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“Welcome to our humble abode,” the badger grumbled unhappily.

“And now once again, but this time with feeling.”

“Look, this is wholly unnecessary,” I said. “All I want to know is whether you saw a ladder parked against the building last night. When the guy fell from that window?”

“Was pushed, you mean,” Richard grunted.

“Oh, that’s right. You saw a man getting pushed out of a window last night, didn’t you, darling?” said Mrs. Badger. “My name is Irene, by the way,” she said with a kindly smile in our direction. “And these two rascals are Bert and Ernie.”

“Bert and Ernie?” I asked. Somehow the names reminded me of something, though for the life of me, I couldn’t remember what. It’d come to me later.

“Say hi to the nice cats, children,” said Irene.

“Hi, cats!” said Bert and Ernie. The latter turned to his mom. “So they’re not intruders?”

“No, they’re guests.”

“Uninvited guests, but whatever,” Richard grumbled.

“Do you want a bite to eat?” asked Irene. “We’ve got some nice fat earthworms.”

“No, please,” I said when I spotted said worms, wriggling and squirming in a corner of the burrow. “We’ve already eaten. And anyway, we can’t stay.”

“And we’re vegetarians,” Dooley explained. “So we can’t eat worms.”

Richard rolled his eyes at this, and to avoid getting bogged down again in a discussion on what constitutes a real vegetarian, I repeated my earlier question:“So did you see a ladder planted against that building last night, Richard?”

“No, Max, I did not,” said Richard, as eager to get rid of us as I was to get out of there.

“No ladder?” I asked, not hiding my disappointment.

“What’s with the ladder?” asked Irene.

“No, it’s just that Michael Madison, the guy who runs Advantage Publishing, was killed last night, but the only person who was in the building, at least according to the security system, was the victim. So I figured the killer must have entered the building through one of the windows, and headed straight into Madison’s office, got into a fight with the guy, and shoved him out the window.”

“I told you, no ladder,” Richard said, fixing me with an intent look.

“Gotcha,” I said. “And no distinguishing features that could identify the killer?”

“No distinguishing features,” Richard said. Clearly he wanted us gone.

“Okay, I guess that’s that,” I said. I turned to the badger’s wife. “Well, thank you so much for your hospitality, Irene, but I’m afraid we have to leave.”

“So soon? How about a nice grub? They’re very tasty, you know.”

I threw up in my mouth a little, but I think I managed to hide it well. Until I saw a sly smile slide up Richard’s face.

“Yeah, why don’t you stay for dinner?” he said. “We’ve got some nice slugs.”

“Very slimy!” said Bert.

“Very yummy!” said Ernie.

“No, that’s all right,” I said, having trouble keeping my stomach under control.

Dooley was making retching noises next to me, which didn’t help.

“Or how about a big fat lizard?” Richard suggested.

“Gotta go,” I said, retching a little. “Thanks for everything, Irene!”

“Now see what you did, Richard?” I heard Irene tell her husband once we’d turned tail and were crawling out of that burrow again, in a hurry to reach the surface. “The one time we have guests, and you go and scare them away.”

“I didn’t scare them away. I offered them our best grub!”

“Oh, Richard. What am I going to do with you?”

“I don’t mind!” Bert said. “It means there’s more for us!”

Now that’s the spirit, I thought as I dug like I’d never dug before!

And soon we reached the surface, and took in big gulps of fresh air.

“There’s a reason cats aren’t badgers,” said Dooley, who looked a little green around the gills. “I never knew what it was before, but now I do. It’s very claustrophobic to be a badger, Max!”

“Yeah, and then there’s the diet,” I said, panting from the exertion.

But at least I had my answer: however the killer had entered the building, it hadn’t been by using a ladder. Of course this only added to the mystery.

So how had this person managed to get in and out of Madison’s office?

CHAPTER 23

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Odelia had arranged to meet Gary Rapp at the Steamy Bean, a sidewalk caf? that had proven very popular in recent months. It offered a nice view up and down Main Street, and was packed when we arrived, both with locals and tourists. Mr. Rapp was a local though, since he’d worked at Advantage Publishing for quite some time as one ofGlimmer’s more prominent fashion editors.

Until his services were no longer required, that is.

“Mrs. Kingsley,” said Rapp, as he got up to welcome our human with an unctuous smile. “So nice to meet a colleague. And can I say that your reputation precedes you? Your articles are always the first ones I read every week.”

“Thanks,” said Odelia as she took a seat. When the server came she ordered a soda, and Rapp ordered another alcoholic beverage.

“Who is this guy?” asked Dooley.

“Gary Rapp,” I said. “Disgraced former fashion editor.”