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Luckily I managed to escape through the pet flap, which was too small for her. I could see her head poking through, but that was it: no matter how hard she squirmed, she couldn’t follow me out. Which of course caused her to let rip a scream of frustration, followed by a bout of frantic crying. At which point her mother seemed to realize what was going on, and dragged her away from the pet flap, and I was finally at peace again.

Dooley now emerged through the flap, took one good look at me, and asked,“Max? Why are you suddenly white?”

“Because Grace covered me in flour,” I explained.

“Oh, I thought you had such a shock your hair had suddenly turned white,” he said, greatly relieved.

I now saw he had some flour on his own coat of fur, as well, though with him it was less noticeable, since Dooley is one of those very fluffy cats, with beigeish-grayish fur.

And as I stared at him, suddenly a thought occurred to me. It was one of those sudden flashes of inspiration that do so much to mar one’s peace of mind.

“What’s wrong, Max?” asked Dooley. “You look like you’re suffering from an acute case of constipation.”

“I need to think, Dooley,” I said.

“And you also need a good wash,” my friend added. “Cause that flour isn’t going to wash itself off, you know.”

“No, you’re right,” I said, but suddenly my personal hygiene was the last thing on my mind.

CHAPTER 37

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Algis and Matilda Twine were watching television that night, along with their one and only daughter Laia. It was one of those family nights that neither partner had ever thought they’d share together again. But now that Laia was back home, the balance had been restored, and all was well again.

The show that was on involved famous people singing and dancing, dressed up in elaborate costumes that effectively masked their identity, with a jury that had to guess who was concealed underneath the mask.

It was all a little silly, Matilda thought, but it was still good fun, and Laia loved it, which was all that mattered.

“I’m so glad you’re home again, sweetie,” she said, patting her daughter’s arm. “I really missed these cozy family evenings in front of the TV.”

“Yeah, me too,” said Laia.

“And me!” Algis piped up, as he dug into a bag of chips.

“There is one thing I wanted to ask you, though,” said Laia.

“Shoot,” said Matilda, who hadn’t been in this good a mood since before Laia had announced she was moving in with that loser Jay Green.

Suddenly, and to Matilda’s shock, her daughter spirited a necklace from the pocket of her jeans. “Is this what I think it is?”

Matilda darted a look of annoyance at her husband.“Algis?” she said sharply.

“Yes, honey?” said Algis, not meeting her angry stare.

“What do you have to say for yourself?”

“Yes, Daddy, what do you have to say for yourself?” asked Laia, twirling the necklace around her fingers.

“Careful, sweetie,” said Algis. “That thing is worth a small fortune.”

“Oh, I know it is, Daddy,” said Laia. “But what was it doing in your safe?”

“I… I have no idea,” said Algis.

“I told you not to put it in the safe, you idiot!” Matilda couldn’t help but exclaim.

“I didn’t think!” said Algis.

“Okay, you need to explain something to me, cause this is all very confusing,” said Laia. “This necklace was stolen from Jay’s apartment by Dylon Pipe, yes?”

Matilda didn’t speak, and neither did Algis.

“Before mysteriously disappearing. And now it suddenly turns up in the safe. So what does that tell us?”

“Sweetie, it’s not what it looks like, “ said Algis.

“Shut up, you fool,” Matilda snapped.

“Let me tell you what I think happened,” said Laia, idly fingering the trinket. “I think you and Dylon set up the theft of this necklace, only when Dylon fell from that window, you couldn’t resist snatching that necklace from his pocket.”

“That’s not what happened, sweetie,” said Algis.

“Shut up!” Matilda hissed.

“So how much did you promise Dylon for the safe return of my necklace?” asked Laia.

“It’s not your necklace, you stupid girl!” Matilda said. “It’s mine!”

“It is your mother’s necklace,” Algis admitted.

“So did you murder Dylon?” asked Laia. “Did you kill him so you could lay your hands on my necklace? Is that what happened?”

“Oh, sweetie,” said Algis with a sigh.

“Tell me, Daddy!”

Algis reached out to his daughter, but she pulled away.

“Just tell me the truth!”

“Don’t you dare,” Matilda hissed.

“She has a right to know, darling,” said Algis, the man with the jelly spine. “She is our daughter, and after all, we did it all for her.”

“You did what for me?” Laia demanded.

“Everything,” said Algis.

“Oh, God,” Matilda muttered.

“Look, I’ll tell you what happened, but you have to understand we only did what we thought was best for you.”

“Daddy, what did you do?” asked Laia, giving him an anxious look.

“Act like an absolute fool, that’s what he did,” said Matilda.

“Honey…”

“This is all your fault! If you hadn’t stuck your nose into that candy, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“What candy? What are you talking about?” asked Laia.