The gardener nodded. “I figured that’s the least they owed us. We hadn’t been paid for three months, you see. Mr. Eiderduck said he was having some cash flow problems and he would pay us as soon as he had managed to get on top of things. So I figured we might as well grab his credit card.”

  “What about the rest of the stuff?” asked Mick.

  “What stuff?”

  “The contents of the safe!”

  “I didn’t take anything from the safe! How could I? I don’t know the combination!”

  “Did Christi burgle the safe?” asked Mick.

  “Of course not. Christi would never do a thing like that. She’s always been the most loyal, hard-working person I know. She would never take anything that didn’t belong to her. She even protested when I picked up that credit card. Said we had no right. But I told her that Mr. Eiderduck had no right to withhold our pay for three whole months.”

  “You do see how this looks, don’t you, Mr. Hetman?” asked Chase. “First you don’t call the police, then you flee the scene, you grab your murdered employer’s credit card and treat yourself to a suite at the Star Hotel, order room service? It’s not a good look.”

  “It’s the look of a murderer,” Mick growled.

  The man hung his head. “I know I made a mistake. It’s just… I’ve been wanting to take Christi somewhere nice for months now. We’ve been dating for a while, but because of my lack of funds I couldn’t take her anywhere. I couldn’t pay for dinner at a decent restaurant. And so when I saw that credit card just lying there… I know it was wrong of me. And I know that I will regret it for the rest of my life. Christi will probably never talk to me again.”

  “Christi not talking to you is the least of your problems, Hetman,” said Mick. He slammed the table again, earning himself a reproachful look from Chase. “You killed the Eiderducks because they hadn’t paid you in three months. You figured they owed you and you wanted to show Christi that you weren’t the kind of guy who allowed himself to be treated this way—with disrespect. So you tortured them until they gave you the combination to the safe, and then you killed them and took all of their money and valuables and took off with your partner in crime.”

  “No, I didn’t!” Mr. Hetman cried. “I didn’t do any of that stuff! All I did was take that credit card. I shouldn’t have done it and that’s on me. But I didn’t kill anyone—you have to believe me!”

  “Liar!” Mick screamed, getting up and pounding the table some more. “You’re a liar! Liar liar pants on fire!”

  Chase didn’t seem to appreciate this outburst, for he also got up and put his mouth close to Mick’s ear. We couldn’t hear what he said, but moments later both men came walking out of the interview room.

  “Well done!” said Uncle Alec. “You almost got him, Mick. Just one more push and I think we’re there.”

  “I know!” cried Mick, looking extremely frustrated. “But he won’t let me!” He now faced off against Chase. “You didn’t let me!” he cried.

  “You were harassing and intimidating the suspect,” said Chase, not losing his cool.

  “So? Isn’t that the whole point? If you don’t push them, they will never confess!”

  “Is that what they taught you in police academy?” asked Chase.

  “Darn tootin’ they did! You gotta lean on them, man. Lean on them until they break. So that’s what I’ve been doing, and if you hadn’t interfered, he would have caved.” He held his index finger and thumb millimeters apart. “I was this close. This close to breaking him!”

  “Mick is right, Chase,” said Uncle Alec. “I could feel it. Hetman killed his employers because they hadn’t paid him and his girlfriend in three months. So he snapped and decided to take what he was owed. Eiderduck refused to play ball, so he tortured and killed him.” He placed a hand on Mick’s shoulder. “You did good in there. But there’s one aspect they probably didn’t teach you at police academy and that’s the concept of good cop, bad cop.”

  “Oh, they taught us,” said Mick. “But this,” he said, digging his finger into Chase’s collarbone, “isn’t good cop, bad cop. This is him being jealous of my success and trying to undermine me. It’s the same nonsense I’ve had to deal with all through my career. I was the best hockey player out there, and time and time again, I’d get flak from my teammates—my own teammates working against me! And the same thing is happening here.” He shook his head. “I don’t need this, man. I figured that things would be different, but they’re not.”

