“Like Brian,” Brutus grunted. “He was also very charming, until he started murdering his residents.”
“Oh, well,” said Kingman. “Let’s hope Wilbur learned his lesson. Next time he might not be so lucky. Though I doubt whether he realizes the extent to which…” He gave me an odd look. “Why are you looking at me like that, Max?”
“I—I think I just had an idea,” I said.
“Don’t be alarmed, Max,” said Brutus with a grin. “I get ideas all the time, and it’s never done me any harm.”
“How long has Brian been here?” I asked.
“Fifteen years,” said Harriet. “Why?”
“And these deaths—when did it all start?”
“Um… three years ago?”
I frowned.“So if Brian has been running this place for fifteen years, why wait so long to start murdering his residents and taking their money?”
“Unless this has been going on for much longer,” said Brutus. “And we’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg. Great thinking, Max! We should tell Chase!”
“Or maybe something happened three years ago,” said Harriet, “that caused Brian to suddenly need a lot of money. When did his affair with Dee start?”
“Also fifteen years ago,” said Brutus.
“So that can’t be it,” said Harriet.
“How about his affair with Gladys?” asked Brutus. “That didn’t start fifteen years ago, did it?”
“No, it didn’t,” I said. “But Gladys is a rich woman in her own right. Brian wouldn’t need money to buy her expensive presents or whatever.”
“He might not have wanted to be outdone by her wealth,” said Harriet. “Wanted to be on par with her, not enter the relationship as a poor man.”
“It’s possible,” I admitted. Though somehow the explanation didn’t convince me. No, something else was going on, and Kingman’s explanation had given me an idea. It was an outrageous idea, which is why I wasn’t feeling entirely at ease sharing it with anyone just yet, but definitely an idea.
And since walking always helps me think, I decided to go for a stroll in the corridor. And I had been going up and down a couple of times when I bumped into Liz. Literally, actually, since I hadn’t seen her, deep in thought as I was, and bumped into her leg.
“Oh, aren’t you a cutie pie,” said the old lady and leader of Murder Club. She bent down and tickled me under my chin. “So is it true that Vesta can talk to you?” When I stared at her in shock, she placed a finger to her lips. “I won’t tell anyone. It’ll be our little secret. And anyway, who would believe me? They’d simply think I’m crazy!” She smiled and patted me on the head. “Nice kitty. Nice little kitty.” And was on her way.
I have to say it alarmed me to some extent. People aren’t supposed to know about Gran’s special gift. And mostly she was careful not to let anyone find out. Liz must have accidentally noticed, which is what happens when you live in such close proximity to a bunch of other people. Then again, I didn’t think we were in any immediate danger of beingfound out. Like Liz said, who would believe her?
48
That night I was resting peacefully when all of a sudden a sound put me on high alert. As if there was someone else in the room with us. But of course there was someone else in the room: Gran and Scarlett and my three friends. It didn’t take me long for my eyes to get adjusted to the darkness, and when I looked up, I suddenly saw a dark figure hovering over me. Something flashed in the darkness, and when I looked closer, I saw that this figure was holding what looked like a knife in its hand!
“Max, watch out!” suddenly Dooley cried.
In a reflex movement, I rolled over onto my side, and even as I watched, I saw the knife plunge into the pillow, exactly in the spot where I’d been lying moments before!
Close by, there was a yell as Scarlett cried,“Vesta! Now!”
And as someone hit the light switch, suddenly the room was bathed in brightness. The figure hovering over me cursed and closed her eyes. Realizing the game was up, she made for the door, where she met Brutus and Harriet, who were hissing and making threatening noises, and looking very dangerous indeed!
Next to the bed where Gran slept, a second figure was grappling with Scarlett. But then Gran took out the pepper spray Chase had brought before we went to bed, and released a long plume of the noxious substance, straight into the man’s eyes!
He howled in pain, and as he clutched at his eyes, Scarlett knocked him over the head with the baseball bat she had lying in readiness for just this exact contingency. It was also a present from Chase, supplied along with the can of pepper spray.
The door to the room now burst open, and a third person walked in. When she saw what was going on, she seemed surprised. Things clearly weren’t going well!
And since Scarlett was aiming a rather large and bright orange flare gun at her chest, she immediately stuck her hands into the air, and so did her sister.
“If it isn’t the Murder Club,” said Gran, as she stared daggers at Liz and Bill and Olivia. Bill was lying face up on the bedside rug, passed out, but Liz and Olivia were still conscious, and decent enough to look both apprehensive and guilty.
“I’m sorry,” said Liz ruefully. “We didn’t want to do it, but I knew you were onto us.”
“Yeah, it’s that cat of yours, isn’t it?” said Olivia, giving me a nasty look. “I don’t know how this works, but he’s the one who caught us, isn’t he? The filthy red fatso.”
“For your information,” I said, much annoyed, “I’m not red, I’m blorange. And I’m not fat but merely big-boned. It’s a genetic thing.”
“And he’s not filthy,” said Brutus. “Max is actually very hygienic.”
“You tell them, sweetie,” said Harriet gleefully. She was proud of the part she had played, and so was Brutus. But the proudest cat in the room must have been Dooley.
“I saved your life, didn’t I, Max?” said my friend. “I actually saved your life for once!”
“Yes, you did, Dooley,” I said. “Thank you, buddy.” I decided not to mention that I knew these people were probably coming for us, and so I’d been on high alert. I had even told everyone to expect the unexpected at any moment, and so we were all prepared. And a good thing, too!
“So what were you planning to do?” asked Gran. “Stab the cats and smother me and Scarlett?”
“Something like that,” said Liz.
“How were you going to make that look like natural causes?”
“We weren’t going to leave the cats lying around,” said Olivia. “What do you think we are? Stupid? No, we were going to bury them in the woods, and leave the window open to make it look like they’d run away when they found the two of you dead.”
“My cats would never run away,” said Gran. “They would stick around and defend us to their dying breath.”
“Well, maybe not our dying breath,” Harriet muttered.
“Yeah, we’re cats, not dogs,” Brutus added.
“I don’t understand why, though,” said Scarlett. “Why kill all these people?”
“Oh, stop your whining,” said Olivia, who turned out to be a lot nastier than I thought. “They were old and dying. So what if they died a couple of days or weeks before their time? We were doing them a favor. Making sure they died peacefully in their sleep.”
“Bill is an ace at that kind of thing,” said Liz proudly as she darted a look of concern at her husband. “He’s very gentle.”
“He killed more than a dozen people!”
“Yeah, but in the most humane way possible. He calls it death with dignity.”
“And all this for a little bit of money?” asked Scarlett, who was still holding on to that flare gun and aiming it straight at Liz’s chest.
“Not a little bit of money,” said Olivia, who sounded offended. “We raked in millions. More than the two of you will ever see in your miserable pedestrian little lives.”
“Well, our lives may be pedestrian,” said Gran. “But at least we don’t go around murdering people!”