The Mysteries of Max: Books 25-27

Chapter 27

When Odelia opened her eyes the next morning, she found herself staring into a pair of green-golden cat eyes. They were about half a foot removed from her face and gazing steadily at her with an intensity and fixedness only cat owners are accustomed to.

“Hi, Max,” she groaned, not fully awake yet. He’d already walked over her to reach his favorite spot: right in the middle of the bed between her and Chase, where he liked to lie and purr until one of them woke up and proceeded to stroke his fur so he could bury his nose into an armpit or elbow and continue to purr up a storm. His preferred armpit was Odelia’s, but he wasn’t choosy, and if Chase happened to be better positioned he didn’t mind digging his nose into his pit.

Cats didn’t seem bothered by smelly pits, or else Max would have reeled back in horror. And neither did they mind smelly breath, for Max loved to smell her and Chase’s breath in the morning, something she wouldn’t advise anyone—unless they had a death wish.

“Something happened last night,” Max said now.

“Mh?” she said, her brain only now starting to boot up, and even then only to a minor degree.

“I think Kurt was visited by two midnight prowlers. They were both dressed in black and carried a big bulky object tucked in a canvas bag or sack. And then they got into a black van and drove away.”

“In a cloud of black smoke,” Dooley added. He was lying on Odelia’s other side, and so now she was compelled to divide her attention between the two cats.

“Two prowlers dressed in black, carrying a black bag and escaping in a black van. Anything else you want me to know?” She finger-combed her long blond tresses away from her face but got stuck halfway. She really needed to go to the hairdresser soon.

“What’s going on, babe?” asked a sleepy-sounding Chase.

“Max and Dooley caught two suspected burglars last night, walking out of Kurt’s house carrying a large canvas bag with an unknown object inside. They then got into a black van and took off.”

“Description,” Chase muttered, his police brain asserting operational control.

“One was short and thin, the other one big and tall, and the license plate number started with A5,” Max said, his words translated by Odelia for Chase’s benefit.

“Gotcha,” Chase muttered, then rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Don’t you think it’s a strange coincidence that an amateur sleuth like you, and a professional detective like me, have managed to be adopted by two amateur sleuth cats?”

Odelia smiled. “No, I don’t think that’s a coincidence at all. We’re a family of sleuths, after all. And Max and Dooley are probably even better at this stuff than we are.”

“Oh, that’s for sure,” said Chase as he leaned over and gave Odelia a peck on the lips.

She kept her mouth tightly closed. Cats might not mind her morning breath, but she sure as heck wasn’t going to allow her boyfriend to smell it. At least not until after the wedding.

“I’ll check on Kurt later,” said Chase.

“What will you tell him?”

“That one of the neighbors happened to walk his dog last night and thought he saw a couple of unsavory types snoop around the house.”

“What I find strange is that Fifi didn’t warn her human,” said Max now. “She might not be much of a watchdog but I’m sure that if a couple of burglars burgled the house she would bark up a storm.”

“Yeah, that is strange,” Odelia agreed.

“What’s strange, babe?” asked Chase, yawning and stretching his lanky frame, causing the bed to creak dangerously.

“That Fifi didn’t bark.”

“I’ll tell you all about it once I’ve talked to Kurt. Don’t get your hopes up, though, you guys,” he added with a wink in the direction of Max and Dooley. “Chances are it’s a false alarm. But nevertheless: great job, cat sleuths one and two.”

“I wonder which of us is cat sleuth number one and which is number two,” Dooley said as Chase got out of bed and in the process dislodged Max from the blanket he’d claimed for his own.

“I’m sure it’s not important,” said Max as he walked across Odelia again, causing the latter to huff out a surprised ‘Oof!’ as he dug his paws into her stomach.

Cats. You had to love them. Especially early in the morning.

She followed Chase’s cue and got up, too, slipping her feet into her pink Hello Kitty slippers and dragging her sleepy frame down the stairs and into the kitchen where she proceeded to put on a fresh pot of coffee.

She wondered if Max and Dooley’s story was true. If it was, could it be that Uncle Alec had arrested the wrong people in Johnny and Jerry, just as they steadfastly claimed? Or maybe there was more than one gang of burglars active in their small town.

She thought it odd that Kurt would be the target of a burglary, though. He wasn’t exactly the kind of person brimming with unknown riches and chests full of gold and diamonds. Then again, Ida Baumgartner wasn’t known as a rich woman either, and still the thieves had found out about her Picasso.

Chase came ambling down the stairs, his muscular frame clad in stretchy lycra.

“Going for a run?” asked Odelia.

“Yeah, just a quick one. Wanna come?”

She hesitated. She knew she should join him on his morning run, but the temptation of a fresh cup of coffee and breakfast was too strong, so she shook her head. “Maybe tomorrow.”

“Sure thing,” he said. “I wouldn’t go for a run either, but I kinda need it, knowing the kind of day I’m heading into.”

“More insurance fraud hunting?”

“If your uncle wanted to punish me he couldn’t have done a better job than to hand me this particular assignment. I know white-collar crime is on the rise and all, but going through piles and piles of documents looking for traces of fraud is not my idea of fun.”

She smiled. “Who ever said being a detective was all fun and games?”

“No one, but I’d kinda hoped it was,” he said with a grin. He pointed to the coffee. “Save some for me, will you?”

And then he was out the door, braving the elements to keep himself in shape.

And as Odelia took her first cup of coffee of the day, she glanced out the window and saw Kurt Mayfield step into his backyard and call out for his dog. Usually Fifi immediately responded and came jumping and skipping up to her owner. This morning, though, there was no happy yapping and no equally happy Kurt playing around with his little Yorkie.

Frowning, Odelia opened the sliding glass door, then stepped out into her own backyard to take a closer look. And as she glanced across the fence and into her neighbor’s backyard, she was shocked to find Kurt leaning over the inert body of Fifi. The big guy, usually so aloof and grumpy, was sobbing like a small child. And when he looked up and saw Odelia, he cried, “She’s dead! My sweet baby is dead!”