“Thank you so much, doctor,” she said, almost purring now.
Odelia caught her mother’s eye, and saw she wasn’t impressed with Marilyn’s attempts to snag her husband’s attention. Then again, as the wife of the only doctor in town, Marge had had to endure quite a lot over the years. Women practically throwing themselves at her husband’s feet, grown men dropping their pants in the middle of the street and bending over… It took more than a Hollywood star shoving her crotch in Dad’s face to phase her and she clearly wasn’t phased now.
“Speaking of moles,” said Harlan, clearing his throat. “I have a strange growth on my buttocks. Can I bother you to take a gander, Doctor Poole?”
And so instead of finishing his steak, Tex dutifully examined first the hairy wart on Harlan’s hairy buttocks, then a mole shaped like a cauliflower on Opal’s chest, and finally yet another odd-looking mole on one of the waitstaff’s feet. When finally the restaurant’s owner dropped by and dropped his pants, Odelia decided to excuse herself and go in search of her cats. All these moles and warts had seriously caused her to lose her appetite, and when she emerged through the kitchen and out the backdoor, she was surprised to find her cats fraternizing with two dogs, all of them seated around a big bowl of what must have been spaghetti, as only a few remnants of the stuff were left in the pot. They were all chatting amicably, and clearly having a great time.
“Oh, hey, Odelia,” said Harriet. “Meet the real Lady and the Tramp. They’re actors.”
Odelia greeted the two dogs, and even though she couldn’t understand what they were saying—she could understand feline but not canine—it was obvious they were in great spirits.
“Pull up a chair,” said Brutus. “Tony’s food is seriously out of this world.”
So she pulled up a chair, and when Tony emerged from the kitchen, carrying a big vanilla cake, he didn’t even look surprised to find that he was now serving his best dishes to a mixed feline, canine and human company.
And as she sampled the most delicious vanilla cake she’d ever tasted, she thought not for the first time that sometimes she felt more comfortable in the company of her pets than in that of other humans. Then again, was that so strange? She was, after all, a cat lady, through and through, as Chase had so often told her.
Moments later, Chase came ambling out to get some fresh air, and at Odelia’s instigation took a seat, too. And when finally Uncle Alec, Marge and Gran followed suit, the Poole family was complete. Only Tex was missing, but then he was probably busy studying more moles that had mysteriously appeared on a Hollywoodian thigh or butt.
“It’s nice out here,” said Marge.
“It is,” Gran agreed. “Very nice.”
“Have you found Hank yet?” asked Odelia.
“No, not yet. I hope nothing happened to him.”
“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” said Marge.
Gran didn’t seem convinced.
“So what happens now?” asked Max.
“Well, now we talk to the members of Opal’s staff,” said Odelia. “Only Opal gave us strict instructions not to divulge anything about what happened today, so we’re a little handicapped.”
“But we came up with a plan,” said Gran. “A very clever plan, if I say so myself.”
“Well? What’s the plan?” asked Harriet.
“We’ll let all of the ladies record a message and then we’ll play that message to the girl from the spa who picked up the phone. She’s assured us she would recognize that voice out of a thousand.” She beamed at her present company.
Lady said something that Odelia didn’t understand, so Max translated. “Lady says it sounds like a great plan, and she hopes you’ll catch whoever is responsible. She’s a big fan of Opal and wouldn’t want anything to happen to her.”
“Thanks, Lady,” said Odelia.
It was the best plan they’d been able to come up with. Odelia had actually suggested to bring Uncle Alec and Chase in. They were both experienced cops and would be able to help them conduct the interviews. But Opal had put her foot down once more: no cops, and no one was to find out what was going on.
Tough to catch a killer with not one but two hands tied behind your back, though.
Chapter 29
The next day saw a long procession of Opal’s staff members file in and out of the meeting room. Opal had told them she was working on some ideas for a new segment, and she wanted their voices on tape so she could pick one to do the voice-over for the new bit. None of them seemed suspicious about the ruse. On the contrary, they were all excited to read the two lines: ‘Hi, this is Opal Harvey’s personal assistant. Just touching base to let you know that Mrs. Harvey will be having the full Botox treatment this morning. Yes, that’s right. The full Botox treatment. Lips, brow, chest and cheeks.’
I didn’t think they’d fall for the ruse but they had—happily! Of course, the substantial bonus Opal had promised probably had something to do with their enthusiasm.
“Did I get the part?” asked Suzy excitedly, her pigtails bouncing and her glasses sliding from her nose. “You can tell me, I won’t tell the others.”
“How long have you worked for Opal, Suzy?” asked Gran.
“Um, going on five years now, I think. A long time, huh? I never thought I’d last this long. Opal has a reputation for hiring and firing quicker than her shadow, so…”
“But you stuck it out. And why do you think that is?” asked Odelia, following her grandmother’s cue.
“Oh, I don’t know. I guess I’m more eager than most to make this work. I don’t want to stay in this position forever, you know. I want to reach the top myself, if I can.”
“You mean… host your own show one day?”
The plump young woman nodded eagerly. “That’s the plan. Only there aren’t that many opportunities out there for potential show hosts. So you have to grab what you can and show the bosses that you’re willing to do whatever it takes to move up the ranks.”
“Make sure they notice you,” said Gran.
“Exactly! Which is why I joined Opal’s team.”
“More opportunities here than in other places.”
“Oh, definitely. Opal is a tough taskmaster, but she’s also the best of the best. If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere, as the song goes.”
“One more question,” said Gran. “Do you know something about brake lines?”
After Suzy had left, Odelia discussed the interviews with her grandmother. “I think it’s that Suzy,” said the old lady. “She’s clearly an ambitious little hustler, and prepared to do whatever it takes to reach the top. She probably figured if she could bump off Opal, the network bosses would hand her the show on a silver platter.”
“Let’s wait and see what the results of the recordings are,” said Odelia, “before jumping to conclusions.” She’d already sent the audio files to the beauty salon, and they were eagerly awaiting the verdict. It would probably take a little while, as the girl had to listen to all the recordings.
Finally, after a very tense twenty minutes, Odelia’s phone dinged. She picked up and put it on speaker.
“Hey there, Janice,” she said. “Did you get a chance to listen to the recordings?”
“I did, yeah,” said the young woman.
“And?” asked Gran. “Who was it?”
“Well, I listened twice, as I didn’t want to make a mistake, and I think it’s audio file number fourteen.”
“Audio file number fourteen,” said Odelia, checking her list. And as her finger slid down the page, it finally landed on… Suzy.
“See?!” said Gran triumphantly. “I told you it was her!”
“Are you quite sure, Janice?” asked Odelia.
“Yeah, pretty sure. Of course, I didn’t really pay attention yesterday, and a lot of these voices sound the same, but one thing really struck me.”
“What’s that?”
“The person on the phone sounded nice. I mean, not all voices sound nice, you know, but this one did. I remember thinking, this person is so nice and professional. And only recording fourteen had that quality. That upbeat quality, if you know what I mean.”