by Nic Saint
“Can’t sleep?” he asked as we trundled along the sidewalk.
“Duty calls, Dooley,” I said a little solemnly. “You simply can’t wait around for the next clue to arrive on its own. A genuine detective goes out there, into the great unknown, and hunts the clues where he can find them.”
Dooley yawned. “Yeah, I couldn’t sleep either. All this stuff about Brutus and that gruesome poo-poo murder got me wondering about my mortality.”
I stared at the cat. I never would have guessed that Dooley even knew the word ‘mortality’ let alone pondered about his own perishability. In fact I’d never known him to worry about anything, except when Marge, Odelia’s mom, dished out the wrong kind of kibble. Dooley likes chicken, but Marge tends to forget, and buys him one of those twenty-pound bags of fish kibble which then he has to eat, because she hates to throw away perfectly good kibble. What can I say? We all have our predilections and peculiarities.
“Do you really think Brutus is going to move in with us and lay down the law?” he now asked.
“I think the odds are not in our favor,” I confirmed. “Chase Kingsley is a very handsome male, and Odelia an attractive female. What’s more, they’re both young and single, and live in a town with a limited supply of eligible bachelors. And if I know something about human nature, it’s that eligible bachelors are prone to mate, and when they do, they tend to make babies and get married and move in together, at which point they bring their cats along.”
Dooley shook his head sadly. It was obvious he wasn’t liking this. “I didn’t want to say this in front of Harriet, because she seems to like this Brutus character, but I honestly fear for our lives when Brutus moves in.”
I looked up in surprise. “Fear for our lives? What do you mean?”
“Just what I said. This Brutus strikes me as the kind of cat who doesn’t like competition in the home. I’m pretty sure that once he moves in he’s going to want to make us disappear. If you know what I mean.”
“You’re saying he’s gonna want to kill us?”
“You, me, and maybe even Harriet when she doesn’t do what he says. Cats like that want to rule supreme, Max. They’re like the evil stepchild who tries to kill their stepsiblings once they’ve taken up position in the home.”
“You mean like Damien in The Omen?” I asked, remembering the horror movie marathon Odelia had us sit through the other night. Harriet, Dooley and I had been scared stiff the entire time, but Odelia had loved the story of Satan’s spawn. She loved a good horror movie, while the three of us preferred to watch Garfield. Or Finding Nemo. I never get tired of watching those fishes in that fish tank. Finding Dory was even better. Much bigger tank.
“Well, more like The Good Son,” said Dooley after a moment’s deliberation. After a lifetime spent with Odelia, he knew his horror classics better than me.
“I don’t think Brutus is going to kill us,” I said thoughtfully.
“And I’m sure he is. He’s going to strike when we’re all sleeping safely in our beds.”
I shivered. Maybe Dooley was right. Brutus was capable of anything. Now, more than ever, I was convinced we needed to figure out a way to make Odelia see what kind of a man Chase Kingsley really was. If we could convince her he was a genuine menace, we could avert the Brutus disaster.
And it was as we were crossing the street, wondering where to go next, that I saw Chase Kingsley enter the doctor’s office. I nudged Dooley. “Speak of the devil. It’s him!”
“Great!” said Dooley, his dejected air quickly giving way to excitement. “Do you think we’ll find some more damaging stuff about the guy?”
“One can only hope,” I said, and we quickly made our way down the narrow alleyway that divides the doctor’s office from Jeremiah Downer’s hardware store. We hopped over a pile of plastic garbage bags, and then onto a couple of trash cans, a dumpster and straight onto the windowsill of Tex Poole’s consultation room. I felt pumped. Now we were going to find out what really made Chase Kingsley tick. In all my years in Hampton Cove I’d never been able to glean more about the local populace than by eavesdropping on the good Dr. Poole while he was examining his patients.
You’d be surprised what people tell their doctor, knowing he’s not allowed to talk about their secrets with another soul, due to something called the doctor-patient privilege. Good thing those silly rules don’t apply to cats.
