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“We’re going for a Vegas wedding,” said Odelia finally, a big smile on her face.

“Just you guys,” said Chase, “and no one else.”

“How about it?” asked Odelia, and both she and Chase looked a little trepidatious all of a sudden, unsure of how their family would react.

“I love it,” said Uncle Alec.

“Absolutely!” said Marge, and streaked forward to hug her daughter.

“Does that mean we have to write to all those people to disinvite them?” asked Gran.

“I think a message in the Gazette will suffice,” said Odelia.

“Then count me in,” said Gran.

“And me!” said Tex.

“Chase’s granddad is also coming,” Odelia said, “and his mom and aunt. And that’s it. We’re going for the ultra-limited approach.”

“Sometimes that’s the best one,” Marge agreed.

And frankly I couldn’t have agreed more.

“Vegas,” said Dooley, wide-eyed. “Do they have cats there, Max?”

“Sure,” I said. “It’s just a town like any other, Dooley.”

“Well, maybe not likeany other,” said Brutus with a grin.

“But they’ve got kibble, right?”

“Of course they have kibble,” I said.

And hopefully it was the non-pre-chewed kind.

Chapter 38

The wedding had gone off without a hitch. The same couldn’t be said for the post-wedding dinner, which Tex had taken upon himself to preside over. Unfortunately he’d opted for one of those sushi places where the customer is supposed to do everything themselves. But even as Tex grabbed the knife and tongs handed to him by an overoptimistic server, andstarted slicing and dicing morsels of food then aiming them at his clients’ plates, those clients—or victims—were still basking in that post-wedding bliss too much to bother about what landed on—or in the vicinity of—their plates.

Chase’s grandfather, mom and aunt had left by then to get an early night—they must have had a premonition, for at some point I heard Gran loud-whisper into Scarlett’s ear that they could always move to a different restaurant when this ordeal was over.

“It’s nice of them, don’t you think, Max?” said Dooley. “That they don’t want to hurt Tex’s feelings?”

“I think ultimately they’re doing him a disfavor, though,” I said. “After all, if only someone stood up and told him he’s probably the worst chef in the history of chefhood, maybe he’d take steps to remedy the situation, instead of making it worse.”

We watched as Tex intensely studied a piece of fish, frowning as if willing it to reveal its culinary secrets.

“How can you ruin sushi?” I heard Scarlett whisper back. “It’s raw fish!”

But when we glanced over to Odelia and Chase, they both looked so obviously happy Tex could have served them roadkill and they’d have savored it with relish, thinking it was the finest gourmet dish.

“Why was that priest dressed so funny, Max?” asked Dooley. “And why did he break into song in the middle of the service?”

“He was dressed as Elvis, Dooley,” explained Harriet. “It’s a local custom here in Vegas.”

“Yeah, plenty of Elvis impersonators here,” Brutus confirmed.

“Are you sure they’re really married, though?” asked Dooley. “That guy didn’t look like a priest to me.”

“He wasn’t a priest, but yes, they’re officially married,” I confirmed. “You don’t need a priest to be married in the eyes of the law. All you need is an officiant who’s certified.”

“Well, he certainly looked certifiable to me,” Dooley said, nodding.

We all laughed, except for Dooley, who didn’t realize he’d said something funny.

“So you caught the real killers, did you?” asked Charlene.

“Yeah, we did,” Uncle Alec confirmed. “Bojanowsky and Bonikowski will do time.”

“But how did you find out that they were the ones behind all this?”

“Um…” Uncle Alec paused and glanced in my direction. “Well, part of it is good old-fashioned police work, of course. The other part…” He shrugged. “If I tell you that Max solved the case, along with some friendly assistance from Evelina Pytel’s pet snail, you’re not going to thinkI’m funny in the head, are you?”

Charlene laughed, then stared at her boyfriend with a touch of incredulity.“No,” she finally said, when she realized he wasn’t pulling her leg. “No, of course not. A cat and a snail, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, what do you know?”

“And what about Johnny and Jerry?” asked Marge, who seemed to have a soft spot for the two crooks who had such a hard time getting and staying on the straight and narrow.

“Johnny and Jerry are fine,” Chase assured his mother-in-law. “They’ve been released and they’ve promised to stay out of trouble from now on.”

“Did I tell you they were in my office the other day?” said Uncle Alec.

“What did they want?” asked Odelia.

“To ask what the procedure was to become a cop.”

Chase uttered a bark of incredulity.“No way.”

“Yeah, way,” said Uncle Alec with a touch of somberness. “Johnny wanted to know all about job openings at the station, and Jerry was particularly interested in pay scales. I told them they didn’t stand a chance of becoming cops, as you need a clean record and their record is probably about as long as my arm. But that didn’t seem to deter them.”