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“Mh,” said Dan, sounding skeptical. He studied the work of Gran and Scarlett once more. Then finally he shook his head. “I don’t think so, honey. There’s no market for it.”

“You’d be the first to publish it,” said Odelia. “So effectively you’d create the market.”

“It doesn’t work like that. I’d be the first to publish it, but I’d also be the only one.”

“But people love cats, Dan, and this stuff is pretty funny, isn’t it?”

“It’s not that funny.”

“Okay, but it’s only the beginning. I’m sure if they keep going they’ll get better at it.”

“I doubt it. Look, if people want to see cats, they just have to go online. YouTube is full of cat videos, and so is Facebook and TikTok. So why pay good money to have a cat cartoon in my paper, huh?”

Odelia shrugged.“I promised my grandma I’d give it a shot, and I did.”

“Yes, honey, you did, and it’s very noble of you to try and boost your grandma’s plans like this, but we both know the old lady is slightly non-compos, and gets the weirdest ideas all the time. Now what’s the story with Dave James and Jayme Ziccardi?”

And as Odelia discussed the case she was working on, and the article she planned to write, Dooley and I decided to retreat to her office and catch up on our sleep. Waldo McLoughlin and Heiko Palace could wait until she was done with her meeting, but our precious naptime couldn’t. Frankly I was bone-tired after having been on the receiving end of Brutus’s acting chops all night, and in this case chops could be taken literally!

Chapter 19

And I’d just fallen into a very nice sleep when the window of Odelia’s office opened and a voice hissed, “Max! Psst, Max!”

And when I opened my eyes, at first I thought I was having a nightmare, for there they were: Gran and Scarlett, with Harriet and Brutus seated on the windowsill, beckoning me over!

“Not again,” I muttered, and closed my eyes, hoping this nightmare would go away!

But the hissing continued, and when I opened my eyes once more, I realized it wasn’t a nightmare but cold, stark reality: Gran was there, and for some reason she wanted to have speech with me!

Next thing I knew she was crawling in through the window, and tiptoeing in my direction.“Do you know Odelia’s password?” she asked.

I stared at her, not comprehending.“Password for what?”

“For her computer, dummy! I want to post one of our comic strips on the Gazette website, and I just know that fool Dan won’t allow it.”

“But you can’t do that!” I protested.

“Oh, just give me the password. I know you have it.”

“I don’t know if…” I began, directing an anxious glance to the door.

“Do it for the family, Max,” said Gran. “Or don’t you want us to be rich?”

“Yeah, Max, don’t you want us to succeed?” asked Harriet.

“What are we doing here, exactly?” asked Scarlett.

“We’re hacking Odelia’s computer and posting Harriet the Cat on the website,” said Gran.

“But isn’t that illegal?” asked Scarlett with a frown.

“It’s a newspaper, Scarlett,” said Gran. “How can it be illegal to post something of common interest on a newspaper? If anything we’re providing a public service.”

It was a very iffy argument, and one I didn’t think would cut wood with Dan, or even with Odelia. But since Gran was staring at me intently, and so were Harriet and Brutus, I finally buckled under the pressure. “It’s her birthday,” I said resignedly.

Gran had to think for a moment, which I thought was ludicrous, then seemed to remember her granddaughter’s birthday, tiptoed over to the computer and typed in the password. “I’m in!” she caroled.

And then she did the kind of thing you usually only see hackers do in the movies: she attached a USB stick to Odelia’s laptop, but presumably instead of extracting a lot of vital information about the nation’s critical infrastructure, proceeded to upload one of her comic strips.

“And… posted!” she said with a look of satisfaction. “Mission accomplished!”

And then she was tiptoeing back to the window, and not a minute too soon, for I already heard Odelia coming down the corridor!

“Max, are you coming?” asked Harriet.

“What do you mean?” I said.

“We’re going over to Dave James’s studio,” Brutus explained. “We’re going to present Harriet the Cat and ask them to work with us and put it in the same newspapers Tollie the Turtle is in. All two thousand five hundred of them.”

“And we need you there, Max, as a member of the Harriet the Cat lineup.”

“Oh, so now I’m a member of the lineup, am I?”

“Yes, you are, Maxie, baby,” said Brutus with a grin. “I mean, who else am I going to squash? You, too, Dooley.”