Dooley and I both peered into the window, and saw that Chase had already been led into the examination room and had taken a seat across from Odelia’s father. He was lucky to arrive when there were no other patients.
“My dear young man,” Tex said cheerfully as he took a seat and smiled widely at his new patient. “Tell me, what can I do for you?”
“Well, you probably don’t know me, Doc,” Chase said.
“Nonsense,” said Tex. “You’re that new cop, aren’t you? The one my brother-in-law speaks so highly of. Detective Chase Kingsley?”
Chase seemed surprised, though he shouldn’t have been. Nothing remained a secret very long in Hampton Cove. And definitely not the arrival in town of a new cop.
He eyed the doctor a little wearily. “Um… What else did Alec tell you?”
“Oh, that you are a valuable addition to our police force, that’s all,” said Tex amiably as he leaned back and folded his hands behind his head. “We can definitely use a good man like you, Detective. There might not be a lot of crime in this town, but tourism is increasing by leaps and bounds, and trust me when I tell you that those whippersnappers are capable of a lot of mischief.”
“Yeah, Alec told me,” said Chase with a grimace. He leaned forward and appeared a little flustered. “Listen, Doc, um, the reason I’m here is because, well, I need a new prescription since I’m all out of meds.” At this, he placed a piece of paper on the desk between the two men.
“And what prescription would that be?” Tex asked, snapping up the piece of paper and placing a pair of glasses on his nose to give it a closer look.
I pricked up my ears and so did Dooley. I was pretty sure we were on the verge of discovering yet another damning secret about Chase Kingsley. One that would permanently turn Odelia against him.
Tex was still frowning at the slip of paper, then placed it on his blotter. “You having trouble sleeping, son?”
“Amongst other things,” Chase admitted. “My doc in New York gave me those to take the edge off and to help me sleep. I…” He hesitated.
“Anxiety attacks can be extremely debilitating,” Tex said with a nod as he placed his glasses on his desk. “Especially in your line of work, Detective.”
Chase nodded morosely, then rubbed his face with his hands. Finally he looked up, and I saw he suddenly looked extremely tired. “I don’t know if…”
“Trust me, son,” said Tex with his deep, sonorous voice that had the effect to put his patients immediately at ease. His bedside manner was impeccable. “Whatever you tell me stays between us. You have my word on that.”
“Well, that’s not necessarily true,” Dooley muttered next to me.
“The thing is, Doc, is that I find myself in a real quandary.”
“Oh? Does it have something to do with the mayor’s wife?”
Chase seemed surprised, and so was I. The mayor’s wife?
“I see that Alec told you the story already.”
“He did tell me a few things.”
“Then you also know that I was set up?” asked Chase.
“I’m afraid Alec didn’t go into a lot of detail. All he told me was that you ran afoul of the mayor’s wife, who launched a scandalous story about you in retaliation, which forced you out of the NYPD. He also told me that none of the rumors about you are true and that you’re a decent man and a great cop.”
Chase smiled. “Alec’s proven a true friend these last couple of months.”
“He was a friend of your father, right?”
“Yeah. They went to police academy together. In fact Alec’s my godfather, and when my d
ad died—killed in the line of duty—he kept dropping by the house occasionally, effectively becoming like a surrogate father. He’s one of the few people who know the truth about my resignation.” His lips thinned.
“If you want, you can tell me,” Tex offered. “Like I said, my lips are sealed.”
“Thanks, Doc. It’s nice to be able to talk to someone. If I could, I’d tell the whole world what happened, but that would get me into more trouble than it’s worth. The thing is…” He shuffled uncomfortably in his chair for a moment. “I had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. A couple of months ago I was working a very sensitive case, reporting directly to the commissioner, when I happened to barge into his office one afternoon, to discover he wasn’t alone. Politely put, he was in a state of undress with the mayor’s wife. In fact they were all over each other.”
Tex barked out an incredulous laugh. “The mayor’s wife?”
