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“I don’t understand.”

“Brutus wants to become like me,” said Rufus. “He doesn’t want to be a cat anymore.”

“But why?”

“I think he’s suffering from what is commonly termed an identity crisis,” I said. “Though if you really want to know what brought this on you’ll have to ask a shrink.”

“Maybe we have to take him to Vena?” Dooley suggested.

“Vena is not a shrink,” I said. “She’s a vet.”

“I tried to reason with him,” said Harriet. “And so did Rufus, but he insists he knows what he’s doing, and doesn’t want to listen to anything I say.”

“Or anything I say,” Rufus added.

“Fetch, Brutus!” Ted called out again, and threw the ball as hard as he could in the direction of the fence. Unfortunately it got stuck there, but instead of ceasing and desisting and telling Ted to fetch his own damn ball, Brutus jumped to the task, and tried to retrieve the ball from where itwas lodged, about five feet high.

“Catch, Brutus!” Ted said encouragingly. “Catch the ball, little buddy!”

But of course there was no way Brutus would ever be able to catch this particular ball. But still our friend wasn’t giving up: he was jumping high, going for the win!

“Oh, Brutus, give it up already!” Harriet yelled.

“Never!” Brutus yelled back. “I’m going to get this ball if it kills me!”

“I can’t watch this, Max,” said Dooley.

“Frankly, neither can I,” I confessed.

“I’ll get that ball for you, Ted,” said Rufus, who’s a lot bigger than Brutus, and started trundling over in the direction of the fence. For him it would be a cinch.

“No, Rufus!” said Ted sharply. “That’s Brutus’s ball, and he’s the one who has to get it back to me!”

“What’s with all the yapping!” suddenly a familiar voice rang out from across the fence, and when we looked over, we saw that Gran’s head had appeared. She was craning her neck and trying to figure out what was going on.

“Ted is training Brutus to be a dog,” I told her. “But he threw the ball so high and hard it got stuck and now Brutus can’t reach it but Ted is still insisting he get it for him.”

“Oh, for crying out loud,” said Gran, and glanced down to where Brutus was trying his darndest to be a ‘good boy.’ She grabbed the ball. “Is this what all the fuss is about?”

“Hey, that’s my ball, Vesta,” said Ted.

“If this is your ball, then why are you making my cat try to catch it?” she asked.

“A reasonable question,” Dooley said, nodding.

“He’s not your cat anymore,” said Ted with a touch of belligerence. “Brutus is mine now.”

“Oh, you idiot,” said Vesta, and I wondered if she was referring to Ted or to Brutus. Maybe to both. “Catch, Ted,” she said, then brought her arm back like a pro pitcher, and threw that ball straight onto the roof of Ted’s house!

“Hey!” said Ted. “You did that on purpose!”

“Of course I did that on purpose, you silly man,” said Gran. “And if you catch the ball for me I’ll give you a pat on the head and tell you that you’re a good boy. Now fetch!”

And with these words, she broke out into raucous laughter and was gone.

12

Odelia was just relaxing on the couch—it was Chase’s turn to cook dinner—and going over her notes for the story about the Hampton Heisters’ breakin at Katrina MacKney’s house, when her phone suddenly attracted her attention. When she picked it from the coffee table, she saw she’d received a message from an unknown number.Much to her surprise the message read, ‘Hi Odelia. This is Carl Strauss. We met today at the links. I’ve been giving what you told me some more thought and I would like to meet and discuss a possible solution. How about tonight at my place? Ten o’clock too late for you?’

“Oh, this is great,” she said.

“What is it, babe?” Chase called from the kitchen.

“A message from Carl Strauss!” she said. “He wants to meet tonight. I think he just might be coming around on the whole divorce thing after all!”

Chase came walking out of the kitchen, an apron tied to his muscular torso and wearing a frown on his face.“Are you sure this is such a good idea? Carl Strauss is as famous for his golf swing as he is for being a playboy. What if he just wants you to drop by so he can put the moves on you?”

“No way. You should have seen him this afternoon. The guy doesn’t even like me. No, I’m pretty sure all he wants is to talk about the divorce.”

“Maybe I should tag along.”

“No, I better go by myself. This is my chance to convince him a divorce is the best thing for everyone. And if you suddenly show up he just might change his mind again.”

Chase didn’t look convinced, but since he basically trusted Odelia’s judgment, he nodded and returned to the kitchen.

“What are you cooking?” asked Odelia.

“Spaghetti bolognese,” said Chase.

Odelia grinned. Chase was probably the best husband any woman could hope to find, but unfortunately when it came to his cooking skills, the man was a one-hit wonder.

Just then, Gran walked in, looking like a cat who caught a mouse.

“What are you looking so pleased about?” asked Odelia.

“I just told Ted off,” said Gran. “He’s trying to turn Brutus into a dog, so I gave him a taste of his own medicine.”