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“I–I didn’t know she could walk,” said David. “I mean, I knew she could walk a little, but not without assistance.”

“Nobody knew,” said Odelia, then cast a quick glance at me, and gave me a wink.

“You knew?” asked Dooley.

“I assumed,” I said.

Dooley then turned to Salvatore.“You knew?”

“Of course I knew,” said Salvatore. “After the accident Bertha couldn’t walk, but over time she slowly regained the use of her legs, though she has her good days and her bad days.” He shrugged. “I guess today is a good day.”

“I don’t think Bertha would agree with that qualification,” I said.

Dooley gave Salvatore a hurt look.“You knew all this time and you didn’t think to tell us?”

“I didn’t think it was important. She shuffles around the house sometimes when no one is home. She doesn’t like people to see her like that.” He glanced in the direction of his human. “Guess the cat’s out of the bag now.”

Dooley turned back to me.“But how - and why - and when? And why didn’t you tell me!”

“I wasn’t one hundred percent sure,” I told him, “which is why I suggested this little performance this morning.”

“We’re sure now.”

“Yes, now we are,” I agreed, and we watched as members of Garth’s team led Bertha away. She didn’t even ask for her wheelchair, and left us all looking stunned at this surprise denouement—most of all her own daughter and husband. Laura was crying, and David looked white as a sheet. They’d both sunk down onto their chairs again, and under the table they were clasping each other’s hands for support. Support they would surely need from now on.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” said Adele, cutting a quick glance in Odelia’s direction.

Suddenly Garth appeared before her, and said,“Adele Brzeczek, please follow me.”

“What?!”

But she took one look at the security man’s face, arranged in a hard expression of determination, and her resolve quickly dissolved. She hung her head, and then got up to follow Garth.

And so, in one fell swoop, Lil Thug’s murderers were apprehended.

27

We were on a beach in Willemstad enjoying some leisurely time. Well, if I say‘we’ were on the beach I’d like to emphasize that Dooley and I were in the shade of a nearby palm tree while Odelia and Chase were camped out on a pair of chaises longues closer to the ocean, sipping from their umbrella drinks. And why wouldn’t they? The sand was the color of cane sugar, the water was a clear turquoise, the sun was high in the sky and there was not a single cloud to be discerned. In other words: paradise.

Still, I like to stay in the shade as much as I can. Cats don’t take well to sunscreen, you see. It plays havoc with our fur, and doesn’t easily come out, especially since we like to wash ourselves with the assistance of our tongues. Can you imagine licking up half a tube of sunscreen? Well, I certainly can, and the prospect doesn’t excite me.

“So how did you find out, Max?” asked Dooley now.

“Yeah, how did you find out?” Harriet chimed in.

In spite of the fact that we were two thousand miles from home, we were still connected with the home front, thanks to the miracle of modern technology. Or more specifically Odelia’s tablet.

“Well, I think the first inkling I got were those wet footsteps on the balcony next to ours,” I said, launching into my spiel.

“What wet footsteps? What balcony?” Brutus grunted.

“Bertha and David Biles were staying next to us during the trip,” I said, “so their balcony was located right next to ours. And yesterday, when the entire company had gone ashore to visit St. George’s, I happened to see wet footsteps on the balcony, as if after a shower. It didn’t really register until much later, but it showed that one member of that party hadn’t gone ashore, and as it later turned out, that member was Bertha, who’d stayed in her cabin since she wasn’t feeling well.”

“But Bertha was in a wheelchair, right?” said Harriet. “So how could her footsteps be on the balcony?”

“Exactly what I wondered myself. And the only possible explanation was that she wasn’t as wheelchair-bound as she made out to be.”

“So she faked it?” asked Dooley.

“Yeah, she did. To an extent.”

“But why?”

“Because she didn’t want to lose the love of a good man, and she figured that if it turned out she wasn’t as disabled as she made out to be, David would leave her for her daughter.”

“She knew they were having an affair?” asked Harriet.

“Of course she did. She knew from the start, but as long as she was in that wheelchair, David would never dream of leaving her. And Laura would never have allowed him to leave her mother either. So she kept on pretending she was unable to use her legs—until this morning, when she was pressured into making a run for freedom, knowing that the jig was up.”

“You couldn’t prove anything,” said Harriet, nodding, “until she actually did make a run for it. Which proved she was guilty.”