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We followed the two women from a distance as we enjoyed our stroll. It was better than being cooped up inside the house with a dead man upstairs. The only thing marring what could have been a perfect walk was the fact that my tummy was rumbling. I was hungry, but had been afraid to tell Odelia. She would have told Allison, who would have offered us some of Jasmine’s food. And the last thing I wanted was to snack on Jasmine’s kibble and watch the Persian walk in on us in the kitchen. I was pretty sure she would have scratched us across our faces where we sat, same way she’d scratched Kirk.

“So weird, though, right?” I said. “I mean, a cat whisperer who doesn’t like cats, and uses a hairbrush to hit them when they don’t do as he says. A family man who’s secretly conducting affairs with his client and his client’s niece at the same time. It makes you wonder what other things this Kirk Weaver had to hide.”

“I don’t think he was a nice man,” said Dooley, and that pretty much summed it up.

Chapter 12

That night, Chase sat reading on his phone while Odelia brushed her teeth in the bathroom. He was frowning at the screen. Like apparently all of Hampton Cove, he’d sent in a question for theGazette’s advice column and the answer had just been posted online. His question had been straightforward enough:‘Dear Gabi, I’ve been engaged to be married for quite some time now, but for some reason I can’t seem to bring myself to lock down a date for the wedding. Something always seems to crop up and the time is never right. What do you think I should do? Burning Heart.’

The answer had surprised him:‘Dear Burning Heart, instead of whining about your engagement you should urge your future uncle-in-law to show some more ambition in life and further his political career. Being stuck in a dead-end job as he is, it’s time to supercharge his ambitions and take the reins of this town firmly in both hands.’

Somehow he had the impression that whoever this Gabi person was, she’d somehow guessed who he was, and wanted him to push Alec to… do what, exactly? Run for mayor?

Then he dismissed the thought. Still, he wasn’t any the wiser, which irked him.

Odelia walked in from the bathroom and got into bed. She was also frowning.

“What’s wrong, babe?” he asked. “Still thinking about the case?”

“Yeah, I was wondering if Allison told me the truth or not. How can you tell, Chase, if a person is speaking the truth? Or lying to your face?”

“Very tough call,” he agreed. “There have been moments perps lied to my face and I thought they were absolutely truthful. And there have been times when I was sure the person on the other side of the table was lying while he was actually telling the truth.”

“You would think that I’d had developed an instinct for this kind of thing by now, but I’m still clueless.”

“By the way, what were your grandmother and Scarlett doing at Allison Gray’s place?”

“Gran said she applied for a job. Cat sitter. Though Scarlett told me a different story. She said Allison invited them. She’s been thinking about moving here permanently and wants to get involved in Hampton Cove’s social scene. She’d heard from her housekeeper that both Gran and Scarlett are plugged into all kinds of committees and local organizations and wanted to get to know them.”

“I didn’t know your gran was a member of any committees.”

“She isn’t. Too ornery to be tolerated for more than a single meeting. And Scarlett rubs people the wrong way with her provocative behavior and manhunting ways.”

“I would have liked to have seen your grandmother’s face when she and Scarlett showed up at the same time.”

“They seem to be getting on better. Maybe they’ve finally decided to make peace.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it,” said Chase. “Hell will freeze over before those two bury the hatchet. I think they secretly enjoy their feud.”

“Yeah, maybe you’re right. Did I tell you that Scarlett knows we can talk to cats now? She heard Gran talk to Jasmine and told her that if she doesn’t allow her to tag along on this investigation she’ll tell the whole town.”

“That’s not very nice of her.”

“No, it isn’t. Though I don’t think she’ll actually do it. She knows Gran would simply deny everything and people will think she’s simply spreading gossip to make Gran look bad.”

Odelia had picked up her phone and was reading something.

“Whatcha reading?” asked Chase, trying to catch a glimpse. But Odelia held the phone away from him and smiled.

“Just an article Dan wrote about a reading at the library. Where are my cats?”

“I saw them take off earlier.”

“Cat choir, probably.”

“Yeah, probably.” He cleared his throat. “Um… you know how we said we’d go out to dinner?”

“Yeah, for some reason something always seems to come up when we do. Maybe next time we simply don’t make any plans but decide last minute?”

“I’d like that. There’s… something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Oh? Pray tell, Mr. Kingsley.”

He laughed.“Not now.”

Odelia nodded.“There’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“What?”

“Like the man said, ‘Not now.’”