4c392a139708e5efb30cc267dbb0c768

“Um, not exactly,” I said.

She directed an icy look at me.“You do know that this is my territory, right?”

“I… thought this was Big Mac’s domain?”

“Not exactly. Iallow Big Mac to scavenge here. First he asked me for permission, though—and agreed to pay me my usual fee. Fifty percent.”

“Fifty percent…”

“Of his haul.”

“We’re not looking for food,” said Dooley. “We’re looking for clues!”

Clarice narrowed her eyes.“Clues.”

“We could give you fifty percent of our clues,” Dooley suggested, “but first we have to give our clues to the police. They’re going to need them to put the bad guys away, see?”

Clarice didn’t appear particularly interested in fifty percent of our clues, though. She made a dismissive sound. “You can keep your clues, city slicker.”

“You could help us,” I said as she started to walk away.

She threw me a skeptical look over her shoulder.“Me? Helpyou?”

“There’s fresh pizza in it for you,” said Dooley. “Barbecue chicken pizza.”

Her upper lip rose in a snarl.“Do I look like the kind of cat who eats junk food?”

To be honest she looked like a cat who gobbled down rats and other vermin whole.

“We can get you anything you like,” I said, sweetening the deal. “Anything at all.”

“I already have everything I like.” She gestured around. “All the food I need. Fresh air. My freedom. So what could you possibly offer that I’d be even remotely interested in?”

“How about your own bowl, your own cat bed, your own nook in our house?”

Clarice eyed me suspiciously.“Your human already offered me free passage into your home. To come and go as I please. Unlimited access to her food supply.”

“Yes, but now you would get your very own space in your very own home.”

It was a grand offer, but I wasn’t at all sure she would go for it. Then again, Clarice was an unpredictable cat, so there was no way to know how she would react.

Finally, that inscrutable expression seemed to thaw.“Home,” she muttered.

“Uh-huh.”

“My own bowl.”

“Yup. And your own bed.”

The silence stretched on for a moment while she pondered this. She gave me a skeptical look.“You’re not pulling my paw, are you, cat? Because you know what I can do with even one paw tied behind my back. Or three.”

“Oh, no! I would never pull your paw.”

“Fine,” she growled. “I’ll take it.”

“Great!” I cried, much relieved.

“Not that it matters much,” Dooley decided to put in his two cents. “Since the world is ending in a couple of days you won’t have much time to enjoy your new home anyway.”

Clarice decided to ignore this outburst.“Follow me,” she snarled.

We followed her. She took us around the corner to a row of large round trash cans with lids. She walked up to the third can in the row and reached up to give the lid a shove. It clattered to the ground. Then she stood to the side and casually started to lick her paw.

“Look inside,” she said.

I looked inside. And there it was. The holy grail. The clue I’d been looking for.

Chapter 40

Odelia woke up and wondered why it was still dark out. She blinked confusedly and looked around with a heavy heart. Realizing it wasn’t her heart that was heavy but that something was pushing down on her chest, she realized it was Max sitting on top of her.

“Odelia!” he was saying, trying to keep his voice down. “Wake up! We found it!”

“Found what?” she muttered, still sleep drunk.

“The proof we need to take down Chris Ackerman’s killer!”

At these words, she was suddenly wide awake.“What?”

“We found it!” he repeated. “In a trash can!”

“In a trash can,” Dooley echoed from the floor next to the bed.

Odelia sniffed. There was something rancid about the air in her room.

“Do you smell that?” she asked.

“Oh, that’s us,” said Harriet, seated next to Dooley.

“We’ve been dumpster diving,” explained Brutus, also part of the small troupe.

“It was Max’s idea,” said Dooley.

“But I showed them where to find the thing,” said a fifth cat.

Odelia stared at this newcomer. She was small, she was scruffy-looking, and she looked vaguely familiar in the moonlight streaming in through the window.

“You remember Clarice,” said Max. “I said she could stay here if she wanted to.”

“Only as a last resort,” said Clarice. “And only in case I run out of fresh rats.”

Odelia wrinkled her nose.“Um… Guys? Could you tell me what’s going on exactly?”

Next to her, Chase stirred, then murmured,“What’s going on with your cats, babe?”

There was a momentary silence, then Max asked,“What is Chase doing in your bed?”

“Yes, what is Jesus doing in your bed?” asked Dooley.

“We decided to move in together,” she said.

“Are you talking to your cats?” asked Chase. “Cause it sounds to me like you are.”

“Go back to sleep, honey,” she said soothingly. “I’ll go and give them some… milk.”

“You do that. And tell them to shut up and let us sleep,” Chase mumbled.