“But I can’t be. I keep telling you but you won’t listen. Donna invited me. I’m a guest.”
“Were you burning something downstairs, Mrs. Yoke?” asked Odelia, remembering Dooley’s words.
The former actress smiled.“You’re very perceptive. I was burning incense. To ward off the bad spirits and to summon Donna’s spirit.”
“And did it work?” asked Chase.
“Not yet. But I’m sure she’ll be here any moment now.” The woman glanced around, as if fully expecting Donna to suddenly materialize out of thin air. “She invited me here, you know.”
“Of course she did,” said Chase. “Now come along, Mrs. Yoke.”
“Are you familiar with my work, Officer?”
“As a matter of fact I am,” said Chase as he escorted the woman from the room.
“And what was your favorite? I liked the firstStar Cars the most. That one was a huge hit.”
“Yes, it was,” said Chase, and helped the actress down the stairs. It was a little sad to see her like this, Odelia thought. She had been wonderful in thoseStar Cars movies.
“Did you know I do all my own stunts?”
“Is that a fact?”
“Donna never did. Everything you see in thoseStar Rigs movies is all CGI. WithStar Cars what you see is what you get. It’s all real. All me.”
“If you don’t mind my asking, where were you this morning around seven, Mrs. Yoke?”
“This morning around seven?” They’d reached the foyer and Chase opened the front door to escort the woman out. “Why, I was reaching out to Donna, of course. We’re connected on a higher level, you know. Soul sisters.”
“Mind the step.”
And as the woman padded barefoot along the drive in the direction of Chase’s pickup, Odelia and Chase at her elbows making sure she didn’t trip and fall, Odelia thought they’d just closed this case. It was now obvious to her that the intense rivalry that had existed between the two actresses all these years had finally driven Zelda Yoke crazy, inducing her to commit this atrocious act of violence and get rid of her ‘soul sister’ once and for all.
The cats came tripping behind her. They, too, seemed pleased as punch at this unexpected development. Mostly because they’d beaten Harriet at her own game, and possibly because Max had found something to eat after all, judging from the crumbs of dog biscuit covering his lips.
She decided he’d earned it. And as Chase placed Zelda in the back of his car and locked the door, he said, “I think the combination of your intuition and your secretive informant may just have cracked this case, Odelia.”
“I think so, too,” she said, directing a commiserating glance at Zelda, who sat muttering to herself, rocking back and forth. “What a sad ending, though, right?”
“Yeah, I loved thoseStar Cars movies. They were da bomb.”
“Da bomb?” she laughed. “The nineties called, they want their bomb back.”
“Laugh all you want.Star Cars was great fun.”
“I was more intoStar Rigs.”
“Star Rigs was clearly a rip-off ofStar Cars.”
“I’m pretty sureStar Rigs came first.”
“And I’m pretty sure you’re wrong.”
“Don’t tell me you’re a Zelda Yoke fan.”
“Don’t tell me you’re a Donna Bruce fan.”
Odelia held her hand up in theStar Rigs salute, which was a fist with her pinkie finger sticking out.“Star Rigs forever, buddy.”
Chase made theStar Cars salute, a fist with his thumb sticking out sideways.“Star Cars all the way, babe.”
And the age-old rivalry would have caused two more casualties if Zelda hadn’t at that moment rolled down her window and asked, “Can we go now? Donna is waiting for me.”
“Waiting for you where?” asked Chase.
The actress raised her eyes to the sky.“Why, amongst the stars, of course.”
“Of course,” said Chase with a grin at Odelia, and got into the car.
Odelia watched him drive off.“Well, you guys did good.”
“Do you think she did it?” asked Dooley.
“I’m pretty sure she did.”
“Yay!” Max said, pumping the air with his paw. “So can I have some Cat Snax now?”
She smiled.“Yes, you can. But then you’re going back on the diet, all right?”
“Yes!” Max exclaimed, exchanging a high five with Dooley. “We did it, Dooley!”
“Case closed?”
“Case closed,” Odelia agreed.
Chapter 25
I was lounging on the windowsill, the sun streaming in through the window, having a well-deserved nap. I’d solved the case. I’d enjoyed my Cat Snax. Now all I had to do was rub Harriet’s face in my victory and my triumph was complete.
Dooley was lying next to me, also in deep slumber, while Odelia had left to interview Zelda Yoke, the actress who’d murdered her long-time rival. According to Odelia it was a sad case, though I didn’t see it that way. Rivalry amongst actors has always existed. Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine. Tom and Jerry. The list goes on and on. Only this time a line had been crossed and one rival had actually murdered another rival. I guess it’s just one of those things. I think they call it an occupational hazard. I’m sure you can even take out insurance against it.
“Max, you devil,” suddenly a voice rang out nearby.
I opened one eye and saw that Harriet had drifted into the room.
“Hey, Harriet. How’s things?”
“Things are lousy. You just solved my case without me! You actually went around my back and solved my case!”
“Hey, I just had one of my famous hunches. You can’t blame me for being brilliant.”
She seemed really fired up, for she was pacing the room, her face all scrunched up in an expression of extreme upset.“This was my case, Max. My case. I was going to solve it.”
“By surfing the web. Riiiight,” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
“It’s the new way! The modern way.”
“Solving a murder case without leaving the house? That’s just ridiculous!”
“No, it’s not. Hercule Poirot solved murder cases just by letting his little gray cells do all the work. And he didn’t even have a computer!”
“He had that gumshoe, that Hastings guy to do all the legwork for him,” I reminded her. Which actually wasn’t such a bad idea. Maybe next case I could get Dooley to do all the walking around—which is kinda exhausting, you have to admit, not to mention tedious—and then I’d simply put twoand two together and come up with a brilliant solution. Just like that pint-sized Belgian detective!
Brutus had also joined us and was sticking his nose in the air and sniffing.“Cat Snax?” he asked.
“Yup. My reward for cracking another case.”
He grimaced.“Good for you, Max. Though I wouldn’t advertise the fact too much. Harriet’s been sore as a gumboil ever since she found out.”
Harriet, who’d disappeared into the kitchen, now returned, and Brutus was right. She was sore as a gumboil. Maybe even sorer. Like two gumboils. “I can’t believe Odelia let you skip your diet!” she cried. “Cat Snax? Really? You should be ashamed of yourself!”
I wasn’t following. “Ashamed of myself for cracking this case?”
“No, for manipulating Odelia into letting you cheat on your diet.”
“It’s my reward. I did the work and now I deserve a reward.”
“Don’t you see that you’re endangering yourself with this morbid obesity you’re pushing for, Max?”
“Hey, who are you calling morbidly obese?”
“You, Max. You are morbidly obese.”
“And you are jealous I cracked the case and you didn’t.”
“You only think about yourself, don’t you? Huh?”
“Who else is there to think about?” I asked, puzzled.
“He’s got a point, toots,” said Brutus.
She turned on him in a flash.“Oh, now you’re taking his side?”
“No, but…”
“You men! You’re all the same! Never a thought about anyone but yourselves! Have you ever considered Odelia’s feelings, Max?”