Jeb’s other ex-wife. Helena Grace. She’s lived here with their daughter Fae for the past fifteen years.”

“It’s the house Jeb bought when he and Helena moved here from Rome.”