“Which still doesn’t explain how she did it,” said Gran. “I mean, that locked door is still a mystery to me.”
“We’ll figure it out. But this is an important breakthrough. Well done, you guys.”
“Or is it? Verna could have been referring to something else entirely.”
I decided to write off Gran’s skepticism as sour grapes because she hadn’t been the one to crack the case. As usual, it was us, the cats, who’d found the telling clue. But then wasn’t that usually the case?
“What are you guys talking about?” asked Chase.
“Max and Dooley have cracked the case,” said Odelia.
Chase lifted an eyebrow.“You don’t say.”
“I do say.” She paused for suspense. “It was Verna.”
“Verna Rectrix?”
“Yup.”
And while Odelia gave her boyfriend an update, we’d arrived downstairs and humans and animals were separated at the entrance to the dining room: cats and dogs to the left, humans to the right. So we waved goodbye to Odelia, Gran and Chase, and followed one of Emerald’s people into an area of the kitchen that appeared to have been reserved specifically for Emerald’s pets, and those visiting pets who were lucky enough to be invited along with their masters.
“Oh, my God,” Harriet exclaimed when we entered what could only be described as pet heaven. Beautiful bowls were lined up along the wall, and a whole team of servers stood at attention, ready to cater to our every need.
“We have consulted with your owners as to your dietary needs and particular desires,” said the person in charge of this bucolic feast, a heavily mustachioed individual dressed in pristine white. “And we have selected those precious morsels we humbly hope will appeal to your delicate palates. I’ve also taken the liberty of consulting with leading nutritionists and pet food designers, and have prepared a meal that I think will be to your liking.” He cracked a tight smile and took a stiff-backed bow. “Bon app?tit.”
There was indeed a bowl with my name on it, and when I walked over I discovered to my not inconsiderable surprise that it contained the yummiest, juiciest, most exquisite-looking, delicious-tasting, heavenly-smelling nuggets of food I’d ever seen, tasted or smelled in my entire life. Soon the only sounds that could be heard were the sounds of four cats and five dogs digging into their respective bowls and eating to their heart’s content. I would have complimented the chef, if I hadn’t been too busy devouring what was without a doubt the best meal of my life. And when finally I’d reached the bottom of my bowl, one of those wonderful servers stood at attention to inquire if I wanted more, and if so, how much.
“More,” I said between two bites. “Just keep it coming, please.”
The server, clearly instructed not to stint on the good stuff, complied.
I was determined to keep eating until there was nothing left. An ambitious proposition, no doubt, but one I vowed to see through to the end.
And judging from the concerted effort and absolute focus of my pet-mates, they had the exact same thing in mind.
“Oh, boy,” said Dooley as he looked up, his nose covered in yummy food, “I think we picked the wrong humans to live with, Max.”
“I’m starting to think so, too,” I said, then busied myself with devouring this second helping, which tasted slightly different than the first, only because the server had managed to surprise me once again.
“And this is only the entree,” she said as she watched me eat with a gratified smile. “There’s more to come. Lots and lots and lots more. Emerald believes in spoiling her pets rotten, you see, so this is just the beginning.”
“I love Emerald,” I said huskily. “My god how I love this woman. She is the queen, the top, the absolute pinnacle of pet care.”
And then I dug in once more. Who has time to stand around flapping their gums when they can use those same gums for eating!
[Êàðòèíêà: img_2]
In the main dining room conversations were a little stilted. After everything that had happened these ladies, Hollywood royalty as Emerald referred to them, were visibly shook by the death of one of their own, even if they hadn’t liked her all that much.
Odelia was seated next to Emerald and even the queen of the silver screen was unusually quiet.
“I thought about canceling the weekend,” she admitted as she dug into her Cajun shrimp and rice. “But that just wouldn’t be fair to the rest of us. It’s not because one selfish person decided to ruin it for us—more specifically me—that I should give in and admit defeat. Kimberlee wanted to destroy me, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let her.”
“You still think she did it on purpose?” asked Odelia, not wanting to reveal Kimberlee’s death had actually been a murder—a murder she’d since solved.
“I’m starting to think so more and more. Like Alina said this afternoon, why single out this weekend and my home to commit this act of cowardice? Obviously she wanted to end her life a long time ago, but to choose this specific time and place… That is simply rude. Very bad manners indeed.”
It was the first time Odelia had ever heard someone refer to suicide as bad manners and to the victim as being rude, but she refrained from comment.
To her right, Gran was tucking in with relish. All this talk of death had clearly not put her off her appetite.
“Now this is what I call some great chow,” she muttered.
“Yeah, the food is pretty amazing,” Chase agreed. “In fact I can’t think of a time I’ve had better meals—beats the best restaurants in town.”
“So are you also in the movie business?” asked Verna’s husband, leaning over to direct the question at Gran, who clearly had everyone puzzled with her suddenly turning up.
“Oh, God, no,” said Gran with a laugh. “As if. Though I’m thinking about launching a career. Seeing all these gorgeous women light up the screen, I’m inspired.”
Thaw appeared confused.
“So if you’re not an actress…”
“I’m Odelia’s grandmother. She needed my help, so here I am.”
“How fascinating,” the actor said.
“So, Emerald,” said Gran now, wiping her lips with her napkin.
“Mh?” said the screen goddess, looking up from her musings on Kimberlee’s ultimate betrayal.
“Any pointers for a newbie? I’m thinking about launching myself in the biz,” she clarified.
“Pointers? Oh, you mean acting tips.” She thought for a moment. “Always be yourself and don’t take crap from anyone. Especially directors, producers or studio heads. She directed a pointed look at Odo Hardy, her director, who was seated to her right. He graciously kept his tongue at this harangue.
“Yeah, that shouldn’t be a problem for me,” said Gran. “I never take crap from anyone, and I’m always true to myself. Rules to live by, right?”
She then ogled the director for a moment.“Say, listen. Do you have a part for me in your next movie, director dude?”
Odo looked up.“Well, currently I’m working on a remake ofCleopatra. And even though a lot of the roles have been cast, we’re still looking for someone to play the role of Cleopatra’s mother. I’ve been trying to entice Helen Mirren to sign up for the part, but so far she’s proving reluctant.”
“So who’s playing Cleopatra?”
“We’ve cast Alicia Vikander for the role,” he said. “I think she’ll be great.”
Emerald pulled a sour face.“If I were a few years younger, I could have played her.”
“I don’t understand why you have to pick a white actress,” said Verna peevishly. “Cleopatra was Egyptian, right? Why not pick an actress of color?”
“You mean like yourself?” said Emerald. “As if you are good enough to play such a plummy part.”
Verna stiffened visibly, threw down her utensils and got up.“You know what? I think I’ve had enough of your abuse, Emerald. Come on, Thaw. Let’s get out of here.”
“But you can’t go!” said Emerald, clearly sorry about her outburst.