“So she basically had a relationship with both you and Ray?” asked Chase.
“Yeah, basically that’s how it was. Now? I have no idea. She’s still pretty busted up about Ray getting shot—which I had nothing to do with, by the way. I may have given him a piece of my mind that morning, and that may have looked like I was threatening him, but I sure as hell didn’t shoot the guy.”
“But you hated his guts.”
“Yes, I did,” he admitted. “Same way he hated mine.”
“That must have been tough,” Odelia said.
“It was a living hell to have to work so closely together with Regan and Ray.”
“Can we take a look at your room?” asked Chase.
He emitted a hacking laugh. “Why? To find my gun? Go ahead. You won’t find one.”
“Because you got rid of it?”
“Because I never had it in the first place! I didn’t kill Ray, Detective. I swear.”
Just then, there was a commotion inside the house, and they all walked back in. To Odelia’s surprise, Charlie Dieber had arrived, and he’d come bearing gifts in the form of three cats: Shanille, Diego and Harriet!
Chapter 21
Charlie held Shanille in one arm with Harriet in the other. His driver was left with the task of holding onto Diego, who, judging from his expression, had preferred to be in Shanille’s place instead.
“Fresh felines! Three fine fresh felines!” Charlie was shouting, perhaps erroneously thinking he’d arrived at a farmers’ market. “Fresh female felines for the Dieber collection!”
“Don’t think this one’s a female, boss,” said the driver, darting an anxious glance at Diego. He clearly wasn’t as big a fan of cats as his employer was.
“Nonsense!” cried Charlie, who was dressed in low-riding khaki cargo pants and nothing else. Odelia thought she preferred the star-spangled boxers. “Three fine babes for the Dieber!” Then his eye fell on Odelia and Chase. “Oh, hi,” he said, stalking up. “Now aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.” He dropped the cats to the floor and held out his hand. “Charlie Dieber at your service, doll face. And aren’t you the prettiest, hottest, sweetest piece of—”
“We met,” Odelia cut him off. “Odelia Poole. I work with the police.”
Charlie narrowed his eyes at her. “Oh, right! The cop chick. Now I remember.”
“Hey,” Chase said, stepping between Odelia and the pop star. “Show some respect.”
The Dieber held up his hands in a defensive gesture. “I’m all about respect, dude. I respect the hell out of this hot piece of—”
“And for your information, those are my cats,” said Odelia, pointing at Harriet and Diego. “You can’t just steal people’s cats. And that is Shanille. She belongs to Father Reilly.”
He glanced down at Shanille. “Father Reilly, huh? I thought she looked a little austere. No ray of sunshine, that one.”
“So if you don’t mind, I’ll take these back, and I will ask you not to steal any more of Hampton Cove’s cats. You simply can’t do this, Charlie,” she said, really getting going now.
Charlie grinned at Chase. “She’s one hot pistol, isn’t she?”
Chase gave the singer a look that could kill. It didn’t seem to affect the kid in the slightest.
“I told you, boss,” the driver said. “You can’t go around taking cats that don’t belong to you.” He allowed Diego to leap from his arms and carefully started to pick at the mass of orange hair stuck to his driver’s costume. “Now look at that,” he muttered with an expression of distaste. “I’m gonna need one of them rollers. One of them sticky things.”
“Look, I’m on a mission from God,” the Dieber explained.
Odelia, who was thinking hard about removing her Charlie Dieber Spotify selection from her phone and canceling her fan club enrollment, heaved a soft groan. “Oh, God.”
“Exactly! I collect cats, feed them, nourish them, shower them with the Dieber’s love and affection, and then I gift them to my Bediebers. Why do you think I’ve got so many cats? I’m grooming them! They’re my gift to the world, babe! A blessing for everyone. Bediebers get to hold a little piece of the Dieber in their arms—something to show them my true appreciation. My cats find a wonderful home. And I get to spread sweetness and light!”
She folded her arms across her chest, giving him a stern look. “You’re going to give all these cats away?”
“From the Lord through me and into the world. I bless—you bless—bless you.”
“You’re telling me you steal cats from all over the place and then you foist them on some unsuspecting preteens?! You steal my cats and treat them as hand-me-downs?!”
He rubbed his hairless chest and giggled. “I wouldn’t put it that way, babe.”
A red mist drew up in front of her eyes. “HOW WOULD YOU PUT IT, THEN?!”
Chase, who saw she was about to throttle the Dieber, pulled her aside. “Please don’t kill him, babe,” he said. “He’s a moron. I know that. You know that. Heck, I think even he knows it. But if you kill him I’m gonna have to arrest you and that would break my heart.”
The red mist evaporated. “Arresting me would break your heart?”
“It would. So please calm down. We’ve got a murder to solve, and you going off on the Dieber isn’t helping.”
She threw up her hands. “It’s fine. It’s just that… the gall of the guy!”
“I know, I know. Deep breaths, babe. Deep breaths.”
“Aargh!”
“In. And out. That’s it.”
She took a steadying breath, fists planted on her hips. “Stealing my cats.”
“Well, technically Diego is my cat, Shanille is Father Reilly’s cat, and Harriet is your mother’s pride and joy.”
She turned, watching Charlie play with the latest additions to his cat menagerie. Harriet seemed to enjoy the attention, and so did Shanille. Diego? Not so much.
“Okay,” she said, closing her eyes. “Let’s pick up where we left off. Where’s Toby?”
They walked out of the living room and onto the deck, but the thickset bodyguard was gone. They returned inside, and mounted the stairs, then set foot for Roulston’s office, hoping to find Toby ensconced there. The only one present and accounted for was Roulston himself. He quirked an eyebrow at them. “You were right, Miss Poole. Turns out Charlie was having some fun last night, picking up cats left and right.”
“Stealing cats, you mean,” she said.
“Deep breaths,” Chase whispered.
She sucked in a few more breaths.
“Any idea where we can find Toby?” asked Chase. “We need to ask him a couple questions.”
Roulston heaved the sigh of a long-suffering security man. “What has he done?”
“He—” Odelia began, but Chase shut her up with a glance.
“We just need to have a word with him, if that’s all right with you,” he said.
“Last room on the right. And please tell him to get his act together.”
“Why is that?” asked Odelia.
“He’s been acting weird all morning. Cagey, if you know what I mean. And he and Regan aren’t on speaking terms for whatever reason.” He shook his head. “Place is falling apart. Cat-napping pop stars, drama queen bodyguards, murder and mayhem…”
Odelia exchanged a look with Chase, and they went in search of Toby. They passed a room whose door was open and saw Regan lying on the bed, tossing a tennis ball at the wall and deftly catching it. She was frowning so hard and lost so deeply in thought she didn’t even notice Chase and Odelia looking in on her.
“Last room on the right,” Chase muttered. The door was closed, and he gave it a knock. Loud techno music was coming from inside the room, a pulsating beat that drowned out any other sound “Toby?!” he yelled. “We never finished that conversation, buddy!”
When no response came, except for the staccato thump of the speakers, he pushed down on the door handle. The door swung open, and the next moment Odelia clapped her hands over her mouth to stifle a scream.