“What do you want?” asked the man.
“You the bug spray fella?”
The guy paused for a moment. “Yes, I am he.”
“I have a business proposition for you,” said Gran. She gestured to Scarlett. “My name is Vesta Muffin, and this is my business partner Scarlett Canyon. Together, we want to buy some of that bug spray from you. Gallons and gallons of the stuff. The more you got the better!”
The guy seemed both surprised but also pleased. “That can be arranged,” he said. “In fact, I have a nice big stock ready for shipment in our warehouse right now. We were supposed to ship it out to Abou-Yamen as soon as the contracts with Prince Abdullah were signed, but unfortunately, he died this morning.”
Gran waved an impatient hand. “I know all about that. His loss is our gain. So how much?”
“How much what?”
“How much of the stuff can you ship to us immediately?”
“We have ten thousand drums ready for shipment,” said the guy. “Each drum holds fifty-five gallons, so that’s half a million gallons, give or take. They’re loaded onto pallets already.”
“That’s great. I’ll take all of them,” said Gran.
“So are you in the agricultural business?”
“No, I’m in the fertility business,” said Gran, causing the guy to give her a strange look.
“Okay, so as soon as we’re out of here, I’ll draw up the contracts and we’re in business.”
“That sounds great,” said Gran. “And when do you think you’ll be out of here?”
“There’s a gross miscarriage of justice being perpetrated,” said the man. “Someone planted the gun that was used to murder Prince Abdullah in our mock-up fly, and so the police think that we’re involved somehow. But we’re not.”
A second face now appeared. It belonged to the man’s fiancée, and she seemed curious to see who these clients could be, that were so eager to negotiate a deal they couldn’t wait until they’d been released. “Hi,” she said. “I’m Mindy, and I’m the vice president of Zap, Inc.”
“Shouldn’t that be Zap & Pop, Inc?” asked Dooley.
“Shush, Dooley,” said Brutus. “Let the grown-ups talk.”
“Pleased to meet you,” said Gran, and held up her hand. It was a little awkward to shake hands through the barred window, but somehow they managed, and moments later a deal was made for ten thousand drums of bug spray to be delivered to Gran’s home as soon as the contracts were signed and the money was transferred. If this was a strange way of doing business, none of the business meeting attendants seemed to mind.
Suddenly, from an adjacent window, two more faces appeared. They belonged to an elderly couple, and they didn’t look happy. “What’s with all the racket?” the man grumbled. “Can’t a person sleep peacefully?”
“Keep out of this, buddy,” said Gran. “This is a private meeting, and you’re not invited.”
“You’re accomplices of the killers, aren’t you?” said the guy in response. “I’ll tell the guard that you’re out here, schmoozing with the killers, and they’ll arrest you and throw away the key—just you wait and see!” He retracted his head, and we could hear him yell, “Guard! There’s more killers! Better arrest them before they get away!”
“I think we better get out of here,” Scarlett suggested.
“Yes, better go,” said Carlos Perks. “The police in this place are really dumb, especially the chief of police, who must be just about the dumbest chief of police I’ve ever met in my life.”
Gran had to laugh at this. “Oh, buddy,” she said. “You’ve just made my day! The dumbest chief of police! I love it!”
And with these words, she said goodbye to the couple for now, and we were off. We had just started in the direction of the front of the building when all of a sudden a loud voice behind us exclaimed, “Rogelio Hartshorn! Show your face, Rogelio Hartshorn!” Much to our surprise, a familiar face appeared in a third window. It was the lawyer, and he seemed curious to know who was calling his name. “I’m Rogelio Hartshorn,” he said. “Who are you?”
In response, an automatic gun started spitting out bullets and hammering the wall with hot lead. Rogelio’s head retracted just in time—or so I hoped—and the rest of us all dove for cover!
CHAPTER 20
“Ididn’t even know he was in there!” Brutus cried as we all hid from the volley of bullets aimed at the police station.
“They must have figured it was the only way to keep him safe!” I yelled back over the noise of gunfire.
“Max, I’m scared!” said Dooley.
“No need to be scared,” I assured him. “They’re not gunning for us but for the lawyer.”
“This is not good for my voice!” said Harriet as she clutched her mate’s paw. “It’s a well-known fact that stress is bad for the vocal cords. If they keep this up, I’ll have to press charges.”
“Join the line,” I said.
In the distance, police sirens could be heard, and I had a feeling it wouldn’t be long before the area was swarming with cops. These gangsters had quite the nerve to attack an actual police station! And since I’m a curious kitty, I decided to take a closer look at the criminals responsible for the attack. I snuck from behind the bush we were using for cover and over in the direction of the gunfire. As I approached I saw a white van parked in the field behind the police station, and in front of it, two men were positioned, both wielding automatic weapons and using the police station for target practice. And as I glanced up at them, I saw that they looked very familiar to me. They were none other than Jerry Vale and Johnny Carew!
My friends had followed me and seemed as surprised as I was to see these two.
“But... That’s Jerry and Johnny!” said Brutus. “What are they doing here?”
“Playing gangster,” I said. “Isn’t it obvious?”
“But it’s not really their shtick, is it?”
