Purrfect fitness the mys.., p.21
Purrfect Fitness (The Mysteries of Max Book 29),
p.21
“If all Rose wants is to know who’s sending her these pictures, and she doesn’t want to file a complaint or to press charges, I see no reason for Alec to get involved,” said Chase, referring to Alec Lip, Hampton Cove’s chief of police and also Odelia’s uncle.
“Mh,” said Odelia, considering this. “And you’re sure you’ll be able to find out?”
“Absolutely,” said Chase. “These guys are incredible. You hand them this phone and they’ll pinpoint the source of this creep’s nasty messages in a heartbeat.”
Odelia thought for a moment, then finally sighed. “It’s not as if I’ll ever be able to find out this guy’s identity. And the longer I stare at these pictures…” She shivered visibly. “I just wish I’d never laid eyes on them.”
Chase, in the heat of his argument, had placed the phone down on the counter, and I got my first good look at the object under discussion, namely Dick’s picture. I blinked as I stared at the thing. It was… a little disconcerting to be honest. And just then Dooley joined us on the only stool left, and immediately got an eyeful of Rose’s phone.
He frowned as he took in the picture in its full splendor. “Is that a sausage?” he asked.
Odelia, who suddenly noticed both her cats were intently staring down at the offensive image, quickly snatched the phone and turned it upside down. “Please tell me you didn’t see that,” she said with a groan.
“I saw a sausage,” Dooley announced.
Odelia smiled with relief. “And that’s exactly what it was, Dooley. A sausage.”
“So Dick sent your friend a picture of a sausage?” asked my friend.
Odelia swallowed. “Yep. That’s exactly what he did. Which is why we call him… Dick the Sausage.”
“So is this a game or something? For the newspaper?”
“Absolutely,” said Odelia, whose face was glowing crimson now as she tried her hardest to contain a peal of laughter bubbling to the surface. “Find the sausage. A new game Dan invented.”
“Oh,” said Dooley, and promptly lost all interest. After all, we all know humans are a strange breed, sending pictures of sausages to unsuspecting people. And as Chase pocketed the girl Rose’s phone, I decided to put the entire matter out of my mind.
It was much harder than I thought. The picture of this particular sausage was one of those things that once seen, it’s impossible to unsee, and I now truly wished I’d never hopped up onto that stool and stuck my nose in.
Chapter Three
I’d been dozing peacefully, not even a hint of sausages in my dreams I can proudly say, when suddenly Odelia’s phone started belting out its usual tone indicating someone wanted to have speech with her.
This is one of the disadvantages of being a reporter: anyone can call you up in the middle of the night with some important piece of information to impart. The same goes for Chase, of course. Since criminals rarely have the decency to commit their crimes during waking hours and instead like to do so under the cloak of darkness, it frequently happens that he’s called out of bed at some ungodly hour to investigate some crime.
“Is that Odelia’s phone?” asked Dooley who, like me, had been peacefully sleeping at the foot of our humans’ bed.
“I think so,” I said.
“Maybe she won the competition,” he said. And when I stared at him, he added, “The sausage competition? Maybe she won first prize.”
“Oh, right,” I said.
Odelia had already picked her phone from the nightstand where it had been blaring away and pressed it to her ear. With a muffled, sleepy voice she said, “Odelia Poole speaking.”
Chase was stirring, and Dooley and I were staring, and when suddenly Odelia sat bolt upright in bed, the cop flicked on the light and I could see that my human’s eyes were wide and her face wore an expression of profound shock. “I’ll be there right away,” she spoke into the phone, her voice suddenly a lot more crisp and snappy. “Have you called the police?” She glanced over to Chase, who was frowning and mouthing, ‘What’s going on?’ “Don’t worry about it. I’ll tell them to hurry. Yes, just sit tight, Rose, and whatever you do—don’t touch anything, you understand? Bye.” She disconnected and turned to Chase, dragging a careworn hand through her tousled mane of fair hair. “That was Rose Wimmer. Her dad died. She just found him sitting at his desk—dead. Looks like suicide.”
“Oh, my God,” said Chase.
And then suddenly both of them sprang into action. Like the well-oiled sleuthing team that they were, they swung their feet from underneath the covers, and moments later were getting dressed.
“Do you want us to tag along?” I asked.
“Sure,” said Odelia. “Let’s go.”
And then we were on our way, hurrying down the stairs, and out to Chase’s squad car. And before long we were racing along deserted streets, Chase keeping up a good pace.
“Do you think this has something to do with Dick’s sausage?” asked Dooley.
“I don’t think so, Dooley,” I said.
“Because it was the girl Rose’s phone that picture was on, right?”
I hadn’t thought that far. It was indeed the same girl whose phone had been inundated with obscene photographs whose dad now apparently had taken his own life. Somehow I doubted whether there was a connection between these two phenomena, though. Then again, you never know.
It only took Chase ten minutes to arrive at the house where Odelia’s friend lived. It was a nice big mansion, located in one of the leafy suburbs our small town boasts. And when we drove up to the front door, Chase parking his car in the paved courtyard, a young girl came hurrying out. Her face was teary, and she looked visibly distraught.
“Oh, Odelia,” she sobbed, and Odelia quickly enveloped her in a comforting embrace.
Chase, meanwhile, wasted no time entering the house. In the distance an ambulance siren could be heard, the one Odelia had called the moment we’d stepped in the car and set off on our nocturnal journey across town.
Dooley and I joined the cop and traced him through several well-lit rooms until finally we arrived in what was obviously Rose’s dad’s home office. Slumped in his chair behind a desk sat a large man, his chin resting on his chest. A desk lamp cast its light on his face, which had an eerie grayish tinge. His eyes were closed, and he looked peaceful. Too peaceful.
