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“Uh-oh,” said Scarlett as she took out her phone. “We better warn… someone,” she said to no one in particular, then placed the phone to her ear. Moments later it connected. “Vesta? I think Omar is about to do something bad to the Careens. Yeah, he’s gone a little nuts.”

“Or completely nuts,” said Harriet.

“Can you blame him?” said Brutus. “His four best friends have been killed. And he believes the killer is going to come for him now. I don’t blame the guy for losing it.”

“Well, he better keep it together until Chase has solved the crime,” said Harriet.

“Chase!” Brutus cried. “You mean Max.”

“You think Max will be able to figure out who’s responsible for these murders?”

“Of course he will. Max is a smart cookie. If anyone can figure it out, it’s him.”

Harriet smiled at her mate.“He is very clever, isn’t he?”

“Of course he is. But don’t tell him I said that. He’ll get cocky.”

“Your secret is safe with me, boogie bear.”

“Though I think we better tell him to get a move on, before Omar puts out a contract on Kristina and Rick Careen.”

“You don’t think…”

Brutus cocked a serious whisker.“I bet he’s in there going through the yellow pages right now, looking for killers for hire to take out Kristina and her son.”

“What a mess.”

Scarlett had finished her phone call, and hiked her purse higher up her shoulder.“Let’s go, you guys,” she said. “We’re meeting M. Or is it Q? I’ve never seen a James Bond movie, can you believe it?”

“Too bad she doesn’t understand a word we say,” said Harriet. “Because I have a feeling Scarlett and I would get along like gangbusters.”

They walked past the security man, and Scarlett told the guy to keep a close eye on Mr. Wissinski, and make sure he didn’t do anything stupid. The man eyed her curiously. “It’s not my job to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid, ma’am,” he said. “It’s my job to make sure nobody does anything stupid to him.” And having said what he had to say, he resumed his wide-legged stance and adopted a thousand-yard stare.

They all hurried to the food court where they found Gran, and within minutes Scarlett had delivered her report and so had Harriet and Brutus.

“That doesn’t sound good,” said Gran, and her face took on a serious note as she took out her own phone and called Odelia to deliver an urgent message that Omar might pose a clear and present danger to the Careens—or at least those Careens who hadn’t been arrested yet. As it was, it now looked as if Dominic was in the best position of all. At least Omar or the hitman he was about to employ presumably couldn’t get at him.

“What did she say?” asked Scarlett.

“She said she’ll handle it,” said Gran, looking grim-faced. She patted Harriet and Brutus on the head. “You did good,” she said, then absentmindedly patted Scarlett on the head, too, as if she was part of the feline contingent.

Scarlett eyed her friend strangely.“Are you all right, Vesta?”

“Ever since this assignment started I’ve drunk way too much hot chocolate,” said Gran. “Next time I’ll stick to chamomile tea instead.”

Chapter 34

Chase had sent Rick home, and as he and Odelia discussed the phone call from Gran, announcing that Omar was going a little nuts and was thinking about taking matters into his own hands, a police officer stuck her head in and said that Justina McMenamy was waiting and had asked to talk to Chase.

“Send her in,” said Chase, and frowned to his wife. “Did you ask her to drop by?”

“No, I didn’t,” said Odelia.

“Well, let’s hear what she has to say.”

Dunc’s fianc?e looked a lot better than the last time we’d seen her. But then of course she’d just had a terrible shock then. She seemed to have recovered a little, though the fact that she was dressed in black from head to toe told us she was still in mourning.

“You wanted to see me?” asked Chase.

“Yes,” said Justina, taking a seat next to Odelia. “I got a call from Kristina Careen this morning.”

Chase arched an eyebrow in surprise.“Kristina called you?”

“Yeah, she said that she knew that Dunc was the person who killed her daughter that fateful night. She said he took his car in for repairs the morning after the accident, so now she’s got evidence that he was her daughter’s murderer. She said she’s going to bring charges against Dunc—belatedly, of course—and thought I should know.”

“Okay,” said Chase, sitting back and tapping a pencil against his desk.

“The thing is,” said Justina, “that it wasn’t Dunc who was driving that Mustang.”

“It wasn’t?”

“No. I’m going to tell you what I just told Kristina. The boys used to swap cars all the time. And I know for a fact that it wasn’t Dunc who was behind the wheel of that car.”

“Is this what he told you?”

“It is.”

“Why didn’t you tell us this before?” asked Chase. “You said you’d never heard of the Careen case before. That Dunc had never mentioned any of this to you! You lied to us!”

Justina looked away.“I-I wanted to protect Dunc’s legacy. Make sure that his name and his reputation aren’t sullied. But now that Kristina is threatening to sue…” She shrugged.