“Aurora Teagarden, too,” muttered Max.
“Follow the pizza boxes,” Dooley added, quite incomprehensibly.
They all stared at the whiteboard for a moment. Finally Harriet said it best when she announced,“We still have a long way to go, people.Achee!”
Chapter 33
The visit to Vena’s would have to wait. The call came at eight o’clock, just when they were all sitting down for breakfast. Tex, who’d finally noticed the house was empty, had drifted over, and was sucking down his first cup of coffee of the day, slowly waking up. Odelia had baked pancakes, Mom was demonstrating her omelet skills, and Gran showed the others what a superb waffle batter should look like, when Uncle Alec called.
Turned out Chris Ackerman’s publisher had flown in the night before and had rented a large beachfront mansion and had invited Uncle Alec to interview him there. Alec had told Chase and Chase had suggested they bring Odelia along, seeing as she was also working the case, albeit in an unofficial capacity. And since Gran wouldn’t hear of sitting this one out, she decided to come, too, as well as the fearsome feline foursome, who weren’t going to let a little cold stand in their way. Finally, as the library was still closed, Mom was also game.
The only one who wasn’t coming was Tex, since he had patients to attend to. And neither did he mind. Unlike the women in his family, he wasn’t bitten by the sleuthing bug.
And so it was that Odelia’s pickup was pretty packed as it tootled along the road, Odelia in the driver’s seat, Gran riding shotgun, with Marge and the cats in the backseat.
“Nice,” said Gran. “Like a family trip to the beach.”
“This is still a murder investigation, Gran,” said Odelia.
“So I can’t enjoy this? You’ve got to lighten up, dear.”
Odelia directed a quick look through the rearview mirror. The thing was that she worried about her mother. People were talking, and they would keep on talking as long as the person who killed Ackerman hadn’t been identified, arrested, and tried for murder. Some people would probably keep on talking even afterwards, but that was just because they liked talking and didn’t have anything better to do. Luckily they were a minority. The sooner this investigation was over, though, the sooner Mom would be off the hook.
Max, Dooley, Harriet and Brutus were sniffling quietly.
“I scheduled an appointment, you guys,” said Odelia. “We’re going over there as soon as this interview is over, okay?”
“Okay,” said Max thickly.
“Oh, poor babies,” said Mom, and yanked a few paper napkins from the dispenser and busied herself with wiping their noses and the liquid flowing from their eyes.
“I feel terrible,” Dooley intimated. “And here I thought Jesus would save us.”
Odelia frowned.“I forgot to ask. What’s with this Jesus business?”
“Shanille baptized us,” Max explained. “She figured it would heal Brutus’s red spots.”
“They’re bigger than ever,” Brutus grumbled. “Wanna see?” Without waiting for confirmation he jutted out his chest and Mom took a closer look.
“Oh, my,” said Mom. “Those are some nasty spots, Brutus.”
“Yeah, very nasty,” muttered Brutus with gruff satisfaction.
“So… Shanille baptized you?” asked Odelia.
“Yup. In St. John’s Church’s baptismal font,” said Max.
“She dunked us,” said Harriet. “Can you believe that? I’m still wet.”
Odelia shook her head. She probably should keep a closer eye on her cats. She usually trusted their judgment but this baptism business definitely was not a good idea.
“Maybe we should remove those cat flaps,” Gran suggested, who was clearly thinking the same thing.
“Noooo!” cried the four cats in unison, and Odelia laughed.
“Relax. We’re not going to remove the cat flaps. But you have to promise us to take better care of yourselves. Use your heads.”
“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Max muttered, then sneezed again.
They’d finally arrived at the house where the publisher of Chris Ackerman’s books was holed up. It was one of those typical Hamptons mansions, with a high wrought-iron gate, guarded by two beefy security people, a long and winding drive through immaculately manicured grounds and ending in a circular courtyard where the house stood. A three-story structure in pink brick with plenty of gables and windows, the place had a fairytale look.
“Is this where Walt Disney used to live?” asked Dooley admiringly from the backseat.
“The Disney princesses, more like,” said Harriet, equally impressed.
Several caterer’s vans were parked in the driveway, and white-aproned personnel was hauling stuff into the house.
“Looks like someone is having a party,” said Mom.
“Maybe that’s for us,” said Gran. “I shouldn’t have eaten that last pancake. I should have known these rich folks would treat their guests like royalty.”
“Pretty sure this isn’t for us, Gran,” said Odelia as she got out.
Behind them, another pickup rolled to a stop. Chase was behind the wheel, Uncle Alec next to him.
“Looks like the gang is all here,” said Chase as he ambled up. He bent over and planted a quick kiss on Odelia’s lips, which she happily returned. Since their interrupted dinner date the other night they hadn’t had two minutes together. She hoped that by the time the investigation was wrapped up, the film festival would still be in full swing and she and Chase could finally check out that Cary Grant movie.
“So how are we doing this?” asked Uncle Alec, who seemed to have second thoughts about driving up here en masse. “We can’t all go in there and crowd the poor shmuck.”
“Whatever he is, he’s definitely not poor,” Gran commented as an ice sculpture was carried out of a moving van by four bulky dudes.
“I suggest Chase and Odelia interview the guy,” said Uncle Alec. “While I look around and talk to some of the staff. In my experience staff often know more about what’s going on than the principals themselves.” He cut off Gran, who’d opened her mouth to protest, with, “You talk to thekitchen staff while I talk to the household staff. Marge, you… mingle.”
Mom arched her eyebrows.“Mingle?”
Uncle Alec gestured at a procession of cars that was roaring up the drive. They were all in the high-class category. In other words, the category Odelia couldn’t afford. “Looks like the party is about to get started. Talk to the guests and see what you can find out about the relationship between Ackerman and his publisher.”
“Aye aye, sir,” said Mom with a two-fingered salute.
Uncle Alec displayed a lopsided grin.“We’ll meet back here in an hour.”
“Shouldn’t we synchronize our watches?” asked Gran.
“Only if you’re James Bond and you’re about to save the world,” Alec deadpanned.
Chapter 34
“Mingle,” said Harriet, then sneezed violently. “How can we mingle when we’re standing with one foot in the grave?” She sneezed again, then once more for good measure.
“We’ll be fine,” I said. “It’s just a cold. We’ll be right as rain in no time.”
“Please, Max,” said Brutus with a pained expression. “No mention of water.”
At my mention of the word‘rain’ Dooley had subjected the skies to a critical look. When no dark clouds heralded in the coming apocalypse, he seemed to relax.
“I can’t believe we tried to prevent Brutus from having to visit Vena and now we end up all going to Vena’s,” said Harriet, checking her precious white fur for spots.
“I’m sorry, you guys,” said Brutus. “This is all my fault.”
“Personally I blame Shanille,” said Harriet. “And next time I see her I’ll give her a piece of my mind she won’t forget. Jesus, forsooth.”