  “Don’t be like that, Mick,” said Uncle Alec. “Chase is simply trying to help you.”

  “He’s not and you know it,” said Mick. “All he’s doing is trying to make me look bad. This is not what I signed up for.”

  “What are you saying, Mick?” asked Uncle Alec.

  “I’m saying that I quit,” said the former hockey star.

  Uncle Alec looked taken aback. “What?! You can’t!”

  “Watch me,” said the man, and walked out.

  To say that all of those present were stunned would be an understatement.

  “I’ll go talk to him,” Chase suggested.

  “No, you stay right here,” said Uncle Alec, patting his deputy on the lapel. “I’ll talk to him.”

  After he had left, Odelia uttered a curt laugh. It wasn’t an expression of mirth but more of nervousness. “Did that just happen?”

  “Looked like it did,” said Chase.

  “I’m sure that Uncle Alec will convince him to come back,” said Dooley. “Uncle Alec is good at that sort of thing. Isn’t he, Max? He’ll get Mick to change his mind, won’t he?”

  “I’m not sure,” I told my friend. “And I’m not sure he should.”

  “But why? Isn’t he doing a good job being a bad cop?”

  “He is doing a good job at being a bad cop,” I agreed. “Only in his case he’s exactly that: a bad cop, with no redeeming qualities that I can see.”

  Odelia and Chase were staring through the glass at the suspect, who had been left in the room with only that stoic-looking cop to keep him company.

  “Do you think he’s guilty?” asked Odelia.

  “No, I don’t,” said Chase. “I think he’s telling the truth. By the time he arrived, the Eiderducks were already dead, so he saw an opportunity and he took it by stealing that credit card.”

  “That was a pretty stupid thing to do.”

  “Well, he doesn’t exactly strike me as the sharpest tool in the shed, babe.”

  “So what do you want to do?”

  “I want to charge him with theft and let him go.”

  “Mick won’t like that.”

  “Didn’t you hear? Mick isn’t a cop anymore, so it’s my call. And I say we let him go.”

  And that, as the man said, was that.

  CHAPTER 18

  We decided to get some fresh air. After having lived through those tense moments, it was time to remove ourselves from the scene and take a breath. Only when we arrived there, we found ourselves witnesses to another remarkable scene: Uncle Alec was desperately trying to keep Mick Harper on board by pleading with the guy not to quit.

  “You can’t hang up your stick now, Mick,” the chief was saying, a firm hand on the moping hockey star’s shoulder. “You’re my playmaker. You cracked this case faster than a penalty flick, and that makes you Hampton Cove’s number-one detective in my book.”

  “That’s all well and good,” said Mick, “but what about Chase? I can’t work like this, Alec. If I don’t have the respect and the cooperation of the entire team…” He tapped his chest. “I’m a team player. Always have been—always will be. But without a team to support me, I can’t function.”

  “I know,” said Uncle Alec. “That’s something we need to work on. And for what it’s worth, that’s on me, buddy. I’m the captain, and if there’s an issue, I take full responsibility.”

  “You saw what happened in there,” said Mick, gesturing frantically in the direction of the precinct building. “He undermined me! At every step of the way. If it had just been me in there, you’d have your confession and we could close this case.”

  “I know, I know,” said Uncle Alec, quite surprisingly, I thought. “Let me talk to Chase, all right? Let me see if I can’t make this right.”

  “Fine,” said Mick. “But I have to tell you that I’m disappointed. I’m very disappointed.”

  “I can see that, Mick, and I completely understand. You have every right to be disappointed.”

  As Uncle Alec returned inside, to talk to Chase and practice some of that fabled shuttle diplomacy, Mick took a seat at the wooden table that some enterprising cops had placed outside, so they could eat their lunch or enjoy a cigarette break. The hockey star turned star detective was absentmindedly playing with his huskies, who were also present.

  Closer to the precinct I saw two very large bowls, which were pretty much empty now, but had probably been filled with all the delicious nibbles that Uncle Alec had placed there.

