Helga narrowed her eyes. “I know you. You scared the living daylights out of our cousins Molly and Rupert, didn’t you? Not nice of you, dog. Not nice at all.”
Molly and Rupert had once lived in Odelia’s basement, before moving one basement over into Tex and Marge’s basement, and making a final move to Ted and Marcie’s.
“What happened to Molly and Rupert?” I asked now.
“They moved on,” said Rufus. “When Marcie put out mouse traps they figured it better to find some other place to infest.”
“Hey, that’s a very nasty thing to say, dog!” said Hector.
“Yeah, we’re clean mice, and we have every right to be here, same as you,” Helga added.
It was clear we weren’t getting anywhere. If I’d hoped the presence of Rufus would make a difference, it clearly hadn’t. These mice weren’t scared of anyone, even a big dog.
Harriet gave Rufus a poke in the rear. “Do something,” she hissed.
Rufus, not exactly the fiercest dog in the universe, was clearly at a loss.
“What do you want me to do?” he asked.
“Scare them!” said Harriet.
“Scare them?” The concept seemed alien to the good-natured mutt.
“Yeah. Scare the bejeesus out of them.”
Rufus gave me a questioning look, and I shrugged. I didn’t know how to be scary any more than he did, so he was on his own there.
“Bark,” said Brutus. “Isn’t that what dogs do?”
Rufus did as he was told: he opened his mouth and emitted a short bark.
Hector and Helga shared a look of confusion, then started laughing.
Rufus tried again, this time putting more pep into his performance. He barked a couple of times, and even snarled. The result was two hundred mice rolling on the floor laughing.
And it was with our tails between our legs that we finally emerged from the basement.
I don’t know if you’ve ever been laughed out of your own basement by a nest of mice. Well, let me tell you it’s not a pleasant experience. In fact it’s quite humiliating.
“I’m sorry, you guys,” Rufus said ruefully. “They’re a tough crowd, these mice of yours.”
And that, they most certainly were.
Chapter 16
“Oh, sweetheart, don’t look so sad,” said Charlene. “It’s for your own good.”
Alec muttered something under his breath. Charlene had taken away his slice of chocolate pie and returned it to the platter for someone else to enjoy. He’d watched its departure with a sinking feeling. He liked chocolate pie. In fact he loved the darn stuff.
“You know what the doctor said. If you don’t lose weight now you’re putting yourself at risk. Obesity is no laughing matter.”
“I’m not obese,” he grumbled.
“Yet. But you’re getting there.”
They were walking down the street, on their way to the Seabreeze Music Center, where the Maria Power retrospective was taking place.
Both of them were dressed as garden gnomes: Charlene as a pretty female gnome, Alec as a jolly and more bulbous male gnome. Their cheeks were red, their heads were adorned with white pointy caps, and they were dressed in yards of red and green felt.
More gnomes were also heading in the direction of the center, and as they drew closer, they were surrounded by gnomes of all shapes and sizes. It was a festive occasion, and a sight to behold. But Alec couldn’t enjoy it the way he would have liked. Not after the chairman of one of the two fan clubs had possibly murdered a woman, and not after Charlene had taken away a good-looking piece of chocolate pie he’d marked for his own.
“Look, I’ll bake you a cake tonight if you stop sulking,” said Charlene.
His face lit up. “You mean that?”
“Of course. Only my cake will be the low-fat, low-sugar, dairy-free, gluten-free healthy variety.”
He cut her a dubious look. “It’s going to taste horrible, is it?”
“It’s going to taste just as delicious as your sister’s high-fat, high-sugar, high-dairy, high-gluten variety. You won’t even taste the difference.”
Somehow he doubted it. But he was willing to overlook that. “You would really do that for me?” he asked, deeply touched. As a widower of fifteen years, he wasn’t used to a woman being this nice to him, and it touched his heart.
“Of course, sweetheart,” she said with a smile. “I care about you, my sugar bear.” She’d linked her arm through his and he suddenly felt all warm and fuzzy inside.
“There’s something else I’ll do for you tonight,” she said with a wink. “But only if you’re a good boy and have fun with me tonight.”
Now the warm and fuzzy feeling was extending to his nether regions and he even produced a goofy smile. After the kind of day he’d had, with gnome thefts he hadn’t been able to give his proper attention, and a murder case he hadn’t been able to solve, Charlene was really going all out to lift his mood.
“I’d like that,” he growled, and gave her a quick peck on the rouge-covered cheek.
She smiled. “And there’s that lovely smile again.”
They’d arrived at the center and lined up to go in. People greeted them excitedly. It isn’t every day that the mayor and chief of police become a couple, and Alec and Charlene’s story had inspired a certain tenderness in the townsfolk. Tickled their romantic bone.
“Look, Alec,” said Charlene, after she’d shaken several people’s hands and accepted their congratulations for landing such a catch. “It’s Dan.”
“Surprised he’d show his face,” Alec grumbled.
“He is still the chairman of the Gnomeos,” said Charlene. “And you did release him.”
Dan was also dressed as a gnome, only a very weathered one—a gnome that’s seen too many seasons, neglected by its owner. Out there braving the elements for too many years. He certainly didn’t look as happy and carefree as he usually did.
When he saw Alec he gave him a feeble smile, then immediately disappeared in the opposite direction.
“I still think he did it,” said Alec.
“You’re going to have to prove it,” Charlene pointed out. “Innocent until proven guilty, remember?”
“I know, I know,” he said, none too pleased.
The chairman of the Maria Power Society, Jack Warner, stepped up to them with a wide grin on his face, and pumped first Alec’s hand, then pressed a kiss on Charlene’s.
“Honored to have you both here,” he said. “Honored indeed.”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” said the Mayor pleasantly. “So who’s organizing this? Is it you or Dan Goory?”
“The Seabreeze Center took the initiative, and got both the Maria Power Society and the Gnomeos on board, but I think it’s safe to say we did most of the work. We are, after all, Hampton Cove’s number one Maria Power fan club.”
“Is she here?” asked Charlene, glancing around.
“Who? Maria Power?” Jack laughed a deprecating laugh. “Oh, no. Maria never leaves the house these days. Lives like a regular recluse. Of course we invited her, but she didn’t even deign us with a response.”
“Pity,” said Charlene. “It would have been nice if she’d come.”
“Yeah, it would really have put this retrospective on the map,” Jack agreed.
“Too bad.”
“Say, I thought you arrested Dan for murder?” asked Jack, taking the Chief aside for a moment while the Mayor socialized. “Imagine my surprise when he popped up just now.”
“Had to let him go,” grunted the Chief. “Lack of evidence.”
“You know, I think I might be able to help you with that,” said the man.
“What do you mean?”
“Look, I can’t talk now, obviously. But why don’t you drop by my office tomorrow—you know where I work, right? So let’s talk and do lunch. I think I’ll be able to give your investigation into the dirty deeds of Dan Goory a nice big push in the right direction.” And with a wink, he left Alec staring after him.
A nice big push in the right direction was exactly what the investigation needed. And for the rest of the evening, even as Maria Power did her best to ensnare his attention from up there on the silver screen, acting not in one but no less than two of her most praised movies, all Alec could think about were Jack Warner’s words of promise.