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“Yeah, and so she’ll probably sell the house and move in with him, cause who wants to live in a dump like this when you can live in a castle?”

“Edward Dexter lives in a castle?”

“He’s a billionaire, Brutus. Of course he lives in a castle.” A dreamy look came into her eyes. “I’ll bet he’s got the best cat food in the world. The good stuff, flown in from Fiji.”

“What’s a Fiji?”

“It’s a country, Brutus. Try to keep up, will you?”

“Okay,” he said, having a hard time doing just that. “So what’s going to happen to Grace?”

“Oh, she’ll live with us, of course.”

“Us? You mean you and me and Chase?”

Harriet gave him a scathing look.“Of course not. You and me and Odelia and Mr. Billionaire Playboy.”

“Okay,” he said. But then a thought occurred to him. “So what about Chase? Where is he going to live?”

Technically Chase was still his human, so it probably mattered a great deal where he was going to live, for he might insist that Brutus live with him, away from the others.

“Who cares where Chase lives? He’ll probably go crawling back to New York, his tail between his legs.”

“Chase has a tail?” he asked. He’d never noticed.

“Oh, Brutus,” said Harriet with a look of exasperation. “Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn’t find myself a playboy billionaire.”

CHAPTER 14

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Officer Randal Skip had neglected to do his duty when he told Addie Dexter’s dad that he shouldn’t worry. That his daughter was probably having a great time off-grid with her boyfriend, and that she’d be home soon. After Uncle Alec had told Officer Skip what he thought of such dereliction of duty, he informed Odelia of same, and so when we were out in the parking lot in front of the police station, Odelia summed things up nicely when she said, “I guess we’re exactly nowhere, you guys.”

“I think that’s exactly true,” I riposted.

“At least now we know that Addie is having a great time with her boyfriend off-grid and she’ll be home soon,” said Dooley, as usual offering an alternative view of things.

“I very much doubt Addie is having a great time,” I told my friend. “From what Edward told us, Addie would never leave her father in the dark like this. So unless she and her dad had a falling-out, I think it’s safe to assume something bad happened to her. And it’s up to us to find out what.”

“I hope Chase has some idea of where to start,” said Odelia as she headed in the direction of her car. “Cause I sure don’t.”

And we’d almost reached the car when a familiar face inserted itself between ourselves and Odelia’s pickup.

“So is it true?” asked this person. “Are congratulations in order?”

It was Ida Baumgartner, one of our small town’s biggest gossips, and also Tex’s most loyal patient, with always some new disease to keep the doctor on his toes.

“Congratulations?” asked Odelia. “Oh, you mean Grace.”

“That’s right, Grace. What’s going to happen to the little one?”

“Why, she’ll stay with us, of course,” said Odelia, puzzled.

“I thought so,” said Ida, nodding knowingly. “I told Rory Suds that Grace would stay with you, and I’m happy to know I was right.” She patted Odelia on the arm. “It’s always best in these cases, trust me. And I do hope you won’t leave us. Hampton Cove could use this shot in the arm.In fact this just might be the best thing to happen to this town in a long time. It’s going to put us on the map. Tourism will get a big boost, of course, not to mention the local economy.” She beamed upon Odelia like a proud mother goose upon a favorite gosling. “Well done, you. Well done.” She placed her hands together in impromptu applause. Then she was off again, leaving us to stare after her, much bewildered.

“What was that all about?” I asked once we were back in the car.

“I have no idea,” said Odelia. “Maybe Ida finally lost her last marble?”

“I didn’t know Ida still played with marbles,” said Dooley.

But at that moment Odelia’s phone belted out a tune and she picked up with a cheerful, “Just the person I need! Can you help me find Addie Dexter?”

“Why? Did you lose her?” Chase’s voice sounded through the car.

“I didn’t, but her dad did.”

“So how was it?”

“The poor man is devastated.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call him poor,” said Chase. “I googled the guy, and as of this morning he’s worth two hundred billion dollars.”

“Not bad for a guy who sells cars,” Odelia quipped. “But seriously, his daughter Addie went missing on a road trip, and he asked me to find her.”

“Why? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I think you’re crazy talented, babe. But you’re not exactly a professional people finder.”

“He doesn’t want to attract attention, and he’s heard good things about me. Mainly from Dan, but still. And it helps that I know this town like the back of my hand.”

“This girl went missing in Hampton Cove?”

“That’s right.”

“Of course I’ll help you. But are you sure you don’t want your uncle to organize a search party?”

“Like I said, Edward wants to handle this on the down-low. He’s afraid that once word gets out this town will turn into a circus.”