“Or very dumb,” I said.

  “I liked his singing,” said Dooley. “Though Emily didn’t seem to appreciate it very much, did she? And neither did Harry.”

  “Chloe and Kim loved the spectacle,” said Frankie. “But then they love everything that puts Emily in a bad light.”

  We had caught up with the group, and saw they were contemplating taking a seat at one of those street-side cafés that are all the rage in France. Steven and Brian were studying the menu that was posted on a placard, and I already saw a nice big bowl of cold water in our near future and perhaps a little something to eat. But before the group had come to a decision, suddenly a voice rang out, “Kim! Yoo-hoo, Kim!”

  We all looked up, and saw that a middle-aged lady was waving at us in an excited fashion. Her face was red from the exertion, and she was dressed in an oversized shirt, cotton pants and a big straw hat.

  Kim frowned at the woman. “Who’s she?” she asked.

  “Do you know this person, Kimmie?” asked her mom.

  “Never seen her before in my life,” said Kim.

  “She seems to know you, though,” said Steven.

  “Kim! It’s me, Steph!” said the woman, and started making her way in our direction. But when she had almost reached us, suddenly her attention seemed to be drawn by something else, and she paused, leaving us all to wonder what was going on.

  A collective shrug later, the company had descended upon the café terrace and taken a seat. The sun was beating down on us, and it was wonderful to escape into the shade provided by a pair of large cantilever umbrellas.

  Frankie, Dooley and I immediately sank down onto the cool paving stones located next to Odelia’s chair, and I closed my eyes with relish.

  “Now this is the life,” Frankie said with a sigh.

  “I think I’ll stay here forever,” said Dooley.

  And I think I must have fallen into one of those micro-naps you hear so much about, for when I woke up again, a tin bowl of cold water had been placed in front of me, and I lapped it up with some relish.

  The humans had all ordered their refreshments, and for a moment no one spoke, as they all sampled their chosen beverages with visible and audible pleasure. Then Chloe said, “About this Oliver guy…”

  Stephanie Gomez had been in France for a week, but today marked the first time she was in Saint-Tropez, that lovely former fishing village that had somehow managed to turn itself into a sort of luxury resort for the super-rich and their fabulous yachts. She was panting a little from the exertion of having navigated the narrow streets with the quaint little houses when she caught sight of her old friend Kim. But when she waved at the woman, the latter had simply ignored her, pretending she didn’t even know her!

  Which is when she saw that Kim must have seen the error of her ways, for she gestured in the direction of the small alley behind the café. A big smile slid up Stephanie’s face as she headed in that direction.

  It took a little while before her friend materialized, but when she finally did, it was with a big smile on her face—just like old times! Stephanie said, “For a moment there I thought you hadn’t recognized me!”

  “Of course I recognized you!” said Kim, as they exchanged air kisses—it was too hot for the real thing!

  Kim led her deeper into the alley, which is when Stephanie saw they’d reached a dead end. The back entrances of the different cafés that lined the street gave out into the alley, with plenty of garbage trolleys filled to capacity and standing ready for pickup. It was probably garbage day today. The stench of the garbage filled Stephanie’s nostrils, and she wondered why they weren’t enjoying a nice chat out in front, or even a drink on one of the café terraces where all the tourists were. But it was only when Kim suddenly took out a large kitchen knife and planted it in Stephanie’s belly that she realized she had made a big mistake.

  She glanced down at the knife, and as a sudden weakness caused her legs to buckle and brought her down to her knees, she made an effort to look up into the face of the woman who had just stabbed her.

  “But… why, Kim… why?” she managed to say before darkness closed in on her from all sides.

  Matthew was glad he hadn’t joined the others for their little trip. He didn’t need to visit Saint-Tropez to know it was a boring little town with nothing to see and consequently of absolutely no interest to him. What was of interest to him was to make sure none of the crew members who had stayed on board saw him when he snuck into Emily King’s cabin. To do what he had planned only took seconds, but when he wanted to sneak out again, one of the maids was right outside the door, chatting with a colleague.

