Finally, she must have realized that she was being watched, for she opened her eyes and blinked a few times. Then those eyes fixed on Tex and she frowned. “What took you so long? I’ve been waiting here for hours!” She got up with some effort. “Doctor Poole, clear your schedule for today. I’ve got so many diseases from prancing around Devil’s Island that I’m going to need your full attention.”

  Tex smiled. “Why don’t you take a seat, and I’ll give you a full check-up.”

  Ida smiled. “Music to my ears, Doctor Poole. Let’s get to work!”

  And then she started listing all the different diseases she thought she had picked up on Devil’s Island.

  There were a lot of them.

  CHAPTER 62

  That evening, we saw the arrival of Uncle Alec. Instead of dropping by unannounced, as he used to do, he had actually made an appointment, and so our humans all sat around Odelia and Chase’s dinner table, looking serious. Uncle Alec wasn’t alone—he had brought along his wife, Charlene, who also looked deadly serious.

  “Okay, so first off,” said Uncle Alec, “I want to say how grateful I am that everyone was saved on the island. Ma, of course, but also Francis, Wilbur, Scarlett, Ida…”

  “And the cats,” said Odelia.

  “And the cats,” Uncle Alec allowed.

  “And Mick and Smilla,” said Chase.

  “Well…” said Uncle Alec. “It’s Mick I wanted to discuss with you. The thing is, Mick has decided that a career in law enforcement is not what he wants after all.”

  “Mick quit,” said Charlene. “Just like that. Says he doesn’t think he’s cut out for it.”

  “He got an offer from a Canadian hockey team,” Uncle Alec said. “They want him to play for them for the next few seasons, maybe more.”

  “Seven-figure offer,” added Charlene, looking pained. “After all this town has done for him, he’s leaving us high and dry.”

  “So you see, that puts us in something of a pickle,” said Uncle Alec.

  “A big pickle,” said Charlene.

  “A gigantic pickle.”

  Charlene cleared her throat. “We want you back, Chase. We need you back.”

  “I’m sure there are other recruits eager to step into the gap Mick left,” said Chase. “Big shoes to fill—Hampton Cove’s top detective. The guy who cracked a case in under twenty-four hours.”

  “By arresting the wrong man,” said Odelia. “And coercing him into a confession.”

  “We don’t know if that’s the case,” said Uncle Alec. But when Odelia gave him a look, he sighed and added, “Okay, you’re absolutely right. That was unconscionable of him. And I’ve since released Brendon Hetman and dropped all charges against him.”

  “I’ve demanded that Mick give back his medal,” said Charlene. “Hampton Cove needs people who actually want to contribute. Who care about our local community. About what we’ve built here. People like you, Chase. And you, Odelia.”

  “Oh, and we’ve placed Anthemia Eiderduck under arrest,” said Uncle Alec. “Just like you suggested.”

  “Has she made a confession?” asked Odelia.

  “She’s confessed to the murder of Frick Pinkerton,” said Uncle Alec, nodding. “So looks like you were right. Pinkerton and the Eiderduck girl were having an affair, but when he discovered that her parents were broke, he ended things and decided to rob them of their treasure map. Things turned ugly, and they both ended up dead.”

  “And so Anthemia took the law into her own hands and shot her lover,” said Charlene. “A great piece of detective work, Detective Kingsley.”

  But Chase wasn’t biting. “Look, I know when I’m not wanted. I mean, it’s all well and good to heap praise on a person when things are going well, but after what happened with Mick, I know how you really feel about me. And it’s left me with a bad taste in my mouth.”

  “Same here,” said Odelia. “A very bad taste in my mouth.”

  “And I’m sorry, all right?” said Charlene. “I made a mistake by putting the wishes of my town council before my loyalty to you guys. What can I do to make it up to you? Just tell me. I’ll do anything!”

  “She’s desperate, Max,” said Dooley.

  “It does look that way,” I agreed.

  “Do you think Chase will agree to go back to being a detective?”

