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“Look, a man has been killed,” I said, “and we are trying to find out what happened.”

He shrugged, indicating he didn’t really care one way or another.

“Are you part of the Baker Street Cats?” asked Dooley, also wandering up.

“Baker Street what?” asked the cat with a frown.

“Brutus’s army,” Dooley clarified.

“I don’t know any Brutus, and I don’t know any army, so just get lost already, will you?”

“Do you know Clarice, by any chance?” I asked, deciding to try a different tack.

This time a gleam of interest appeared in his pale green eyes.“Sure I know Clarice. She’s a legend around these parts. Why, do you know her?”

“She’s a great friend of ours,” I said.

“Why didn’t you say so!” he cried, and suddenly his whole demeanor changed. “Any friend of Clarice is a friend of mine. It’s been a long time since she showed her face around here.”

“I have to admit I haven’t seen her in a while either,” I said.

“She used to hang out a lot in Dumpster City,” he said.

“Dumpster City?”

“Main Street is what the locals call it. Plenty of dumpsters out there. So what do you wanna know?”

“The guy who used to live here,” I said, pointing to Edwardo’s last-known address. “Any idea where we might find him?”

“Best bet would be the Generals Arms,” he said.

“Is that a bar?”

“Yeah, not a very nice one, mind you. But it’s where he spends most of his time. Him and some of his seedy friends.”

“Thanks…”

“Barry Gibb,” said the cat.

“Barry Gibb?”

“Yeah. On account of my great singing voice.” He suddenly puffed himself up and started belting out,“Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk I’m a woman’s man.”

“Thanks, Barry Gibb,” I said quickly.

“Hey, it’s all about stayin’ alive, buddy.”

“Absolutely.”

“Tell Clarice I said hi, will you?”

“I will,” I said as we returned to Chase and Odelia, who stood patiently waiting.

“And tell her not to be a stranger!” Barry Gibb cried after us, and I lifted my paw in response.

“Nice fellow, Barry Gibb,” said Dooley.

“Yeah, very nice,” I agreed.

“Let’s ask him to join cat choir.”

“Let’s not.” And addressing my human, I said, “Generals Arms. It’s a bar where Edwardo hangs out a lot.”

Odelia’s smile was something to behold. “Thanks, Max. I owe you one.”

Chapter 12

We waited outside while Chase and Odelia walked into the Generals Arms to talk to the bartender. Strange as it may sound, but some of these bars and restaurants have a No Pets Allowed policy. It’s not something I’ll ever be able to understand, though of course it is true that pets usually don’t carry wallets and so don’t make the best customers. And since these places only make money when the patrons pay for their services, I guess there is a certain logic to barring pets from frequenting them.

“Do you think that the Baker Street Cats will make police work a thing of the past, Max?” asked Dooley as we waited on the sidewalk like the good assistants that we were.

“I don’t think so, Dooley,” I said.

“But why, Max? If all the cats in all the cities in all the world are mobilized to hunt criminals, there will be no more crime, and the police will find themselves out of a job.”

“There’s a lot of stuff the police do that has nothing to do with crime, Dooley,” I said.

“Like what?”

“Directing traffic, for instance,” I said after a moment’s reflection. “Or crowd control.”

“I don’t think Chase will be happy to go from being a detective to directing traffic.”

“No, well, I don’t think it will ever come to that.”

Odelia and Chase had come walking out of the bar, both looking relieved.

“We got him,” said Odelia. “Turns out he was in here with Willie last night, huddling in a corner for a long time, before apparently getting into some kind of fight. They had to break them up, and they were hurling a string of expletives in each other’s direction.”

“But why?” I asked.

Odelia shrugged.“The bartender said that Edwardo accused Willie of betraying him, though what exactly the argument was about, he didn’t know. All he knows is that he kicked both men out, and that’s the last time he saw them.”

“Let’s go,” said Chase curtly, as he tucked his notebook back into his jacket pocket.

Moments later we were zooming along in the direction of Edwardo’s new place, and when we arrived there, discovered it was actually a deserted old factory.

“The people who claim that crime doesn’t pay would get a kick out of this,” Chase grunted when he took in the rundown old building, where, according to the markings on the facade, once wheelbarrows had been made.

“Looks like Willie’s friend has hit hard times,” Odelia remarked.