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“I’ll go out there and talk to my lieutenants,” said Brutus, “and those lieutenants will talk to the soldiers, and so on down to the lowest echelon. I’m not going to bother you with the details, but it’s a complicated but highly effective structure. Like an army.”

“So you’re building yourself an army now, are you?” I said.

“Yeah, an army of cats, designed to keep our streets safe.” He thrust out his chest. “I think it’s going to be the greatest thing since sliced bread, and Gran thinks so, too. And when all is said and done, and we’re fully operational, Gran will get in touch with potential investors, and we’ll roll out the Baker Street Cats project to neighboring towns, then to the entire county, the state, the country, and finally the whole world.”

“Global domination,” I murmured. “Very James Bond.”

“I know, right?” said Brutus, glowing with pride.

“There are cats everywhere,” said Harriet, pointing out the obvious. “There are cats in China, in Japan, in the Middle-East, in Africa, and even in faraway places like Europe. So there’s no reason the Baker Street Cats app we’re building won’t be a big hit all over the world.” She grinned at her mate, who gave her an affectionate grin in return, and they shared a smooch. “It’s going to be grand, snuggle pooh. Just grand.”

“I know it is, sugar britches,” said Brutus.

Boy, was I glad not having to be a part of this new global army of cats.

“So how about it, Max?” said Brutus.

“How about what?” I asked.

“I need a second-in-command. A loyal lieutenant who I can trust implicitly, and who will carry out my orders unflinchingly and without asking questions. You up for the task?”

“No, thank you, Brutus,” I said. “I’ll pass.”

He frowned.“What do you mean, you’ll pass? Don’t you want the streets of Hampton Cove to be free from crime?”

“Oh, absolutely, but I’m not sure this is the way to do it.”

“What are you talking about? This is a fool-proof plan. In fact it’s the only plan.”

I gave him a gentle pat on the back. “And I’m sure you’re the right cat for the job, Brutus. But frankly I have other things to do.”

“What other things?!”

“Yeah, Max,” Harriet chimed in. “What could possibly be more important than the Baker Street Cats?”

“Protecting Rosa Bond from her blackmailer, for one thing,” I said. “And making sure she gets her five thousand dollars back.”

Brutus made a throwaway gesture with his paw.“That’s peanuts, Max. I’m talking major crime prevention here. We’re going after the big guns. The people that are laying waste to our community, preying on the innocent and destroying the social fabric of this town.”

“Well, I think catching Rosa’s blackmailer is a good start,” I said.

Brutus gave me a nasty look.“I think you hit your head harder than you thought last night, cause this kind of thinking is indicative of some major brain damage right there.”

“Oh, no,” said Dooley, slapping a paw to his mouth. “Max, you have to get an MIR as soon as possible!”

“You mean an MRI?”

“That one, too.”

Just then, the doorbell chimed, and I was glad, for it saved me from having to contend with Brutus’s cat army, and Dooley’s concern for my apparently very feeble brain.

Odelia stirred, and so did Chase, but it took another couple of attempts by our unknown visitor to finally wake them sufficiently to crawl from underneath the covers and head down the stairs to open the door.

“Oh, it’s you,” said Odelia without much enthusiasm. And when I arrived downstairs to see who this could possibly be, I saw it was none other than Uncle Alec.

“I’m afraid there’s been a murder,” said the Chief as he took in his frumpy-looking niece.

Chase, also stomping down the stairs, and looking much too refreshed for a man who’d only turned in late last night, frowned and said, “A murder? What do you mean?”

Uncle Alec sniffed the air.“Is that coffee I smell?”

The hint was obvious, and while a sleepy-looking Odelia popped a capsule into the coffeemaker, Chase had already popped back upstairs and moments later we heard the shower running.

Brutus might be built like a brick wall, but so was his human, and all that brick needed regular maintenance to keep it in excellent shape. And while Uncle Alec took a seat at the kitchen counter, and proceeded to inform his niece about this most recent crime, the rest of the cat contingent made their way down, and I told Brutus, “There’s been a murder. Time to instruct your lieutenants and your soldiers to start looking for clues and such.”

But Brutus held up his paw.“I’m afraid I don’t have time to deal with that right now, Max. You’ll have to handle this one on your own, I’m afraid.”

“Oh? But I thought—”

He shook his head.“You don’t understand what an enormous undertaking the Baker Street Cats is, do you, Max? First we need to put an entire infrastructure in place. There’s meetings we need to conduct, people that need to be trained, an organization that needs to be built. It will take time before we’re fullyoperational. But once we are, you better watch out, for here we come.”