  “Probably,” I said. “He does love it here, and I don’t think he really wants to be chief of police. He likes being out in the field, solving murders and catching killers. Being chief of police is a desk job, a managerial position, and Chase isn’t ready for that.”

  “I think he would be a great chief of police,” said Brutus. “But what I don’t like is that we would have to move to Hampton Keys.”

  “Kurt and Gilda will also be sad,” said Harriet. “They won’t be able to invite us over for morning yoga anymore.”

  “Somehow I doubt they would see that as a great loss,” I said.

  “By the way—where are Tex and Marge?” asked Harriet. “Aren’t they supposed to be here for the big meeting?”

  She was right. Odelia had told her mother that Uncle Alec and Charlene were coming over to try and make up for what they did. But apparently Marge had decided that she had more important things to do right now.

  And since the four of us are quite the curious kitties, we decided to go and look for them. Perhaps they had forgotten about the big meeting?

  So we snuck out of the meeting, which was starting to get a little heated, and headed for the house next door. We found Tex and Marge upstairs, in their bedroom, where strange sounds came from behind the closed door.

  “Why did they close their bedroom door?” asked Dooley. “Don’t they usually leave it open?”

  Harriet and Brutus listened for a moment, then Harriet cried, “Oh, no! It’s happening again!”

  “What is happening again?” asked Dooley.

  But Harriet had placed her paws over our friend’s ears and tried to cover them as well as she could.

  “Let’s get out of here!” she yelled. “Right now!”

  For a moment I listened, and I had to admit that she was probably right. The sounds coming from that room—panting, whispering, moaning—weren’t conducive to my peace of mind. They spoke of a fiery disposition on both Marge and Tex’s part, and I was surprised they still had the energy to engage in these acrobatics after the adventure they’d just had on Devil’s Island. Oddly enough, I also smelled a mixture of onions, garlic and red peppers.

  We quickly headed down the stairs, and the moment we arrived on the ground floor, Harriet removed her paws from Dooley’s ears.

  “What did you do that for, Harriet?” our friend asked curiously.

  “To save you, Dooley,” said Harriet earnestly. “There are certain things no cat should have to listen to.”

  “Or see!” said Brutus. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut, then popped them wide open. “Oh, no!” he groaned.

  “What is it, snuggle bear?” asked Harriet.

  “The moment I close my eyes—the images—they’re back! I can’t…” He swallowed a lump of despair. “I can’t…”

  “What can’t you do, Brutus?” I asked, starting to get seriously concerned about our friend.

  “The images—I can’t unsee them!” he wailed. “They’re burned on my brain!”

  CHAPTER 63

  That night, while the deliberations about whether Chase would return to his old position were still in full swing, we decided to head down to the park for cat choir.

  “There will be no cat choir at the park, Max,” said Dooley. “Blizzard and Storm have taken over, remember?”

  “I have a feeling they might have changed their minds,” I said.

  “Are you sure?” asked Brutus. “They seemed pretty determined.”

  “Yes, I’m sure,” I said.

  As we entered the park, we noticed that dog choir was back in their old location, and lo and behold, Blizzard and Storm were there—but they weren’t in charge as they had been before. They were also a lot less belligerent.

  “Who’s in charge of dog choir?” asked Harriet curiously. And then we saw it: it was none other than Minnie Mouse. The tiny doggie had taken up the position that Shanille fulfills in cat choir and was handling the baton with practiced ease.

  As we passed, she gave us a knowing wink. I returned it with a smile. Looked like the deal I had struck with her had worked out to our benefit.

  Blizzard and Storm came hurrying up to me. “Max, I want you to know that we never meant anything by what we told you before. We like you and we want you and cat choir to have your old location back. Isn’t that right, Storm?”

  “Absolutely,” said Storm. “Cat choir has earned its place at the playground, and that’s how it should stay.” He held out his paw. “No hard feelings?”

  “No hard feelings,” I said, and placed my paw in his.

