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The big guy shrugged.“The dead girl? Word is she might be the big boss’s wife?”

“Is that what people are saying?” asked Odelia.

“Yeah, It’s what everyone is saying.” He darted a glance in Chase’s direction. “So is it true? Is it really her?”

“The results of the autopsy aren’t in yet,” said Chase. “But I doubt it’s actually her.”

“So then who is she?”

“Could be anyone,” said Chase with a shrug. As usual he was playing his cards close to his vest and not letting on what he thought was going on.

“What’s all this about a succession fight?” asked Odelia, ever the reporter.

Bruno the guard grinned.“So now I’m the one being grilled, huh?” He scratched his scalp. “They don’t tell us much, but rumor has it that old Mr. Gardner is trying to set up a new management team, and getting rid of his nephew and his sister. Something Marcia and Bobby aren’t happy with. If it’s true, there’s going to be a big fight, I can tell you.”

“Blood in the water,” Harriet repeated.

“And what about Vicky Gardner?” asked Odelia. “What are people saying about her disappearance?”

“Well, the old-timers, the ones who knew her, say she just vanished one day without a trace. Mr. Gardner was still in charge back then. The moment she disappeared he was just devastated. And in the course of the next couple of weeks, while the police searched high and low, the guy just went completely to pieces. Stopped coming in. And that’s when his nephew took over, and he’s been here ever since.” He gave them a curt nod. “And now will you please get lost before I get in trouble?”

And so we all got lost, as requested.

Chapter 31

“I can’t get a hold of her,” Chase complained as they were driving over to where Marcia Gardner lived.

“Can’t we simply show up on her doorstep?” Odelia suggested.

“Yeah, but what if she refuses to let us in? I don’t have a warrant.”

Odelia shrugged.“We’ll figure something out.”

Chase smiled.“You should have been a cop, babe.”

“Which is what my uncle keeps telling me,” she said as Chase steered his car in the direction of the neighborhood where both Maria Gardner and her brother lived. Called Greenleaf, it was home to many statuesque villas and mansions and was where some of the town’s old guard lived—dotted withsome stylish but very expensive real estate.

“How are you guys holding up back there?” asked Odelia, glancing back at her contingent of cats.

All four of them were seated in a row, uncharacteristically quiet for a change.

“We’re fine,” said Max, holding up two paws in lieu of his non-existent thumbs.

“What did he say?” asked Chase, as usual fascinated with her ability to talk to her pets.

“That they’re fine,” she said as Chase took a turn and checked his GPS for a moment.

“I hope that pigeon isn’t out there,” said Max, as he glanced through the window and up at the sky.

“Yeah, what’s the story with that bird?” asked Odelia. “Why is it coming after you?”

“I have absolutely no idea, except that it seems to hate me for some reason.”

“The pigeon?” asked Chase, inadvertently touching his face where the bird’s droppings had landed that morning.

She nodded.“It seems Max has made himself an enemy.”

“Maybe you tried to eat its little pigeons?” Harriet suggested.

“I would never—ever—try to eat a bird’s babies!” said Max, thrusting out his chest indignantly.

The four cats looked pretty funny, still dressed in their funky little jackets. Odelia smiled as she surveyed them.“Maybe you should keep those from now on,” she suggested. “You look really nice.”

“Really lame, you mean,” said Brutus as he helplessly tugged at his own specimen.

“Cats don’t like to be dressed up,” said Chase. “Contrary to dogs, who love that kind of stuff.”

She glanced over to her boyfriend with a measure of pleasant surprise.“You’ve been reading up on cats, haven’t you?”

“Of course I’ve been reading up! I’m dating the world’s biggest cat lady, so I have to keep up.”

“Good for you, babe.”

“Are you still going through with your plan to teach us how to swim, Odelia?” asked Harriet now.

“Sure. It’s important that you can save yourselves when you fall in. Don’t you agree?”

Four cats silently nodded with extreme reluctance and she grinned. If Chase thought they hated those outfits, he didn’t know how much more they hated his inflatable pool.

They’d finally arrived at the address Uncle Alec had given them for Marcia Gardner, and he parked across the street. Marcia lived in a three-story brownstone with a wrought-iron black fence in front, and three granite stairs leading up to the front door.

“My uncle sounded really dejected when I called him just now. Any idea why?” she asked as she unbuckled her seatbelt and turned back to offer the same courtesy to her cats.

“Must have something to do with Charlene,” said Chase. “She’s not talking to him, and he’s taking it pretty hard.”

“Such a shame,” she said. “I thought they were great together.”

“Yeah, me, too. I hope they can resolve their differences.”

“Uncle Alec and Charlene broke up?” Dooley cried. “But why?”