When the interview was over, Chase and Odelia returned to the evidence. The moment she stepped inside, she clutched Chase’s arm. “The laptop!”
“What?” Then his eyes swiveled to the table. “Oh, Christ.”
The laptop they’d left on the table was gone.
The cop cursed under his breath, and instantly rushed out, Odelia right behind him. But when he asked Dolores, the dispatcher said no one else had been in there, and that she definitely hadn’t touched that laptop.
Odelia stared around, and her eye fell on Rohanna, who was now busy dusting off a cabinet in the corner of the vestibule. It held pictures of Chief Alec holding up a very large bass, and several of his fishing trophies. She approached the cleaner, and when she tapped her on the shoulder, Rohanna started, and took out her earbuds. “Hey, honey. Everything all right?”
“Have you seen anyone pass by here? Something went missing from the evidence room,” she explained.
But the cleaning lady shook her head. “I haven’t exactly been paying attention. But I don’t think I’ve seen anyone. Why don’t you ask Dolores?”
She nodded, and quickly darted a glance at Rohanna’s rolling cart. No sign of a laptop, of course. She dropped the crazy notion. “Thanks,” she said, and shook her head at Chase, who’d been watching from a distance.
Judging from his frown, or the way he’d folded his arms across his chest, he wasn’t happy about this. “I should have locked that room,” he said now, as they walked back to the evidence room. “Never leave evidence unattended. It’s the first rule,” he added, scowling at her, as if he personally blamed her.
“What?” she asked. “Is this my fault now? I didn’t take that computer.”
“I know you didn’t. But someone did. Someone snuck in here, managed to get past Dolores unseen, and snuck back out.”
Rohanna’s eye traveled to the window, which was open and didn’t have any bars, like all the windows in the police office. “Do you think they might have gotten in through there?”
They both moved over to the window, and Chase opened it all the way so they could lean out. The view wasn’t anything to write home about: a small patch of wasteland that once had been intended for a parking lot, but now was just a tangle of weeds. Someone could easily have come through there, hopped in through the window and absconded with that laptop. But who?
“It might have been thieves,” she suggested. “Kids wanting a free laptop.”
But Chase shook his head grimly. “I doubt it.”
“Yeah, actually so do I. Whoever stole that laptop must have known it contained information that might lead us to the killer.”
He fixed her with a serious look. “Whoever took that laptop just might be the killer.”
And even though she rarely saw eye to eye with the burly cop, she had to admit he was probably right this time. Which meant the killer must have been watching them, following the investigation. Which also meant that the killer… was one of them. Not an outsider, but someone from Hampton Cove.
Chapter 22
I woke up feeling refreshed, and stretched happily. I couldn’t remember having slept this great in quite a while. I opened one eye, saw that Dooley was still occupying the other side of the couch, and closed my eye again. Maybe I could squeeze in a couple hours more, now that I was going so well. But then I suddenly remembered Clarice’s startling revelation of the previous day. She’d actually revealed the identity of the murderer! And we hadn’t even told Odelia! Instantly, I was wide awake, and gave Dooley a poke.
He mumbled, “Juss… lemme… sleep… zzz.”
I prodded him again, hissing, “We have to tell Odelia who the killer is!”
He opened his eyes lazily. “Huh? Killer? What are you talking about?”
“The killer! The Paulo Frey thing!”
He smacked his lips, then yawned, and as I watched, I could practically see his brain booting up, and grasping the meaning of my words. His eyes snapped open, and he sat up with a jerk. “The killer! We have to tell Odelia!”
“That’s what I just said,” I grumbled.
I hopped gracefully from the couch and stretched my back, then strode languidly over to the stairs and started making my way upstairs. When I didn’t find Odelia in the bedroom, I realized time had gotten away from us, and she’d already left. It was a lot later than I’d thought!
“She’s gone,” I said when Dooley sauntered into the bedroom. We both trotted down the stairs again, and were about to leave through the pet door when two cats came barging in. They were the last cats I wanted to see: Harriet and… Brutus. I leveled a disapproving look at the latter. This time he’d gone too far. “Brutus, this is my house, and I want you out of here.”
Brutus gave me one of his trademark infuriating grins. “Wow, wow, wow. Now hold it right there, Maxie. Keep it cool, buddy. I’ve come in peace.”
“We’ve decided to offer you a peace treaty, Max,” Harriet explained.
“So now you’re on his side, are you?” asked Dooley bitterly. He gave her a glowering look. “You’re dead to me, Harriet. And you too, Brutus.”
“Let’s not say things we don’t mean, Dooley,” said Harriet, clearly the negotiator in this standoff.
“Oh, but I mean them, all right,” said Dooley.
“You’re dead to me, too,” I told Harriet. “Collusion with the enemy is not something we treat lightly, Harriet. You’re not part of this family anymore.”
“You’re being very immature, Max. And you, too, Dooley. We’re all grownups here, so let’s act like it.”
“Speak for yourself,” said Dooley.
She rolled her expressive eyes. “Look. Last night at dinner it was pretty obvious that Odelia and Chase are developing feelings for each other.”
“I think the word lovebird is appropriate here,” growled Brutus.
Harriet gave her new mate an adoring look. “They were exactly like lovebirds, weren’t they?”
“They sure were, honey pie. Just like us.”
“Oh, sugar plum,” she cooed.
I thought I was going to be sick. “What’s all this about last night?”
“Well, since you weren’t there, you didn’t see it, did you?” asked Harriet primly. “But Odelia and Chase made the loveliest couple.”
I exchanged a look of panic with Dooley. “Couple?” I croaked.
“Lovebirds?” squeaked Dooley, on the verge of a panic attack.
“Yeah, you should have seen them,” grunted Brutus with a chuckle. “Your regular Romeo and Juliet. Anyways, where were you guys last night?”
“None of your business,” I snapped.
“If you have to know, we were investigating,” said Dooley haughtily.
“Investigating?” scoffed Brutus. “In your sleep? Some investigation!”
“For your information, we cracked this case wide open,” said Dooley.
“Dooley,” I said warningly.
“You cracked the case?” asked Brutus. “You mean you caught the killer?”
“We most certainly did,” Dooley confirmed.
“Dooley!” I said. “Shut up!”
“Yeah, shut up, Dooley,” said Brutus. “Cause I’m pretty sure there’s nothing to tell.”
“We know exactly who the killer is,” said Dooley, ignoring the anxious looks I was giving him, “because we found a witness to the crime.”
At this point, Harriet asked, “You talked to a witness? Who was it?”
“Don’t tell her, Dooley,” I told him. “This is for Odelia’s ears only. Besides, I thought she was dead to you?”
“She is dead to me,” Dooley confirmed, “but as long as she keeps asking me questions I can’t not answer, can I? That would be just plain rude.”
“Entering the house of another cat when you’re not invited is rude,” I said with a pointed look at Brutus. “And so is colluding with the enemy,” I added with a nasty glance at Harriet.