  It seemed to take ages before they finally skedaddled, and he could leave unseen, hurry back to his own cabin, and call his mission a success. Now let her talk her way out of that, he thought with satisfaction.

  CHAPTER 22

  After a successful and eventful outing in Saint-Tropez, we were back on board the Audrey. Dooley and I had joined Odelia in her cabin, where we proceeded to inform her of Oliver Rose’s presence in France and of his démarche, embarrassing Emily in front of Harry’s sister and friends. Harry didn’t seem to have taken offense, though, and had supported his fiancée throughout, which had once again endeared him to us—and presumably also to Emily herself.

  “I don’t believe this,” said Odelia, seated on the bed. “So Oliver came this close to blowing my cover?”

  “And revealing the existence of those pictures,” I said.

  “That kid needs a good talking-to,” said Odelia, shaking her head. “Too bad we have no idea where he’s staying, or else I’d go over there myself and tell him to go home.”

  “He wants to win Emily back,” said Dooley. “And he wants to duel Harry at dawn.”

  “I doubt whether Harry will comply,” I said. “He’s not crazy.”

  “Oh, he won’t comply,” said Odelia. “But if Oliver finds out where we’re staying, he might row out here in a boat and cause more trouble for Emily.”

  “Let’s hope he’s learned his lesson,” I said. “And that he gives up his quest to win back Emily’s heart.”

  Odelia had picked up her phone and was checking her messages. “Mom and Dad are at the airport,” she said with a smile. “So far so good. They’ll call when they arrive.”

  “They’re not going to stay on the boat, are they?” asked Dooley, who seemed not to enjoy that possible prospect.

  “No, they’ve booked a room in a place called Villeneuve-Loubet,” said Odelia. “Which is about fifty miles from here.”

  “Oh, good,” said Dooley, much relieved.

  “They might pop over for a visit, though,” said Odelia, causing Dooley’s face to morph into an expression of grave concern.

  “Grace seems to think the Audrey might sink,” I explained to an amused-looking Odelia. “She was pulling our leg, but Dooley believes her.”

  “Grace is very clever,” Dooley said in his defense. “And she watches a lot of television, so she knows things. And besides, kids these days are precocious.”

  Odelia was surprised that Dooley was aware of such a big word, but when she expressed this sentiment Dooley said he also watched a lot of television, especially the Discovery Channel and daytime soaps, and that between them they had given him a vast vocabulary and a great knowledge of the world around us.

  “I’ll bet they have at that,” said Odelia with a smile. “Oh, look,” she exclaimed, and showed us something on her phone. “Isn’t that the lady we saw in Saint-Tropez this afternoon?”

  We both stared at the picture of a smily-faced woman with florid features and curly blond hair. ‘Tourist stabbed in apparent mugging,’ the headline read.

  “Oh, no,” I said. “That’s so sad.”

  “It is sad,” Odelia agreed as she read the rest of the article. “It says here that her name was Stephanie Gomez and that she was found in the alley behind the Café Jacques…” Her frown deepened. “Café Jacques. Isn’t that the café where we had a drink?”

  “It is,” I confirmed. It was also the café where the woman had recognized Kim, even though Kim hadn’t recognized her.

  “So odd,” said Odelia. “She must have been killed moments after we saw her.”

  “Kim never did acknowledge that she knew the woman, did she?” I asked.

  “No, she didn’t. Claims she never saw her before in her life.”

  “How was she killed?” I asked.

  “Stabbed in the stomach and consequently bled to death. A sanitation crew member found her when they backed into the alley to collect the trash. She was lying next to a dumpster, her wallet and her phone gone. According to her husband she had suddenly wandered off and he had lost sight of her. He had gone in search of her but couldn’t find her anywhere, and she didn’t respond to his calls or messages either, which is when he started worrying that something had happened to her. They were here on their second honeymoon. They were married thirty years.” She looked up. “Such a terrible tragedy. Poor woman.”

