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“The weirdest thing happened,” she said after she’d ushered us into her car and taken up position behind the wheel.

“What?” I asked, though of course I already knew the answer.

“Someone posted a cartoon of Harriet the Cat on the website, and since it wasn’t Dan, and it certainly wasn’t me, we’re both wondering how it got there.”

“Oh, Gran posted that cartoon, Odelia,” said Dooley happily.

She turned to face us.“Gran? But how?”

“Max gave her the password for your computer, and then she posted it.”

Odelia’s eyes slowly turned to me. “Max?” she said, with some iron in her voice. “Is that true?”

I lowered my eyes, and there she had her answer.

“Max, but why! Why would you do such a thing?”

“She made me!” I said. “She said, didn’t I want to see our family get rich? And then Harriet asked if I didn’t want her to succeed, and so I caved.”

“I see,” said Odelia, and a grim look came about her mouth. “I think I need to have a word with Gran. And Harriet and Brutus. She really has gone too far this time.”

“How are people responding to the comic?” I asked.

“They’re not. The moment Dan found out, he took it down.”

“Oh,” I said, and then proceeded to tell her first about Waldo and Heiko, and then about our interview with Flint, and Julio’s suggestion that Dave’s stepson was the most likely suspect in the case. I hoped this would take Odelia’s mind off my transgression.

“Thank you for Waldo and Heiko,” said Odelia with a nod. “Gran sent the video she shot to Chase, and both Waldo and Heiko are in custody right now.”

“Have they confessed to Dave’s murder?” I asked eagerly.

“No, they both have a pretty solid alibi. But Waldo has been stealing money from the foundation, and Heiko found out somehow, and has been blackmailing Waldo ever since, demanding large sums of money every month, so he could put his kid through college.” She shook her head. “A nasty business.”

“But unrelated to Dave’s murder, you think?”

“Yeah, looks like it. Anyway, Chase wanted to talk to Veronica, but she’s in New York today, so that won’t be possible, and since he’s busy interviewing Waldo and Heiko, it’ll just be me, I’m afraid. But the good news is that I’ve managed to make an appointment with Danny’s school’s principal, which is where we’re headed now.”

She started the car, and after the third attempt the engine finally emerged from its customary lethargy and coughed to life.

“You really should buy yourself a new car one of these days,” I said.

“Maybe you should tell Dan to raise my salary.”

“Or maybe you’ll get some of the millions Gran will make off her Harriet the Cat cartoons,” said Dooley.

Odelia smiled at this—the first time I’d seen her smile in a little while. “Somehow I doubt whether those millions will ever materialize, Dooley.”

“Oh? But why? Isn’t it a nice cartoon?”

Odelia eased the car away from the curb.“It’s nice enough, I guess, but maybe not what people like to see when they open their newspaper in the morning.”

“You mean it’s not funny enough?”

“If you think cats kicking other cats is funny, then sure. Personally I don’t find that funny, though.”

Dooley smiled.“I didn’t think it was funny either.”

“Me neither,” I admitted.

“Okay, Max, here’s a new rule for you: never, ever,ever give my password to my grandmother ever again, okay?”

“Yes, Odelia,” I said ruefully.

“In fact don’t give my password to anyone. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Odelia,” I said in a subdued fashion. I felt ashamed about what I’d done, and fully blamed myself. I mean, it wasn’t as if Gran had put a knife to my throat. All she’d done was bring a little psychological pressure to bear on me, and I’d caved like a sucker.

“Oh, there’s something else we needed to tell you,” said Dooley, now that I was momentarily struck dumb through the sheer burden of shame.

“And what’s that?”

“Well, Wilbur has an uninvited guest he would like to get rid of but he can’t.” And Dooley proceeded to tell the story of Rudolph making Kingman’s life a living hell.

“Okay, so I’ll need to give that a think,” said Odelia.

“Hey, that’s funny,” said Dooley. “That’s exactly what Max told Kingman yesterday.”

“Great minds think alike, don’t they, buddy?” said Odelia, giving me a smile through the rearview mirror. Immediately I perked up to a great extent.

“I’m so, so sorry, Odelia,” I said, still feeling in a funk.

“That’s all right, Max,” said Odelia. “I know what Gran is like, and also what Harriet and Brutus are like, and I understand how they got to you. So maybe next time just tell them that you don’t know my password, that way they can’t put any pressure on you.”

I thunked myself on the head.“Duh,” I said. “I didn’t think of that!”

We’d arrived at the school where Danny was a pupil, and moments after Odelia had parked her car we were proceeding across the parking lot to the school entrance. A kindly secretary led us to the office of Adolpho Beblo, the school principal. Mr. Beblo turned out to be a man with a hipster beard, and cleanly shaven head. Very modern.