The man shook his head. “Nothing out of the ordinary.”

Gran now entered the house, and when she saw the handsome lawyer, did a double take. “It’s Rogelio Hartshorn, isn’t it?” she said, holding out her hand. “Vesta Muffin. You handled the estate of one of my best friends. Dick Bernstein?”

“Of course,” said the lawyer. “I remember Dick.”

“We haven’t met, but I live next door and I’m in the business of making couples happy.”

The lawyer smiled. “Is that a fact?”

“Absolutely. I guess you could call me an inventor, an entrepreneur, and also a fairy godmother all rolled into one.”

“Rogelio will be staying with us for the time being,” said Odelia. And she proceeded to tell her grandmother the same thing she had told her mom.

Gran made a show of zipping her lips. “My lips are sealed,” she promised. “Your secret is safe with me, esquire.”

“Oh, no formalities, please,” said the man. “I don’t stand on protocol, and certainly not in the current circumstances when you’re pretty much saving my life.”

“You will dine with us tonight, of course?” said Marge. “My husband would be very happy to meet. He’s been dying to get our estate handled, but we never seem to get around to it.”

Odelia stared at her mom, and so did Gran. “You want to arrange your estate?”

“Of course,” said Marge. “Doesn’t everyone? I mean, not that there’s a lot to arrange. We’re not exactly billionaires,” she said with an apologetic smile to the lawyer. “But still, it would be nice to know that if something were ever to happen to me or Tex, that everything has been taken care of.”

“If you’d like, I can ask my PA to make an appointment,” said the lawyer, but then seemed to remember his current circumstances. “I’m not going to my office, though, am I?”

Chase shook his head. “No office for the time being, I’m afraid. Until these men are caught, you’re not going anywhere, Mr. Hartshorn.”

“Oh, shoot. And I’ve got a stack of files on my desk, calls to make, clients to see…”

“Don’t you have a partner who can take over from you for the time being?” asked Odelia.

“I do have a partner, but he’s on vacation right now. In the Bahamas. But then he cheered up. “I’ll work from home. I’ve done it before.”

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that either,” said Chase. “Doing so might reveal your current location, and we can’t have that.”

His face sagged. “But… can I talk to my clients over the phone at least?”

“I think it’s best if you don’t,” said Chase.

“I won’t give them my current location,” said the man. “Or even tell them what’s going on.”

“It’ll be all over the papers tomorrow,” said Odelia. “So they’re bound to ask a lot of questions. Questions you won’t be able to answer. So it may be best to sit this one out, sir.”

“Rogelio, please,” he said with a look of concern. “Okay, so maybe I’ll send a message to my personal assistant. Tell her to cancel all of my appointments. And I’ll send a message to my associate. Maybe he can cut his vacation short.”

“That would be a great idea,” said Chase. “You can always make up for it later, when things have settled down again, and the people who are after you are behind bars.”

“And how long will that take?” asked the lawyer.

“I’m afraid I have no idea,” said Chase, giving it to him straight, as was his habit.

“Of course,” said the lawyer, nodding. “I understand. Well, do what you can, detective, and in the meantime I’ll just have to keep my head down and stay out of trouble.” He produced a nervous laugh. “Because next time these people shoot at me, I might not be so lucky.”

CHAPTER 18

“Max?”

“Mh?”

“This man, this lawyer. Why is he really staying with us?”

“Because people shot at him, remember? And he didn’t like being shot at, so now he’s making sure they can’t find him and try again.”

“But why did they shoot at him, Max? Isn’t he a good lawyer?”

I laughed. “I’m sure he’s a fine lawyer.”

“If he’s a bad lawyer, maybe his clients got so upset with him that they’re trying to murder him,” Dooley explained, and I had to admit there was a certain logic in that.

“It’s possible,” I said, since we hadn’t ascertained yet why these people had shot at the guy.

“It could be a case of mistaken identity,” said Brutus. “They could have the wrong man entirely, and the real target is still out there, and in danger right now.”

“The truth of the matter is that we don’t know,” said Harriet. “And maybe we’ll never know, since these killers are obviously highly trained professionals, and they’re not going to allow themselves to be caught that easily.”

“If they were highly trained professionals they wouldn’t have missed,” said Brutus.

“Or maybe they missed on purpose,” said Harriet. “Have you thought about that?”

None of us had thought about that, because it didn’t make any sense.

The four of us were seated outside, on the deck, in a bid to get away from the busy and quite feverish atmosphere that seemed to have descended over our otherwise cozy little home. Tex and Marge had decided to consult the lawyer on their estate planning, and also Gran and Scarlett, and even Odelia and Chase were starting to see the benefits of having things set in stone in case something happened to them. The only ones who weren’t interested in any estate planning were the four of us. But then I guess we don’t have a lot to leave to any beneficiaries. Cats aren’t caught in the rat race of materialism and capitalism in the sense that we aren’t into collecting token items of material wealth on a continuous basis. No expensive Teslas for us, or the latest iPhone. No large mansions or expensive clothes or fashion accessories. Though it is true that from time to time Harriet will get bowled over for some tiara she can put in her hair.

“I think he probably made a mistake,” said Dooley, still trying to elaborate on his theory. “He made a mistake with one of his clients and now they’re out to get him.”

“What kind of mistake?” asked Brutus. “He’s an estate lawyer. What mistake could he possibly make that would have a client put out a contract on the man?”

Dooley had to think about this one, but before long he had his answer ready. “He probably gave someone’s fortune to the wrong person. Instead of giving it to Barbara with a B he gave it to Margaret with an M. And now Barbara is mad at him for losing out on a large fortune, and she’s paid these contract killers to get rid of the man.”

We all smiled at this. It seemed a little farfetched, and something that was more at home in the febrile mind of a screenwriter at the Lifetime channel. But since I didn’t want to discount any theory at this juncture, I merely nodded and closed my eyes. I was still hopeful that I would get some solid nap time in, even though our couch had been taken over by our family waiting in line for an opportunity to consult with the estate lawyer. He had promised that the least he could do was give Odelia’s family access to his services for free, and that hadn’t fallen on deaf ears. Even Uncle Alec and Charlene had shown up and were waiting their turn to find out about their options. All in all, it looked as if Rogelio would have his work cut out for him!

“Okay, I think it’s time we headed off to cat choir,” said Harriet as she got up and stretched. “Are you guys coming?”

“I’m not sure I want to go,” I said. “I really could use a nice long nap.”

Harriet gestured to the house. “No way you’re getting any nap time in tonight, Max. Better to join us for cat choir and then when we get back, hopefully, this bunch will have gone to bed.”