“None other than Malka Putin,” Chase confirmed with a rueful smile. “And she wasn’t glad to see me, let me tell you that. I apologized for the intrusion, of course, but Mrs. Putin decided she couldn’t leave it at that. Even though the commissioner swore me to secrecy and I agreed, she wouldn’t let it go. I explained I wasn’t interested in spreading gossip about other people’s personal affairs, and that as far as I was concerned Mrs. Putin could do the horizontal mambo with whomever she chose, it was none of my business.”
“But Mrs. Putin wasn’t satisfied, I take it,” said Tex.
“Nope. She was afraid I’d talk. She’d heard stories about how cops like to gab, and she was sure that pretty soon the whole town would know about her affair with the commissioner, and then the entire country, and her husband, of course. So she convinced the commissioner to make sure I wouldn’t talk.”
“And he agreed?” asked Tex, surprised.
“I’m sorry to say he did. Worse. He convinced the wife of a suspect I had in custody to concoct some harassment story in exchange for leniency for her husband. He got off with a slap on the wrist, I got to hand in my gun and badge. He figured that if he smeared my name sufficiently nobody would listen to me if I decided to talk about his affair with the mayor’s wife. People would simply think I did it out of spite, and he was right, of course.”
“But Alec believed you.”
“Alec has had my back from the beginning. He’s one of the only people I told the truth, and believed me. He’s stood by me all this time and even tried to talk some sense into the commissioner. Told him he had no right destroying the career of one of his finest just to protect the reputation of Malka Putin.”
“But the commissioner’s loyalty to Mrs. Putin outweighed his obligation toward one of his men. That’s a horrible story, Chase. A really terrible thing.”
“It’s taken over my life these last couple of months. My career gone down the drain, my colleagues avoiding me like the plague, and my chances of ever finding a job as a cop pretty much destroyed. So you see why I’ve had trouble sleeping. My doctor in New York gave me these pills and they’ve done wonders.”
“I see.” Tex toyed with the note for a moment, then said, “You know what? I’m going to do you a favor, Chase. I’m not going to give you a prescription. Instead I’m going to start a new rumor.”
“You’re going to do what?” asked Chase, his jaw dropping.
Tex chuckled. “This town is one big rumor mill, son. Everyone knows everyone around here, and people make it their business to butt into other people’s business all the time. Rumors travel so fast sometimes they overtake you on your way home. It’s happened that something happened to me on my way home and by the time I got there my wife already knew all about it!”
Chase still stared at him. “I don’t get it.”
“That’s because you’re not a Hampton Covian. Yet. I’m going to start the rumor that you were framed in this Malka Putin business, and that you’re a damn fine cop. I’m going to make it so that you’ll be treated like a genuine hero before I’m through, Chase. As it is, people down here don’t like the mayor of New York or his wife much anyway. Trust me, you’re going to come out of this smelling of roses. This community is going to embrace you as one of their own, and you’ll be able to do your job as a police officer just fine.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Doc?”
The doctor displayed a toothy grin. “I’m going to say more. I’m going to say this is one of the best damn ideas I’ve ever had. And I’m going to add this will do you a hell of a lot more good than those damn pills, son. I’m sure before long you’ll feel right at home in this community. Hampton Covians are a weird bunch. They can be hostile to outsiders, even though this is a tourist town. They don’t easily take to strangers, but once they do, you’ll find they’re the warmest, kindest people you could ever hope to meet.” He gave the other man a smile that warmed my heart, and I could hear Dooley utter a sigh.
Chase nodded. “If you think this will work…”
“Leave it to me. My daughter happens to be a reporter for the Hampton Cove Gazette and one of the best gossips this town has ever known. She takes after her grandmother that way. There’s not a single rumor she’s not aware of, and plenty she’s instigated herself. I don’t know how she does it, but she always seems to know everything about everybody and often before anyone else does. If she takes up your case, your worries are over, son.”
Chase looked thoughtful. “Your daughter, is she blond with green eyes?”
“That’s her. Have you met?”