  Storm beamed, Blizzard grinned from ear to ear, and when they returned to take up their positions in the front row of the choir, I could tell that the little talk Minnie had had with her two friends had paid off in spades.

  Diplomacy is a powerful weapon. And infatuation, of course.

  By the time we arrived at the playground, I could see that most of the old members had already heard the news and had started trickling back. Shanille was there, getting ready for a killer session, I saw Kingman chatting with a pair of gorgeous felines, and the rest of the clan was all there as well.

  All in all, I felt good about this homecoming event. After our adventure, this switch back to normalcy was exactly what I needed.

  Shanille suggested we launch into a powerful rendition of one of Ariana Grande’s ballads, and Harriet perked right up. After deciding that balancing a ball on the tip of her nose wasn’t going to be her claim to fame after all, she had been feeling a little down in the dumps, so this was exactly what she needed.

  After a few notes, where the entire choir hummed the melody, Harriet broke in with a powerful solo that packed such a wallop, it was safe to say we all had goosebumps.

  It wasn’t long before the first shoes started whizzing through the air and falling all around us.

  Like flowers being thrown after a stellar performance, we took these as a compliment to our talent and endurance as artists.

  “I missed this, Max,” Dooley whispered.

  “Me too,” I whispered back.

  We had been singing for about an hour or so when a strange sight caught our attention. It was Ida, and as she came passing through the park, she looked very much like a shepherdess. And this is because she was herding no fewer than fifty pugs through the park. At this late hour, it was quite exceptional—most people avoid the park at night, and dog walkers usually choose to walk around the park, not through it.

  But Ida didn’t care. She and her fifty pugs stood watching us for a moment, then moved on.

  “Did you see that, Max?” asked Dooley. “It was Ida and the pugs.”

  “Do you think she adopted them?” asked Brutus.

  “Looks that way,” I said.

  “But I thought she had enlisted Gran’s assistance to find new owners for the pugs?”

  “Maybe she couldn’t find any, and so she decided to adopt them herself?” I suggested.

  It’s probably a tough proposition to get a family to adopt fifty dogs at once. Most people will adopt one, or maybe two or three—but fifty? Fat chance.

  And since we felt Shanille wouldn’t miss us all that much, we decided to follow Ida and the pugs and find out what was going on.

  We caught up with them and saw that Ida had taken a seat on a park bench and was checking her phone while the pugs played all around her, frolicking and darting over one another.

  We found Pickles, and he looked happy as a clam.

  “Has Ida adopted you guys?” asked Brutus.

  “Yes, she has,” said the doggie. “She’s adopted all of us, if you can believe it.”

  “I do find that hard to believe,” I admitted. “Ida is…”

  “Yes?” he asked. “What is she?”

  “Well, she is…”

  He gave me a questioning look. “Yes?”

  But then I looked around—at Ida and the dogs—and figured: why muddy the waters? “Ida is a good woman,” I said finally. “And I’m sure she’ll take good care of you.”

  “She’s already taking good care of us,” said the doggie. “Though I have a feeling she’s going to need a bigger house.”

  “Yes, I have a feeling that’s probably true.”

  I wondered how Ida was going to be able to afford taking care of fifty dogs, but then that was her business. Knowing Ida, she’d thought long and hard about this and found a way.

  Before we said goodbye, we told Pickles all about dog choir, which he found very interesting. Looked like dog choir would soon be signing up fifty new members.

  A fine addition indeed.

  CHAPTER 64

  Odelia was fast asleep when her cell phone emitted an annoying ringtone.

  With a groan, she turned and picked up the phone from her nightstand.

  “Who is it?” Chase muttered next to her.

  “My uncle,” she said. “Again.”

  “If he wants to negotiate another pay raise, tell him I’ll think about it.”

  When he and Charlene had been over at the house earlier, it had quickly become clear that they were both quite desperate to repair the damage they had done and get Chase to return to his old position. Charlene had even suggested raising his salary by a substantial amount, which had given both Odelia and Chase pause.

