“Stop him?”
“From getting rid of all of his other clients, too.”
“Oh, my God. He’s going to kill Janette and Hazel!”
Father Reilly nodded ruefully.“Which is why I delivered you that note.”
“But we’ve got to stop him.”
“I know. But I can’t break the seal of confession so my hands are tied.”
“So untie them. Tell my uncle what you just told me so he can arrest Raban and charge him with Neda’s murder.”
“I can’t, Odelia, and please don’t tell anyone what I just told you.”
“But the man is a homicidal maniac!”
“I know, but you’ll simply have to find some other way. I can’t be implicated.”
Odelia was silent for a moment, as she thought this through. It was definitely a most unusual situation. Finally she nodded.“I think I know what to do.”
“And you won’t implicate me?”
“No, you won’t be involved whatsoever.” She got up and held out her hand. “Thank you for coming forward, Francis.”
“I felt it my duty,” said Father Reilly, also getting up now. “Neda was a dear, dear friend, and we can’t let her murder go unpunished, or let this maniac murder even more people. Even if it means I must do the unorthodox thing.”
Odelia turned and paused at the door, casting a look down at us.“Let’s go,” she said.
Shanille uttered a soft cry. “She didn’t mention the concert! Max, why didn’t she mention the concert?”
“Um… I guess she’s working her way up to it?”
“Working her way up to it? But how?”
“The Lord works in mysterious ways, Shanille. And so does Odelia.” And with these words, I hurried out after Odelia, and so did Dooley.
“You get back here, Max!” Shanille shouted. “You tell your human to talk to my human about that concert right now!”
“Sorry—gotta run!”
And then we were out the door—and in the nick of time, too. A feline choir director under duress is a very dangerous thing, let me tell you. I may be pink with tiny spots underneath my nice blorange coat, but at that moment, I was quite sure, Shanille was beet-red, with angry purple splotches all over the place!
25
Raban Pacoccha had been brought into the police station and had been escorted into Uncle Alec’s office for a ‘friendly chat.’
“So, Raban,” said Uncle Alec, who was leading the interview. Chase was also present, and so was Odelia. And Dooley and I, which was exceptional, if I may say so. Usually we spy these events from the windowsill, but now we were live in the room.
“Yes, Chief?” said Raban, blinking one or two times.
“It’s come to our attention that you have something to tell us.”
“Um… no,” said the gardener, looking ill at ease. Then again, when three pairs of human eyes and two pairs of cat’s eyes are drilling into your own, you can be forgiven for being unnerved.
“So a little birdie told me that you’ve been harboring a secret.”
“A secret?”
“That’s right. A big secret.”
“What secret?”
“You’ve been planning this for months, haven’t you? Planning to get rid of Neda!”
A look of panic had appeared in the man’s eye. “Who have you been talking to?”
“Don’t mind about that. Why don’t you tell me what happened yesterday morning?”
“Nothing happened. I did my job, like I always do.”
“So is your job to rob and murder your clients, Raban?”
“What?”
“I’ll tell you what happened. You barged into Neda’s house, because you knew that she kept a big stash of cash in her safe. And you wanted that money, didn’t you? You needed that money. And when she refused to give it to you, you shoved her out of the way, she hit her head and died. And that’s when you knew you were in big, big trouble.”
Raban had been listening with widening eyes as the Chief painted a word picture of the events as they’d transpired. But now he blurted out, “But that’s not true! I didn’t even see her yesterday! I was at Janette’s. I told you this,” he added, addressing Chase.
“I know you did, Raban,” said Chase calmly. “But you were seen at Neda’s. Someone saw you and heard the argument.”
“So you see, son? There’s no use denying,” said Uncle Alec, spreading his arms. “We have a witness.”
“Who’s the witness, Max?” asked Dooley.
“God,” I told him.
“I didn’t know Uncle Alec could speak to God,” said my friend, darting a reverent look at Odelia’s uncle.
“He can’t, but he’s trying to get this guy to confess, so he’s cutting a few corners.”
“Isn’t that illegal?”
“I’m sure it is, but so is murdering people, Dooley.”
“What witness?” asked Raban suspiciously. “What are you talking about?” Clearly the man was no fool, and knew when he was being played.
“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I can’t tell you that,” said the Chief.
“Look, whoever this witness is, they’re lying, okay? Cause I wasn’t there. Last time I saw Neda was Monday last week. And she was all right when I left there that day.”
“But why would this witness lie, Raban?” asked the Chief, as he darted a quick look at Odelia, who shook her head.
“I don’t know. To frame me?” He leaned forward and now placed a hand on Uncle Alec’s desk. “It wasn’t me, Chief.” Then he seemed to get an idea. “So maybe this person, this witness, saw someone that looked like me. A lookalike. That’s possible, isn’t it?”
“Unlikely,” said Uncle Alec with a shake of the head. “Our witness specifically named you, Raban. This person knows you and is absolutely certain that it was you they saw.”
“But… it can’t be, I’m telling you.” The gardener was getting a little worked up now, and was patting the desk with the palm of his hand. “I’m being set up here, man. Set up!”
“Easy, Raban,” said the Chief, watching the gardener closely. “No need to get upset.”
“You think? I’m being framed for murder, man—a murder I didn’t commit!”
“Are you sure, Raban? Because I have to tell you, our witness has a solid reputation in this town.” Once more he directed a quizzical look in his niece’s direction and again Odelia nodded, to indicate she was sure the gardener would soon crack under the strain.
But Raban wasn’t cracking. Instead, he was doubling down. “I’m innocent, man, I’m telling you. Innocent!” He was getting louder and more upset by the minute.
“I believe him, Max,” said Dooley. “He looks very convincing to me. Uncle Alec’s witness must be wrong.”
“There is no witness, Dooley. All we’ve got is a confession we can’t use, since Father Reilly refuses to come forward. So we need to get this man to confess to us somehow.”
“Oh,” said my friend. “Well, I don’t think he will.”
No, it certainly looked that way.
Now Chase leaned over the guy.“Look, Raban,” he said, adopting that deep gravelly tone he does so well. “If you don’t tell us the truth things don’t look good for you. Judges don’t look favorably on this kind of obstructive behavior. So you better start talking and you better start talking now, you understand?”
“But I didn’t do it!” Raban cried, rocking back and forth. “Why don’t you believe me? I got nothing to do with this murder business. I’m being set up—by my enemies!”
“What enemies?” asked Odelia, who seemed to take pity on the guy.
“Where do I start? There’s so many of them!”
“Look, Raban, why don’t you take some time to think about what Chief Lip told you? We’ll take a break for now, and then once you feel ready, we’ll resume this conversation.”
Uncle Alec was shaking his head, and Chase also looked perturbed. I think they thought if they kept leaning on the guy, he would crack and give them his confession.
But Odelia took the gardener’s arm and he got up. “Can I go home now?” he asked a little piteously.