“Okay, sure,” said Odelia, and opened a new window on her computer. “So what do you want me to write this time?” And as she listened to Harriet’s response, she smiled. It sounded a lot better than the earlier one, she had to admit. When they were done, she posted the copy online and announced to a happy Harriet that her mission had been a success. “Your column is doing very well,” she added. “It’s getting even more clicks and shares than Gabi’s.”
“Are you ever going to tell us who this Gabi person is, Odelia?” asked Harriet.
“I would if I knew. But Dan is keeping her identity under wraps.”
“Too bad. I think she’s the best.”
“Uh-huh,” said Odelia, who didn’t agree. Gabi’s responses to herself and the rest of her family had all been a little one-sided, all of them revolving around the topic of Uncle Alec’s non-existent ambitions to become Hampton Cove’s next mayor. If she didn’t know any better it was almost as if her grandmother was holding Gabi’s pen, but of course that was impossible, as Dan would never give such an important job to a person as notoriously querulous and belligerent as her grandmother. Plus, Gabi worked really hard. Dozens and dozens of questions came in every day, and she dutifully answered every single one of them, with only the best ones making it to the site, the rest delivered to the person’s inbox. So whoever this Gabi was, she had a full-time job with her advice column, something which she couldn’t see Gran accomplish, on top of her work for Dad and now her sleuthing efforts, too.
Just then, the door to the outer office opened and… Gran walked in, accompanied by Scarlett. They made a beeline for Dan’s office but, when they spotted Odelia watching them, immediately halted in their tracks, then made for her office instead.
“Oops,” said Gran. “Almost walked into the wrong office there.”
“Silly us,” said Scarlett with a grin.
“So what did you find out?” asked Odelia.
Dan’s door opened and he stuck his head out. “Oh, hi, Vesta. Scarlett.” And then promptly he retracted his head and was gone again.
“Well, it was just as Sandy said: the man was a first-class womanizer,” said Gran.
“Incredible stamina,” said Scarlett with a touch of admiration in her voice. “He bedded every single woman in that house. The maids, the cook, the housekeeper, the—”
“Yeah, yeah, you get the picture,” said Vesta. “So we talked to all of them, and nothing.”
“What do you mean, nothing?”
“You always told me that a true detective gets a tingle when she hits upon a valid clue, right? Well, I didn’t feel a single tingle at any point.”
“I didn’t feel a tingle either,” Scarlett said. “Not one teensy tiny tingle. Though I did have to tinkle at one point, but Vesta assured me that doesn’t count.”
“No, tinkles don’t count,” said Gran. “Only tingles.”
“So the cook, the maids, the housekeeper…”
“They all slept with the guy at some point or another, but none of them held any particular grudge against the man. They all knew what they were getting into, and they even turned it into a game. After he’d slept with one of the maids, she told the rest of the household, and so they wondered how long it would take before he got started on them.”
“It didn’t take long,” Scarlett revealed.
“No, it didn’t take long at all. So they made a list of all of the staff and then put a green checkmark next to the name when Kirk had offered them his services. It was like a game to them, and they all admitted they liked him well enough. He was handsome and charming, but not exactly the kind of guy they’d swoon over or lose their hearts to.”
“So no jealousy or other emotion powerful enough to kill the guy over,” said Odelia.
“Nothing of the kind. He had fun with them, they had fun with him, and that’s it.”
“And what about Allison?”
“What about her?”
“Well, did they think she was lying when she told me she didn’t do it?”
“No, they don’t think she’s capable of murder.”
“They like her,” said Scarlett. “They think she’s a great boss. Very nice and even-tempered and reasonable. She even paid them extra when they had to work overtime on account of the fact that Kirk came to stay.”
“And then of course Kirk paid them in kind,” said Vesta acerbically.
Scarlett laughed at this.” Vesta, you’re so funny.”
“Thanks,” said Gran with a smile. “So what do you want us to do next?”
“I don’t know,” said Odelia, thinking. She felt like the owner of a private detective agency, instructing her operatives in the field. “What did Max and Dooley find out?”
“Nothing special. Jasmine thinks that Allison is the guilty party, but that’s probably because Allison refuses to buy Jasmine gourmet food. She feels that Jasmine doesn’t always behave, and Kirk told her he should give her plain cat food until she does.”
“So that’s the story,” said Odelia with a smile. “I figured it was something like that.”
“This is so fascinating,” said Scarlett. “The way you guys can actually talk to your cats. There’s so much information there.”
“Yeah, lots and lots,” Gran agreed.
“There must be other venues we can pursue,” said Odelia, leaning back as she thought for a moment. She stared at Harriet and Brutus, who’d made themselves comfortable on her desk.
“Don’t look at me,” said Harriet. “I haven’t got a clue what to do.”
“Me neither,” Brutus chimed in.
“Well, I give up,” said Odelia, throwing up her arms. “We talked to the entire staff, Allison and Mia, the ex-wife, the business partner. I mean, who else is there?”
“Maybe we can sleep on it,” Scarlett suggested. “The best ideas usually come to me when I’m sleeping,” she added when both Gran and Odelia gave her curious glances. “And then of course there’s that other thing we still need to do, Vesta.”
“Oh, that’s right,” said Gran.
“What other thing?” asked Odelia.
“Oh, nothing,” said Gran. “Just something Scarlett and I are cooking up.”
Odelia cocked an inquisitive eyebrow. “You and Scarlett? I thought you two hated each other.”
“Hate is a strong word,” said Gran.
“Yeah, much too strong,” Scarlett agreed.
And then the two ladies were off, leaving Odelia like a general without troops and without ideas.
“You should talk to Max,” Harriet now suggested. “He usually has a lot of bright ideas.”
“She’s right,” Brutus agreed. “Max is the smart one. Ask him what he thinks.”
Odelia thunked her head against her desk. What a great detective she was, if the only way she ever solved a crime was by asking her cats.
Chapter 26
Charlene Butterwick was sitting in her office working late. Even though Hampton Cove was a small town, its mayor never stinted for work. She was now looking at a proposal from a consortium of investors to turn a plot of farmland into a golf course, and wondered if she shouldn’t turn it into a housing development or park instead. Tough choice.
She got up from behind her desk and walked over to the window. She let her long blond tresses glide through her fingers and swept them away from her brow and over her shoulders, then adjusted her glasses and surveyed her domain. Across from town square, where the statue of one of the town’s previous mayors stood erect and forbidding, she could see the police station, and as usual, she couldn’t help but smile.
She could look straight into the office of Hampton Cove’s chief of police, and suddenly, on a whim, she picked up her phone and called his number. As she stood in front of the window, she saw the Chief pick up his phone from his desk and answer her.
“Chief Lip,” she said by way of greeting.
“Madam Mayor,” was his instant response, and she could almost see the smile sliding up his face.
“I just wanted to ask about the case,” she said, after a moment’s pause. “Um, the Kirk Weaver case? People have been asking about that.”