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“Again, shoot,” said Brutus. “Harriet won’t like this.”

“Why is she so competitive about this?” I asked from my position on top of the fence.

“Oh, I don’t know. She feels she should be the number one sleuth, mainly because she’s a girl, and Odelia is a girl, and Gran is a girl, and then it’s all girls together, see?”

“No, I don’t see,” said Dooley, and frankly I didn’t see it either.

“So they can be a team. Harriet, Odelia and Gran. Like Charlie’s Angels? Three girls fighting crime. Harriet saw the movie and now she wants to be the third angel.”

“Why?” asked Dooley, clearly puzzled.

“I’m not sure. She says it’s feminism.”

“So who’s Charlie?” asked Dooley.

“Some old, rich guy,” said Brutus.

“So feminism is an old, rich guy who tells three women what to do?”

“I guess. You better ask Harriet, though. She knows all about it.” He stretched. “Anyway, I guess our work here is done, so it’s back to the homestead for us.”

“Odelia and Chase are still busy figuring things out, though.”

“They don’t need us to do that, Dooley.”

“I think they do.”

“Listen to me, Dooley,” said Brutus, placing a brotherly paw on Dooley’s shoulder. “There’s a point when we cats stop being useful to our humans. A point where they say ‘Thank you very much, cats, but we’ll take it from here.’ And this is just such a point.”

“I’m not sure, Brutus,” said Dooley. “I don’t think we ever stop being useful.”

“I don’t care what you think, I’m getting out of here. All these dead bodies and weird peacocks giving us faulty clues are seriously freaking me out.” And then he was off.

“Do you want me to come up there and keep you company, Max?” asked Dooley.

“Nah, I’m fine, Dooley.”

“Do you want me to get you some food? You’ll starve to death up there.”

“I don’t think I’ll be up here that long. Or at least I hope not.”

“What we need is a fire engine. With one of those nice firemen to help you down.”

“No need,” I assured him. “The solution will come to me. I just need to think really hard for a moment—really think this through—and the answer will pop into my head.”

And as I started thinking hard, suddenly an ambulance came driving up, followed by a black sedan. The black sedan was Abe Cornwall’s, the county coroner, and the ambulance was there to pick up the body of the unfortunate Chickie. The gate swung open, and sedan and ambulance zoomed through.

And as they did, Dooley suddenly yelled,“Jump, Max! Jump!”

“What?”

“Jump on top of that ambulance!”

Clearly Dooley had had a brainwave. And so I jumped.

Chapter 13

“We caught this guy scaling the gate,” said Chase as he pointed in the direction of a skinny youth with pink hair. They were back in the conference room, their ad hoc command center. Odelia stared at the kid. With his effeminate features and lots of makeup it was hard to be sure whether he wasa guy or a girl, actually.

“I was just trying to get close to my soulmate!” cried the kid.

“And who might your soulmate be?” asked Chase.

“Chickie, of course.”

Uncle Alec had also joined them, after being informed Abe had finally arrived.

“What’s your name, son?” the Chief asked.

“Chickie Hay,” said the kid.

“What a coincidence,” said Chase with an eyeroll.

“Your name is Olaf Poley,” said Chase, having had the perspicacity to dig out the kid’s wallet.

“I’m having it officially changed to Chickie Hay next month,” said the kid. “I filed the petition so it’s only a matter of time before I’ll share a name with my soulmate.”

He looked a little like Chickie, Odelia had to admit. Fine-boned features. Cupid’s bow lips. He was a lot younger, though, and a boy.

“Are you related to Chickie?” she asked now.

“Of course I’m related! Didn’t you hear a word I said? I’m her soulmate! We were put on this earth to be together forever. I can even sing like her. Do you want to hear?” And before they could stop him he’d burst into song. He didn’t sing all that bad either.

Tyson walked in, took one look at the kid and groaned.“Not again.”

“Hi, Tyson,” said the kid happily. “Say hi to Chickie for me, will you?”

“Do you know this guy?” asked Uncle Alec.

“Yeah, we filed a restraining order against him last year. I think it still stands. You’re not allowed within a hundred yards of Chickie, you know that, right?” he asked, sternly addressing the young man.

“I’m sure Chickie doesn’t know about the restraining order. You filed that just to keep us apart. She waved at me this morning. So I know it’s her entourage that wants me out of her life, not Chickie. An entourage, I might add, that’s jealous of the bond we share.”

“He’s Chickie’s most persistent and annoying stalker,” said Tyson.

“She had more than one?” asked Odelia.

“Yeah, she had plenty, but this one takes the cake. Can’t keep him away.”

“Because we’re soulmates,” the kid repeated in a sing-songy voice.

“Do you think he could be the person we’re looking for?” asked Uncle Alec.

“Of course I’m the one,” said the kid with a little curtsy.

“The one who killed her, I mean,” Uncle Alec said.