The Mysteries of Max: Books 31-33 Nic Saint (kiss me liar novel english .TXT) 📖

“We will,” I promised, and then we were off, after a final wave of our tails in the direction of the hapless pony, who gazed after us with a sad look in her eyes.

“We really have to remind Odelia to plead with Mrs. Harrison to allow those kids to come back to play with Jane,” said Dooley. “Maybe they could even come and live here, then Jane has someone to play with all the time.”

“I’m not sure how feasible that would be, Dooley,” I said. “Clearly Ruth Harrison doesn’t like her daughter-in-law very much.”

“But she must like her granddaughters, right? She must like them.”

“Yeah, maybe,” I said.

On our way back to town, Odelia proceeded to tell us all about the interview, and we proceeded to tell her all about our chat with Jane. All in all a very fruitful day—but still we were nowhere near proving that Joshua Curtis was innocent—if indeed he was.

“I mean, a mother would never kill her own child, would she?” Odelia argued. “So I’m inclined to believe her, Chase.”

“Me, too,” said Chase. “My money is still on Joshua Curtis.”

“Yeah—yeah, I guess you’re right,” said Odelia, slumping a little in her seat. Clearly she wasn’t happy that the person who’d come to her had proved a vicious killer.

“Jane said that Mrs. Harrison was desperate for Franklin and his father to reconcile,” I told Odelia. “So maybe that’s why she drove to that house.”

“Yeah, she mentioned that. One last-ditch attempt to bring father and son together again.” She half-turned to face us. “So did you guys have a nice chat with Jane?”

“She really wants to see those girls again,” said Dooley. “Can’t you make that happen, Odelia—pretty please?”

“I’m not sure,” said Odelia. “I’d love for that to happen, too, Dooley, but I’m afraid right now Mrs. Harrison isn’t susceptible for a reunion yet.”

“Or maybe she is,” I argued. “Maybe if Francine Ritter goes to the funeral of her ex-husband, and her ex-father-in-law, some kind of reunion might be able to be worked?”

“Oh, yes, please!” said Dooley. “You should have seen Jane, Odelia. She’s so sad. And so nice. She really needs a break.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Odelia said. “But no promises, all right? Mrs. Harrison is in a very vulnerable state right now.”

“By the way,” I said, “where was Marvin?”

“Oh, he had some business to attend to in town,” said Odelia, turning back to face the front. “The future of the company rests entirely on his shoulders now.”

I nodded and gazed out the window, while Odelia and Chase talked some more about the case. Something was nagging me, and if I could just put my paw on it…

And then, all of a sudden, I had it!

Chapter 32

Francine Ritter was feeling pretty great. In fact she felt that finally her life was starting to be all right again. She watched as her girls played on the living floor carpet of their cramped little apartment, and hoped that soon they’d be able to move into a different place—a better and bigger place.

She’d had to economize ever since Franklin had cut her off, her job at the supermarket not exactly paying the big bucks.

It had been such a stroke of luck for her to run into…

Suddenly the doorbell chimed and she frowned. Her girls looked up and she said, “Probably the mailman.”

“The mailman, yes!” said Jaime.

“Did he bring me a present?” asked Marje.

“Yeah, I’ll bet he did,” she said with a smile. She loved her girls so much. She’d do anything for them—and she had. In fact she’d worked the impossible. Not exactly legal, or acceptable, but sometimes a mother had to do what a mother had to do.

She walked over to the door, and was surprised when she put her eye to the peephole. For a moment, she hesitated, but then slid the bolt back and opened the door.

“I thought we’d arranged everything,” she said as she looked into her visitor’s face.

“Not quite,” was the prompt reply.

“We have to hurry, Odelia!” I said.

“But how can you be so sure?” Odelia asked.

“Trust me—I am one hundred percent sure. If you don’t get there fast you’ll have another dead body on your hands.”

“Oh, dear,” said Odelia, as she directed Chase to hurry along. He’d turned on the flashy blue light and was sounding his siren, too, in an attempt to stop the drama from unfolding before we got there.

“Is it the stork, Max?” asked Dooley. “Did something happen with the stork?”

“The stork is fine, Dooley,” I said. “Don’t worry about the stork.”

“So who’s in danger then?”

“We’re here,” said Chase, and made the car unceremoniously jump the curb.

We followed Odelia out of the car, and she said, “Maybe you guys better hang back. Things might get a little dangerous from here on out.”

“Okay, fine,” I said, and watched Odelia and Chase hurry up to the door of the apartment building. It wasn’t much of a dwelling, more like one of those slightly run-down places that probably shouldn’t be allowed to still accept tenants.

The moment Chase and Odelia disappeared inside, I told Dooley, “Let’s go.”

“But I thought we were supposed to hang back?”

“When have you ever known us to allow our human to enter the lion’s den without us being there to keep an eye on her, Dooley?”

“Um… never?”

“Exactly. So let’s not let her down now. Whether she likes it or not, we’re her guardian angels.”

“I thought we were feline angels?”

“That, too.”

So we hurried inside, and started up the stairs.

“Where are we going?”

“I think I remember Odelia telling Chase it was the third floor.”

We pretty much zoomed up those stairs. Don’t let my slightly chunky appearance fool you. I can be pretty fast when I need to be. In fact we arrived there even before Chase and Odelia did. Probably the elevator was as ancient and run down as the entire building. As luck would have it, the door to the apartment was ajar, so we rushed right in. In the living