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Omar heaved a deep sigh and seemed to deflate like a balloon.“Sergio,” he said quietly. “We all swore an oath never to tell. A pact, you know. All for one and one for all and all that. We knew it could have been either one of us who’d gotten into that fatal accident, so we decided to close ranks. If anyone had found out that Sergio was behind the wheel of that car, his life would have been over. He never would have had the career he had.”

“Who came up with the idea to take the car to Jefferson Gusta?”

“Joel. His dad was a regular customer of the Gusta Garage, and he knew that Gusta wouldn’t mind accepting some money under the table in exchange for a rush job. He also knew that Gusta wouldn’t talk. Joel’s dad had been in a minor accident and when he took his car to Gusta things had been handled discreetly, so Joel knew he could trust Gusta.”

“So he fixed up Dunc’s Mustang?”

“Yeah, and Joel paid him a large sum of money to make sure he kept his mouth shut.”

“What happened to the Mustang?”

“Dunc drove around with it for another couple of years, until it broke down and Gusta agreed to take it to a wrecker. It probably got demolished, the parts sold as scrap.”

“So the car is gone, huh?”

“Yeah, unless Gusta kept it, but I don’t think he did. He was as good as his word.”

Chase nodded.“You should have told us sooner, Omar,” he said. “If you had, your friends might still be alive now.”

“I know,” said Omar, a haunted look in his eyes. “But I couldn’t.”

“Yeah, I know. The bachelor pact.” He got up. “You’re not going to do anything stupid about Kristina and her son, are you, Omar?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” said Omar.

“I think you do.” He fixed the man with a serious look, and finally Omar looked away. “Cause if anything happens to that woman or to Rick, I’ll know where to find you.”

And with these words, we left the office.

Chapter 35

Odelia had dropped us in town, and since I was feeling a little peckish, I decided it was high time we paid a visit to Kingman again. Also, I was completely stuck, with the case not moving the way I wanted it to move. And for some reason a visit to Kingman often manages to get me unstuck. I don’t know what it is about that voluminous cat, but he seems to spread these nuggets of wisdom, even if he’s fully unaware of it, that never fail to point me in the right direction.

“Hiya, fellas,” he said as we walked up. He gestured to a full bowl of a sort of greenish-brownish kibble. “Taste it at your own peril,” he said. “And don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“What is it?” asked Dooley as he gave it a sniff.

“I’m not sure. Some Russian fella dropped it off this morning, and said the stuff is very popular with their Russian cats. I think he mentioned peas and spinach?”

I wrinkled up my nose.“I don’t like peas or spinach,” I said.

“Who does?”

“Have you tried it?”

“One nugget. I upchucked it the moment it went down.” He pointed to a sad-looking lonely piece of kibble on the sidewalk, that indeed looked as if it had been in someone’s stomach recently.

So I kindly declined to sample this Russian kibble, and lay down next to my friend.

“How is the case going?”

“Don’t ask,” I said. “We’ve got one guy in jail right now, who refuses to tell us where he’s been, and it looks as if he’s the one behind the whole thing.”

He looked over to me.“But you’re not fully convinced, are you?”

“Not really. I mean, why wait thirteen years to start murdering the men you think are responsible for your daughter’s death?”

“Didn’t you mention that the wife doesn’t have much longer to live?”

“Yeah, but even so.”

We were both silent, and suddenly the sounds of munching reached my ears. When I looked over, I saw that Dooley was digging into the Russian kibble, and already half of the bowl’s contents had been transferred to his stomach. He looked up when he felt us looking at him. “It’s pretty good,” he announced. “Tastes a little funny, but not so bad.”

“Be careful, Dooley,” I said. “That you don’t get sick.”

“That’s all right. I think I’d know if it was bad for me.”

I wasn’t as convinced as he was. “So how about you?” I asked. Kingman looked a little subdued, I thought. “Still recovering from that storm last night?”

“Oh, no, I’m fine,” he said. “So I got soaked to the skin. And so I had to be saved from that tree. And so the fireman who rescued me said he’d never seen a fatter cat in his life.”

“He said that?”

Kingman nodded.“Maybe that spinach would do me good,” he said, eyeing the green kibble dubiously. “I am a big cat, Max. Maybe I’m too big?”

“Nonsense,” I said. “As long as Vena gives you a clean bill of health, you’re good.”

“Yeah, but if even a fireman figures I’m too big…”

“Look, you’re just like me,” I said, not taking any of this nonsense. “You’ve got big bones, that’s all.”

“I guess,” he said, then placed his head on his paws and smiled. “Wilbur finally managed to get hold of his brother last night.”

“About selling him part of the store?”