  We were all quiet for a moment, then Odelia put down her phone. “I’m going to assign you to witness protection detail from now on.”

  “Witness protection detail?” I asked, confused.

  “You’re going to keep an eye on Emily at all times. I don’t know why, but I’m suddenly starting to worry about her.”

  “Do you think the death of this lady is somehow connected with what’s going on with Emily?” I asked.

  “I doubt it,” said Odelia. “But it has given me this awful premonition that something terrible is about to happen. And so I want you to keep a close eye on Emily from now on, you hear?”

  “So what did she witness?” asked Dooley.

  “What?” asked Odelia.

  “We’re witness protectors,” said Dooley. “So what did our witness witness?”

  Odelia smiled. “It’s just a figure of speech, Dooley. I don’t think Emily witnessed anything, but she has received several threatening messages, and the person who delivered those messages is on board the ship.”

  “Oh, right,” said Dooley, as he gave this some thought. “But… if something does happen to Emily, how are we going to stop it from happening? We’re only cats, after all, not the United States Marines.”

  “The moment you see anything or anyone suspicious, you tell me, and I’ll make sure Emily is safe,” Odelia explained.

  And so it was arranged. Dooley and I would keep a close eye on Emily, and make sure she was safe at all times. I wasn’t sure where the danger might be coming from, which made this mission all the more challenging.

  Also, as far as I could tell Emily wasn’t a cat person, which presented its own set of challenges. For one thing she didn’t even own a litter box!

  “She can borrow my litter box,” Odelia said when I made her privy to this concern. “And she can borrow my food bowls as well.”

  “So we’re not going to sleep in your cabin anymore?” asked Dooley.

  “Just for the time being,” said Odelia. “And the sooner we identify the threat, the sooner this will all be over, all right?”

  We agreed, but only out of a deep sense of loyalty.

  The things a cat does for his human. Gah!

  CHAPTER 23

  Odelia had explained the witness protection detail idea to Emily, and the latter had readily agreed, even though she had expressed her doubt about whether cats can really act as guard pets. I could see where she was coming from, of course. The world has seen guard dogs in action, and appreciates their contribution and talent for scaring away intruders and attackers. But guard cats? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a motion picture being made with a guard cat theme, or even a television series. We all know about the dog who saved Christmas, but we’ve never seen a movie about the cat who pulled that same stunt.

  But all in all I think Emily was amenable to the idea, even if only to humor Odelia, the woman she had personally selected to save her marriage from this nefarious threat.

  And so it was that we were in Emily’s cabin, reposing on Emily’s bed, and watching Emily look everywhere for her phone.

  “I know I had it with me when we went ashore,” she said now.

  “You probably lost it when we sat down in Café Jacques,” said Harry, who was lying next to us on the bed, his arms supporting his head. “Want me to call the owner to take a look? His name is Jacques.”

  “Oh, wait, here it is!” suddenly Emily exclaimed.

  “Where was it?” asked Harry as he yawned.

  “In my nightstand drawer. Which is impossible, since I’m one hundred percent sure I took it with me today.”

  “Well, at least you found it,” said Harry. For some reason he had given me a poke in the tummy. I gave him a curious look. Humans have this tendency to poke me in the tummy. No idea why. Apparently I have one of those tummies that invites being poked. “He’s very big, isn’t he, this cat of Odelia’s?”

  “He is,” said Emily. “But Odelia says he’s also very smart.”

  Harry laughed. “Right. A smart cat. As if such a thing even exists.”

  “Well, according to her he is. In fact he’s so smart he could probably start his own detective agency. At least that’s what she said. Frankly I think she just said it to make me feel better. To make me feel safe.”

  “You’ve got nothing to worry about,” said Harry, as he gave me another gentle prod in the belly. “I’m right here, sweetie. And I’m not going anywhere.”

