The Mysteries of Max: Books 31-33 by Nic Saint (chrome ebook reader txt) 📗

“Look, I know this looks bad,” said Kathleen once her husband was out of view and out of earshot, “but there’s something I need to explain to you about Karl.”

“We already know about his allergies,” said Odelia. “And we already know he did a very stupid thing here, Kathleen.”

“I know, and I’ll deal with him in my own way. But here’s the thing about Karl: he’s been through the wringer and I think it’s taken its toll on him—no, I know it’s taken its toll on him. See, when I met him he was really down in the dumps. He’d just gone through a terrible divorce, and he was feeling at a very low ebb in his life. So even though it sounds odd that he would lie about his allergies, when you know what he was like back then it’s actually almost understandable why he did what he did.”

“How come?” asked Chase. “Why was he in such a bad way?”

“It’s a long story, and I’ll save you the details. But let’s just say that Karl used to be something of a big shot at Kramer Kitchen Kreation, Fred Kramer’s outfit?”

Odelia shared a look with her husband. “Isn’t that where Mom and Gran went to pick out a new kitchen?”

“I think so,” Chase said.

“Well, Karl was their chief accountant—Fred Kramer’s go-to financial guy. Karl’s then-wife Grace was Fred’s secretary, and for a while things were going great. Until Fred started an affair with Karl’s wife, and Fred accused Karl of embezzlement and had him kicked out of the company. So suddenly Karl not only lost his marriage, but also his high-flying job and his social esteem. He went from being the cat’s meow to being a nothing.”

“Did Fred press charges?”

“Oh, no. And according to Karl there never was any embezzlement and I believe him. I think the embezzlement charge was just an excuse to get rid of Karl, and to convince Grace that her husband was a crook so she’d leave him for Fred, which she did.”

“But that’s terrible,” said Odelia.

“And you haven’t even heard the worst part. Karl and Grace had two kids, and ever since the divorce Grace has been trying to take the kids away from him. She got custody of the kids, based on those embezzlement charges, which were all dropped, by the way, a clear sign they were bogus, and now she’s trying to take Karl’s visitation rights away.” She gave Odelia a knowing look. “So you see, if it gets out that Karl has been grabbing cats and dumping them in the woods, Grace is sure to use it as more ammunition in the divorce battle against her ex-husband, and he’ll almost certainly lose his kids for good.”

“So I take it you’re not going to press charges,” said Odelia, getting the gist.

“Look, I think what he did is terrible, and he should never have touched my cat or your cats, or any of those cats, but Karl has been under a lot of pressure lately.”

“The custody battle.”

Kathleen nodded. “It’s really taken a toll on him, and he’s not thinking straight at the moment.”

“Okay, all right, I get that,” said Odelia. “But the thing is, close to the place where your husband dumped the cats—yours and mine—a man was found. A dead man.”

“Oh, I saw something about that,” said Kathleen, nodding. “A vagrant, wasn’t he?”

“We’re not sure yet,” said Chase. “But we were actually looking for the catnapper because we figured he might be involved with this murder business.”

Kathleen’s eyes went wide. “Karl? A murderer? You must be joking!”

“I’m afraid I’m dead serious.”

“At the very least he’s a potential witness,” said Odelia. “So can you perhaps tell him to come back down so we can ask him if he saw something when he was out there?”

Kathleen had gone a little white around the nostrils, and looked even more distracted than before. “Karl!” she yelled. “Come down here a minute, will you?”

Dutifully her husband came pounding down the stairs, and within moments had joined them again. “And?” he asked, looking nervous and sweating even more than before. “What’s the verdict?”

Just then, a pink-haired teenage girl appeared behind Karl Bunyon, and said, “What’s going on? What’s with all the yelling?”

She was dressed in an oversized Minnie Mouse T-shirt and looked sleepy-eyed.

“Go back to bed, Suzy.”

“But, Mom!”

“Go back to bed! I’ll explain everything in the morning.”

“Oh, all right,” she grumbled, and stomped back up the stairs.

“There’s something I need to ask you, Mr. Bunyon,” said Chase.

“Of course, officer,” said Karl with a nervous chuckle.

“Not this night, but last night, when you took Chouchou into the woods the first time, along with several other cats, did you happen to notice something out of the ordinary?”

Karl frowned and looked from Chase to Odelia and back. “Something out of the ordinary? Like what?”

“Well…”

“They want to know if you killed that bum,” his wife now supplied. She’d crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Karl didn’t respond at first, then he blinked and said, “Killed that bum? What bum?”

“A bum was killed out in the woods and buried there,” Kathleen supplied. “It was all over the news, Karl! God, I can’t believe you didn’t see that. Anyway, Miss Poole and Officer Kingsley want to know if you had something to do with that.” She gave her husband an angry look. “More specifically they want to know if, apart from kidnapping cats, you’re also in the habit of murdering bums and burying them in the woods.”

A high-pitched whinny was Karl’s response, but when no one joined in, Karl seemed to realize this wasn’t a joke but serious business. “Of course not!” he finally exclaimed. “I’m not a killer. I only did what I did because of my allergies, and because I was afraid to admit to my wife that I’d lied about loving cats as much as she does. But murder!”

“Okay, all right, “said Chase, holding up his hands in an appeasing gesture. “Look, the body was found close to where you left those