Soon, a knock sounded at the door. Studmuffin and I shared a look. Was it the detective or our mysterious robot-building neighbor?
Studmuffin leaped down, trotted to the window, and batted at the curtains. "So shiny!"
With a shake of my head, I stood and crossed to the door. If someone could explain to me why my familiar was so weird, that would be really great.
I opened the door to Detective Palmer. His face was five-alarm-pepper red, either from heat or frustration or both.
"I didn't hear you pull up," I told him.
Without a word, he barged in and waited until I closed and locked the door behind him. "Unlike some people I know," he whispered hoarsely, "I don't go, 'Here I am!' to every killer within a sixty-mile radius of Belle's Cove."
"Sounds like you know some very strange
