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“It’s as Chase explained, Dooley,” I said. “These kinds of crimes are very hard to solve: oftentimes it’s gangs moving from town to town during the tourist season. They probably left the area immediately after learning that Josslyn died as a consequence of the attack.”

“Maybe we can talk to some of the dogs belonging to tourists walking along the boardwalk that night?”

“We could,” I said dubiously. “But it would still be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Thousands of people pass along this boardwalk on any given day, and to find the one person who saw something will be very hard indeed.” Besides, if no witnesses had come forward now, the likelihoodthat anyone saw something was very small. “No, I think we have to accept that here is a crime that might never be solved.”

“But you have to solve it, Max,” said Dooley. “You and that big beautiful brain of yours.”

I gave him a small smile.“Even a big brain is no match for the thieves and pickpockets of this world, Dooley. Only diligent patrolling along the boardwalk can prevent that kind of crime, and I’m afraid that’s not up to us, but up to Uncle Alec and his police force.”

Chapter 26

That night, friends of Todd Bond had decided to organize a wake for their unfortunate friend. The place of the wake: the Walcotts. Apparently Scott and Layla’s parents, even though they had returned from the Bahamas, had offered their house as a venue to organize the wake, and I thought this was very nice of them.

Odelia and Chase had decided to go, but had of course not been invited. The only reason they even knew about the wake was because Rosa had told Odelia. Our human, not satisfied with Uncle Alec’s decision to close the case, had decided to keep on investigating, in her own time, and when Rosa phoned her about the wake, had decided to go.

And so Dooley and I found ourselves hiding in the bushes lining the backyard of the Walcott house, while Odelia and Chase were staking out the front, seated in their car, and making sure they clocked everyone coming and going, taking pictures of all participants.

I wasn’t sure what they hoped to accomplish, but maybe it was a good idea to get a picture of the social circle Todd Bond had moved in.

“So Odelia still thinks it was foul play, does she?” asked Dooley, who was lying next to me on the cool grass.

“Yeah, she does,” I said.

“I think so, too, Max. I don’t think a kid like Todd would simply drown like that.”

“It does all sound very suspicious,” I agreed.

“I think Scott killed his friend. I think he was upset that his best friend was still dating his sister, and they got into an argument and he accidentally killed him.”

“It is a possibility.”

“It’s not the kind of crime a girl would commit, is it, Max?”

“Girls are capable of murder, Dooley, not just boys.”

“I know, but Layla seems like such a sweet girl.”

We looked over to where Layla Walcott sat nursing a soda. She looked sad, and wasn’t really talking much to anyone. Then again, this wasn’t a party, this was a wake, and the atmosphere was appropriately subdued as a consequence. Scott and Layla’s parents were there, serving drinks. They’d taken the precaution to close up the pool, covering it up with a large blue tarpaulin. It seemed like the safest and most respectful thing to do.

Rosa and Tilton Bond were also there, and stood chatting with Scott and Layla’s folks. Scott himself was checking some notes he had in his hand, and I think he was going to read something he’d written, presumably saying a couple of words about his best friend.

Just then, Aisha Bond suddenly walked up to Layla Walcott, and threw a glass of orange juice into the girl’s face! Immediately voices were raised, and a good deal of shouting ensued, and if both sets of parents hadn’t kept the girls apart, I think hair-pulling and an actual physical altercation would have been in the cards as well. As it was, though, Aisha stomped off on a huff, ignoring her mother’s shouts to come back and apologize, and since I’m the kind of cat who always wants to know what is going on, I decided to follow her, and so did Dooley.

We watched her walk off and hit the sidewalk, and saw how Odelia got out of the car and approached the teenager. Aisha broke down, and Odelia wrapped her in her arms.

“She did it!” said Aisha, sniffling.

“Who did what, Aisha?” asked Odelia.

“Layla, of course. I’m sure of it. She killed my brother, and now she’s playing the grieving girlfriend.”

“But I thought Layla and your brother had broken up?”

“They didn’t break up—Todd dumped her. Layla was too needy—he told me so himself. She was crazy. Obsessed. Always sending him messages—up to a hundred a day. And leaving him little notes in his locker, and even writing him letters. She said she couldn’t live without him, and finally he’d had enough so he told her he couldn’t see her anymore, and that’s when she went crazy. Started stalking him everywhere he went.”

“So you think she killed him?”