  “He really spoils them rotten, doesn’t he?” asked Brutus in a whisper.

  The four of us were hiding around the corner, making sure we weren’t seen by the huskies. The last thing we needed was for them to have a go at us, the same way Mick had had a go at Chase.

  “He does,” I said. “And not just Blizzard and Storm, but also ‘star detective’ Mick.”

  “I really don’t understand what Uncle Alec sees in him,” said Harriet. “He’s arrogant, he’s incompetent, entitled, and not very bright.”

  “He is handsome,” said Brutus. “And well-built. Maybe that’s why everyone fawns over him?”

  “Not Chase,” said Harriet. “Or Odelia. They’re not fooled by this guy for one second.”

  “No, their eyes have been opened,” I said.

  “I just hope that Uncle Alec won’t fire Chase and give his job to Mick,” said Brutus. “That would be so unfair. And also, if he does that, it might lead to a rift in the family.”

  “I’m sure he wouldn’t do that,” I said. “Uncle Alec loves Chase like a son. And also, he knows that Chase is a much more capable detective than Mick is. Mick has just finished police academy, and he still has a lot to learn.”

  “Let’s hope saner heads prevail,” said Brutus, and that was certainly my hope as well.

  It wasn’t long before Uncle Alec returned from his mission to placate Chase.

  “We’re all set,” he said, looking extremely pleased. “Chase has agreed to fully withdraw from this investigation. And I’ve put you in charge, buddy. So go back in there, and knock it out of the park.”

  Mick looked extremely relieved. “I’m in charge from now on?”

  “You’re in charge.”

  “But what about Chase?”

  “He agrees with me that too many cooks in the kitchen is a bad thing, and he has graciously removed himself from the investigation.”

  “But… who is my partner? I mean, I’ve got to have a partner, right? Isn’t that how it usually works? We ride together, we die together and all of that stuff?”

  “We can think about that later. All we need now is a confession and then we can put this case to bed. Do you think you’re up for that, buddy?”

  Mick gave Uncle Alec his goofy smile. “Absolutely, Alec.” He got up, and we could all see his self-confidence surging again. “I’m going to show that guy all the corners of the room.”

  “Not… for real, though, right?” asked Uncle Alec, looking a little alarmed by these words.

  “Are you kidding me? Of course not! Just a manner of speech. But I’m going to get that confession. Just watch me.”

  And with these words, he charged back in, ready to finish the job.

  “What did he mean by showing the man all the corners of the room?” asked Dooley. “What’s so interesting about the corners of the room?”

  “It means that one way or another, he’s going to get a confession,” said Brutus.

  “But… Chase and Odelia think he’s innocent. So how is Mick going to get a confession?”

  Now that, I thought, was the million-dollar question. And since I was as curious to find out as the others, we made haste to return to the interview room.

  I just hoped that things wouldn’t get too violent. I abhor violence, and so do my friends.

  But I didn’t think Mick would cross the line.

  He might be a little inexperienced and overzealous, but he wasn’t a violent man.

  Or was he?

  As we were about to head in, we found our passage barred by the dogs that had in short order become the bane of our existence.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” asked Blizzard.

  “To listen in on the police interview of your human with the suspect,” I said truthfully.

  “Oh, no, you’re not,” said Storm, who had developed that menacing expression that he did so well. “That interview is for police personnel only, and last time I looked, you weren’t police.”

  “We’re police cats,” said Brutus, already simmering at the treatment we were forced to endure at the paws of this overbearing twosome.

  “Police cats!” said Blizzard, and followed this with a loud guffaw. “That’s rich!”

  “There is no such thing as a police cat,” said Storm with a grin of amusement. “You can ask anyone. No police force in the world employs police cats. Police dogs? Absolutely. They even have a special name for them—K9. But cats? Nope. So you better get lost, kitties.”

  “But we have been assisting our humans in their investigations for years,” said Harriet. “And they know how valuable those contributions are.”

  “Yeah, right,” said Blizzard. “Just get lost already, will you?”

