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

“Auntie Scarlett,” said Gran with a grin. “Now those were the days.”

“Is it true that you invited a girl up here last night?” asked Scarlett, earning herself a reproachful flash of the eyes from Odelia and blithely ignoring it.

The young man shuffled a little uncomfortably in his seat. “And what if I did?”

“She didn’t come out this morning and the hotel staff is worried something might have happened to her,” said Scarlett, whose definition of ‘quiet as a church mouse’ was a very unorthodox one.

The young man grinned. “They can relax. She didn’t leave. In fact she’s still in my bed, right now, fast asleep. Though we did share breakfast together.”

“Oh,” said Scarlett. “So when the cleaner came in…”

“Oh, God,” said Lord Hilbourne, his eyes raking the ceiling in a look of exasperation. “I should have known she was up to something when she insisted on changing the sheets. Well, she was hiding in the closet at that point, obviously. You see, she snuck in here through the service elevator, courtesy of a very open-minded night receptionist—though I’m inclined not to give him that generous tip I promised now that apparently he’s blabbed all over town about my recent conquest.”

“You do know that she’s a lady of pleasure, don’t you?” asked Gran.

“And I can assure you she earned the moniker.” He turned to Odelia. “What is this? Are you all members of the local League Against Moral Turpitude? If I’d known you were going to make such a big fuss about this I wouldn’t have come to Hampton Cove.”

“I can assure you we don’t care one way or the other what you do in the privacy of your own suite,” said Scarlett. “Though we did wonder what happened to the girl.”

“Do you want proof of life?” asked the young man. “I can give you proof of life.” He swiftly got up.

“That won’t be necessary,” Odelia hastened to say.

“Cody!” Lord Hilbourne bellowed. “Come out here a moment, will you? There’s some people here who think I murdered you and flushed your body parts down the toilet.”

He seemed to think the whole thing was extremely entertaining.

The door to what Odelia presumed was the bedroom opened, and a smallish young woman with an abundance of dark curls stuck her head out. She looked sleepy. “What is it?” she asked. Then, when she caught sight of the three guests seated on the sofa, she uttered a startled cry and immediately retracted her head and closed the door.

“See?” said Lord Hilbourne. “I didn’t kill her. In fact she has assured me she’s enjoying my company to such an extent she would like to stick around a little while longer.”

“I’m so sorry,” said Odelia, feeling mortified now. If her editor found out that this was the way she’d conducted this very important interview, there would be hell to pay.

“It’s fine,” he said. “I should have known that I wouldn’t be able to get away with this. People talk, and especially the staff at small hotels like the Star.” He took a seat again and draped his languid form across the sofa. “Now please tell me you have more questions for me—and not merely a burning desire for me to prove I’m not an ax murderer.”

Odelia directed a scathing look at her grandmother and Scarlett, who both shrugged and gave her their best look of absolute innocence.

Chapter 14

“So maybe we exaggerated,” said Harriet as she surveyed the four empty bowls, positioned neatly in a row. Even the few kernels of kibble that had fallen by the wayside in the process of eating had been snapped up, and the part of the kitchen devoted to the cats’ dietary needs was now so neat and clean it looked as if a cleaner had dropped by to give it a good once-over.

“Do you think Max and Dooley will notice we’ve eaten all of their food?” asked Brutus sheepishly.

They’d first emptied out their friends’ bowls at Marge and Tex’s place and then, when they got bored sitting at home waiting for their humans to show up, had moved over to Odelia’s home and finished the job there.

“Of course they’ll notice,” said Harriet. “So you’ll do well to stick to the story, all right?”

“The story?” asked Brutus, who’d already forgotten what excuse he’d dreamt up for this culinary carnage.

“That the dogs snuck in and ate everything.”

“What dogs?” asked Brutus, who liked to get his lies nailed down in all their stark specificity. Someone who was good at lying had once told him that the secret to a good lie is the telling detail, and it had stuck in his head ever since.

“Who cares what dogs? We don’t know, and nor will they. Any dog can sneak in here and clean out those bowls.”

“It would have to be a small dog,” he said as he eyed the pet flap with a critical eye. “No way Rufus, for instance, would ever be able to sneak in here through that pet flap.”

Rufus was Ted and Marcie Trapper’s sheepdog, who lived right next door. And judging from his size he had inherited some DNA from the woolly mammoth.

“So it was Fifi, then,” said Harriet, referring to their neighbor Kurt Mayfield’s Yorkie.

“Fifi would never come in here and steal our food,” said Brutus. “She’s too straight-laced. Besides, I’m sure she gets plenty of food at home. Kurt spoils her rotten.”

“So it was some other dog,” said Harriet. “It doesn’t matter what dog it was, Brutus,” she stressed. “In fact the less we know the better. Any dog could have snuck in from the street. All we need to do is pretend that we got home, saw that our bowls were all empty and keep a straight face! Now this is very important. Show me your poker face.”

Brutus blinked. “My what face?”

“That’s just about the worst poker face I’ve ever seen. Try again.”

Brutus frowned. “Um…”

“Big fail! Brutus, if you don’t get your act together you’re going to get us both caught. Okay,