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“Okay, so how did you figure it out, Max?” asked Brutus. “And how did you catch that devious woman?”

“The parking ticket was the first clue,” I said. “It had the name of a street on it, but also, and more importantly, Louis de Ferr? had scribbled the name of the shop in front of which Amalia’s rented car had been parked:Andr?e Antiques.And since a story about an ambassador was playing on TV at the time, and Sukey had told us that day how much she admired the fact that Amalia and her two costars were UNICEF ambassadors, suddenly an interesting thought popped into my head.”

“It always does, doesn’t it? With you, anyway. With me? Not so much.”

“I’d recently heard some story on the news about a ring of diamond smugglers, you see, and also, Agatha had shown us the ring she’d received from her husband. A very expensive diamond ring. She said she’d sell it to pay her divorce lawyer. So I got to thinking. Who better to smuggle diamonds than UNICEF ambassadors? These are rich and famous celebrities, who can go places others can’t. Places like Africa, with its diamond mines. And famous stars rarely risk being frisked at airports. Or they can travel in their own private planes.”

“And even if they do get frisked, they could say they’re their diamonds.”

“Exactly. The main thing is that it got me a possible motive for Astra’s murder. And also for her presence there in Paris, at the exact same time as her former costars and Oscar.”

“But I thought Astra was having an affair with Oscar?” asked Harriet.

“That’s something Amalia cooked up. Oscar had a brief fling with Astra, but that was years ago.”

“But the pictures Agatha got on her phone?”

“Doctored. None of that was real. And a closer look at those pictures revealed as much. But of course since Inspector Giblet thought he had his murderer, he didn’t bother to look. At least not until Chase asked him to. And that’s when one after another, the whole house of cards came tumbling down. The knife that was bought at the shop—proven by CCTV footage taken from the shop, showing that Amalia had indeed bought it that day. The pictures of Astra and Oscar—doctored. The message sent from Astra’s phone to Agatha, asking her to come to her room—sent by Amalia, after she’d already murdered her blackmailer and former rival.”

“And how did you get Amalia to try and murder Oscar?” asked Brutus.

“Well, that wasn’t difficult. We just sent her a message, supposedly from Oscar, that he was ready to talk to the police about the diamonds. That he couldn’t live in fear of capture anymore, especially with his wife in jail, and he was going to confess and he advised her to do the same thing and pray for clemency.”

“And so she had to shut him up.”

“Yes, otherwise the murder of Astra would have been for nothing. And also, she had a feeling he knew about the murder and suspected that she might be behind it. Oscar might have behaved callously, but I think he does love his wife. In his own special way.”

“He didn’t show it,” said Dooley.

“No, he didn’t,” I said. “But he did arrange for a good lawyer. One of the best. And he did work behind the scenes to get Agatha out of a pickle. But he also needed his show to work. He wanted another hit to his name.”

“So maybe he was thinking about dropping the diamond smuggling business?” asked Brutus.

“I think so. Now, of course, he’s going to prison himself, and so are Natalie and Penney.”

“And the show?” asked Harriet anxiously. “Don’t tell me there won’t be a new season of the show, Max.” She thumped me in the chest. “There has to be a new season!Hearts& Roses is only my favorite show ever!”

“There will be a new season,” I said.

“Thank the Lord!”

“But with completely new characters. And Sukey Gumieniak will take the lead.”

“She’s the woman who’s not a woman,” Dooley supplied helpfully.

“What are you talking about, Dooley?” asked Brutus. “How can a woman not be a woman?”

“It’s a new age,” Dooley said with a nod in my direction. “Women aren’t women and men aren’t men but something in between. And men can be with men and women can be with women and the inbetweeners can be with the inbetweeners and every other combination possible.” He smiled. “They like to mix it up, you see. Oh, and we finally met B?bel, and he’s nice. I think I like him.”

“Who’s B?bel?” asked Harriet.

“What are you talking about?” asked Brutus. “How can a woman not be a woman, and who are these inbetweeners?”

“Yes, and why,” Harriet demanded heatedly, “isn’t Amalia Pulpweed going to be inHearts& Roses anymore?”

“Because she’s in jail for murder and diamond smuggle,” I told her.

“This is all your fault, Max!” she cried. “You ruined my favorite show!”

“I’m sorry, all right! But she’s a murderer!”

“So what? Nobody’s perfect!”

And then she was off in a huff, stared after by her mate Brutus.“Where is she going?” he asked. “Sparkie star? Where are you going?”

“Watching reruns ofHearts& Roses, with the one and only Amalia Pulpweed!”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Are you coming or not?”

Brutus winced.“Oh, dear. I hateHearts& Roses. It’s so boring!”