  “The only thing cats are good for is catching mice,” said Storm. “Everybody knows this. It’s your only claim to fame. So how many mice have you guys caught today, huh?” When we gave him a look of confusion, he said, “Thought so.”

  “Okay, clear off,” said Blizzard. “And don’t let us catch you hanging around the police station again. From now on only real police personnel are allowed here, is that understood?”

  And since we didn’t think we’d win in a fight against these two, we decided that it wasn’t worth getting into a big scuffle and did as we were told.

  As we traipsed along Main Street, I don’t think I was alone in feeling a little discombobulated. When you’ve been helping your human solve crimes for years and years, all of a sudden to be barred access is a tough pill to swallow.

  It didn’t sit well with me.

  “Do you really believe that the only thing cats are good for is catching mice, Max?” asked Dooley.

  “No, I don’t think that, Dooley,” I said. “And I think Odelia also knows this, and Chase. The only ones who seem to be oblivious about our true value are Blizzard and Storm—and possibly Mick.”

  “We need to have a word with Odelia,” said Brutus. “We can’t go on like this. Mick taking over from Chase and Odelia. And Storm and Blizzard taking over from us? It’s not right.”

  It certainly wasn’t right, but what could we do? Uncle Alec seemed to appreciate Mick’s talents a lot more than he did Chase and Odelia’s. Or even ours. If he had ever appreciated our talents at all. So for now we were out and Mick was in. And since Mick was a package deal, along with his two huskies, that meant that we had effectively been put out to pasture.

  Our time as Hampton Cove’s leading detectives had abruptly come to an end.

  CHAPTER 19

  We found Kingman in his usual position: positioned in front of the General Store, keeping an eye on things both inside and outside of his human Wilbur Vickery’s shop.

  “Hey, you guys,” he said when he saw us traipsing up. But when he saw our sad faces, he frowned. “What’s wrong? You look like something the cat dragged in—a different cat than you, that is.”

  “We’ve been put out to pasture,” said Harriet, and that pretty much summed up the state of affairs.

  “Put out where?” asked Kingman.

  “Mick Harper has taken over as the official police detective at the police station,” I explained. “And along with him, his two huskies, who made it abundantly clear that from now on they will be running things.”

  “They said we can’t enter the police station anymore,” said Dooley. “Because there’s no such thing as a police cat. But that isn’t true, is it, Kingman? Police cats exist, right?”

  “I’m not sure,” said Kingman thoughtfully. “Until you guys started assisting Odelia on her investigations, I don’t think there’s ever been a thing like a police cat. Police dogs, yeah. And plenty of them. But no police cat that I know of.”

  “But we are police cats,” said Brutus. “So that means it’s a thing, right? Right?”

  Kingman shook his head. “One swallow does not make a summer, buddy. Just like one cat doesn’t make the concept ‘police cat’ an actual thing.”

  “But… we’re not swallows,” said Dooley, giving our friend a look of confusion.

  Kingman smiled. “I know you’re not a swallow, Dooley. But you’re not a police cat either. Since there’s no such thing.”

  “Then it’s time that we launched the idea,” I said decidedly.

  “Now might not be a good time,” said Brutus. “Considering that Blizzard and Storm have officially taken over from us as Hampton Cove’s police pets. They call themselves the K9 unit, but they haven’t even received any formal training.”

  “We have never received any formal training either,” I pointed out. “And yet we’ve been moderately successful, haven’t we?”

  “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how things play out,” said Harriet. “And in the meantime, I suggest we try to look on the bright side of this whole thing.”

  “Is there a bright side?” asked Brutus.

  “Of course there is, twinkle toes. It’ll give me plenty of time to perfect my ball balancing technique and get into the Guinness Book of Records. And also, it will give Odelia and Chase time to join Kurt and Gilda for yoga—every single day.”

  It would certainly free them up to work on their yoga routines, I thought. But whether they would enjoy it? I wasn’t too sure about that. If you’ve been the premier police detective, like Chase has, and all of a sudden you’re being replaced, it’s not a great feeling.