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There was a big collision, and it was up to Charlene to identify the crooks in the tangle of arms and legs. Soon Johnny and Jerry had been duly arrested by Alec, still puffing like a cigarette smoker after his second pack of the day, and the race was run.

“You did it again!” Scarlett cried, finally catching up. “The neighborhood watch is on fire!”

“We did it,” Vesta corrected her friend. She grinned at Father Reilly and Wilbur. “If you guys hadn’t stepped out when you did, they might have gotten away.”

“We caught them,” said Father Reilly, checking his chassis for scuffs, scrapes or dents.

“Glad to be of assistance,” said Wilbur, gingerly touching his jaw where presumably one of the two gangsters had smashed into him.

“Now this is the kind of stuff you should be writing about,” said Charlene, addressing Dan, who was snapping a couple of shots of the neighborhood watch for his newspaper.

“I know, I know,” said Dan, looking a little rueful. “But you gotta admit it’s not a good look when the mayor and the chief of police spend their time fondling each other when they should be handling their workload.”

Charlene winced a little at the man’s words, then nodded. “Fine. You’ve made your point. Now can we leave this episode behind?”

“Less talk, more pictures!” Scarlett said.

And so Dan shot more pictures of the four neighborhood watch members who’d made all the difference and had caught the bad guys. Again!

Chapter 24

That evening, I was sitting in the window for a change. Yes, I know cats sitting in the window looking out into the street is a clich?, but I never said I was Mr. Original, did I? Besides, Dooley was also there, snoozing and enjoying a pleasant break from the excitement of before.

“I really thought it was a UFO, Max,” said my friend now. “It looked like a UFO, and it sounded like a UFO, so why wasn’t it a UFO?”

“Maybe the people who designed it are UFO fans,” I suggested. I didn’t care what it was, I was simply glad Odelia had gotten rid of it, and had promised us she’d never buy another. Which didn’t mean much, of course, as she hadn’t bought this one either.

“I don’t understand why people buy all these horrible machines, Max. Haven’t they learned anything from watching The Terminator?”

I smiled.“The Terminator is just a movie, Dooley. It’s not real.”

“It looked very real to me,” he said.

I heaved a big sigh of contentment. A cat really doesn’t need much, you know. My belly was full, and so was my bowl, I had a nice roof over my head, my best friend was right next to me, my human was watching television on a couch nearby, where I could keep an eye on her, so as far as I was concerned everything was A-okay with the world.

Chase walked in and sank down onto the couch.“You’ll never guess what happened,” he said.

“What?” asked Odelia, turning down the volume on the movie she was watching.

“Vale and Carew tried to escape. They knocked out the two priests they’d asked to help them come to terms with their misdeeds, donned their clothes and walked out!”

“But you caught them, right?”

“I didn’t catch them—your grandmother did, along with her cronies of the neighborhood watch.” He placed his hands behind his head and leaned back. “What a day. At least they’re behind lock and key, and this time there will be no visits for their spiritual nourishment.”

“Did you get Ida’s Picasso back, and the other stuff they stole?”

Chase shook his head.“Nope. They’re playing dumb. Insist they’re innocent. But they’ll crack sooner or later. Alec will make sure of that. And in the meantime it’s back to insurance fraud for me.”

“Poor baby,” said Odelia. “I can’t believe my uncle is letting you handle what must be the most boring case in police history.”

“It’s not that bad,” said Chase. “But it’s definitely not as exciting as chasing a couple of crooks dressed up like Jehovah’s Witness elders. Here, did you see this video?”

He took out his phone and showed Odelia a video. Unfortunately I couldn’t see from my vantage point, and I was frankly too lazy to get up.

Lucky for us, Odelia carried Chase’s phone over to us and showed us the video. It was clearly shot by someone with an unsteady hand, but it was still entertaining to watch: Johnny and Jerry running at full tilt, chased by a motley crew of crime fighters: Dan Goory, Charlene Butterwick, Uncle Alec, Gran and Scarlett. And the ones who actually caught them were Wilbur Vickery and Father Reilly!

“A regular team effort,” I said.

“Yeah, the watch did good today,” said Odelia as she handed Chase back his phone.

The lanky cop yawned and stretched.“I’m beat. Early to bed tonight, babe?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty bushed, too. Let’s make it an early night.”

And as the humans turned in for the night, Dooley and I were only just getting started. But first I needed a quick power nap, too.

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