“Ironic,” said Odelia. “The god of lightning killed by lightning.”
“All of these deaths have been ironic,” said Chase. “The joyrider crushed under the weight of his own car, the papier-m?ch? artist turned into a papier-m?ch? figure and added to his own exhibit, the mall owner reduced to a part of his display. I’d say we’re dealing with the same killer, wouldn’t you? A killer eager to tell us something. But what?”
“That pride comes before the fall?” Odelia suggested.
“Possible,” Chase admitted. “Teaching each of these men a lesson in humility.”
We all stared as the body of this devious killer’s latest victim was cut down.
“Poor guy,” I said.
“And poor Odelia,” said Dooley. “Now she’ll never be able to get his autograph.”
“I think that’s the least of her worries, Dooley.”
Odelia’s main concern was to stop this rampaging killer before he made even more victims.
“You know what?” said Chase. “I’m sick and tired of this. It’s almost as if the killer is laughing at us. I think it’s time we start leveling the playing field.”
“And how do you propose we do that?”
“By doing what we should have done from the start: arresting Dominic Careen.”
“Did you talk to the staff?” She gestured to Jasmine Muchari and Luke Grimsby, who were standing nearby looking crestfallen.
“Yeah, I did. They didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary last night. Said they didn’t even realize what happened until this morning. Though Luke did see Sergio go up to the roof at some point. Sergio said he wanted to experience the storm firsthand. Ever since he was cast as Zeus he’d become fascinated with the weather, especially stormy weather.”
“Figures, for a man who played the god of atmospheric phenomena. Did Luke Grimsby see anyone else go up?”
Chase shook his head.“Nope. But he said he turned in early. So if someone did join Sergio up here, he wouldn’t have seen them.”
“I don’t understand, Chase. Sergio told us yesterday that he’d doubled his security. He had people guarding the front gate and walking the perimeter. Dogs, even.”
“I spoke to the guy in charge of security, and he said that Sergio did have a visitor last night. He’d told him to keep the dogs on a leash so he did.”
“So who was it?”
“He doesn’t know. No one came in through the front gate, that’s for sure.”
“So maybe they climbed the fence?”
“Has to be. And since the dogs had been called off, they would have had access to the house. Because of the storm the patrols had been temporarily dispensed with, since it was too dangerous to walk the grounds, because of falling tree branches.”
“So whoever did this must have known their way around the place, and must have been aware of the security measures Sergio had put in place.”
“Looks as if Sergio knew his attacker, or told them how to get in without being seen.”
“And you’re thinking it must have been Dominic?”
“I don’t see who else it could have been, do you?”
“But Sergio would never invite Dominic up here, would he?”
“Maybe he did. To talk things through. To find out what Dominic was up to.”
They watched on as Sergio was laid out on the roof, then transferred to a stretcher. It was going to take four able-bodied men to get the actor down from there, since he was probably two hundred pounds of pure muscle—now seriously charred.
“This is a tough case, Max,” said Dooley.
“Tell me about it,” I murmured.
“I’m just glad that Chase and Odelia saved us from that tree last night.” He shivered. “Or else we might have ended up just like Mr. Zeus over there.”
It was a sobering thought, and one I didn’t enjoy mulling over. “I don’t think we were in any danger of being struck by lightning. More of being crushed under a falling branch.”
“Or being struck by lightning, then crushed by a falling branch.” He gave me a worried look. “I never realized how dangerous singing could be, Max.”
“It’s not the singing, Dooley. It’s being out in a park during a storm.”
“Not very smart of us, was it?”
“No, not very smart at all.”
“I have a feeling that next time cat choir happens there won’t be a lot of cats there.”
I smiled.“Just you, me, Harriet and Brutus, and of course Shanille. Small but cozy.”
“Maybe we could hold cat choir in the backyard.”
“I doubt the neighbors would appreciate it.”
“Or in church! Father Reilly wouldn’t mind.”
“No, but the parishioners might. It is a holy place, after all. And not everyone is convinced cats belong in church. They might think we’re trespassing. God might also be offended by our caterwauling, and decide to drop the entire church on top of our heads.”
Suddenly a noise alerted us of an intruder making their way to the roof. And as his head popped up from the stairwell, we saw that it was none other than Omar Wissinski. Judging from the incandescent expression on his red face, he was not a happy guy.
“I demand you arrest that man immediately!” he shouted even before he’d fully cleared the stairwell. He was waving his arms in the manner of one mimicking a windmill.
“What man would that be, Mr. Wissinski?” asked Chase.
“Careen, of course! And I demand that you do it right now, before he takes an ax to my head as well!” He gestured vaguely in the direction of the stretcher. “Or whatever he used to kill my best friend.” He then seemed to realize that he was in the presence of death, and he gulped, then uttered a sort of strangled cry, and proceeded to bite down on his knuckle. “He’s really dead, isn’t he? Poor Sergio is dead. Struck down in his prime.”
“Who told you about what happened?” asked Chase, ever the cop.
“I got a call from Luke,” said Omar. “He told me to watch out.” He shook his head. “He’s coming for me now, isn’t he? I’m the only one left. The only one left standing!” He turned a wild-eyed gaze on Chase. “Please provide me with some protection, detective. I’ve posted a guard in front of my shop, but I don’t think that’s going to stop that maniac. If anything, he’ll probably mow him down, too, just to get at me!”
“I’m afraid we can’t provide any police protection at this time, sir,” said Chase stiffly.
“Well, you should! Can’t you see I’m next? If you don’t act now I’ll be dead before tonight!”
“Babe, please,” said Odelia softly, as she placed a hand on her husband’s arm.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Wissinski, but we’re doing everything we can to bring the murderer of your friends to justice.”
“It’s not enough, is it! Four down and one more to go—that’s what that crazy person is thinking right now. It’s only me that’s left now!” Suddenly he was down on his knees, holding up his hands to Chase in a gesture of prayer. “Please help me, detective. Can’t you see I’m desperate? Please save me from this madman. I’m begging you, please!”
“Get up, Mr. Wissinski,” said Chase not unkindly as he helped the poor guy to his feet again. “I’ll see what I can do, all right?”
“You’ll give me police protection?”
“Yes. I’ll arrange for an around-the-clock watch on your house and office.”
“Thank you, sir. Thank you so much!” He nervously glanced around. “Do you think he followed me here? Do you think he’s watching us now?”
“I’m sure you’re quite safe here,” Chase assured the man.
“He’s getting paranoid, Max,” said Dooley.
“Wouldn’t you be? Four of his friends are dead.”
“Maybe he should come and live with us? Chase can protect him much better when he’s living under the same roof.”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” I said.