“Oh… I’m so sorry, Chase.”
“One week before his retirement he broke up a fight on the Lower East Side. Some dumb dispute about a hot dog stand. One guy suddenly took out a gun and fired off a warning shot. The shot went wide and hit my dad in the carotid artery and he bled to death. Dumbest death ever.”
“Oh, God, Chase. That’s horrible.”
“Mom didn’t take it too well, as you can imagine. She hasn’t been the same since. The fact that her son was kicked off the force didn’t help either.”
“Where is she now?”
“Living with her sister in the Bronx. I’d take her, but I’m not exactly in a position to do so right now.”
“But don’t you want to stay close? Ohio is a long way from your family.”
He shrugged. “It’s a job. A man’s got to eat.”
“Look, what if I expose the Commissioner? Would that help?”
He stared at her. “And how exactly are you going to do that?”
“I have my sources. I’ll figure something out.”
“You can’t go throwing out wild accusations, Odelia. They’ll come after you next. This guy… he’s ruthless. And it’s not just the Commissioner, you’re going up against the mayor as well. Both powerful men, both trying to protect their careers now that there are important elections coming up.”
“I’m a big girl, Chase. I can handle myself,” she promised him.
He gave her a grimace. “You better have ironclad proof, or else they’re going to sink your career like they sank mine. In fact I’d advise you to stay away from this whole business.” He rose from the bed, grasped her hand and shook it. “See you around, Odelia Poole. It was nice sparring with you.”
“I’m not giving up on this yet,” she said adamantly. “This town needs a good cop like you, Chase, and I’m going to make sure you stick around.”
He shook his head. “Keep dreaming, Poole.”
“That’s exactly what I’m going to do.” She wasn’t doing this for herself. She was doing this for Chase, for his mother, and for Hampton Cove. Because this town deserved a great cop like him, and his mother deserved a break, and so did he. The fact that her heart suddenly hurt when she thought about him leaving town never to return had nothing to do with it, of course.
Chapter 26
When Odelia walked back to the car, she was looking disappointed. It was obvious her one-on-one with Chase hadn’t gone as well as she’d hoped.
“What?” asked Brutus eagerly. “Is he staying?”
She shook her head as she slipped behind the wheel. “No. He says he’s moving to Cleveland, to start working private security with a buddy of his.”
“Cleveland? Where is Cleveland?” asked Harriet.
“Ohio,” I told her.
“Where’s Ohio?” asked Dooley.
“Far away from here,” said Odelia, clearly not too happy.
“But didn’t you tell him about Veronica?” cried Brutus, dismayed.
“I did,” she said, slumping behind the wheel. “He said it’s too little too late. His reputation is shot to hell, and people won’t trust him as a cop.”
“Like trying to put toothpaste back into the tube,” I said.
“Exactly,” said Odelia with a wan smile. “Thanks for that imagery, Max.”
“It’s not so hard to put toothpaste back into the tube,” said Dooley.
“No? Let’s see you try it,” said Odelia.
“You just… do it,” said Dooley, sounding like a commercial for Nike.
“Why don’t you just write a big, beautiful story on the front page and convince everybody what a magnificent person Chase really is?” asked Harriet, gazing at Brutus as if he was the most magnificent cat she knew.
“Unless I print the whole story, with irrefutable proof, that won’t make much of a difference,” said Odelia. “No, Chase is right.”
“But… that means you’re leaving?” Harriet asked Brutus, eyes wide.
Brutus, for the first time since I’d met him, looked crestfallen. “Oh, tootsie roll,” he croaked.
“Oh, honey pie,” she whispered, and they both broke into tears. It was a little pathetic, but also heartbreaking.
“Look, I promised Chase I’d break the story of the Commissioner’s dirty little secret,” said Odelia, turning to me, “but I need your help. I need to have positive proof of this affair. Without that, we’re sunk. It’s Chase’s word against the Commissioner’s, and we all know who the public will believe.”
I thought about this for a moment, then I nodded. “I think I know just the cat to talk to.”
“Well, you go do that, and I’ll…” She waved her hands helplessly. “I need to rethink this entire murder thing. If Veronica didn’t do it, and neither did Jasper… Well, then I really don’t know who did,” she finished.
“Can you drop us off at the mall?” I asked, and even though she eyed me curiously, she didn’t ask why. She drove us over and let us out of the car.
“Do you need me to pick you up later on?” she asked, gesturing at the tracker and panic button combo that was still fastened to my collar.
“Yes, that would be great,” I said. We’d been traipsing around so much I was starting to feel the strain.
“So where are we going?” asked Dooley when Odelia had left.
I motioned to a small collection of dumpsters across the parking lot from the strip mall. “Where do you think?”
He stared at the dumpsters. “Are you hungry? If you are, you should have asked Odelia to drop us off at Johnny’s place. I’m sure Princess and George wouldn’t mind sharing their food with us again. They’ve got plenty.”
“We’re not here to eat, Dooley,” I said. “We’re here to talk to a certain individual who’s usually very well-informed and might be able to help us.”
He frowned. “You mean that bearded hipster drug dealer?”
“Not him,” I said as I set paw for the dumpsters. Brutus and Harriet were lagging behind, still consoling each other and coming to terms with their imminent breakup. It broke my heart to see them, and I had to admit I just might have misjudged Brutus. To look as brokenhearted as he did, it meant he really cared about Harriet, which meant that he actually had a warm heart beating beneath that rugged exterior of his and not just a solid block of ice.
We arrived at the dumpsters. It was here that the shops comprising the mall dumped their trash, and it also served as a place where all manner of vermin gathered. Not just critters favored this place, though, but also one of Hampton Cove’s most feral feline inhabitants. She lived out in the woods, near the old hunting lodge that was now the Writer’s Lodge, where best-selling and not-so-best-selling writers came to write in all peace and quiet.
A murder had taken place there last year, and Clarice, the cat I was hoping to meet, had helped us solve it. She belonged to no one and got her food all over the place, so she was the right cat to ask if she knew how to catch Commissioner Necker and Mayor Putin’s wife in the act. It was a long shot, but it was the only thing I could think of. We were all out of options, and if we were going to keep Chase around, we had to go for broke.
“Clarice,” I called out. “Are you here? It’s Max.”
“Clarice?” asked Brutus. “Who’s Clarice?”
“Oh, Clarice!” Dooley cried happily, then his face dropped. “You’re not thinking about making another deal with Clarice, are you?” His paw involuntarily reached to his nose and he winced.
The last time we’d talked to the feral cat, she’d made us vow a blood oath, which had involved cutting ourselves and mixing our blood. Only Dooley hadn’t been able to cut himself, so Clarice had done the honors and sliced her claws across his nose. I’d been forced to listen to his laments for days.
“What do you want now?” suddenly asked a hollow voice. It seemed to come from all around us, echoing between the dozens of metal dumpsters.
“A friend of ours is in in big trouble!”
“So you’ve come to ask me for a favor again?” the voice echoed.