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And as both men started to walk away, with Waldo nervously glancing around himself, I decided to follow them and see what was going on.

“See you later, Kingman,” I said. “Dooley, let’s go.”

“But, Max!” said Kingman. “You need to help me get rid of this clown!”

I held up my tail in response, and then we were tailing Waldo and Heiko as they put some pep in their step, and were now walking in the direction of the park. It didn’t take us more than ten minutes to arrive there, and as they took a seat on a park bench, Waldo still glancing around anxiously, Dooley and I took up position underneath the bench, and settled in for a listen.

“You can’t keep showing up like this,” said Waldo. “People will notice.”

“You should have thought of that before you started skimming money from the foundation, Waldo,” said Heiko. “I want my cut, and I’m going to see to it that you pay.”

“Look, Dave is dead, and the police are breathing down my neck, and soon the heirs will start looking at the foundation, so now is not the time to give me grief, Heiko!”

“Okay, so what do you suggest?”

“Back off for now, and then when things settle down, we’ll see how we proceed.”

“Deal. But not until you give me what I’m owed. And no excuses this time, buddy.”

Reluctantly Waldo took out his wallet, glanced around again, then extracted a sheaf of banknotes and slipped them to Heiko, who put them in his pocket.

“This isn’t over, Waldo,” said Heiko. “Not by a long shot.”

“Okay, fine. But remember that if you talk, you’re in trouble, too.”

“So we’re in this together. You and me.” And then he got up and quickly walked off.

Moments later, Waldo also got up, and walked away in the opposite direction.

“What was that all about, Max?” asked Dooley.

“That,” I said, “was a business transaction.”

“A business transaction?”

“Yeah, between a blackmailer and a fraudster.”

“Who’s the blackmailer and who’s the fraudster?”

“Looks like Waldo has been stealing money from the foundation, and Heiko found out and has been blackmailing him,” I said thoughtfully.

“We better tell Odelia. Maybe one of them murdered Dave.”

But before we could get up, suddenly who would emerge from the shrubbery but Gran and Scarlett, followed by Harriet and Brutus!

“Did you get all that?” asked Scarlett.

“I sure did,” said Gran, holding up her phone.

“Did you film that, Gran?” asked Dooley.

“Absolutely,” said Gran.

“How did you know?” I asked.

“That’s the beauty. I had no idea! We just happened to be here, filming another photo comic, when suddenly these two bozos turned up. So I figured I’d shoot some background footage for the comic, and suddenly they start yapping about money and acting real suspicious.” She frowned. “Who were they?”

“Heiko Palace and Waldo McLoughlin. And if you show that footage to Chase, he’ll be able to make an arrest.”

“An arrest for what, exactly?”

“For fraud and blackmail. And maybe even murder.”

“Oh, goodie,” said Gran. “Better put all that in the script, Scarlett.”

“Put what in the script?” asked Scarlett, who hadn’t understood what I’d said.

“That banker is a fraud, and the other guy is blackmailing him.”

“Do you want me to kick them?” asked Brutus eagerly.

“Please no more kicking,” said Gran, holding up her hand.

“Sweetie pie, I should be doing the kicking,” said Harriet plaintively. “You’re stealing my thunder.”

“No, I thought about it,” said Brutus, “and we got this all wrong. As I see it now I’m Garfield, see, and you’re Arlene. And it’s always Garfield who kicks Odie, see?”

“But you can’t be Garfield, since Garfield is the star of the comic, and I’m the star.”

“No, but we’re turning it around, sweet puss. We’re making it so Arlene is the star and Garfield is the sidekick. Hollywood is doing it all the time. Gender swapping is all the rage right now, my queen.”

“Oh,” said Harriet. “Okay, I hadn’t thought of it that way. But I guess you’re right.”

“Only I’ll keep on kicking, since that’s my thing, and you just keep on being the star of your own show.”

“Okay,” I told Dooley, “that’s our cue to skedaddle, buddy.”

And so skedaddle we did, but not before reminding Gran to give Chase that footage.

Moments later we arrived at the Gazette offices and walked right in. And as we passed Dan Goory’s office, we heard Odelia’s voice and decided to hop in there and report to her.

“Okay, Dan, so this is the first one,” said Odelia as she placed her phone on the desk of her editor, “and this is the second one. What do you think?”

Dan Goory, who looks like Methuselah, but probably isn’t nearly as old as that Biblical figure, rubbed his long white beard and made dubious noises. “It’s not bad,” he said, “but it’ll depend on the artist. Who’s making the drawings?”

“There won’t be any drawings,” said Odelia. “This is it. This is the cartoon. My grandmother has decided to turn it into a photo comic instead of a regular comic.”

“Your grandmother!” said Dan, waggling his bushy white brows. “I didn’t know your grandmother was an artist.”

“She’s getting there,” said Odelia.