  Emily gave him a grateful look. “I don’t know what I would have done without you,” she said. “When Oliver started singing, I just wanted the ground to swallow me up. It was so cringy!”

  “The fact that Chloe and Kim laughed their asses off didn’t help,” said Harry dryly. “Those two are really out of line.”

  “And then he challenged you to an actual duel? What was he thinking?”

  “He wasn’t. That’s the problem with the guy. He doesn’t think.”

  “Must be all that weed he’s been smoking. It must have affected his brain.”

  “Let’s hope he doesn’t show up here on the boat,” said Harry, “and starts shooting his mouth off again about those pictures and about Odelia being Odelia and not Julie Henderson.” He stretched and yawned again. “So are you ready for dinner? I know I am.”

  Just then, there was a knock at the door, and a moment later Steven strode in, followed by a woman I recognized as one of the cleaners.

  “Oh, hey, Dad,” said Harry, bouncing up from the bed. “We were just getting ready for dinner.”

  “Out of my way, son,” said Steven sternly, and made a beeline for Emily’s bed and started rifling underneath the pillow.

  “Hey, what do you think…” Harry began, but then suddenly his dad produced a sheaf of documents from under the pillow and waved them in his son’s face.

  “These were stolen from my safe today!” Steven said. “Your fiancée stole them!”

  “What? No way!” said Harry, visibly perturbed.

  “I didn’t steal anything!” said Emily. “I’ve never seen those documents before in my life!”

  “Then what are they doing underneath your pillow?” Steven demanded heatedly. “How else do you explain their presence here?”

  “Someone must have put them there,” said Emily, raking a trembling hand through her auburn tresses. “I didn’t take them, Mr. Griffiths, I swear.”

  “How did you know where to look for those documents, Dad?” asked Harry, directing a suspicious look at the cleaner, who stood respectfully in the door opening, hands behind her back, face impassive.

  “Never mind how I knew,” said Steven. He gave Emily a cold look. “I’m watching you, young lady.”

  “Dad!” Harry cried. “That’s my future wife you’re talking to!”

  “We’ll have to see about that,” said Steven.

  “What does that mean!”

  “You know what it means,” Steven snapped, and then strode out as forcefully as he had walked in, slamming the door behind him.

  Harry walked over to his fiancée, and wrapped her in his arms. “It’s all right,” he told her, stroking her hair. “It’s fine.”

  But I think we all knew things were far from being fine.

  “We should have protected her, Max,” said Dooley. “Emily is under attack and we didn’t do anything!”

  “We can’t very well protect her from her future father-in-law’s accusations,” I said. “Especially when she actually did have those documents tucked under her pillow.”

  “But how did they get there?”

  “That’s what I would like to know.”

  “Do you think Steven put them there?”

  “Steven or some other member of our party.”

  Whoever had planted those documents, things were definitely escalating, that much was obvious. I just hoped Steven wouldn’t kick us all off the boat now that his precious documents had been stolen.

  Steven was still fuming about the brazen behavior of his son’s fiancée when he entered the cabin he shared with his wife. But the sight that met his eyes when he walked in was enough to cause his blood pressure, already nearing the danger level, to shoot even higher.

  Amanda was seated on the settee, checking his phone! She looked up when he entered and turned the phone in his direction. “Can you please explain to me why you have a picture of Emily on your phone?!”

  He blinked as he recognized the particular snap. “It’s not what you think,” he said.

  “I think you’ve developed a very unhealthy interest in our son’s fiancée. That’s what I think. And what I would like to know is where you got this picture. Did Emily send this to you?”

  “Oh, God, no. Of course not. She doesn’t know I have it. No, I got it from Harry.”

  Amanda stared at him, and he realized his faux pas. “Harry sent you this picture?”

  “Well… not exactly.”

  Amanda sat up a little straighter. “Steven, please explain to me how this picture got on your phone.”