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“I’m afraid that part of the history of the Pink Lady is a little opaque, even to me,” said the world’s foremost diamond expert. “Either the diamond was lost or stolen, nobody seems to know for sure. But at any rate, it was thought lost forever, until it resurfaced in Hampton Cove—one of those mysteries of history, I guess. And perhaps we’ll never really know what happened.”

“Any idea how it ended up in a safe deposit box at Capital First Bank?” asked Chase.

“You looked into that side of the story, didn’t you, Oscar?”

Oscar Godish nodded.“I talked to the bank manager. A Mr. Brady Dexter. And he told me the safe it was stolen from belonged to a man named Craig Bantam. Unfortunately Mr. Bantam died a couple of years ago, and so far I haven’t been able to contact his relatives.” He shrugged. “Look, the most important thing forSheikh Bab El Ghat is the safe return of the Pink Lady. He’s not looking to launch a full-blown investigation into the circumstances of the diamond’s disappearance or reappearance. So as far as we’re concerned, Mr. Kingsley—our work is done.”

Odelia looked a little disappointed by this. She, of course, had every reason to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding the precious rock. She had an article to write, after all.

“But if you do manage to find out what happened, perhaps you’ll give the Gazette the scoop?” she asked now.

The little man’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t do scoops, Mrs. Poole,” he said in a measured tone that left no room for doubt as to how he felt about journalists. “No scoops, no snoops.”

After the duo had left with the Pink Lady, Odelia turned to Chase.“No scoops, no snoops—that was a dig, wasn’t it? A dig at me, because he thinks I’m some kind of snoop?”

“Or maybe he simply meant it in general,” said Chase. “At any rate, the diamond is finally gone, and now we can rest easy again.”

“Maybe you can rest easy, but I want to find out what happened, and if I understood that insurance guy correctly, I won’t have to expect any help from him.”

“Isn’t your uncle still involved? He said he was going to try to get to the bottom of this business, wasn’t he?”

Odelia gave her hubby a grateful smile.“Thanks, babe. Looks like I know who to call first.”

“Odelia, before you do that,” I said. “Can you talk to Wilbur Vickery? He went on two dates with this woman Loretta Gray, and since she walked out of their last date she hasn’t been answering his calls or messages and he’s feeling really down in the dumps.”

“Loretta Gray?” said Odelia. “Why does that name sound familiar?”

“The book your mom is reading,” said Chase.

“What book?”

“The book about the Pink Lady. The writer is also named Loretta Gray.”

“Do you think they’re the same person?”

“Probably. She’s definitely in town, since your mom met her yesterday, so maybe she’s dating Wilbur now?”

“Dating Wilbur,” said Odelia, then shivered slightly. “Imagine that.”

“Oh, and we just found out a big secret about Tex,” Dooley piped up, “but since it’s a secret we’re not supposed to tell anyone. Just thought you’d want to know.”

Odelia slowly turned to Dooley, then said,“Dooley, is this a joke?”

“No joke,” said Dooley with a smile. “A secret.”

Odelia now took a seat on the sofa right next to my friend, looked him straight in the eye and said,“Tell me everything. Right now.”

22

“You know, Max,” said Dooley, “instead of becoming a vet, maybe Tex should become a hairdresser. Now that Fido is gone he could take over the salon.”

“I think that’s a great idea, Dooley.”

We were traveling in Odelia’s car in the direction of the police station, and we were just passing by Fido’s salon. A For Sale sign had been placed in the window, a sad testament to the notion that Buster might never return, and would spend the rest of his life with the flat earthlings of Mount Shasta, California. Okay, so maybe that hadn’t been my best idea ever. You can’t hit them all out of the park!

“I still can’t believe Dad would want to stop being a doctor and become a vet,” Odelia said. She hadn’t responded well to Dooley’s news.

“But he seems to be very good at it,” I said. “Sam the pigeon was very satisfied with the services Tex offered him. If it hadn’t been for your dad, in fact, Sam might be dead right now, so that’s at least one pigeon’s life saved.”

“No offense, Max, and I know this Sam is probably a good friend of yours—”

“More of an acquaintance than a friend, but go on.”

“—but I care more about the health and safety of the people of Hampton Cove than that of a single pigeon.”

“Oh, but Tex saved a lot more lives than just Sam’s,” said Dooley. “In fact if Sam is to be believed, he’s like Hampton Cove’s very own Dr. Dolittle.” He turned to me. “I just thought of a joke, Max. Should I say it?”

“Go ahead,” I said.

“Tex could call himself Dr. Poolittle. From Poole and Dolittle—get it? Poolittle.”

“Oh, I get it, Dooley,” I said with a small smile.