45ebf3c490593574dd454e5dfd5a5758

“You’ll have to forgive my daughter,” said Mrs. Biles. “She’s very high-strung.” She then gestured to Adele, who immediately got up and started maneuvering her employer away from the table and in the direction of the elevators. David brought up the rear.

And as we watched the Biles family stride off, Chase said,“What do you think? Were they telling the truth when they said they didn’t hear a thing last night?”

“I think so,” said Odelia. “They all seemed truthful to me. Besides, why would they want to do a horrible thing like that? It doesn’t seem feasible.”

“For the money,” Chase suggested. “You told me yourself that Mrs. Biles isn’t exactly swimming in money.”

Odelia glanced down at me, since I was the one who’d supplied her with that information, straight from the mouth of Salvatore.

“Yeah, but I really don’t see Mrs. Biles cutting a diamond from a man’s face,” she said.

“So how about David? What do we really know about him?”

“Not much,” Odelia admitted. “Which is why we probably have to find out more about the guy. In fact we have to find out more about every single one of them. Which might prove a little hard, as we’re aboard a boat.”

I’d already told her that I’d heard some noises in the night: voices and such. Nothing conclusive though, since it’s hard to link an anonymous voice to a crime. Still, it could have been the murderer—or murderers, plural. Suddenly Odelia’s phone sang out a pleasant tune, which may or may not have been belted out by Taylor Swift. “Oh, hey, Gran,” she said, as she held her phone aloft. “Yeah, we’re on deck right now, having breakfast.”

“What a life you lead,” said Gran. “So what’s all this I hear about a murder?”

“Lil Thug, the rapper I told you about, was murdered last night, and his diamond was stolen.”

“What do you mean, stolen? How can you steal a diamond when it’s glued to a guy’s face with Gorilla Glue?” Odelia arched a meaningful eyebrow, and we could hear a distinct gasp. “You mean they actually…”

Odelia nodded.

“No way!”

“Yep. Whoever killed him cut that diamond from his face. Pretty gruesome stuff.”

“You can say that again! So are you two involved in the case now or what?”

“Yeah. Garth Dagit, that’s the guy in charge of security, has asked us to help him conduct an investigation, since Chase is the only cop on board.”

“I don’t believe this. You’re supposed to be honeymooning, not crimebusting!”

“I know, but what can we do? We can’t just tell Garth to take a hike.”

“Of course you can.”

“No, we can’t. Besides, I want to know who’s responsible for this terrible crime, too. It happened right next to our cabin, you know.”

“Right next door,” Chase said.

“Oh, my God! That’s just terrible!”

“I know, right?”

“You know what you should do?”

“No, what?” said Odelia, frowning at her phone, and ready to receive some golden tip from Hampton Cove’s premier neighborhood watch commander.

“You should tell the captain that you’re going to help him solve this murder on one condition and one condition only: that he puts you up in his best suite, and agrees to comp your cabin and expenses. Oh, and your meals.”

“Oh, Gran,” said Odelia with a groan.

“It’s the least he can do!”

“No, we’re not going to do that.”

“You’re not getting paid to play detective, you know.”

“I know, but…”

“Next time you see the captain, you give me a ring and hand him your phone. Don’t you worry about a thing. I’ll arrange everything. Just you wait and see.”

“No, thanks.”

“Oh, you silly, silly child.”

“Why doesn’t Odelia want the captain to give her a better cabin, Max?” asked Dooley.

“Because she doesn’t want to be a nuisance,” I said. “And besides, all the cabins are taken, so even if he wanted to put them in a better cabin, he couldn’t do it.”

Also, it sounded a little iffy for Odelia and Chase to ask the captain to comp them their entire trip in exchange for their help in solving his murder. Unethical, if you see what I mean. Then again, ethics has never been Gran’s strong suit.

Suddenly Odelia placed the phone next to us on the floor. And as I glanced at the device, I recognized a familiar face staring back at us. It was none other than Kingman!

“Hey, Max,” said the big cat. “Hi, Dooley. What’s this I hear about you getting involved in some murder business?”

“Yeah, a murder was committed last night,” I told our friend. “Right next to us, in fact.”

“And you didn’t hear nothing? You’re starting to lose your touch, Max.”

“I heard something, but then one hears a lot of noise on a big boat like this.”

“I’ll bet you’ll catch the killer,” said Kingman, sounding a little resigned about it. “Look, I hate to say this, Max, but things around here aren’t the same without you.”

“Is that so?” I must admit these words buoyed me up to some extent. One likes to feel one is indispensable, does one not—and hey, I’m only feline, you know, not Supercat.

“Yeah, for one thing Vesta’s been making a real nuisance of herself again.”

“What do you mean?”