Ник Сайнт - Purrfect Heat

“That wasn’t very nice,” Chase said.

“No, that was outright mean,” Odelia said, shocked.

“And I think it’s motive,” said the Chief. “Konrad got this email, spent the day chewing on it, and by the time evening rolled around, he’d gone and whipped himself up into a frenzy of rage and revenge. He knew Niklaus was in town, and most likely to be found at Fry Me for an Oyster , so he went there on the off chance he’d find him. They met—they fought—he killed him and then shoved him into the oven to get rid of the evidence. And then he went on his bender.”

“Stacie said Niklaus never visited the restaurants he did,” Odelia said. “Konrad would never have found him there.”

“So he bumped into him somewhere else, and they went to the restaurant together. Or maybe he called him and they met out there.”

It all sounded a little fuzzy to her. “Has Abe discovered the cause of death yet?”

“No, he hasn’t. Most likely scenario is that Skad was strangled. But since the soft tissue around the neck is gone, he won’t be able to prove it.”

“So now all you have to do is get a confession and it’s case closed,” said Chase.

“You also think Konrad is our guy?” Odelia asked.

“Why? Don’t you?”

She shook her head slowly. “Something doesn’t sit right with me.”

“He’s got motive!” cried her uncle. “He had opportunity. He’s our guy!”

“Remember when we went to visit him, Chase?” she asked. “How he was certain we were there to talk about the drunk and disorderly thing?”

“So? He lied. He’s a TV personality. I’m sure he knows a thing or two about acting.”

“He didn’t strike me as dishonest,” she insisted. “He genuinely thought we were there to talk about Bill Clinton’s party. He had no clue we were there to talk about the murder.”

The two men shrugged. “I say we’ve got our guy,” the Chief repeated.

It was definitely possible, of course. After all, being taunted in such a mean way could have made Konrad Daines snap, especially on the day his own show had been canceled and he was already feeling very low. Still, the impression she got from him wasn’t that he was a killer.

Ten minutes later, the officers who’d gone to fetch Konrad finally arrived, the fallen celebrity chef in tow, and put him into the interrogation room. Chase and Odelia followed her uncle and watched through the one-way mirror as the latter entered the room and took a seat across from Konrad. The man looked much the worse for wear, as if being arrested was the final straw to his collapse.

“Mr. Daines,” her uncle began. “It’s come to my attention that Niklaus Skad wrote you an email the day before he died.”

Konrad stared at him. His bristly hair stood in all directions, and his skin had gone pale and blotchy. “An email?”

“Yes. Shall I read it to you? Jog your memory?” And as he did, Konrad’s face grew paler still. He looked nothing like the famous TV chef he was.

“I remember,” he said in a hoarse whisper. “Niklaus was an animal. I hated him so much—so very, very much.”

“Is that why you killed him?”

Konrad stared at Chief Alec, his lips moving wordlessly.

The Chief slammed the table. “You hated him so much you killed him, isn’t that right, Konrad?”

The chef started shaking. It was clear he was in the throes of a breakdown. “Yes,” he finally whispered.

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, I wanted him dead. I wanted him dead so, so much. I wanted to kill him—cut him—skewer him—chop off his head—rip him to pieces!”

Spittle was flying from his lips now, his eyes wild and crazy.

“So you admit you killed him,” her uncle said calmly.

“Yes! Yes, I killed Niklaus Skad!” Konrad suddenly cried, getting up from his chair. “I killed the greatest chef alive! Me, Konrad Daines! I destroyed the monster! I finished him off like the worm he was! I did it!”

“Settle down, Mr. Daines,” said the Chief, looking a little worried.

“I think he’s lost it,” Odelia said.

“I think you’re right,” Chase agreed. “But he still confessed.”

“I killed him! The monster is dead! The monster is dead!” Konrad screamed, pounding the walls of the room.

Uncle Alec darted a glimpse at the one-way mirror. He didn’t look at ease.

“I think we better get a couple of officers in there,” said Chase. “Before he attacks your uncle.”

“The monster is dead! The monster is finally dead!”

The Chief hurried out of the room while three officers moved in to restrain Konrad. When he joined them, he was wiping perspiration from his brow. “Phew. The guy just went nuts on me.”

“At least you got your confession,” Odelia said.

They both watched Konrad pick up a chair and smash it on the table. “Yeah, at least we got his confession,” Uncle Alec said, scratching his head.

“The monster is dead! I killed him! I killed him dead! Me! I won!”

Somehow, there was something wrong with this picture, Odelia thought. Whatever Konrad said, she couldn’t help feeling the real killer was still out there.

Chapter 25

Odelia had dropped the three of us off at the police station, where she had some urgent business to take care of. She said there had been some kind of breakthrough in the case of the celebrity chef, so that was great. Most likely Chief Alec had caught the killer and now Hampton Cove would return to its usual peaceful state. It let us off the hook, as we no longer had to root around to catch the killer. Not that I minded. For some reason sleuthing came naturally to me. Probably because I’m a naturally curious cat. It’s just the way I’m wired, I guess.

We were traipsing along Main Street when we saw Gran ducking into some alley with that ancient boyfriend of hers. Oh, God. Not again.

“Wasn’t that your human?” Brutus asked.

Dooley looked up, completely oblivious as usual. “Huh?”

“Gran just went into that alley with Leo,” I said.

“She did? Maybe we should see what she’s up to?” Dooley suggested.

“Why would we want to see what she’s up to?” I asked.

“Yeah, it’s really none of our business,” Brutus said, not sounding too keen.

“She’s my human, you guys!” Dooley cried. “I have a responsibility!”

“I think it’s the other way around, Dooley,” I said. “She has a responsibility towards you, not you towards her.”

“It goes both ways,” he said stubbornly. “She looks after me, so I need to look after her. What if this guy Leo is up to no good? What then? And I just sat here while she was being assaulted or something!”

“She’s not being assaulted,” I said. “It’s just that she can’t take Leo home because nobody approves of him, so they’ve gone and taken their affair to the streets.”

“Weird,” said Brutus.

“What’s weird?” I asked.

“I always thought human adults could do whatever they wanted. That it was just teenagers and kids that had to sneak around their parents’ backs.”

“Once you reach a certain age you revert back to the same state of having to sneak around,” I said. “Only now you sneak around your kids’ backs.”

“I still think it’s weird,” Brutus said with a shrug.

Well, it was kinda weird, of course. Once upon a time Marge had probably snuck around with Tex, canoodling in backseats of cars or bushes near the beach, and now it was Gran’s turn to do the same to her daughter. It was probably the circle of life or something. Like The Lion King .

“The more I learn about humans the more I think they’re way weird,” Brutus insisted.

“Better not to think about it too much,” Dooley said.