ff3a28bfbb25315bb8c90759d8632474

“Not so soon. It takes a lot longer for humans to get their groove on than with us cats.” Last time we saw Odelia she hated Chase Kingsley’s guts, and I didn’t think one family dinner would have made such a big difference, no matter what Brutus or Harriet said. I knew Odelia, and even though she’d brought home some weird specimens, she never kissed on the first date. “Let’s check her other haunts,” I said now. “I’ll bet she’s over at the doctor’s office.”

But when we went there, there was no sign of Odelia either. We stopped by the library next, and finally headed over to the police station. Now that Brutus had taken over my home, the station house was safe terrain once more. Brutus might be a lot of things, but he wasn’t capable of being in two places at the same time. When we hopped onto our usual perch on Chief Alec’s windowsill, my heart leaped with joy when I saw Odelia holed up in there with her uncle and… Chase Kingsley. But just as we arrived, she left.

So we did the only thing a smart cat would do: we simply barged into Chief Alec’s office through the window, plopped down on the man’s desk, and, before his surprised eyes, hopped down and tripped after Odelia.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” the chief grunted, then bellowed, “Odelia! Your cats are here!”

Odelia turned back, and was all smiles when she caught sight of us.

“Oh, hey, darlings,” she said as she bent down and gave us a cuddle. “Finally up and awake, huh?”

“Oh, Odelia, we have so much to tell you!” Dooley cried.

“Yeah, we know who the killer is!” I added.

She gave us both a keen look but quickly rose again, and I immediately saw why: we were being watched with interest by Detective Kingsley.

“Are these your cats?” the burly cop asked.

“Yeah, they’re mine,” she said with a smile.

“And they just come barging in here like that?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Your cat comes barging into our house, buddy!” Dooley yelled.

But all Chase could hear was Dooley’s plaintive mewling, of course.

“Um…” Odelia stared down at me. I could see she was eager to listen to our story, but she couldn’t very well do it now, with Chase and Uncle Alec watching on. To them it would sound like she was meowing, and might give the wrong impression. So instead she merely said, “Yeah, they’re very attached to me. Sometimes they just follow me around all day long.”

“So you’re not just a nosy reporter but a crazy cat lady too, huh?” he asked.

Odelia scowled at him, and I was happy to see that the two of them weren’t an item. And if my extensive knowledge of human nature was anything to go by, it would take them a while to get to that point, if ever.

“If I’m a cat lady, what does that make you? Crazy cat dude?” she asked.

Chase opened his mouth to respond, but he momentarily seemed lost for words, so he simply closed it again, and Odelia took the opportunity to stalk out of the office. Chief Alec, who’d laughed loudly at his niece’s comment, now said, “Shoo. Follow the lady, cats,” and sent Dooley and me on our way.

I was pretty sure he was one of the few people who knew about Odelia’s ability to talk to us, and I was glad he hadn’t betrayed that secret to Chase. At least one person in this family wasn’t selling out to the newcomers in town.

Dooley and I tripped after Odelia and joined her in a small empty office. The moment the door closed, she turned to us, and said,“I think I know who did it.” And when she told us the name, both Dooley and I were surprised to find that she’d discovered the murderer’s identity all on her own. When we confirmed that she was right on the money, she smiled. “Now to prove it…”

After she had left, Dooley and I shook our heads in dismay.

“There goes our bargaining chip,” Dooley lamented.

“Dayum,” I said, then slapped my face. Now I was starting to sound like Brutus.

Chapter 23

After the disappearance of the laptop, it didn’t take Odelia long to figure out that her initial theory had been correct: there was something on that laptop that revealed the identity of the killer. And then it dawned on her. The Army of No. She quickly took out her phone and started googling. It was just a hunch, but her hunches often proved correct, so…

The mention of this Army of No had stirred a memory of a horrific event that had taken place a couple of years ago. Her father had been marginally involved at the time, and she’d even written an article about the tragedy.

She now walked into Chief Alec’s office and placed her phone on his desk and tapped it. “Check this out, Chief.”

Her uncle quickly read the page indicated, and stared up at her.“No.”

She nodded.“Yes.”

“What’s going on?” asked Chase, mystified by this exchange.