“Is he dead?” asked Dooley.
“I think so,” I said as we watched Chase carefully pressing his finger into the man’s neck.
“He looks like he’s sleeping,” Dooley said.
But Chase shook his head. “He’s dead, all right,” he murmured as his experienced cop eyes started taking in the scene.
“Poor man,” said Dooley. “He probably worked too hard. Working too hard will kill you.”
Odelia had entered the room, and joined her boyfriend in examining the banker’s office.
“There’s a note,” said Chase, drawing Odelia’s attention to a document on the desk.
Odelia leaned in, careful not to touch anything, and quickly scanned the document.
“What does it say?” I asked.
“It’s a suicide note,” said Odelia. “He says he’s sorry but that he can’t go on living like this. That he made a mess of things etcetera etcetera.”
“Poor guy,” I said. “Looks like you were right, Dooley. He worked too hard and couldn’t take the strain anymore.”
Just then, Rose came streaking into the room, still looking highly distraught. “The ambulance is here. Do you think they’ll be able to save him?”
“I’m afraid not,” said Odelia softly. She walked over to the girl, who stood staring at the inert figure of her dad with a strained expression on her face. Odelia placed her hands on the girl’s arms and said, “I’m afraid he’s gone, Rose. Your father is gone.”
She nodded, and tears slid down her cheeks. “Did you read the note?”
“I did,” said Odelia.
“I don’t believe it,” said Rose. “He would never do that to me—never.”
“I know,” said Odelia, and hugged the girl close again.
But Rose shook off Odelia’s embrace and said, with emphasis, “I mean it. Daddy would never kill himself. Never.” She then swept up two large tear-filled eyes to Odelia and said, emphatically, “He was murdered, Odelia. Murdered!”
Start Reading Purrfect Setup Now
About Nic
Nic has a background in political science and before being struck by the writing bug worked odd jobs around the world (including but not limited to massage therapist in Mexico, gardener in Italy, restaurant manager in India, and Berlitz teacher in Belgium).
When he’s not writing he enjoys curling up with a good (comic) book, watching British crime dramas, French comedies or Nancy Meyers movies, sampling pastry (apple cake!), pasta and chocolate (preferably the dark variety), twisting himself into a pretzel doing morning yoga, going for a run, and spoiling his big red tomcat Tommy.
He lives with his wife (and aforementioned cat) in a small village smack dab in the middle of absolutely nowhere and is probably writing his next ‘Mysteries of Max’ book right now.
www.nicsaint.com
Also by Nic Saint
The Mysteries of Max
Purrfect Murder
Purrfectly Deadly
Purrfect Revenge
Purrfect Heat
Purrfect Crime
Purrfect Rivalry
Purrfect Peril
Purrfect Secret
Purrfect Alibi
Purrfect Obsession
Purrfect Betrayal
Purrfectly Clueless
Purrfectly Royal
Purrfect Cut
Purrfect Trap
Purrfectly Hidden
Purrfect Kill
Purrfect Boy Toy
Purrfectly Dogged
Purrfectly Dead
Purrfect Saint
Purrfect Advice
Purrfect Cover
Purrfect Patsy
Purrfect Son
Purrfect Fool
Purrfect Fitness
Purrfect Setup
Purrfect Sidekick
Box Set 1 (Books 1-3)
Box Set 2 (Books 4-6)
Box Set 3 (Books 7-9)
Box Set 4 (Books 10-12)
Box Set 5 (Books 13-15)
Box Set 6 (Books 16-18)
Box Set 7 (Books 19-21)
Box Set 8 (Books 22-24)
Box Set 9 (Books 25-27)
Box Set 10 (Books 28-30)
Purrfect Santa
Purrfectly Flealess
Purrfect Wedding
Nora Steel
Murder Retreat
The Kellys
Murder Motel
Death in Suburbia
Emily Stone
Murder at the Art Class
Washington & Jefferson
First Shot
Alice Whitehouse
Spooky Times
Spooky Trills
Spooky End
Spooky Spells
Ghosts of London
Between a Ghost and a Spooky Place
Public Ghost Number One
Ghost Save the Queen
Box Set 1 (Books 1-3)
A Tale of Two Harrys
Ghost of Girlband Past
Ghostlier Things
Charleneland
Deadly Ride
Final Ride
Neighborhood Witch Committee
Witchy Start
Witchy Worries
Witchy Wishes
Saffron Diffley
Crime and Retribution
Vice and Verdict
Felonies and Penalties (Saffron Diffley Short 1)
The B-Team
Once Upon a Spy
Tate-à-Tate
Enemy of the Tates
Ghosts vs. Spies
The Ghost Who Came in from the Cold
Witchy Fingers
Witchy Trouble
Witchy Hexations
Witchy Possessions
Witchy Riches
Box Set 1 (Books 1-4)
The Mysteries of Bell & Whitehouse
One Spoonful of Trouble
Two Scoops of Murder
Three Shots of Disaster
Box Set 1 (Books 1-3)
A Twist of Wraith
A Touch of Ghost
A Clash of Spooks
Box Set 2 (Books 4-6)
The Stuffing of Nightmares
A Breath of Dead Air
An Act of Hodd
Box Set 3 (Books 7-9)
A Game of Dons
Standalone Novels
When in Bruges
The Whiskered Spy
ThrillFix
Homejacking
The Eighth Billionaire
The Wrong Woman
Copyright © 2020 by Nic Saint. All rights reserved.
Published by Puss in Print Publications.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval without permission in writing from the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Editor: Chereese Graves.
Nic Saint, Purrfect Fitness (The Mysteries of Max Book 29)
