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“Unfortunately there’s no CCTV anywhere on her block, or her building. So we have no idea when she arrived home, apart from Sybil Garlic’s witness statement, and we have no idea where she was or who she was with. Calista must have known, but she’s not around anymore to tell us, so that’s a dead end. And if Dotty received instructions about who to meet and where, it was done through the encrypted app Calista used, and since we don’t have their phones there’s no way to read out that data—even if we could decrypt it. And the company that owns Swiffr is in China, so it’s safe tosay that’s another dead end.”

“Have you checked the movements of the different suspects in the case?” I asked.

“We’ve checked the alibis for everyone Dotty was involved with, and so far we’ve got nothing,” he said, more to himself than to me, for obvious reasons. I didn’t mind, though. At least we got an update on the case, even if we couldn’t directly participate.

“He’s clever, isn’t he, Max?” said Dooley admiringly. “And so thorough.”

“Yeah, he’s a good detective,” I said. “Doesn’t miss a trick.”

Finally Chase threw down his pencil and stretched.“What do you say we visit Odelia?” he suggested.

“Oh, can we!” Dooley cried.

He grinned at our visibly excited response and got up from behind his desk.“I’m not getting anywhere with this, so let’s just get out of here, fellas.”

And so once more we tripped behind Papa Duck, like the good ducklings that we were, and soon were on our way back to the hospital to visit Mama Duck and the real duckling.

Odelia was doing fine, and so was the little one, but it was obvious she couldn’t wait to go home and rest in her familiar surroundings. Even though maternity wards are designed to be hospitable, it’s not the same as being in your own home, of course.

“One more night, the doctors said.” She glanced down at the little one in her arms. “Though if it were up to me I’d be going home right now.” She glanced down at me and Dooley. “And how are you getting on with my fur babies?”

“Oh, they’re fine,” said Chase. “Spent the whole morning cooped up in the office with me.” He took a seat at the edge of the bed. “I have to say their presence is kinda… soothing.”

“Isn’t it?” said Odelia with a smile.

“Though to be honest with you, this investigation is going nowhere fast.”

“You’ll get there in the end,” she assured her hubby.

Chase wasn’t as confident as his wife, but her endorsement bucked him up. “So have you thought about a name yet?” he asked.

She smiled.“I liked that last name we discussed.”

“You sure?”

She studied her baby’s sleepy face. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

“Okay, then I guess it’s decided. Welcome to the family—”

“Let’s not announce it just yet,” said Odelia quickly.

Chase looked down at us.“No, you’re right. The walls have ears.”

Dooley and I shared a look of concern. I’d never been referred to before as a wall with ears. Then again, maybe she was right. If she told us the name, we’d tell Marge or Gran, and before long, the whole town would know. Clearly they wanted to announce the name themselves, and to the gathered family all at once.

And as the little one slept, and Chase and Odelia watched on with loving pride, Dooley and I curled up at the foot of the bed, and were soon fast asleep ourselves.

It had been a pretty stressful couple of days, and we could use the repose.

Chapter 26

Chase had gone home, and so Dooley and I decided to pay a visit to Kingman. The investigation was clearly stuck, and now that Odelia was in the hospital and her focus was elsewhere, there was no sign that things would get unstuck any time soon. It was a little disconcerting, of course, to have two women murdered in cold blood and no killer coming into the frame of the team tasked with his or her apprehension.

“Hiya, fellas,” said Kingman, who was lying in front of his human’s store as usual. “What’s new?”

“Nothing much,” I said.

“Odelia’s had a baby,” said Dooley. “And she’s already got a name but we’re not supposed to know, because walls have ears. Did you know that walls could have ears, Kingman? Cause I looked very hard and I couldn’t find them.”

“It’s just something people say, Dooley,” said Kingman with a light chuckle. “Walls don’t actually have ears, unless there’s people behind them listening in.”

“I think Odelia was referring to us,” I said. “She clearly doesn’t want anyone to know the name before they’re good and ready to announce it.”

“Did they set up a dedicated Instagram page for the kid?” asked Kingman. “Cause that’s what a lot of parents do these days.”

“Why would a baby need an Instagram page?” I asked. “Aren’t they too young to post stuff?”

“It’s not the baby that’s going to post stuff, silly,” said Kingman. “It’s the proud parents who want to post pictures of their newborn so friends and family can follow their progress.”

“Oh, right,” I said. Frankly my mind hadn’t really been on the baby all that much. It irked me that we couldn’t solve the case, which was definitely a first for me.

“So what’s going to happen with you?” asked Kingman.