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“Everything’s ready. Just step inside.” Nan guided us back into the house. “I even brought out the good china. Why, it’s not every day my favorite granddaughter gets engaged.”

“And it’s not today, either,” I pointed out with a chuckle. “We got engaged yesterday.”

“Oh, hush, you.” But Nan laughed, too.

Pringle scampered in after us and climbed up onto the table.

“Manners,” Nan said, fixing him with a stern look.

He hesitated before climbing down onto one of the chairs. His face barely cleared the surface of the table, the cutie.

“I’ll go get you a booster,” I said, heading toward the entry closet where Nan kept all kinds of strange knickknacks. I wouldn’t be surprised if I found a booster chair there, too.

A light tapping at the door drew my attention away.

I opened it up and found Bravo and Abigull standing on the porch together.“Hi, guys. What’s up?”

“Angie, Angie,” the young bird cawed. “We found her!”

I was almost afraid to ask. Mostly because I already knew the answer.“Found who?”

“Your long-lost grandmother,” Bravo confirmed. “She hasn’t left the state. Just moved. We found her somewhere in the middle.”

“Near Mount Katahdin?” I ventured.

“Affirmative,” Bravo squawked.

“How did you know?” Abigull asked, tilting her head to the side.

I let out a tired sigh.“Because with the way my life has gone lately, it just makes sense.”

“We can take you to her. Are you ready?” the elder seagull asked.

“I’d like that very much, but first I have a dinner engagement. Can you come back tomorrow?”

When both birds agreed, I said goodbye and rejoined my family in the dining room. There would be time to tell them all about the seagulls’ discovery later.

Tonight, we would celebrate.

Tomorrow, we could chase after our next big mystery.

14. PERSIAN PENALTY

1

I’m Angie Russo, and my life has never been normal. My family is full of superstars, most notably my nan, who once stole the stage on Broadway and is to this day the most memorable character you’ll ever meet. For the longest time, I searched for what would make me special, too. I guess that’s why I racked up seven associate degrees before finally settling into a career.

My calling was actually a cat call—no, not the sleazy, random-guy-on-the-street kind. An actualmeow. A meow that I heard loud and clear, and in English of all things.

Yes, I can talk to animals. Just call me Miss Dolittle.

I was working as a paralegal when a will meeting went awry. One thing led to another, and I got zapped by a faulty coffee maker, lost consciousness, and then eventually woke up with a talking cat on my chest.

And, boy, did he have a lot of demands!

Fast-forward a couple years, and now he’s my partner in the P.I. business. Thanks in large part to his former owner, his name is Octavius Maxwell Ricardo Edmund Frederick Fulton Russo, Esq, P.I. Since that’s way longer than any honest name should be, I’ve taken to calling him Octo-Cat.

Together, we live in a beautiful manor home not too far from Blueberry Bay in Maine. Nan lives with us, too, as does her syrupy sweet rescue Chihuahua, Paisley. Our backyard neighbor is a sticky-fingered raccoon named Pringle; he helps us occasionally and bribes us regularly.

Never a dull moment with this colorful cast of sidekicks.

Of course, I’d be remiss if I failed to mention Charles Longfellow, III. He’s the senior partner at a local law firm, the same one I used to work at back in the day. He’s my boyfri—I mean,fianc?!

He’s my fianc?!

Wow, I still haven’t gotten used to saying that.

He proposed to me on a surprise weekend getaway that came with a rented RV and a crazy murder mystery. It was supposed to help me relax, but I’m honestly more wound up than ever.

Not just because of the proposal, but also because of what happened after we returned home.

A few months ago I made a deal to help some seagulls with an inter-flock dispute. In exchange, they promised to find my long-lost grandmother, whom I only knew about thanks to a hidden letter Pringle filched from the attic.

Nan—my best friend and the woman who raised me while my parents were busy focusing on their careers and each other—well, it turns out she’s not actually blood related.

I’m still getting over the shock from that particular revelation!

Needless to say, Nan has had a rough time accepting that I want to connect to the grandmother I never knew. I’ve taken every opportunity I can to reassure her, but it’s still hard. She didn’t choose for her best friend—my blood grandfather—to hand her his baby and ask her to run. Nan never asked why, and he died before I could suss out any answers. That leaves my long-lost grandmother as the only one who can explain why things happened the way they did.

I’ve got to find her and learn more about my family’s secret past. Yes, I’ve considered that she might be dangerous, especially considering the great lengths old grandpa went to get my mother away from her.

But I’m pretty sure I can handle a confrontation with an octogenarian, no matter how intimidating she may be.