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“We found Grace and Fabio,” said Max. “They’re locked up in a shed near the chicken farm. And they’re alive and well. Apart from the broccoli they’re forced to eat, of course.”

Chapter 37

Chase didn’t know where to look first. The precinct was being overrun by concerned citizens inquiring after the werewolf sightings. As it turned out, very few people had actually seen the beast. Most had just read Odelia’s article and seen the pictures.

By the time Chase and his fellow officers had managed to calm down the frantic citizenry besieging the police station, Odelia’s call came in.

“We found Grace and Fabio. Jock locked them up in an old shed near his farm.”

“Don’t do anything. I’ll be there in five,” he promised, and then relayed the message to Chief Alec, who decided to drop everything and join him.

“I can’t believe Jock would do such a thing,” said the Chief as they raced through Hampton Cove, their police siren whining away and the light flashing on the roof.

“Yeah, I don’t understand the reasoning,” said Chase. “Why lock up Grace?”

“To punish her because she was unfaithful? But wouldn’t she go to the police the first chance she got?”

“Let’s hear what he has to say—but first we need to free her and Fabio.”

They arrived at Jock’s house in next to no time where Odelia was already waiting.

Chase and Alec walked up to the front door and rang the bell, and when Jock opened the door, looking mystified, Chase said,“We have reason to believe your wife is being held prisoner on your property, sir. We could either arrange for a warrant or—”

“No, that’s all right,” said Jock, a concerned look on his face. He stepped out and closed the door behind him. “By all means, let’s find her. Where is she being held?”

“I don’t know—Odelia found her,” said Chief Alec.

He cut an accusing look in Odelia’s direction. “She did, did she? She didn’t mention that to me when she visited me earlier.”

“I think that’s because she figuresyou put your wife there,” said Chase.

“Me? Lock up Grace?” He laughed an incredulous laugh. “That’s ridiculous!”

“Who else could have done it? It’s your property,” said Odelia, not too kindly.

“You have the wrong idea about me,” said Jock, shaking his head. “I would never do anything to hurt Grace. Never.”

They had walked the short distance to the shed, Odelia leading the way. When they arrived, Chase saw that the door was unlocked, a chain dangling from it.

He carefully opened the door and looked inside.

The shed was empty.

“Did you find her?” Jock called out. “Is she in there?”

“Empty,” said Chase as Odelia appeared next to him.

“But… I don’t understand,” she said. “They were in here half an hour ago.”

“Did you see them?”

“No, Max and Dooley did, and they wouldn’t lie about something like this.”

“Whoever kept them here must have smelled a rat and moved them,” said Chase.

“Where is my wife?” asked Jock, now also entering the small shed. He glanced around. “Where is she?”

“Oh, don’t you play dumb with me,” said Odelia. “You had them moved, didn’t you?”

“What, me? Of course not! You have to believe me—I had nothing to do with this. So you saw them in here? With your own eyes?”

Odelia hesitated, and Chase said,“They were here half an hour ago, so they can’t be far.”

His eyes fell on the chicken house.“Let’s take a look over there.”

The small company set foot for the chicken house, Chief Alec sputtering something about his feet as they climbed down from the hill and he stubbed his toe on a rock.

Behind them, four cats had fallen in line with the four humans making their way down, and Chase could hear Max say something to Odelia that he didn’t understand.

Jock glanced over, and frowned at the cats.“Where did they come from?”

“They’re my cats,” said Odelia, “and they have an excellent sense of smell. If Grace and Fabio are around here somewhere, you can bet they’ll find them.”

“I hope you’re right,” said Jock. “And if I find whoever has been holding my wife…”

They’d arrived at the large chicken house, and Jock pushed open the heavy sliding door. Inside, chickens were roaming around, clucking happily and picking at seed being dispensed with a generous hand by one of Jock’s workers.

“But…” said Odelia, visibly surprised. “There were a lot more chickens in here last night.”

“Ah, yes,” said Jock. “I had temporarily housed some more animals in here, while a second shed was under construction. Luckily it was finally finished and so we moved some of the chickens into the new shed. Now they have plenty of space, they can even roam around outside if they like. Everything perfectly up to code and according to regulations, as you can see.” He waved to the man dispensing the feed. “Everything all right, Gino?”

“Chickens happy as clams, sir,” said the man, waving a hand.

“I like to see my chickens happy,” said Jock. “Happy chickens make me happy, too.”

“You tricked me!” said Odelia, accosting the chicken wing king.

“Tricked you? What do you mean?” asked Jock, confused.