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The guy definitely had motive, Odelia decided. He seemed to hate Burt’s guts with a vengeance. But did he do it? Hard to prove. Unless they found trace evidence of the nitroglycerin on his person or this hotel room, they didn’t have a lot to go on.

Just then, war broke out in the room. The black cat, who’d been staring down Max and Dooley, suddenly jumped their bones, and for the next few minutes the world was a maelstrom of claws, piercing yowls and screams, and fur flying all over the place.

The fight began in the center of the room, then moved across its full acreage.

“Max! Dooley!” Odelia cried, desperately trying to separate the warring parties.

It’s hard to stop a cat fight, though. Cats tend to get caught up in the melee, and lash out indifferent of whether the other party is friend or foe. In other words, you step in at your own peril.

And as the fight moved towards the bed, suddenly Chase stepped to the fore, picked up two cats in his right hand, another in his left hand, and pulled. There was a rending sound, and when finally the smoke and fur cleared, he had effectively broken up the fight.

Odelia stared at the man, and so did Curt Pigott.

“You, sir, are marvelous!” Curt exclaimed, and Odelia couldn’t have put it better.

Chapter 15

I was feeling slightly dazed. Being in a huge fight with a princess will do that to a cat. Princess might be slightly clueless about whether he or she was a she or a he but they definitely fought like a tomcat and I had the scratches and the bite marks to prove it. I was tucked away in the crook of Chase’s right arm while Dooley was tucked away in the crook of the burly cop’s left arm. All in all it was a decent proposition and I was slowly starting to feel safe again. To serve and protect was one of those mottos I’d never given much thought, but now that I saw that it extended to me, myselfand mine, I was all on board. I was a fan.

“That was a wonderful thing you did back there, Chase,” said Odelia as we descended down to the lobby in the hotel elevator.

“Just doing my job,” Chase grunted, though I could sense Odelia’s words pleased him.

“No, I mean, you could have gotten yourself hurt. That cat meant business.”

“Eh. Just a little pussycat. What harm can it do?”

“Did you see those claws?” Dooley cried. “That cat was going for the kill.”

Muzak softly played on the elevator sound system.‘Raindrops are falling on my head,’ someone crooned. A cat had just fallen on my head, and Chase had saved us. Suddenly I was feeling all warm and fuzzy, and gave the cop’s square chin a nudge with the top of my head.

“Aww,” Odelia said.

“Hrmph,” Chase said, stiffening.

I could be mistaken, but I had the distinct impression Chase was not a cat person, and he was merely doing this to get in good with Odelia. I would have said he did it to get in bed with Odelia, but he’d already accomplished that particular feat. So what was he after?

“Babies!” Dooley cried suddenly.

I turned to him.“What are you talking about, Dooley?”

“He wants babies! That’s why he’s being so nice to us all of a sudden!”

I hate to admit it but once in a while Dooley gets it right. Now was such an occasion. There’s only one reason why a dog person would suddenly turn into a cat person—or at least pretend to do so: the old baby maker is stirring its ugly head. “You know what, Dooley?” I said. “I think you just might be right.” Then again, maybe a couple of babies wasn’t so bad?

‘Because I’m free. Nothing’s worrying me.’

The elevator dinged and the doors opened, allowing us a nice view of the lobby. I had no idea why Chase insisted on carrying us. We might have been dinged a little, and lost some of our fur and a lot of our dignity, but my paws still worked. And yet I didn’t stir from my comfortable perch, and neither did Dooley. As far as I was concerned, Chase could make as many babies with Odelia as he liked. I’d suddenly grown quite fond of the sturdy cop. First he’d turned out to be Hampton Cove’s fiercest fleaslayer, and now he’d saved our lives.

We walked through the lobby and past the hotel restaurant when a curious sight met our eyes. As one man—or one woman—or one cat—our small company halted in its tracks.

Chase frowned.“Isn’t that—”

“Grandma!” Odelia cried. “She’s at it again.”