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Diego gave Brutus a smug smile, and asked Harriet,“Maybe you can show me around? Nobody has given me the grand tour of this place.”

“They haven’t?” She gave me an angry look. “Max! Where are your manners?”

“He called me fat,” I said weakly.

“And orange,” Dooley said, just as weakly.

“Hey, that’s what buds do,” said Diego. “Just some good-natured ribbing.”

“Well, I’ll show you around,” said Harriet. “In fact why don’t I give you the tour of the town? Hampton Cove has a lot of great stuff to offer, and I can show you all of it.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt you can, babe,” said Diego smoothly, unashamedly checking out Harriet’s rear end and tail.

She giggled and tapped his shoulder.“You’re funny.”

“Thanks. I get that a lot. Especially from the ladies.”

“You think I’m a lady?” she asked as she led him out the window.

“I think you’re a babe. And a lady. A lady babe.”

She giggled again.“Oh, you’re just a regular riot, aren’t you?”

“Sugar pie?” Brutus managed hoarsely. “Honeybunch?”

But Harriet was gone.

We sat there in stunned silence for the space of all of five seconds.

“What just happened?” I finally asked.

“I think Harriet likes the new cat,” Dooley said sadly. He’d been through this before with Brutus, so he recognized the signs.

“This isn’t happening,” said Brutus. “Is it?”

He hadn’t been through this before. In fact this was probably the first time he’d been thrown over by someone, so the experience was entirely new. I know I should have gloated, after what he’d put us through, but I honestly couldn’t. The cat looked absolutely, positively sandbagged.

“It’s happening,” Dooley said, patting him on the back. “It just happened.”

“Oh, God,” he said, and I thought I heard an actual crack when the big lug’s heart broke.

Chapter 4

Odelia and Chase sat down for a cup of coffee at Cup o’ Mika, the coffee shop across the street from the restaurant. The coroner was still checking the body, and Chief Alec was poking around the crime scene. Odelia had talked to some more people who worked in the restaurant and they’d all confirmed that Niklaus Skad hadn’t made himself popular while he was filming the segment devoted toFry Me for an Oyster.

“Looks like pretty much everyone had a motive to kill the guy,” she said.

“Looks like. He wasn’t exactly Mr. Popular,” Chase agreed.

Both Chase and Uncle Alec had agreed that the crime scene was too gruesome for Odelia to see, so Chase had volunteered to keep her up to date.

“So tell me, what was so horrible?” she asked. “I mean, I’ve seenFriday the Thirteenth. I can handle blood and gore, Chase.”

“Are you sure? Your mom once told me you can’t watch a scary movie without yelling to stop the movie, or disappearing into the kitchen when it gets really scary.”

“Did Mom tell you that? She must have been talking about herself.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Oh, all right. So I love scary movies but I can’t stand the scary parts. So big deal. I’ll bet there are lots of people who close their eyes or peek through their fingers when the girl is in the shower and the masked maniac sneaks in.”

“That’s such a clich?,” he laughed. “I’m amazed they still keep doing scenes like that.”

“Duh. Because they’re classics? You have to have a shower scene.”

“I thought that went out of style afterPsycho. Hard to beat the master of suspense.”

“Well, it still works, doesn’t it? I mean, I can’t watch a scene like that.” She rolled her eyes. “Ugh. Now I gave myself away.”

He laughed again.“You’d make a terrible killer. You’d crack during the first interview, and confess all of your crimes.”

“I wouldn’t even be interviewed. I’ve got one of those innocent faces. The police would take one look at me and would know I could never commit murder.”

“That’s true enough,” he admitted. “You’ve got one of those honest, open faces. A face that displays everything that goes through your mind.”

Oops. She hoped that the fact that she had a big secret to hide would never go through her head. Aaaand of course it just had. She tried to look innocent, opening her eyes wide and giving him her best, innocent smile.

“Now you look like you’re about to lay an egg,” he said skeptically.

“I do not!”

“Just kidding.”

They sat there for a moment, enjoying a cup o’ Joe and each other’s company, and she wondered if there would ever be a repetition of the kiss he’d given her the other day in her parents’ backyard. She’d kinda liked that kiss, and had hoped there were more where that one came from.

They locked eyes for a moment, and she wondered if he could read that particular thought on her face. He gave her a small smile, and she returned it.

“So, the crime scene,” he said finally, ending their little moment.

“Yes, the crime scene. Tell me all about it. In gruesome detail.”

“Though not too gruesome. Well, apparently the killer somehow managed to stuff the body of our celebrity chef into the oven and—”

“Wait, stuff him in the oven? How big is this oven?”

“Big enough to roast a body, which is what they did.”

“Niklaus Skad was roasted?”