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“See?” said Dooley. “I knew she’d joined the circus. Her and her boyfriend.”

“Okay, so it’s just the two of us, huh?”

“I’m afraid so,” said Odelia.

“Great. As if I didn’t have enough to contend with at the moment.”

“Tough day at the office?”

“Something like that. Listen, I’ll see you tonight, and then we can talk this thing through and get organized. I’ll tell your uncle to give me the rest of the week off and we’ll find this girl. How does that sound?”

“Like music to my ears, babe.”

“Circus music,” said Dooley.

CHAPTER 15

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Dooley felt adamant that he was on the right track when it came to finding Addie Dexter. She’d probably had a taste of freedom, with this long road trip she’d taken, and didn’t want to go back to her old life, which she probably saw as the proverbial golden cage now. And so she’d decided to join a traveling circus.

And a good thing, too!

Why shouldn’t a person join the circus? It was a fun life, juggling balls and cones for a living. You met all kinds of interesting people, fraternized with lions and elephants, and you could sleep under the stars—or was that traveling hobos?

At any rate, all he had to do now was to convince Max of his idea, and that’s where he’d hit a snag. His friend might have a brilliant mind, but he also had a stubborn streak, and wasn’t always open to new ideas when they didn’t fit in with his own ideas.

“I still think we should look into this circus thing, Max,” he said therefore. “I’m sure that’s where we’ll find Addie and Ted.”

“Odelia asked her uncle, but there hasn’t been a circus in town for months,” said Max. “So she couldn’t possibly have joined them.”

See? Stubborn.“So maybe the circus was in the next town?” he suggested patiently. Sometimes he felt as if he had to do all the thinking for Max, and now was one of those times. “Or maybe two towns over? It could even be three.”

“We’ll look into it, Dooley,” said Max, but he said it in a patronizing sort of way, Dooley felt. As if he didn’t really think the idea had merit.

“Or maybe they joined a group of traveling musicians,” he now suggested, just to keep the ball rolling. “You know, like a band or something. They could have joined the Traveling Wilburys.”

“I think you’ll find that the Traveling Wilburys are on hiatus,” said Max. “On account of the fact that most of them are dead. And anyway, they never did a lot of traveling, even when they were still a full set.”

“I’m just spitballing here,” he said, and was starting to feel that all of his best ideas were simply going to waste.

“We’ll look into everything you’ve suggested,” said Max. “But first we need to talk to Chase, and see what he comes up with. We’ll organize a meeting tonight, put all of our ideas on the table, and take it from there. How does that sound?”

Dooley smiled. Max really was the greatest.“That sounds like a plan,” he said, well pleased. Max had listened to him after all, just like he knew he would.

He sighed happily. Quite frankly there wasn’t a better friend in all the world than Max.

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“We have to do something. For the sake of my great-granddaughter,” said Vesta. She’d hurried home and was now conferring with her daughter and son-in-law in the kitchen. “You did see the pictures and the video I sent you, didn’t you?”

“I did,” said Marge, looking and sounding depressed. “You saw this with your own eyes?”

“And so did Scarlett,” said Vesta.

Scarlett, who was seated at the kitchen table next to her, nodded solemnly.“They looked very cozy together,” she said. “And when the tryst was over they disappeared into the lobby, and according to the receptionist they walked into the elevator together, probably to continue their lovers’ meeting upstairs, in the guy’s room.”

“My God,” said Marge, placing a palm to her temple to soothe the throbbing vein there.

“I find this very hard to believe,” said Tex. “I mean, this is Odelia we’re talking about. She’s always been the most sensible one of us all. And the sanest one.” He directed a meaningful look at Vesta, which the latter decided to ignore.

“It’s a coup de foudre,” she said. “Scarlet called it, didn’t you, hun?”

“It can happen to the best of us,” said Scarlett. “It happened to me many, many times. Like when I met your husband, Vesta.”

“Fine, all right,” Vesta was quick to say. “Let’s not go there.”

“No, I guess we better don’t,” Scarlett murmured as she hastily cast down her eyes.

“We have to talk to her,” said Marge. “And I think it’s best if I do it, as her mother.”

“Or we could organize an intervention,” Tex suggested. “Sit her down and point out her responsibilities as a mother and a wife.”

Grace, who must have sensed that all eyes had turned to her, now gurgled a happy refrain.“Gloo gloo!” she yammered, pumping the air with a pudgy fist.

“Poor kid,” said Scarlett. “Good thing she’s too young to realize what’s going on.”