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“How long is this scene, anyway?” the white cat meowed to Walt as Mrs. Third Floor made kissy noises at her. “I don’t do extended runs.”

Walt just smirked.

Officer Marlowe came over to Mrs. Third Floor, with Bob the maintenance man behind her. He stopped short when he saw Butterbean and Walt.

“Oh. You guys,” he said, looking from Butterbean to Walt and back again. “I should’ve known.”

They’d had some run-ins with Bob before. Butterbean lolled her tongue as a hello gesture. He didn’t seem to appreciate it.

Officer Marlowe snorted.“Hello? Not them. This is the cat here,” she said, pointing to the floury mess in Mrs. Third Floor’s arms. “Those other animals are all accounted for.”

“Right,” Bob growled. “Of course. Those guys always have a cover story.”

Butterbean wagged her tail at him. He ignored her.

Bob leaned forward and carefully examined the white cat, who preened like she was having hair and makeup done. Bob stepped back, dusting his hands off.“Yeah, I’ve seen this cat before. How’d she get in?”

“We’re not sure,” Officer Marlowe said. “We’ll leave that mystery for you to solve. Now if you can just get this cat home? I think she’s done enough damage here.”

“Did you hear that?” the white cat smirked. “They totally bought my performance.”

Walt rolled her eyes.

Bob looked at his clipboard.“So I’m thinking this cat lives next door.” He flipped the papers back down on the clipboard and reached out for the white cat. “Come on, Bertha. Let’s get you home.”

Butterbean’s jaw dropped. “Bertha? Your name’s BERTHA?”

“PRINCESS JUBILEE! CALL ME PRINCESS JUBILEE!” the cat shrieked as Bob carried her away. “Princess Jubilee’s my stage name! No one calls me BERTHA!”

“Wow. I didn’t expect that,” Butterbean said to Walt.

Walt snickered.“Princess Jubilee.” It was almost worse than Bertha.

“Well, that’s that,” Officer Marlowe said, coming over to Mrs. Third Floor. “I’m heading down to the precinct. I’ll be back later to take your statements.” She held up the video camera. “Evidence. Those doofuses taped the whole thing—set up, crime, confession, you name it.” She shook her head again and looked down at Butterbean. “I’m just surprised those animals of yours didn’t root out that cat right away. You’d think they would’ve tipped us off to a strange animal.”

Mrs. Food frowned down at Butterbean, who blinked back with her most innocent face on.“Hmm. Yes, you’d think.” She turned to Madison. “I’m going to be a while here. Could you put them back in the apartment? I think they’re overtired. Especially Bean, with all that howling.”

“I was in character!” Butterbean complained as Madison dragged her to the elevator.

She didn’t stop grumbling until Madison unlocked the door to Mrs. Food’s apartment a few minutes later.

“Well, I’m glad that’s over,” Butterbean said to Walt as Madison shut them back inside.

“But it isn’t over, is it?” a voice said as the door closed behind them.

Butterbean stopped short. Sitting in the middle of the sofa, waiting for them, was Jerome.

He drummed his tentacles on the arm of the sofa.“Well, I did my part. Now how are you getting me home?”

Luckily, Jerome was in a much better mood once Oscar appealed to his better nature. (The way to appeal to Jerome’s better nature was with sardines. Lots of sardines.)

“So you think you can get me a map of the pipes?” Jerome said, spraying a fine mist of fish juice. “Since I obviously can’t go back the way I came.”

“Right,” Walt said. “The city website is sure to have one. Once we get you that map, you can just follow the pipes back to the zoo.”

“And take Larry down,” Jerome growled menacingly. (Or as menacingly as he could with a mouth full of sardines.) “I’ll be so entertaining, they’ll never even THINK about replacing me.”

“YEAH!” Butterbean cheered, high-fiving one of Jerome’s free tentacles. She was still hyped up from the ghost stuff earlier.

“We think it should be pretty straightforward,” Oscar said, scooting down the arm of the sofa. He was definitely going to need a bath to wash off all the fish residue.

“Good. Because I don’t want to end up in some water recycling plant or decorative fountain or something,” Jerome grumbled. He shook his fist again. “TAKE LARRY DOWN!”

“TAKE HIM DOWN!” Marco and Polo cheered. The enthusiasm was a little contagious.

Jerome giggled and elbowed Wallace in the side.“Did you hear those ghost guys scream? Oh man, I should incorporate that ghost stuff into my routine at the zoo. It’ll be a huge draw. Seriously, you guys have given me a lot of great new ideas.” He tapped his cheek thoughtfully. “I think I just needed this quality time away from the paparazzi to find myself again. You know, personal growth and all that.”

“Erm. Great,” Oscar said, eyeing the door. Mrs. Food and Madison could get back any minute, and they still had to use the computer. “We’re glad it was beneficial. But maybe you should go get your things together?”