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I was going to beg to differ, but then I caught Brutus’s warning look, and so I shut up. Cat choir is one of Harriet’s pet projects, since she’s its main soprano, and gets to sing all the solos.

“So that’s why I thought, why don’t we schedule a joint performance? Cat choir and St. Theresa Choir—double bill. That will draw in the crowds, don’t you think?”

I was quiet for a moment, waiting for the punchline. If this was a joke, it wasn’t a very good one, but I was still prepared to laugh heartily. So when it finally dawned on me that this wasn’t a joke, and that Harriet was dead serious, I gulped a little. “You want… cat choir… to sing together… with Father Reilly’s church choir?”

“Absolutely! And why I didn’t think of it sooner, I don’t know. It’s the best idea I’ve ever had.”

“Um…” Once more Brutus gave me an intent look, then slowly shook his head, as if to warn me not to laugh, and most definitely not to deny Harriet this triumph.

“Oh, for sure,” I said finally. “I think it’s a wonderful idea.” And completely bananas.

8

“I didn’t know Janette Bittiner was a flower girl, Max,” said Dooley.

“She’s not a flower girl, Dooley. She runs a flower shop, that’s not the same as being a flower girl.”

We were in Bittiner Petals, Janette’s flower shop, where Odelia and Chase were asking the woman a couple more questions, after I’d told Odelia what Kingman had told me. I’d dutifully reported the large cat’s words to Odelia at her office, and immediately she’d set out on this interview.

“Who saw me, exactly?” Janette demanded. She was standing behind the counter of her shop, snipping the stems from flowers before sticking them in nice vases.

“That doesn’t matter,” said Chase. “What matters is that you were seen putting up this flyer,” he said, and slammed one of the flyers in question down on the counter.

Janette jumped a little at the sudden change in the cop’s demeanor and glanced at the object in question. “Okay, yes, so I did put those up. But I had every reason to.”

“A reason to suggest that Neda and Father Reilly were having an affair?”

“Yes.”

“So you’re saying theywere having an affair?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Francis and Neda? Of course not.”

“But then why would you suggest it? And make Wilbur Vickery spread this rumor?”

“Oh, so that’s who saw me, huh? He could have said something when I talked to him.”

“Answer the question, Janette,” said Chase. “Why did you spread this rumor about your so-called best friend? And what’s all this nonsense about a church choir feud?”

“It’s not nonsense,” Janette snapped as she put the vase aside and placed both hands on the counter. “Look, that role of choir director was mine. Samuel Smalls trained me—everyone knew I’d been preparing to take over from him for years, and Samuel had even promised me as much. ‘When Iretire,’ he told me more than once, ‘I’m going to present you as my successor. You have the skills, Janette, and you should be the one to lead St. Theresa Choir when I’m gone.’ Only Sam died before he could name me his successor, and then of course Neda had to add her name to the list of candidates.”

“You weren’t the only one up for the role,” said Odelia.

“Apparently not. Even though Neda knew perfectly well that I’d had my heart set on that position. And then of course Father Reilly twisted the knife by picking her over me!”

“You were hurt.”

“Of course I was hurt! Wouldn’t you be? She was supposed to be my friend, and then she stabbed me in the back when she had the chance. And so did Francis, by the way—he’s also to blame for this fiasco. He told me he wanted to be fair. That he couldn’t very well appoint me out of the blue.Out of the blue! I’d been waiting for this for years!”

“And so you decided to sabotage Neda’s directorship, and when that didn’t work, you quit.”

Janette’s face took on an expression of bitterness. “You are very well informed, Mrs. Poole. Did Wilbur tell you about that, too?”

“It doesn’t matter who told us,” said Odelia. “What matters is that you said Neda was your best friend, and now it turns out she wasn’t, and in fact you did whatever you could to undermine her.”

“You went to see her this morning, didn’t you?” said Chase, as he leaned in. “And you argued, just like you did this morning in church, and she said something outrageous that made you even more upset, and finally you gave her a shove and she fell and hit her head. And when you realized she was dead, you emptied her safe, which happened to be open, and decided to make it look like a robbery. Isn’t that what happened!” He pounded the counter with his fist, and caused the vase to jump up and pay attention.

Janette flinched, but calmly said,“No, that’s not what happened, Detective Kingsley. Yes, I did put up those flyers. And yes, I tried to undermine Neda, but I didn’t go over to her house this morning, and I most certainly did not kill her.”

“Oh, please,” said Chase.