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“The number of cats that have gone missing in that kid’s neighborhood is staggering,” said Julio. “Staggering!” he added when Flint opened his mouth to protest.

“Like I said,” said Flint, obviously not wanting to be served with another summons, this time for defamation of character, “nothing has ever been proven.”

“It’s a well-known fact that all serial killers start out by squashing ants and killing pets, detective,” said Julio. “And so if the rumors are true, Danny boy is the prime suspect in my book.”

“I’m not sure if…” Flint began.

“Well, and I am. I’ve never trusted that kid. Not since he called me a very nasty slur when you had your office Christmas party last year.”

“What slur?” asked Chase, who was jotting all this down.

“Never mind what slur,” said Julio, who was getting a little emotional and pressing a hand to his face. “Just take it from me that that boy is evil. Evil!”

“All right,” said Chase. “We’ll certainly look into that. Thank you, Mr. Prokop.”

“Julio, please, detective—may I call you Chase?”

“Um…”

“Lovely name, by the way, Chase. Very butch.”

“Thanks… Julio.”

“Do you work out? You look like you work out.”

“Julio, not now,” said Flint.

“What did I say?”

“Anything else you’d like to tell us?” asked Odelia.

Julio thought for a moment, while Flint frowned before himself, then both men shook their heads.“Nothing else…Chase,” said Julio softly, as he studied Chase from under lowered lashes.

“So what’s going to happen now?” asked Flint. “I mean, if this Jayme inherited the studio, but she’s in jail for murder, where does that leave us? Legally, I mean?”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to discuss that with an attorney,” said Chase as he rose to his feet.

“Julio seems to like Chase a lot, Max,” said Dooley.

“Yeah, looks like,” I said.

“Do you think he’s in love with Chase?”

“No, I don’t think he’s in love with Chase, Dooley. He’s just admiring him. And you have to admit there’s a lot to admire about Chase.”

“Oh, absolutely. Chase is my personal hero, Max.”

“Mine, too.”

And for a moment Dooley and I gazed reverently at Chase, much the same way Julio was now gazing at the burly cop. I should probably mention that Chase has saved our lives on numerous occasion, and personally I think he’s the best thing that ever happened to this family. If Danny Tomon squashed ants and tortured cats, I think it’s safe to say that Chase probably healed ants and saved cats when he was a little boy. The man is a hero.

But then it was time to leave, and Julio and Flint bade us farewell for now, after impressing it upon Chase and Odelia to keep them informed.

And as we filed into the car and took off, the couple waved us goodbye from the door.

“Two very nice men,” said Dooley. “I like them both.”

“Yeah, me, too,” I said.

“Though Flint didn’t seem too happy that Jayme is the one who’ll take over the studio.”

“I think it’s hard to take over a studio when you’re in jail, Dooley.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true. All the more reason to prove she’s innocent, so she can go do what Dave thought she should do.”

“I think you’ll find that it’s hard to decide for another person what their life’s work should be. And I think Dave made a big mistake when he selected Jayme as his successor.”

“And why is that?”

“He should have discussed this with her before he made things official.”

“Maybe that’s why she killed him? Because he told her she should take over Tollie the Turtle and she said she didn’t want to, and they fought and she killed him with an ax?”

Somehow I didn’t see the soft-spoken and kind-hearted young woman we’d met take an ax to her benefactor’s head. Then again, people will always surprise you—both in favorable and less favorable ways.

Chapter 15

It had been a long day and I was more than happy finally to be home again. The first thing I did was enjoy a nice dinner, then take a detour and pay a visit to my litter box, and as I started to relax and wonder where I’d take my first nap of the evening: on the three-seater sofa, the two-seater sofa or the armchair, suddenly Gran came in, followed by Scarlett and Harriet and Brutus, and said, “Max, Dooley—follow me.”

“But I don’t want to follow you, Gran,” I said as my first and natural reaction.

But Gran gave me one of those looks that made it clear that I had no choice in the matter, and so follow her I did—but with extreme reluctance. I just wanted to nap!

Odelia and Chase, who stood preparing dinner, glanced up at this sudden intrusion into the peace and quiet of their home life, but didn’t seem to have any qualms that their cats were practically kidnapped from under their very noses. In fact they laughed and Odelia quipped, “Working up another one of your photo comics, Gran?”

“Yeah, we’ve already shot a lot so far, but for this next one we need Max and Dooley. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Be my guest,” she said—the traitor!

“Oh, by the way,” Gran said, “could you have a word with Dan?”