For a moment, there was only Tony Bennett crooning about a cold, cold heart, which was exactly how Alec’s own heart was feeling, then Imelda was back. This time she didn’t sound quite so sanguine. “Get over here, Chief. Get over here quick. Charlene—she was robbed! Robbed at gunpoint!”
Alec’s heart skipped several beats as the blood drained from his face. Within seconds he was out of his chair, out of his office, and running as if his life depended on it.
Chapter 18
There are moments in a cat’s life that stay with him for the rest of his days. I’m sure it’s the same for humans. Everyone knows where they were when JR was shot—at least if you were alive and old enough to be glued to the screen in the eighties. And of course everyone remembers when John Travolta finally ditched his toupee. And it was just such a moment when Odelia received that call.
I remember she picked up and her jaw actually dropped. Now I know fiction writers mention dropping jaws all the time, but how many times have you actually seen a jaw drop in real life? It’s a tough proposition, and would probably require a trip to the ER.
Well, I can now say that I’m the rare witness of an actual jaw-dropping event.
“Wait, what?” she cried.
We were in the car, on our way to Odelia’s office where she was going to start compiling her notes on the crime wave that was sweeping Hampton Cove, and more in particular Ida Baumgartner’s stolen Picasso, bought for her by her husband, inventor of the world’s first laser-beam vacuum cleaner.
“I’m on my way,” Odelia said, once she’d reeled in her jaw sufficiently to allow for speech. And to show us she meant what she said, she put down her phone, started up her car and was racing off at a respectable rate of speed, causing Dooley and me to tumble back against the backseat.
“What’s going on?” I asked, once I’d ascertained whether all of my limbs were still attached to their parent body.
“Charlene has just been robbed at gunpoint,” said Odelia. “And the town’s gold coin collection has been stolen.”
“I didn’t even know the town had a gold coin collection,” I said, much surprised.
“Well, it did—only now it doesn’t,” said Odelia, and I could see her point.
She was focusing on the road and applying her foot to the accelerator in a way that would probably be frowned upon by the local authorities if the local authorities hadn’t been busy with this spectacular denouement.
“Is she all right?” I asked. “Charlene, I mean. She wasn’t hurt by these attackers, was she?”
“She’s shaken but otherwise fine,” said Odelia in clipped tones, indicating the events that had unfolded at Town Hall had not only shaken Charlene but Odelia, too.
“Why does a town need a collection of coins, Max?” asked Dooley.
“Gold is usually considered a sound investment,” I ventured. “Probably the folks that run this town have chosen to invest their money wisely.” In other words: I had no idea why Hampton Cove’s founding fathers would have chosen to acquire a set of gold coins.
“The coins were a gift from a duke,” Odelia explained. “Once upon a time, in the nineteen-thirties if I’m not mistaken, a local fisherman saved this duke’s life when his boat had hit some rough weather off the coast of Hampton Cove. To show his gratitude he donated a set of gold coins with his likeness to the town the fisherman hailed from.”
“They must be worth a lot,” I said, imagining large gleaming plaques of gold, now in the hands of a couple of dastardly thieves.
“Yeah, I guess they are,” said Odelia. We’d arrived at destination’s end and got out, Odelia hurrying to the entrance, where already several police vehicles stood trundling.
“I thought half the police force were on holiday?” I said as I watched a couple of cops milling about.
“This must be the other half,” Dooley suggested astutely.
Once inside, we hurried after Odelia, who was setting a brisk pace, causing us to have to switch into higher gear. So by the time we arrived at the mayor’s office, I was already panting, my short legs not exactly fit for short sprints—or long ones, for that matter.
The office of the town’s mayor is a very large and spacious one, located on the second floor of Town Hall. Its large windows offer a nice view of the town square, and even the police station, which made me wonder why the police officers had all thought it necessary to drive there, as they could just as well have walked.
Charlene Butterwick, our mayor, looked not only shaken but also stirred, like a freshly poured Martini, and was surrounded by the cream of Hampton Cove’s police crop: Uncle Alec was there, of course, but also Chase Kingsley, and several others.
Charlene’s secretary was also there, a heavyset woman with a kindly demeanor who now looked as shaken and stirred as the Mayor herself.
“If only I’d known!” she cried, throwing up her hands. “I would have stopped them!”
“Best you didn’t,” said Uncle Alec.
“Yeah, good thing you didn’t, Imelda,” said Charlene. “They were armed to the teeth, and they would have hurt you.”
“I could at least have called the police,” said Imelda, now applying a handkerchief to her teary cheeks. “They could have caught them before they got away.”
“What did they look like?” asked Odelia.
“One was big and one was short. The short one had a face like a weasel, and the big one had a round face and looked kinda goofy. They said they were businessmen. Though they didn’t look like no businessmen to me.”
Just then, more people arrived at the scene, in the form of Grandma Muffin and Scarlett. And they’d brought their own feline entourage: Harriet and Brutus.
“It was Johnny Carew and Jerry Vale,” said Gran, the moment she stepped into the room. “We just talked to Mort Hodge and his wife Megan and she overheard the thieves call each other Johnny and Jerry.”
Uncle Alec’s head snapped up so fast I could actually hear it crick. “Johnny Carew and Jerry Vale? Are you sure?”
Gran nodded furiously. “Absolutely.”
“Absolutely,” Scarlett echoed, and even Harriet and Brutus were nodding, though I’m not sure the humans in the room took any notice of us lowly pets.
Chase had taken out his phone and was now frantically scrolling through it, then offered it to Charlene’s secretary. “Are these the men you saw, Imelda?”
Imelda took one look at the picture Chase offered and nodded. “That’s them! I’ll never forget those terrible faces. Real hardened criminals, both of them.”
Chase held up his phone for the rest of the small gathering to see. I only caught a quick glimpse, but it was a picture of Johnny and Jerry, who’d recently worked for Marge, before absconding with the contents of the Capital First Bank’s vault to Mexico.
“It’s very nice to have two home-grown criminals you can always pin a crime on,” said Dooley. “Makes things a lot easier for the police.”
I almost had to smile, if the situation hadn’t been so serious. “That’s because they are responsible for a large part of local crime,” I replied.
“Listen up!” Uncle Alec said, raising his voice and also his head to address his troops. “We’re looking for Johnny Carew and Jerry Vale. Chase, send that picture to everyone present.”
“Will do, Chief,” said Chase.
“This is now priority number one.”
“I think I know where they are, Uncle Alec,” said Odelia, earning herself the attention of the entire police contingent and more necks making creaking noises as they all turned to her. “Mom sent me a message this morning telling me Johnny and Jerry had been at the door, spreading the word of Jesus. They’re doing community service for Jehovah’s Witnesses and going door to door. They were in Harrington Street two hours ago, so they’re probably still in the area.”
Uncle Alec clapped his hands twice, like a schoolteacher, or a football coach. “You heard my niece. Let’s roll out, people.”