  With a growing daughter, any little addition to the family kitty was welcome. And so, after the mayor and Uncle Alec had left, she and Chase had sat up for hours, discussing the pros and cons of him taking up his old post. His pride had been wounded, but what was wounded pride in the grand scheme of things? Besides, Uncle Alec and Charlene were family. Okay, so Charlene had made an error in judgment. Who doesn’t? Odelia had made many mistakes, both professionally and personally, and so had Chase.

  “Maybe it’s time to forgive and forget,” Odelia had said, echoing the sentiment her mother had suggested, and Chase had agreed there was a lot to be said for that. Mostly, she had the impression he didn’t want to move. He loved Hampton Cove and had adopted it as his hometown. Plus, he loved his job and wasn’t convinced he’d enjoy being chief of police.

  “What?” she asked as she picked up the phone.

  “This is just the strangest thing,” said her uncle’s familiar voice in her ear. “Anthemia Eiderduck wants to talk. But only to you.”

  Odelia sat up. “She does?”

  “She told the duty sergeant that she’ll only talk to you—and that what she has to say is important.” He sighed. “Looks like Max was right again. Why is that darn cat of yours always right, Odelia? Can’t he be wrong for once? Just once?”

  “They say it’s because he has a big head,” she said with a smile.

  For a moment, her uncle didn’t speak. Then he said, a tremor in his voice, “So… has Chase decided yet? Does he want to come back? We need him, honey. I need him.”

  “He’s still thinking about it,” she said, “but the signs are good.”

  “The signs are good?” he asked.

  “The signs are good.”

  “Oh, thank God.”

  “Does Anthemia want me to talk to her now?”

  “She does. Says she can’t wait to get this off her chest. Says it’s been pressing on her and she hates the feeling.”

  “Okay. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

  “Thanks, honey. And tell Chase that he won’t regret it. And if he wants, I can get Charlene to give him one of those medals too.”

  “This isn’t about the medal, Uncle Alec.”

  “No, I know. Of course it isn’t. I just meant… I appreciate him. We all appreciate him.”

  “I know.”

  “What is it?” asked Chase.

  “Anthemia is ready to confess.”

  Chase rolled his eyes. “You know, maybe your uncle should hire Max as the new detective instead of taking me back.”

  “I’ll give Max some extra kibble when I return,” said Odelia.

  “Knock ‘em dead, babe.”

  Ten minutes later, as promised, she walked into the precinct, which was eerily quiet and dark. She headed straight to the night desk sergeant—Sarah Flunk for the occasion—who said, as she grabbed her key ring, “She’s been expecting you. Quite eager, too. Says she can’t wait to talk to you—but only you.”

  “Thanks, Sarah,” said Odelia. Five minutes later, after Sarah had let her into Anthemia’s cell, she took a seat on the bench next to the young woman and asked gently, “I came as soon as I could. There’s something you wanted to tell me, Anthemia?”

  “There is,” said the young woman, then took a deep breath. “I killed Frick Pinkerton.”

  “I know you did. You told us.”

  The girl looked up. “I didn’t kill him because of what he did to my parents. I killed him because he left me. And immediately shacked up with another woman, as if I didn’t count at all.”

  “He dumped you after he found out your father didn’t have any money, right?”

  Anthemia nodded. “He couldn’t get away fast enough. Clearly he didn’t care about me. He never cared about me—he only cared about the money. And when he found out there was no money, that Daddy was broke, he dumped me. By text.”

  “Did Frick kill your parents?”

  “No, he didn’t. He didn’t care about my parents.” She paused, staring down at her hands, which were lying motionless in her lap. Then, ever so quietly, she said, “I killed them. Of course, this was before…” She brought a trembling hand to her face, and Odelia waited patiently. “Before he sent me that text that he didn’t think things would work out between us. If I had known…”

  “Then you wouldn’t have killed them?”

  Anthemia nodded. “They didn’t want me to be with him, you see. And I was in love with him. So much in love that I was prepared to do anything to be with him.”