“So you’re the cats, huh?” said this strange creature.
“That’s right,” I said. “And what are you?”
“I’m Fluffy,” the creature said gruffly.
“What are you exactly, Fluffy?” asked Harriet with a look of distaste.
“I’m a dog, of course. What did you think I was?”
“Oh, I’m not sure,” she said. “Celebrities keep all kinds of weird pets these days.”
The creature laughed loudly, indicating it possessed a sense of humor.“You’re funny, cat!” Then the laughter stopped, and the face was wreathed in a mournful expression. “People have called me ugly. Do you think I’m ugly?”
“Of course not,” I said. “You’re just… special.”
“If you have to know, I’m an English bulldog.”
“Of course you are,” I said.
“Could you do us a favor, Fluffy?” Harriet asked. “Could you go and fetch your master and tell her to get us out of these boxes and into the house?”
“Oh, sure,” Fluffy said, and instantly turned on his heel—or was it her heel?—and returned indoors. There was loud barking, and moments later Odelia came hurrying out.
“I’m so sorry, you guys!” she said. “I must have fallen asleep.”
“Lamest excuse ever,” Brutus growled.
“I know, right? I thought I closed my eyes for only a second but it must have been minutes. Must be that dreadful jet lag.” She quickly opened the snaps on our boxes and finally we were free again!
“I have to tinkle,” I announced. “Please point me to my litter box.”
“You’ll find everything you need inside,” she said with a smile and a pat on my head. “Tessa has made arrangements for you guys and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”
We followed her in and then into a room off the kitchen, and the moment I set paw inside I saw she hadn’t lied: four litter boxes stood lined up against one wall, with a row of bowls against the other, and the scent wafting in from those big bowls told me this vacation may not have gotten off to a good start, but from here on out it was only going to get better and better. And better.
Chapter 9
Odelia was impressed with the cottage. When she’d heard the word cottage it had brought to mind something cute and small and romantic, but maybe also a little musty. The first image the word had elicited was the cottage Kate Winslet lived in—and Cameron Diaz moved into—inThe Holiday, still one of her favorite holiday movies. But Tessa and Dante’s home wasn’t so much a cottage but a big house. There were several very spacious bedrooms, a large living space with open kitchen and a large office. The whole thing had been recently renovated, and looked more like an upscale hotel than an old cottage.
It was all very nicely done. The room she and Chase had at their disposal had a luxurious ensuite bathroom, and was itself the size of a small apartment.
Tessa explained that the cottage used to be four different units, where four different people lived. Now it had been converted back into a single-family home with space for guests and family to come and stay when they wanted to.
“This place is amazing,” Odelia told Chase as she tucked a suitcase under the bed. She’d finished unpacking and had time to admire their surroundings.
“Yeah, it definitely beats that tiny cottage Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz house-swapped inThe holiday,” he said.
“Jinx!” she said. “I love that movie!”
“Yeah, for a chick flick it’s not bad.”
She slapped his shoulder and together they rolled onto the big bed. It was one of those boxspring affairs she loved so much, and the sheets were high-thread-count Egyptian cotton.“So how are we going to do this?” she asked.
“Well, obviously we’re going to have to be very circumspect,” he said, placing his hands behind his head. “If no one is supposed to know about what’s going on here, it’s going to make our work that much harder.”
Chase was a cop, and for a cop things were pretty straightforward. You identify your list of suspects, you interrogate those suspects, and you try to figure out the truth. When you’ve selected the most likely suspect, you lean on them until they fess up and that’s it. The rest is up to the legal system.
Here, Chase couldn’t drag suspects into rooms with one-way mirrors. Subtlety was the name of the game, something he wasn’t very adapt in.
Max came padding into the room.“This place is awesome,” he announced.
“Yeah, awesome,” Dooley confirmed, padding in right behind his friend.
“What are they saying?” asked Chase.
“They’re saying they like it here. The exact word is ‘awesome.’”
Chase grinned.“They took the words right out of my mouth. This place is like a five-star hotel, only better.”
A maid tapped politely on the door.“Will there be anything else, Miss Poole?” she asked.
“No, we’re good,” said Odelia. Then, when the young woman made signs of retreating discreetly, she quickly added, “Or wait—maybe there’s one thing.”
“Yes, Miss Poole?”
The maid was young and pretty, with long auburn hair and hazel eyes. She wouldn’t have looked out of place in a Richard Curtis movie, where the prime minister falls in love with his secretary, or the bestseller writer with his maid.
“Have you worked here long, Miss…”
“Suzy,” said the girl. “I’ve been with the Duke and Duchess six months now, Ma’am,” she said deferentially.
“And do you like working for my cousin?” asked Odelia, trying to keep things casual and not make it sound like an interrogation.
“Oh, yes, Miss Poole.”
“Please call me Odelia,” said Odelia.
“They’re a wonderful couple. A breath of fresh air,” said the girl, enthusiasm making her face light up. “I was with the Baroness Emilia Hartford before, and she was… quite demanding.”
“More demanding than Tessa and Dante, I suppose?”
“Oh, yes,” said the girl with a smile. “Very much so. The Duke and Duchess are very disciplined, with a lot going on in their lives, but they never take it out on their staff.”
“Angela told me there are a lot of people that don’t seem to like Tessa all that much,” said Odelia, trying to inject a note of cousinly concern into her voice. “I don’t suppose you’ve noticed any of that here, have you?”
“Oh, but everyone loves her,” said the girl, eyes wide and innocent. “She’s so wonderful, so elegant, so amazing in every way. The people who say bad things about her should be ashamed of themselves. They don’t know her the way that I do.” She clasped a hand to her face. “I didn’t mean to sound so…”
“No, that’s fine. I’m just worried about my cousin, that’s all. And if there’s anyone out there who means her harm, I think it’s important to know.”
“Of course.”
“In America we have a lot of crackpots,” Chase explained. “Nutjobs who wouldn’t hesitate to take a potshot at a celebrity like Tessa. It’s so great that you don’t have that kind of thing going on over here.”
“Oh, but we do. I’ve heard people say nasty things about the Duchess. Whenever I hear a comment like that I always remind them the Duke is very lucky to have her, and so are we. Before he met her, the Duke was a little bit of a wild child. A real party prince. He used to get into so much trouble.” She smiled shyly. “I’m sorry. I probably shouldn’t say things like that.”
“Oh, no, that’s fine. I think it’s great that you defend them like that,” said Odelia. “So the people who say these bad things, are they here in the house?”
Suzy darted a quick look behind her, then lowered her voice.“Cook says the most horrible things behind the Duchess’s back.”
“What kind of things?”
“Don’t tell her I said this, but she told me she thinks the Duchess is entirely too arrogant for her own good and someone should teach her a lesson.”
“The cook said that?”