He grimaced. “We have, and I’m afraid we got off on the wrong foot.”
“Nonsense,” said Tex. “No one can get off on the wrong foot with Odelia. She’s sweet as a kitten. Whatever little trouble you had will go away once you’ve sat down for dinner together. You are still coming to dinner, right?”
“Um…”
“Excellent. My wife told me how she told her brother to invite you.”
Chase rose, looking thoughtful. He appeared on the verge of saying something, but then decided against it. “Thanks, Doc. Thanks for listening.”
“Of course,” Tex said, clapping the other man on his broad back and leading him out. “Trust me, before long you and Odelia will get along great.”
Chase’s eyes darkened at the mention of the reporter, and I had the distinct impression he wasn’t as fond of her as Tex would have liked. Which was probably a good thing, as I didn’t want the two of them hooking up. Still, the conversation had definitely made me see Chase in a whole new light. The guy wasn’t so bad after all. The only thing I now held against him was his lousy taste in cats, but that wasn’t something he could be faulted for. Humans are easily deceived, especially the ones who can’t communicate with us.
Dooley and I shared a look. “That changes everything, doesn’t it?” I said.
“Sure does,” Dooley agreed.
“Just goes to show you can’t believe everything you read in the paper.”
“I knew he was a good guy. I just knew it.”
“No, you didn’t. You thought he was bad news. We all did.”
“Well, it still doesn’t make the prospect of Brutus coming to live with us any better,” Dooley said as we hopped down from the windowsill and started padding toward the front of the building again.
“Didn’t you hear the guy? He and Odelia hate each other’s guts.”
“Oh. Right. So that’s a good thing, huh?”
“That’s a great thing. It’s probably one of those instant enmities.”
“Instant enemas?”
I heaved a sigh. “What’s with the poo fixation?”
“Huh?”
“Enmity, not enema. It’s like instant attraction but the other way around.”
He still looked puzzled. “Uh-huh.”
“It happens. And a good thing, too.”
We walked on in silence for a few minutes, then Dooley asked, “Are you sure about those enemas? Chase Kingsley didn’t strike me as constipated.”
I rolled my eyes heavenward. God, please kill me now.
Chapter 9
Odelia quickly made her way over to the No Spring Chicks restaurant. She walked in and immediately crossed to the kitchen, where she knew she’d find Aissa. Even though the restaurant was doing great, and Aissa nor Marissa had to slave behind the stove anymore but now had a chef to do the heavy lifting, Aissa still liked to stick around keeping an eye on things. At this time she could usually be found experimenting with new recipes and adding those to the menu, while Marissa was holed up in the small office in the back, going over the books. She was the money person, while Aissa was more the creative and culinary genius.
She found Aissa in the big walk-in freezer, instructing the delivery man where to stash the fresh produce. She looked up when Odelia entered.
“Hey, hon,” she said. “If you’re here for a reservation I’m sorry to say we’re fully booked tonight. Though I could always squeeze you in around eleven, if you’re up for a later dinner.”
“That’s all right. I’m having dinner at my parents’ place tonight.”
“Nothing beats a home-cooked meal,” said Aissa blithely as she wiped her hands on her apron and stepped out of the freezer. She was a stickler for detail, which was one of the reasons No Spring Chicks was such a hit.
A short plump woman with a black bob, she reminded Odelia of the women manning the cafeteria counter at Hampton Cove High, who’d always been ready to ladle extra gravy onto her hash browns and provide her with an extra dollop of creamy mashed potatoes.
“So what can I do for you?” asked Aissa, and then her eyes fell on the notebook Odelia was clutching in her hand. “Oh, official business, huh?” Her eyes lit up. “You’re doing another story on No Spring Chicks? That’s great! Last time you did one, our reservations tripled, so keep it coming, hon.”
“Well, actually I’m doing a piece on the murder of Paulo Frey,” she said.
The smile instantly vanished from Aissa’s face as if wiped away with a squeegee. “Yeah, I heard about that. Found him in the crapper, huh?”