The Mysteries of Max: Books 31-33 by Nic Saint (interesting novels in english txt) 📕

to the buzzer, and when the door was yanked open, and Joshua Curtis appeared, he looked as tense as Odelia did. “Miss Poole!” he exclaimed. “I didn’t expect to see you here.” He then stared at Gran and Scarlett, clearly expecting an explanation, which Odelia declined to supply.

“The cops are on their way to pick you up,” she said, “so you better start talking, Joshua. What were you doing on Parker Street tonight?”

“Oh,” said the man, his face falling.

“Three men are dead, Joshua. And the police think you had something to do with it.”

He gaped at her. “Me!”

“You were seen leaving the scene of the crime. In fact you were walking out of the house just as smoke started to appear. What do you have to say for yourself? And better talk quick. Like I said, the police will be here any second now.”

He grimaced, as if her words didn’t come as a great surprise to him. “Look, I wasn’t—I had nothing to do with whatever happened there. I just… happened to pass by that place when I suddenly saw smoke coming out. So I did what any decent citizen would: I checked if there was a fire, and when I saw that there was, I immediately called 911.”

“You called 911?”

“Of course. It’s my civic duty to inform the emergency services whenever I become aware of an emergency in progress,” he said, sounding very much like the law-abiding citizen and stickler for upholding the law he appeared to be.

Odelia seemed much sobered by this, and more at ease than she was when she’d hurried over there lickety-split. “So… what were you doing out there, exactly? It’s not your neck of the woods now is it?”

“I… I was walking my dog,” he said, and unfortunately didn’t sound very truthful as he said it.

“I didn’t see no dog,” Gran said, putting in her two cents.

“I didn’t see no dog either,” Scarlett confirmed.

“These two ladies saw you,” Odelia explained.

He blinked, then said, “My dog must have been back in the car by the time they saw me. His… his paws get cold.”

Now there are people who are very adept at lying, and then there are others who are not so adept. And Joshua Curtis belonged in the last category, I’m afraid.

“His paws get cold,” said Odelia, sounding skeptical.

“He’s very sensitive. He gets cold paws.”

“Do you even have a dog, sonny boy?” asked Gran, narrowing her eyes.

“Of course I do. Boomer!” he called out. “Boomer, come here, boy.” He listened for a moment, then shrugged. “He’s probably asleep. Boomer is very old,” he added as if entrusting us with a confidence.

“Look, I hope for your sake, Joshua,” said Odelia, “that your story is true. Because the police…” She paused as the sound of a police siren could be heard, piercing the nocturnal silence that descends over most small towns the moment night falls.

“Here they are now,” she announced. She wagged a finger in her client’s face. “Better tell them the truth, Joshua. No lies, you hear me?”

He smiled. “I’ll tell them exactly the same thing I just told you.”

“He’s lying, Max,” Dooley said as we returned to the car, just as a police car pulled up to the curb and two officers got out.

“Yeah, I had that same impression,” I said.

“I mean, if he had a dog, it was the unsmelliest dog that I’ve ever not smelled.”

“You didn’t smell a dog?” asked Odelia.

“Nope,” Dooley confirmed. “The man doesn’t own a dog and has never owned a dog. If he had, we would have smelled him, wouldn’t we, Max?”

“Absolutely.”

“What are they saying?” asked Scarlett, as usual tickled pink by our chattering.

“They’re saying they smelled a rat,” Gran grunted.

“A rat!”

“Not a real one. The guy is lying through his teeth. He doesn’t have a dog.”

“So if he wasn’t walking his dog, then what was he doing out there?”

“Scoring dope? Murdering three people in their beds? Who knows?”

“Oh, dear,” said Odelia as we all got back into Gran’s little car. Across the street two officers had now entered Joshua’s house. “Gran?”

“Yah.”

“Are you sure you didn’t see a dog?”

“She doubts us, Max,” Dooley whispered.

“A good detective always double-checks,” I whispered back.

“Nah. Not a dog in sight.”

“Darn it.”

“Look, I’m sorry, honey,” said Gran. “If I’d known he was your client, I wouldn’t have gabbed.”

“It’s not your fault, Gran. It’s Joshua’s fault that he got himself into a world of trouble. Can you bear with me for just five more minutes?”

And with these words, she got out of the car again, and hurried across the street.

“What’s she up to now?” asked Gran.

“Trying to get her client off the hook?” Scarlett suggested.

“He’s not really her client,” I said. “He’s just a guy who asked her to do a thing.”

But the finer nuances were lost on Gran, as she intently watched her granddaughter engage one of the officers in conversation. “Gee, he’s for it now,” she suddenly said. And as I looked where she was pointing, I saw that the other officer was escorting Joshua out of the house, equipped with a shiny pair of handcuffs.

“Looks like Boomer isn’t just an old dog,” said Scarlett. “He’s an invisible one, too.”

And as one officer deposited Joshua into the squad car, Odelia came jogging back and let herself fall into the seat next to us with a deep sigh. “They’ve got something on Joshua but they won’t say what it is. Clearly his story about walking his dog and just happening to be in the vicinity of that house is nonsense.”

“Of course it is,” said Gran. “I thought we’d established that already.”

“So what was he doing there?” asked Scarlett. “And why is he lying about it?”

“Beats me,” said Odelia.

“It’s not nice when clients lie to you,” Dooley said. “They should always be telling you the truth because you’re the best friend they have when they’re in a pickle.”

In spite of her irritation at her lying client, Odelia smiled, and so did Gran. “You’re absolutely right, Dooley. Now why don’t you tell Joshua Curtis that?”

“Do