“Hey, that’s what buds do,” said Diego. “Just some good-natured ribbing.”
“Well, I’ll show you around,” said Harriet. “In fact why don’t I give you the tour of the town? Hampton Cove has a lot of great stuff to offer, and I can show you all of it.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt you can, babe,” said Diego smoothly, unashamedly checking out Harriet’s rear end and tail.
She giggled and tapped his shoulder. “You’re funny.”
“Thanks. I get that a lot. Especially from the ladies.”
“You think I’m a lady?” she asked as she led him out the window.
“I think you’re a babe. And a lady. A lady babe.”
She giggled again. “Oh, you’re just a regular riot, aren’t you?”
“Sugar pie?” Brutus managed hoarsely. “Honeybunch?”
But Harriet was gone.
We sat there in stunned silence for the space of all of five seconds.
“What just happened?” I finally asked.
“I think Harriet likes the new cat,” Dooley said sadly. He’d been through this before with Brutus, so he recognized the signs.
“This isn’t happening,” said Brutus. “Is it?”
He hadn’t been through this before. In fact this was probably the first time he’d been thrown over by someone, so the experience was entirely new. I know I should have gloated, after what he’d put us through, but I honestly couldn’t. The cat looked absolutely, positively sandbagged.
“It’s happening,” Dooley said, patting him on the back. “It just happened.”
“Oh, God,” he said, and I thought I heard an actual crack when the big lug’s heart broke.
Chapter 4
Odelia and Chase sat down for a cup of coffee at Cup o’ Mika, the coffee shop across the street from the restaurant. The coroner was still checking the body, and Chief Alec was poking around the crime scene. Odelia had talked to some more people who worked in the restaurant and they’d all confirmed that Niklaus Skad hadn’t made himself popular while he was filming the segment devoted to Fry Me for an Oyster.
“Looks like pretty much everyone had a motive to kill the guy,” she said.
“Looks like. He wasn’t exactly Mr. Popular,” Chase agreed.
Both Chase and Uncle Alec had agreed that the crime scene was too gruesome for Odelia to see, so Chase had volunteered to keep her up to date.
“So tell me, what was so horrible?” she asked. “I mean, I’ve seen Friday the Thirteenth. I can handle blood and gore, Chase.”
“Are you sure? Your mom once told me you can’t watch a scary movie without yelling to stop the movie, or disappearing into the kitchen when it gets really scary.”
“Did Mom tell you that? She must have been talking about herself.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Oh, all right. So I love scary movies but I can’t stand the scary parts. So big deal. I’ll bet there are lots of people who close their eyes or peek through their fingers when the girl is in the shower and the masked maniac sneaks in.”
“That’s such a cliché,” he laughed. “I’m amazed they still keep doing scenes like that.”
“Duh. Because they’re classics? You have to have a shower scene.”
“I thought that went out of style after Psycho. Hard to beat the master of suspense.”
“Well, it still works, doesn’t it? I mean, I can’t watch a scene like that.” She rolled her eyes. “Ugh. Now I gave myself away.”
He laughed again. “You’d make a terrible killer. You’d crack during the first interview, and confess all of your crimes.”
“I wouldn’t even be interviewed. I’ve got one of those innocent faces. The police would take one look at me and would know I could never commit murder.”
“That’s true enough,” he admitted. “You’ve got one of those honest, open faces. A face that displays everything that goes through your mind.”
Oops. She hoped that the fact that she had a big secret to hide would never go through her head. Aaaand of course it just had. She tried to look innocent, opening her eyes wide and giving him her best, innocent smile.
“Now you look like you’re about to lay an egg,” he said skeptically.
“I do not!”
“Just kidding.”
They sat there for a moment, enjoying a cup o’ Joe and each other’s company, and she wondered if there would ever be a repetition of the kiss he’d given her the other day in her parents’ backyard. She’d kinda liked that kiss, and had hoped there were more where that one came from.
They locked eyes for a moment, and she wondered if he could read that particular thought on her face. He gave her a small smile, and she returned it.
“So, the crime scene,” he said finally, ending their little moment.
“Yes, the crime scene. Tell me all about it. In gruesome detail.”
“Though not too gruesome. Well, apparently the killer somehow managed to stuff the body of our celebrity chef into the oven and—”
“Wait, stuff him in the oven? How big is this oven?”
“Big enough to roast a body, which is what they did.”
“Niklaus Skad was roasted?”
“Yes, roasted like a pig. Or a duck. Or whatever you want to roast.”
“Eww. Now I don’t want to roast anything.”
“Yeah, me neither,” he admitted.
“At least did they kill him first before roasting him?”
Chase lifted his massive shoulders in a shrug. “Dunno. It’s up to Abe to figure that out.”
Abe Cornwall was the county coroner and a very able professional. If anyone could figure out what had killed the celebrity chef, it was him.
“I’d say he’s got his work cut out for him,” Chase continued. “The body was completely unrecognizable. Had been simmering all night.”
Odelia shivered in spite of herself. Now here was one of those moments she wanted to close her eyes and then peek at the screen from between her fingers. “Yuck.” Her eyes widened. “You don’t think they shoved him in there alive, do you? That would be a terrible way to go.”
“Abe doesn’t think so. If that were the case there would have been claw marks or signs that he’d tried to escape. Most likely scenario is that he was knocked out—either dead or unconscious—before being cooked.”
“So do you and Uncle Alec have any suspects?”
“Plenty. There’s the owners of the restaurant, who were afraid to lose their business if Niklaus labeled them incompetent. There’s the chef, who seemed to be the one Niklaus singled out for abuse the most. And then there’s the other staff, who clearly all hated Niklaus and wanted him gone.”
“I talked to the Stowes. They have an alibi.”
She explained to him about the Echo, and Chase had to laugh.
“That must be one of the most original alibis I’ve ever heard. Oh, and we’ll definitely check if it’s true.”
“I’ll bet you will,” she said with a grin.
“Don’t worry. I’ll give you the PG-13 version,” he said.
“Hey! I may be scared of scary movies, but I’m old enough to hear all the saucy bits they ordered on Amazon!”
His grin spread. “I’ll bet you’re dying to find out.”
“So I can order some of that stuff myself? In your dreams, buddy.”
“You’re right about that,” he said, and his look gave her an instant hot flash. Oh, boy. Was she in trouble or not? “Anyway,” he continued. “Next on our list is Hendrik Serarols, who’s pulled a disappearing act.”
“Have you tried his house?”
“Apartment. Yes, a couple of unis went by his place. Nobody home.”
“Unis?”
“Uniformed officers. Sorry. Force of habit.”
Just then, Odelia’s phone rang and she saw that it was her grandmother. “I have to take this. It’s Gran.”
“I’ll get us another round, shall I?” he suggested, and disappeared inside.
“Hey, Gran. What’s up?”
“Odelia, honey, the strangest thing has happened. I was opening a present I got from Leo and—”
“Who’s Leo?”