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Forced to wait in Chase’s office, Dooley and I made ourselves comfortable on Chase’s small but cozy sofa, and soon curled up into two respective balls and succumbed to a refreshing nap. When Chase and Odelia entered the office, immediately I was wide awake.

“He confessed,” Odelia announced. “But only for taking the money, not the murder.”

“I think if I keep leaning on him he’ll confess to the murder as well,” Chase said as he took a seat behind his desk and opened his laptop, presumably to start typing up a report.

It’s not enough that cops catch the criminals, you see, they also have to write all kinds of reports when they do, and sometimes the paperwork associated with an arrest takes them more time than to actually make the arrest in the first place.

“So he admitted that he was in on the blackmail?” I asked.

“Not the blackmail,” said Odelia as she took a seat in front of her husband’s desk and addressed us. “He didn’t know about the blackmail. He did confess that he and Willie had a nice business going for a while: Willie would be hired as a handyman, stake out the place, and Edwardo would break in and take the stuff Willie had selected. But lately they’d fallen out, over some money that Edwardo said Willie owed him. So when Willie didn’t answer his phone, he paid him a visit and found his former partner dead on the floor.”

“He didn’t kill him?”

“That’s what he says. He says he found him dead, then decided to search the place, like any good friend would. And that’s when he found the plastic bag with the blackmail money and took it.”

“I don’t believe a word the guy says,” said Chase. “I think the part about them falling out is true. And so when Edwardo dropped by last night, they got into yet another fight, only this time he hit his ex-partner over the head, grabbed the money and ran.”

“So where is Willie’s phone?”

Chase shrugged.

“He didn’t have it?” I asked.

“Edwardo claims he didn’t find Willie’s phone,” said Odelia.

“He probably took it and dumped it,” said Chase, “to hide his connection with the guy.”

“So where does that leave us?” I asked.

“That leaves us with a job well done,” said Odelia, smiling and giving me a pat on the head. “Hats off to you, Max, for helping us catch the guy.”

“So you think he did it?” asked Dooley. “He’s the killer?”

“Yeah, I think that’s pretty much a foregone conclusion. A falling-out amongst thieves, and one thief deciding to kill the other one and take the money.”

“Rosa will be happy,” I said.

“Yeah, not only does she get her money back,” said Odelia, leaning back and rubbing her eyes, “but her blackmailer has effectively been put out of business.”

“Unless Edwardo decides to take over from his partner,” I said.

“I doubt it. Frankly I think he wasn’t lying about that part. He really didn’t seem to have a clue about the blackmail stuff Willie was into.”

“No, he seemed completely oblivious,” Chase confirmed. “And now if you’ll excuse me,” he said, cracking his knuckles, “I have a report to write.”

“What do you think happened to Willie’s phone?” I asked as we walked out.

“Like Chase said, Edwardo probably took it and dumped it.”

“So case closed?” asked Dooley.

Odelia smiled.“Yes, honey. Case closed. And an extra treat for you guys tonight.”

“Yay,” said Dooley.

We returned to Odelia’s office, where she, too, had some writing to do. While Chase slaved away over his report, she promptly settled in and started writing up an article about the murder of a handyman, and the arrest of his criminal associate. Meanwhile, Dooley and I settled down in the cozy little nook in her office she’s reserved for us, and would have continued enjoying our much-deserved naptime, if not suddenly Odelia’s phone had rung and the moment she saw who it was, put it on speaker.

“Odelia,” said a voice that sounded familiar. “It’s Rosa Bond. The most terrible thing has happened. My son has gone missing!”

Chapter 14

When we arrived at the house where the Bond family lives, I was pleasantly surprised to find it to be a nice big house in an affluent part of town. After the squalor we’d been confronted with all morning, it made for a nice change of pace.

The house wasn’t just big, it also sported two garage ports, and the big Tesla parked in front of one indicated these people didn’t stint for money.

The front door opened, and an anxious-looking Rosa greeted us and ushered us in.

“I don’t know where he is,” she said, not bothering with preliminaries. “I called the school about the upcoming summer bash, and they asked how Todd was doing. Turns out he called in sick yesterday.”

“Sick?” asked Odelia as we were led into a spacious living room. The humans took their seats on the beige leather couches while Dooley and I found the fluffy carpet very agreeable.