Chapter 22
And since we couldn’t exactly make heads or tails of the whole thing, and when Odelia finally emerged from her meeting with Chase and told us she was going into the office to work on some of her articles and we were free to do as we pleased, we decided to head on home. Sometimes the best thing you can do to solve a mystery is to do exactly nothing. No, that’s not entirely true: the best thing is to take a step back, and let things stew for a while.
Something was definitely stewing when we arrived home, for a large container stood parked in front of Marge and Tex’s place, and workers were walking in and out pushing wheelbarrows loaded up with what looked like debris and dumping them into the container.
“Are Marge and Tex redecorating, Max?” asked Dooley as we sat taking in the scene for a few moments before venturing inside.
“I don’t know, Dooley, but it certainly looks that way.”
But since the front of the house looked a little dangerous for two small cats such as ourselves to pass through those front lines, we decided to circle around and attack the thing from the rear, always a good strategy in times of war—or house renovations.
But the back of the house was even worse, and the kitchen was unrecognizable: workers were pounding with very big pneumatic hammers at the wall that divides the kitchen from the living room, and already large holes had been created. So either this was a rave, judging from the sound those jackhammers made, or something even worse!
“They’re destroying the whole house, Max!” said Dooley.
“Looks that way,” I agreed, equally annoyed that nobody had bothered to send us the memo that our home was going to be a construction site for the foreseeable future.
And then we saw Gran, who stood at the heart of all the hubbub, a yellow hard hat placed on her head, and a dust mask in front of her face. She was discussing something with a very large and burly man, who also had a hard hat on his head, and was dressed in blue coveralls. From time to time he yelled something to the other people destroying Marge and Tex’s nice house, and then he resumed his conference with Gran.
“Gran!” yelled Dooley. “What is happening!”
But of course she didn’t hear us. And then when a large piece of ceiling dropped down on the kitchen floor, it looked like things were turning ugly, and we beat a strategic retreat.
We regrouped in Odelia’s house, which, much to our delight, wasn’t the scene of men with hard hats using power tools to tear down the walls. Things there were exactly as they’d always been, and we discovered that our food bowls were still there, and filled to the brim, too, and so were our litter boxes—though luckily not filled to the brim.
“What’s going on?” asked Dooley. His question was addressed to Harriet and Brutus who sat on the couch, looking particularly glum.
“Gran has started her kitchen remodel,” said Harriet, “only she forgot to tell Marge.”
“She’ll blow a fuse when she gets home and discovers what Gran has done,” said Brutus.
“That’s not a kitchen remodel,” I said. “They’re tearing down walls!”
“Gran mentioned something about wanting to open the place up,” said Harriet. “She wants to turn the entire downstairs into one big space, and get rid of the sitting room out in front. She said she discussed it with Marge and she agreed—though I doubt it.”
“Is this Fred Kramer’s crew?” I asked.
“No, it’s some contractor Gran found somewhere. I think they’re Polish. First they’ll create some more space downstairs and then when that’s finished Fred Kramer will come in and install the new kitchen they ordered.”
“Gran wants more light,” said Brutus. “She complained the old house was too dark.”
“Well, she is right about that,” I agreed. “The living room was pretty dark.”
“I think when it’s all over, it’s going to look great,” said Harriet. “Airy and bright.”
“Let’s hope so,” said Brutus.
“So what have you been doing?” asked Harriet, addressing her question to me.
“Oh, just this and that,” I said.
“Odelia and Chase interviewed the ex-girlfriend of the man who fell down the shaft,” said Dooley, “and also his best friend. And they seem to think Karl Bunyon had something to do with the whole thing, because the dead man dated Karl’s stepdaughter. Oh, and also they were both out in the woods on the same night at the same time.”
“Yeah, Chase is going to arrest Karl Bunyon and search his house,” I said, repeating what Odelia had told us before she’d dismissed us and told us to go and play.
“So Shaft Man and John Doe were both killed by the catnapper?” asked Harriet.
“It’s a possibility,” I said with a shrug.
“But you don’t think he did it, do you, Max?” said Brutus, eyeing me closely.
“I don’t know, Brutus. Right now I don’t have enough information at my disposal to decide what happened, and as long as that’s the case, I prefer to defer judgment.”
He grinned. “Prefer to defer judgment. Nice one. You’re starting to sound like Perry Mason, Max. Well, I’m sure you’ll figure it out sooner or later, buddy. You always do.”
It was nice to get this vote of confidence from one who was notoriously critical of my efforts as a cat sleuth, but frankly they weren’t exactly justified, as I hadn’t lied: I had absolutely no clue what was going on. What I did know was that if Gran was going to turn Marge and Tex’s house into a construction site, things were about to get a little heated around here. And before long this proved to be the case, when Odelia suddenly came storming into the house, and burst out, “Have you guys seen Gran?”
“Last time I saw her she was next door,” I told my human, “supervising the reconstruction efforts.”
“Well, she’s not there, and the house is a complete mess. What is she up to, do you know?”
“I think she wants to put in a new kitchen,” said Dooley.
“That’s not a kitchen remodel!” said Odelia, getting a little too loud if I’m honest.
The four of us decided to take a nap—even though the sound of those jackhammers was very annoying I must confess. Still, we took a valiant stab at a nice little nap on the couch. Unfortunately, our nap was to be cut short, for a mere five minutes later Marge came storming in. “Where is my mother!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.
“She’s out there somewhere,” said Harriet wearily, then yawned, hoping to convey the message that we wanted less talk and more peace and quiet.
“She’s destroying my house! There’s people drilling holes in my walls!”
“Yeah, I saw that,” I said.
“When all is said and done,” said Harriet, “It’s going to look fabulous.”
“Airy and bright,” Brutus added.
“Airy and bright my ass!” Marge screamed, and stormed out again.
Tex was next, stomping in through the sliding glass door and looking around like Jack Nicholson in The Shining, ready to start kicking ass and taking names. He had that wild look in his eyes that foretold of a massacre in the making, and it wasn’t hard to guess who his intended victim was. “Where’s Vesta!” he roared. “I’m going to wring her neck!”
“She’s out there supervising the reconstruction,” said Harriet.
But of course Tex couldn’t understand what Harriet said, which he proved by repeating, “I’m going to wring that damn woman’s neck if it’s the last thing I do!”
And then he stomped out again. And I think at that point we got about an hour’s worth of good solid sleep. Which was very nice indeed.
Chapter 23
Odelia stood overseeing the carnage, along with her mother. The inner wall was gone, and so was the second inner wall, and all in all there wasn’t much left of what had once been a cozy little home.
“What do you have to say for yourself, Ma!” Marge demanded.
“I think it looks pretty great,” said Gran admiringly. She was still wearing her hard hat and looked like an elderly construction worker. “Look, if you wanna make an omelet you gotta break some eggs. That’s just the way it is. And the sooner you accept that, the sooner you can relax.”