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“We know he’s broke,” said Chase, consulting his notebook. “We also know he’s an addict, and has wasted his entire fortune on drugs and a series of flings. And we know he’s up to his eyeballs in debt—and not to the banks but to some very nasty loan sharks.”

“So it would probably be a lot safer for him at your place than at his own house right now,” said the Chief.

“You don’t think he set this whole thing up, do you? To get away from the people he owes money to?”

“Could be,” said Alec. “I mean, these loan sharks don’t kid around. They’re into the moneylending business, but also in the breaking-your-arm business if you don’t pay up. So rather than having his arm busted, I guess he figured he’d lie low for a while.”

“Not having to pay a dime in hotel bills or food bills,” said Chase, starting to get a little hot under the collar when he thought about the deviousness of the man’s scheme.

“Look, we don’t know for sure that this is the case, but I think it’s high time I had a little chat with the guy. He’s still at your place, right?”

“Yep. And he’s told us that he doesn’t want to talk to the police, cause these bad people injecting that nonexistent poison wouldn’t like it.”

“Clever guy,” said Alec with a grin, and got up. “Let’s go over there now,” he suggested. “The sooner we get this thing sorted out the better. I don’t like the idea of a character like Hancock staying with you guys.”

“Or seducing your sister,” said Chase with a meaningful glance at his boss.

“What?!”

“Yeah, I caught the two of them last night. Not a pretty picture, Chief.”

“Let’s get the bastard,” said the Chief, gritting his teeth.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_3]

Gran was just returning from Vena with an irate Harriet neatly strapped in the front seat of the car when she happened to pass by the newly opened pet shop on O’Sullivan Street and saw Max and Dooley and no less than three dogs staring at the store window.

“Look,” she said. “It’s Max and Dooley and Randy’s dog. Wonder what they’re up to.”

And since she was just as curious sometimes as her cats were, she decided to park the car and take a closer look at what was going on.

By the time she arrived there, though, both cats and dogs were gone, and so she tried the door—as one does—and found it unlocked. So she darted a glance at Harriet, who shrugged, and they pushed inside the store.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_3]

Tex Poole, having driven around a little aimlessly for the past hour, found himself wondering where to go next. He couldn’t go home and face his wife having an intimate dinner with Randy, but he didn’t know where else to go. He’d never really had a serious fight with Marge—not serious enough at least that he’d have to go and stay at a hotel—but that was what it now looked like.

And he was just wondering if maybe he should sleep at his office instead, while he thought things through, when he happened to pass by that new pet shop on O’Sullivan Street, and saw Vesta and Harriet walk into the store. Wondering what the hell she was up to, and deciding that maybe now was a good time to tell her she was fired from her job as receptionist, he parked his car behind his mother-in-law’s, and got out.

Walking up to the store, he soon discovered the door was unlocked, so he pushed right on in. Under normal circumstances he would never confront Vesta like this, but he was in the frame of mind of a man scorned, and frankly he needed to unload, and Vesta seemed as good a person to unload on as any.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_3]

Chase and Alec were driving in Alec’s squad car on their way to the house, ready to give Randy Hancock the kind of grilling he’d probably never before received in his life. Alec especially was particularly incensed that this lowlife fitness trainer would dare to lay his hands on his sister, and was simmering gently all through the drive.

And they were just passing by that new pet store on O’Sullivan Street when he happened to see none other than Tex walk into the store.

“Look, it’s Tex,” he said. “I wonder what he’s up to.”

“Probably buying a gift for Marge,” said Chase. “Hoping to win her back from Ran-Ran.”

“You know what? I think we need to talk to Tex,” said Alec, and wrenched the wheel to park right behind the Doc’s car. It was only then that he saw Vesta’s car parked in front of Tex’s, and was starting to wonder if some kind of convention was happening.

“Talk to him about what?” asked Chase.

“I think it’s time Tex knew what’s going on between Marge and Randy,” Alec grunted and got out of the car. And then both cops were hurrying across the road, and moments later found themselves inside the pet shop, wondering where Tex had gone off to.

Chapter 41

When we entered that pet shop I thought for a moment we’d walked into a different world: there were pets all around us—which probably is a given since we were in a pet shop—and all of them were staring at us in dismay, as if surprised to see pets walk into their midst… without being inside a cage or (in the case of the goldfish) a fish tank.