Dooley and I watched with a sad eye. Sugar is strictly off-limits for us, and to watch our human enjoy it so much made my stomach rumble a little in anticipation of something hearty and filling. “Too bad these tea rooms never seem to have anything edible for the likes of us,” I complained.

“Maybe if you ask them?” Dooley suggested. “Or we could always return to the General Store and have some more of Kingman’s kibble?”

“No thank you very much,” I said. “That stuff is pretty much inedible.”

“It was tasteless. And also odorless and didn’t have a lot of texture either.”

“I didn’t like it,” I said. “Neither of the two samples.”

“I wonder who would sell the same kibble twice, and put it in different packaging and sell it at different prices?” Dooley asked.

It was another mystery we needed to get to the bottom of, but it didn’t seem all that urgent compared to the mystery of the dead prince and the attempted murder of Rogelio Hartshorn.

A familiar person came trotting up and joined us at our table. It was Gran, and she looked extremely subdued and even contrite. “How is Harriet?” she asked.

“Not well,” said Odelia firmly. “She was poisoned.”

“I’m so sorry,” said Gran, wringing her hands. “If only I had known.”

“A sane person would never spray their cats with bug spray,” Odelia pointed out. “But then of course that is too much to expect from you, isn’t it, Gran?”

Gran bowed her head. “I’m so, so, so very sorry. How can I make it up to you?”

“It’s not me you should be apologizing to but Harriet. What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that I had a winner on my hands,” said Gran. “When I saw that the bug spray caused the bugs to increase in number instead of croak, I figured I had something that was going to make us all rich beyond belief. But instead, I got this dreadful poison.”

“I wonder what kind of person sells bug spray that doesn’t kill bugs but poisons pets instead,” said Chase. “I mean, has this stuff even been approved by the FDA?”

“It certainly raises all kinds of questions about the ethics of Carlos Perks and Mindy Horsefield,” said Odelia. She shared a look with her husband. “Though I don’t see what connection there could possibly be with the murder of Prince Abdullah.”

“No, I don’t see it either,” Chase confessed.

Gran got up. “I’ll go and pay a visit to Vena and see how Harriet is doing.” Before she left, she dug into her purse and handed both me and Dooley a piece of sausage. She smiled. “To make amends,” she explained. And then she shuffled off, looking extremely unhappy. Even though she was fully to blame for what had happened, at least she understood that she had made a terrible mistake and was repentant. The same couldn’t be said about Johnny and Jerry, who seemed to consider the attempted murder of Rogelio a simple business transaction and regretted not having been able to get their guy, since that meant they wouldn’t get paid.

I sniffed at the piece of sausage. It smelled fine. I dug my teeth into it. It was delish.

“Do you think whoever hired Vale and Carew will go a different route and try to hire a different hitman?” asked Odelia.

“It’s possible,” said Chase. “And as long as we don’t know who the client is, Rogelio won’t be safe.”

I glanced across the street and thought I saw a familiar face in the crowd. It was a man and he was studying us intently. Wearing sunglasses and a ball cap to cover the upper portion of his face. It was hard to be sure, but I could have sworn I had seen this man before.

“Dooley,” I said, drawing my friend’s attention to the man. “Isn’t that the hotel manager who locked us up in his office?”

“Yeah, that’s him,” said Dooley. “He’s watching us, Max.”

“He sure is.”

“Do you think he’s still sore that we asked Norm to help us escape from his office?”

“He doesn’t know that we did that,” I said. “Most people think that cats are dumb creatures. No, I’m sure it’s not us he’s watching but Chase and Odelia.”

“But why? Maybe he wants to rent them a room for the night?”

“I doubt it. Hotel managers have different ways of finding potential clients than stalking them across town. No, whatever interest he has in Odelia and Chase must be connected to…” I swallowed down a piece of sausage. And then suddenly a lightbulb seemed to go off in my head. I stared at my friend. “Dooley!” I said.

“Max?”

“I think I’ve got it! I really think I’ve got it!”

“Good job, Max,” said Dooley warmly. “What have you got?”

“The thing—the whole thing!”

He gave me a look of confusion. “What thing would that be, Max?”

I knew I wasn’t making a lot of sense, but then that’s par for the course when you suddenly get these brainwaves. At first, they’re jumbled and muddled. But with a little effort from that old noggin of mine, I knew I’d get there. And so I tapped Odelia on the knee and told her all about my lightbulb moment. She seemed strangely intrigued and whispered to her husband, “Don’t look now, but the manager of the Star Hotel is watching us from across the street.”

Chase knew better than to turn to stare at the guy, but he casually stretched out and glanced in the direction indicated before murmuring, “Now what does he want from us?”

And that’s when Odelia told him all about my big idea. Chase smiled. “I’ll call the embassy immediately and set up a meeting.” He patted my head. “If what you’re saying is true, Max, I will personally go out and buy the best treat that you’ve ever had. How does that sound?”

That sounded pretty great, especially after all the excitement of the past couple of days. That’s the advantage of having a cat detective in your employ: you don’t have to pay him an arm and a leg. All he needs is the occasional caress, pat on the head, and some decent grub.

CHAPTER 31

Harriet was feeling a lot better already. She had been plagued by that sudden feeling of nausea, but Vena had given her something for her stomach and the nausea had gradually abated. Now she was actually feeling hungry. Vena had kept her at the office to keep an eye on her, and Brutus, being the loyal boyfriend that he was, had stayed with her for the duration.

“Pookie?” she said from her vantage point on the couch that Vena had placed in her office.

“Yes, buttercup?” said Brutus, immediately raising his head in response.

“Could you fetch me something to eat? It’s just that I’m suddenly very hungry.”

The smile he displayed was something to behold. “Oh, but that’s great news! So the nausea?”

“Gone,” she said proudly. “I seem to have kicked the disease or bug or whatever it was, and I’m feeling right as rain again.”

“I guess it’s time to go home then,” said Brutus as he stretched and gracefully jumped down from the couch. “Vena is nice and all, but there’s no place like home.”

“I have to say the woman has grown on me,” said Harriet. “I always thought she was our worst enemy, always eager to torture us any way she could, but maybe that was a little harsh.”

“Yeah, maybe she’s not so bad,” Brutus agreed. “Though I still wouldn’t like to pay her a visit more than is strictly necessary.”

“No, I think it’s generally a good practice to see your vet as little as possible. Better for your health.”