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“I’ll tell you what happened,” said Matilda, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Jay and Dylon were killed by gangsters. I mean, everyone knows that these drug people are always killing each other, so that’s what must have happened.” She eyed her daughter fixedly. “Promise me never to go back, sweetheart.”

“I already told you, Mommy. I didn’t know Dylon was a drug dealer.”

“And it wouldn’t surprise me if Jay was a drug dealer, too.”

“Okay,” said Chase, eager to wrap this up. “One last thing we need to ask: can you tell us where you both were last night?”

It took a moment for Algis and Matilda to realize he was addressing them, but when she finally did, Matilda burst out,“You’re not accusingus of murdering that good-for-nothing drug addict, are you!”

“I’m not accusing you of anything, Mrs. Twine, but these are routine questions that need to be cleared up.”

“Well, I never,” said the woman, giving Chase a look that could kill.

“It’s all right,” said Algis. “We were both here last night, watching television, until that dreadful call came in, telling us that our little girl had been taken to the hospital.”

“The biggest fright of my life,” said Matilda, clutching at her neck.

“And where were you last night, Laia?” asked Odelia.

“Why do you want to know where my daughter was?” asked Algis, who’d been sampling one of his own pancakes, eagerly gobbling it down in one piece.

“Yes, hasn’t she suffered enough?” demanded Matilda, planting her hands on her sides.

“I was out with a friend last night,” said Laia quietly.

“Name of that friend?” asked Chase dutifully. And when Laia had supplied the information, plus the friend’s phone number, in spite of her mom and dad’s protestations, Chase closed his notebook and nodded to the girl. “Thank you for your cooperation, Miss Twine.”

“Will that be all?” asked Matilda with a touch of belligerence.

“Here, have a pancake,” said Algis, holding up the plate. “They’re fresh!”

But his wife snatched the plate away.“There will be no pancakes,” she said. “Not until you’ve apologized for accusing us of these monstrous acts of villainy.”

“Mommy! They’re simply doing their job!” Laia said.

“Well, they should be doing a better job,” Matilda insisted stubbornly. “And bring me back my necklace, for a start!”

I think it’s safe to say we were all glad to finally leave the company of the Twines and drive away from the place.

“Now I understand why Laia decided to leave home,” said Odelia as she blew out a sigh of relief.

“Yeah, Matilda Twine is a pretty tough baby,” Chase agreed.

“Why didn’t we get to have a pancake, Max?” asked Dooley.

“For one thing, pancakes are full of sugar, and therefore not very good for cats, Dooley,” I said. “And for another, Laia’s mom didn’t want us to have any pancakes.”

“But why not?”

“Because she doesn’t like us very much. She thought we were accusing her daughter of murder, and that’s not something a mother enjoys.”

He thought about this, then said,“I think she was right. It’s not a lot of fun when people drop by and accuse you of murder.”

“We didn’t actually accuse her of anything,” I said. “We just asked her some questions, trying to shed some light on past events.”

“Yes, but still. If someone dropped by the house and accused Grace of being a murderer, Odelia wouldn’t like it either, and Chase wouldn’t bake them any pancakes.”

I smiled.“I don’t think Grace is capable of murder, Dooley. She’s too young for that sort of thing.”

“She did murder Gran’s drawing this morning.”

“That, she most certainly did.” Though some would say she actually improved on Gran’s work. But I’d never say that out loud, of course.

I didn’t want to become the victim of caticide, you see.

CHAPTER 30

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Once more we found ourselves at our local supermarket, though this time, with the presence of Chase, the interview had a slightly more formal aspect. No more standing in line at the checkout counter, and hoping Loretta Everyman would be gracious enough to give us the light of day. This time we caught the young lady on her smoking break, standing outside at the back of the supermarket, right next to the gate where a ten-ton truck was being unloaded.

“Now what do you want?” asked Loretta, as friendly and forthcoming as before.

“Chase Kingsley,” said Chase, flashing his badge. “Hampton Cove police. And I believe you’ve already met my wife Odelia. We wanted to ask you a couple of questions, Miss Everyman.”

Loretta still looked as if she’d just sucked on a lemon, but at least she became more talkative. The miracle of the badge, I guess.

“Okay, so, yeah, Jay and I were still an item,” she admitted when confronted with her boyfriend’s text messages—or sext messages, as the vernacular goes. “But that doesn’t mean I killed him. I mean, why would I do such a crazy thing? I loved the guy, for crying out loud. I would never hurt him.”

“Is it true that you were planning to leave town once the insurance paid out the money for the necklace?”