we should make another sweep through the store in case he is simply being stubborn about joining us.”
The three of them promptly spread out in different directions. Darla knew that it wasn’t unusual for Hamlet to be discovered curled up in some out-of-the-way nook, or else for him to be found lounging atop a bookshelf that appeared inaccessible. But what was unheard of was for the cat to skip his breakfast. Hamlet did not operate well on an empty stomach.
A few minutes later, they regrouped at the register.
“No Hamlet,” Darla said with a shake of her head. “I even checked that little gap between the bookshelves near the heat register, but no sign of him.”
“I looked upstairs in the lounge and out in the courtyard,” Robert offered, “but he wasn’t, like, there, either.”
“And I, too, had no luck . . . although I did find this on the floor near the reference area,” James said and handed Darla a thick paperback with a tricolor binding of black, red, and yellow.
“English-German, German-English Dictionary,” Darla read from the cover without much enthusiasm before tossing it onto the counter. “I guess that will come in handy if we want to say Where the hell is the damn cat? in German.”
“If I recall from my studies many years ago, that would be wo die Hölle die verdammte Katze ist,” James replied in a passable Teutonic accent. “But I agree, that is not much help under the circumstances.”
“Maybe he was, you know, worried about Mr. Plinski,” Robert suggested, sounding pretty concerned himself. “I’ll go check their stoop.”
He was back in a few moments shaking his head. “The little dude isn’t there.”
“I’ll check the apartment again,” Darla decided. “You know how he is. He probably snuck back in already and is up there laughing at us dumb humans.”
But Hamlet wasn’t upstairs, nor had he made an appearance by the time Jake and Mary Ann arrived back at the brownstone an hour later. The old woman looked surprisingly alert for someone who had spent most of her night sitting in a hospital waiting room.
“My dear, I am so grateful to you for lending us the car,” she exclaimed to Darla as Jake helped her out of the Mercedes. “I used to ride around in Maybelle with Dee quite often. That made the trip to the hospital rather comforting, like my old friend was watching over me.”
“I’m glad I could help in some way . . . though, of course, Jake is the real champ here.”
Mary Ann nodded and gave the ex-cop a teary smile. “I must confess, I phoned Jake even before I dialed 9-1-1. I was so flustered when I woke up and heard Brother calling to me. He said he’d been in pain for a good half hour before he finally decided that something was wrong. The nice doctor who took care of him said things could have been much worse if he’d waited any longer.”
“All of us were relieved to hear that he should be fine,” Darla assured her. “And we’ll all lend a hand if you need help while Mr. Plinski is laid up.” Turning to Jake, she added, “You look beat. Why don’t you get Mary Ann settled and then get some rest yourself. I’ll take Maybelle back to the garage.”
“Thanks, kid,” Jake replied with a tired smile that suddenly showed her age. Tossing Darla the keys, she admitted, “Now that the worst of it is over, I’m about ready to drop.”
Darla assumed her friend meant the medical emergency with Mr. Plinski. The specter of the missing Tera, along with the fact that Hilda had been charged with the brutal murder of a man they all knew, loomed large still. And that didn’t even count the situation with Robert. He still needed, as Jake had so wryly put it, his “forever home.” But for the moment, her most immediate concern was finding Hamlet.
Darla went back into the shop for her phone and coat. “I’m taking Maybelle back to the garage,” she announced. “And I’ll walk back the long way just in case Hamlet is doing a little Sunday stroll out there.”
“Take your time,” James urged her, “and I will be certain to call you if he shows up while you are gone.”
On the brief drive to the garage, Darla kept a keen eye out for a sleek black flash. As was to be expected, the missing feline was not to be found among the shoppers and walkers all out enjoying the crisp