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“Do you really want to interrupt them on their hot date?” Dooley asked.

“Yes, I do. Catching the Kenspeckle killer is more important than a date.”

“Not to Harriet and Brutus. They love dating. Dating is all they do.”

“I don’t care. We need to catch that killer. Dating can wait.”

“Oh, fine,” he said, though he didn’t look happy. The prospect of catching Harriet and Brutus in the act under a park bench didn’t appeal to him.

We trotted over to the park where only that morning I’d been stuck in a tree. It looked completely different during the day. Mothers were pushing baby strollers, tourists were licking ice creams, kids were kicking cans, teenagers were canoodling and senior citizens were reading the newspaper.

Most tourists were at the beach right now, soaking up the rays, but not all. Some enjoyed the peace and quiet of the park. And the shade. The north side of the park sloped down, and morphed into a stretch of sandy dunes, leading straight down to the beach. The park provided a welcome counterpoint of coolness. We passed the playground, with several toddlers playing in the sandbox, parents seated to the side to keep an eye on them.

“They could be anywhere,” Dooley said. “This place is huge.”

“Not that huge. And I’ll bet they’ve chosen a quiet spot for their date.”

“So they can have some privacy. Which we should probably give them.”

“Do you or don’t you want to find the killer?”

“Of course I want to find the killer. But I don’t see how Brutus or Harriet are going to help us find him. If we can’t solve this case, and Odelia and Chase and Uncle Alec can’t solve this case, what makes you think they can?”

“It’s the combined intelligence of the four of us that does the trick,” I told him. “It’s the power of the mastermind, Dooley. Four great minds provide a wisdom that is greater than its collective parts.”

He stared at me dumbly, and I was starting to have second thoughts about this mastermind thing. I’d seen it on the History Channel once. How big tycoons rely on the convergence of great minds to come up with great ideas. I wondered if it also worked if some of those minds weren’t as bright as others.

We headed to a denser part of the park, where Brutus and I had climbed that tree that morning. When I spotted a black tabby and a white Persian getting cozy under a bench, I knew we’d found them. “There they are.”

“You talk to them,” Dooley said, shaking his head. “I’m not doing this.”

“Hey, guys,” I said as I walked up to them, Dooley dragging his paws.

Brutus gave me his best glare.“What are you doing here?”

I told him in a few quick words what had transpired at the Kenspeckle place. It didn’t help. “That still doesn’t explain what you’re doing here.”

“Don’t you see?” Harriet said. “Max wants our help to solve the case.”

“You want my help?” asked Brutus, and he seemed genuinely surprised. “I thought you didn’t need my help. Not after what happened yesterday.”

“Well, it turns out I do need your help, Brutus,” I said reluctantly.

A grin spread across his features.“You’re admitting you can’t do this without me?”

“That’s… pretty much what I just said, yes.”

The grin spread.“Just humor me, Max, and repeat that, will you?”

I rolled my eyes. Oh, God. He was back to his old obnoxious self. “Brutus, I need your help solving this case. I can’t seem to do it without you.”

“Like music to my ears. Tell me again, only this time act like you mean it.”

Now it was my turn to glare at him.“Are you going to help or not?”

“You know what? I’ll think about it. Let me get back to you.”

“Oh, sugar plum. Don’t be mean to Maxie. He’s your friend now.”

Brutus gave me a slap on the back.“Just messing with you, Maxie, baby. We’re tree top buddies. We climbed a tree and survived. We’re buds now!”

“Oh, you guys,” said Harriet excitedly. “We’re a team! It’s what I’ve always wanted! We’re best friends! The fearless foursome to the rescue!”

“Whoopee,” Dooley muttered.

I didn’t know what was worse: being Brutus’s enemy or his buddy. We might have bonded to a certain extent up there in that tree, but that didn’t mean we were bosom buddies now. Spend some time staring death in the face with another cat, and you’ll start to feel a strange connection. It’s not friendship, exactly. It’s… complicated. Probably something only a shrink would understand. Still, I needed his help. We needed to figure this out.

“All right,” I admitted. “We’re all friends now. Happy?”

Harriet made funny little sounds, and she looked so excited she was about to spontaneously self-combust. She pressed her paws together.“Very happy.”

“So what do you want us to do?” asked Brutus. “And make it snappy, cause Harriet and I have those dinner reservations at The Hungry Pipe.”

“Dinner is hours away,” said Dooley. “And it’s not a reservation if you’re going to eat leftovers on the roof of some dumb old restaurant.”

“Hey, I’ll have you know The Hungry Pipe is the place to be right now. And it is a reservation if your buddy can get you the best veal in town.”