Ник Сайнт: Purrfect Fool. Purrfect Fitness. Purrfect Setup

“Of course I know, silly!”

“So… he has to talk to you, right?”

She shrugged. The whole thing had surprised her, but she wasn’t the kind of person to fret, so she just told herself there was probably a perfectly good reason why her uncle hadn’t told her the news in person, and why he was refusing to take her calls.

And just as she took another sip of water, the doorbell chimed and she placed down the glass and went to answer the door. She was surprised to find Charlene Butterwick on the mat, looking distraught. Her hair was a mess, and she had dark rings under her eyes. “Can I come in?” the Mayor asked, and walked in without waiting for Odelia’s reply.

“What’s going on?” asked Odelia when Charlene quickly glanced over her shoulder before closing the door.

“It’s your uncle,” said Charlene, then suddenly burst into tears. “He-he’s been taken, Odelia.”

“What?!” Odelia cried. “What do you mean?”

“He’s been kidnapped. By some very bad people. And now I don’t know what to do.”

“Sit down,” said Odelia as she led the highly distraught mayor to the couch in the family room and sat her down. “Now tell me exactly what happened.”

Charlene nodded, and gratefully accepted the glass of water and took a sip. “It happened last night. We were at my place watching TV when suddenly the doorbell rang. Since it was almost midnight I was reluctant to open the door, so Alec went to go look instead. And before I knew what was happening, suddenly three men forced their way inside. They were holding a gun on Alec and then on me, too, and told us to sit down. They proceeded to gag us and tie us up and then started ransacking the house, looking for who knows what. Money, probably, though I could have told them they were in for a disappointment, since I’m not exactly a rich woman. Next thing I knew they grabbed Alec and forced him up from the couch…” She gave Odelia a teary look. “And that’s the last time I saw him. They led him out of the house, I heard a door slam, and a car drive off.”

“My God,” said Odelia, clutching a hand to her face. “And this was last night?”

Charlene nodded. “Before they left they made me swear not to call the police. They said if I did, I’d never see Alec again. And I believe them.” She shook her head. “And then they said the weirdest thing. They told me to contact the press, and announce my upcoming wedding to your uncle. They even gave me a document with detailed instructions I had to follow to the letter. So I did. I sent out the email immediately after they left. I was afraid if I didn’t, they’d…” She swallowed with difficulty. “They’d kill him.”

“Charlene, but that’s terrible!”

“I know. I went to work today, also as instructed, but I couldn’t help think about what happened. I was a total mess. Still am.”

“And they haven’t contacted you since last night?”

The Mayor shook her head. “I haven’t heard from them or your uncle. And now I fear the worst.”

The front door opened and closed and Chase walked in. When he caught sight of Charlene and the state she was in, he immediately came over. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “Is this about the wedding?”

Charlene glanced at Odelia, then up at Chase, and Odelia understood her meaning. “You can trust Chase, Charlene,” she said. “He won’t tell anyone.”

Charlene nodded, then said, in a choked voice, “Alec’s been kidnapped, Chase. They took him last night and…” She broke into tears. “I think he just might be dead!”

Chapter 6

“What’s going on, Max?” asked Dooley. “I don’t understand.”

“Charlene just told Odelia that Uncle Alec has been kidnapped,” I said.

“I know, but that can’t be right, right?”

“Why not?” I said. “Everyone can be kidnapped.”

“Yes,” said Brutus. “Uncle Alec has just as much right to be kidnapped as anyone else.”

“But… Uncle Alec is the chief of police,” said Dooley. “And police chiefs don’t just get kidnapped. There are rules against that sort of thing.”

“I’m sure there are rules against anyone being kidnapped,” I pointed out, “but that doesn’t prevent kidnappers from still taking people.”

“But… why?”

It was the exact same question Chase now asked the stricken mayor of our town, even as Odelia handed her a box of Kleenex.

“I don’t know,” said Charlene. “All I know is that they said I wasn’t to call the police and tell them what happened.” She glanced up at Chase. “Please don’t tell anyone? I don’t want anything to happen to Alec.” She closed her eyes. “If it’s not too late already.”

“Can you give me a description of the kidnappers?” asked Chase, taking a seat next to the Mayor and taking out his notebook. “Or the make and model of their car?”

Charlene shook her head. “All three of them were pretty big guys, but since they were wearing masks I can’t really tell you what they looked like.”

“Clothes? Shoes? Anything that stands out?”

Charlene thought for a moment, then said, “The one who seemed to be in charge was wearing red Converse shoes. I remember looking down at them and thinking they looked really nice. They looked new, too.”

Chase wrote this down in his little notebook, but I didn’t see how this would help him in any way. I’ll bet many people wear those kinds of shoes.

“Anything else?” he prompted gently.

“I–I think he spoke with an accent. I couldn’t really place it at the time, but now I think it might have sounded as if he was from… Boston?”

“Boston,” Chase repeated, and jotted this down, too.

“I don’t get it,” said Odelia. “Why would anyone kidnap my uncle? He’s not rich, he doesn’t own any property, and as far as I can tell he doesn’t have any enemies.”

“Are you sure about that?” asked Chase. “As a policeman he must have made some enemies over the course of his career.”

“Well, sure,” said Odelia. “But so have you. So has any cop on the force. So why him?”

Just then, the big fly who’d been annoying me to no end came buzzing in through the open window, and settled down on the couch seat next to me. “Max, I have some excellent pieces of intelligence for you,” the fly announced.

“That’s great,” I said, and if I was a little distracted it was because I was more interested in what Odelia and Chase were discussing with the Mayor than anything this fat fly had to offer.

“Don’t you want to know what I discovered?” asked the fly, sounding disappointed.

“Yeah, the thing is—my human’s uncle has just been kidnapped,” I explained. “So we’re a little busy right now, Mr.… what’s your name exactly?”

“Norm,” said the fly.

“Great. Now if maybe you could come back a little later, that would be—”

“They’re going to try and stop the wedding!” Norm blurted out.

“What wedding? What are you talking about?” I said, and it was a testament to my distress that I’d completely forgotten about the upcoming wedding, spectacularly revealed in that morning’s Gazette.

“Your Uncle Alec and the Mayor,” said Norm. “Grandma Muffin and her friend Scarlett are going to stop the wedding any way they can. But first they’re going to spy on Charlene—bug her house, her office, her car… Looks like they’ll bug the works. And can I just say I object to this word ‘bug?’ It just seems unnecessarily derogatory and offensive.”

I stared at the fly, and so did my friends.

“Who is your new buddy, Max?” asked Brutus.

“Oh, this is Norm,” I said. “Norm, meet Harriet, Brutus and Dooley, my friends and housemates.”

“Hi, Norm,” said Brutus. “I didn’t even know flies could talk.”