“I’m not sure, Brutus,” said Dooley. “I don’t think we ever stop being useful.”
“I don’t care what you think, I’m getting out of here. All these dead bodies and weird peacocks giving us faulty clues are seriously freaking me out.” And then he was off.
“Do you want me to come up there and keep you company, Max?” asked Dooley.
“Nah, I’m fine, Dooley.”
“Do you want me to get you some food? You’ll starve to death up there.”
“I don’t think I’ll be up here that long. Or at least I hope not.”
“What we need is a fire engine. With one of those nice firemen to help you down.”
“No need,” I assured him. “The solution will come to me. I just need to think really hard for a moment—really think this through—and the answer will pop into my head.”
And as I started thinking hard, suddenly an ambulance came driving up, followed by a black sedan. The black sedan was Abe Cornwall’s, the county coroner, and the ambulance was there to pick up the body of the unfortunate Chickie. The gate swung open, and sedan and ambulance zoomed through.
And as they did, Dooley suddenly yelled, “Jump, Max! Jump!”
“What?”
“Jump on top of that ambulance!”
Clearly Dooley had had a brainwave. And so I jumped.
Chapter 13
“We caught this guy scaling the gate,” said Chase as he pointed in the direction of a skinny youth with pink hair. They were back in the conference room, their ad hoc command center. Odelia stared at the kid. With his effeminate features and lots of makeup it was hard to be sure whether he was a guy or a girl, actually.
“I was just trying to get close to my soulmate!” cried the kid.
“And who might your soulmate be?” asked Chase.
“Chickie, of course.”
Uncle Alec had also joined them, after being informed Abe had finally arrived.
“What’s your name, son?” the Chief asked.
“Chickie Hay,” said the kid.
“What a coincidence,” said Chase with an eyeroll.
“Your name is Olaf Poley,” said Chase, having had the perspicacity to dig out the kid’s wallet.
“I’m having it officially changed to Chickie Hay next month,” said the kid. “I filed the petition so it’s only a matter of time before I’ll share a name with my soulmate.”
He looked a little like Chickie, Odelia had to admit. Fine-boned features. Cupid’s bow lips. He was a lot younger, though, and a boy.
“Are you related to Chickie?” she asked now.
“Of course I’m related! Didn’t you hear a word I said? I’m her soulmate! We were put on this earth to be together forever. I can even sing like her. Do you want to hear?” And before they could stop him he’d burst into song. He didn’t sing all that bad either.
Tyson walked in, took one look at the kid and groaned. “Not again.”
“Hi, Tyson,” said the kid happily. “Say hi to Chickie for me, will you?”
“Do you know this guy?” asked Uncle Alec.
“Yeah, we filed a restraining order against him last year. I think it still stands. You’re not allowed within a hundred yards of Chickie, you know that, right?” he asked, sternly addressing the young man.
“I’m sure Chickie doesn’t know about the restraining order. You filed that just to keep us apart. She waved at me this morning. So I know it’s her entourage that wants me out of her life, not Chickie. An entourage, I might add, that’s jealous of the bond we share.”
“He’s Chickie’s most persistent and annoying stalker,” said Tyson.
“She had more than one?” asked Odelia.
“Yeah, she had plenty, but this one takes the cake. Can’t keep him away.”
“Because we’re soulmates,” the kid repeated in a sing-songy voice.
“Do you think he could be the person we’re looking for?” asked Uncle Alec.
“Of course I’m the one,” said the kid with a little curtsy.
“The one who killed her, I mean,” Uncle Alec said.
The kid stared at the chief of police, his jaw dropping so precipitously Odelia had the impression it was going to fall off.
“Wait, what?” Olaf said, suddenly adopting a normal tone.
“I think he could be,” said Tyson. “He’s crazy enough.”
“Take a seat,” said Uncle Alec, and gestured to a chair.
“No, but wait,” said the kid. “What did you just say?”
“Sit. Down,” the chief growled, and pushed Olaf down onto a chair.
Faced with two police officers, Odelia and Tyson, Olaf suddenly was a lot less cocky.
“Chickie is… dead?” he asked in a small voice.
“You know perfectly well that Chickie is dead,” growled Uncle Alec. “You killed her.”
“What? No! You–you’re kidding, right? Chickie is fine and you’re just joshing me.”
“Do I look like I’m joshing you?” asked Uncle Alec, his face a thundercloud. “Where were you between six thirty and seven this morning?”
“I–I was out there,” he said, pointing to the window.
“Out where? Be specific, Olaf.”
“Out there by the fence, waving at Chickie.”
“So you waved at Chickie and then you jumped the fence.”
“No! I’m allergic to ivy so I would never jump that fence. Eww.”
“It’s just ivy, Olaf, not poison ivy,” said Tyson. “So there’s no way you’re allergic.”
“So you didn’t scale the fence, go into the house, and murder Chickie,” said Chase. “Is that what you’re saying?”
“Yes! Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying!”
They all stared at the pink-haired kid for a moment. He was the perfect suspect, Odelia thought. He was obviously obsessed with Chickie, and he’d already proved he could scale the gate. Still, it was hard to prove he was the one they were looking for. First they would need some more information from Abe. Fingerprints, maybe, or DNA.
“Arrest him,” said Uncle Alec.
“Wait, what?!” said the kid, now looking distinctly terrified.
“I think you did it,” said Uncle Alec. “I think you’re exactly the kind of creep who would do such a horrible thing and I don’t want to risk you fleeing the scene. Get him out of my face,” he told Chase.
“Wait, I didn’t do anything!” said the kid. “I didn’t do it, I swear! Tyson, you have to believe me. You know I would never harm Chickie. Never! I’m her biggest fan!”
“And her soulmate, yeah, we get it,” said Alec. He got up into the kid’s face. “You did it, Olaf. And I’m going to prove it.”
Chapter 14
The good news was that I’d managed to get off the fence. The bad news? I was on top of an ambulance which, as we all know, is like a big box on wheels. So I was still stuck.
Suddenly a voice rang out behind me. “Hey, Max!”
“Dooley!” I said when the familiar figure of my friend gracefully dropped down next to me. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m keeping you company until someone can take you down.”
“But… you shouldn’t be up here, Dooley,” I said, even though I was touched by the gesture.
“Harriet and Brutus have gone in to tell Odelia, so it’s only a matter of time before help arrives. So I thought I might as well come up here.”
I traced the route my friend had followed: he’d climbed a tree, then hopscotched across an overhanging branch and hopped onto the ambulance like a feline Tarzan. “Well done,” I said admiringly. “Well done indeed.”
“Thanks, Max. Nice view from up here.” I followed his gaze and had to admit the view was nothing to cavil about. Cats like to seek out high places where they have a perfect overview of their surroundings and we got all that and more.
“The only thing that’s missing is food,” I said. I’d secretly hoped to catch a bite to eat from Boyce Catt’s food bowl but instead found myself on top of a food-less ambulance.