Even though I was the one who put it all together, I still couldn’t believe it, even with Bones’s cheery and congratulatory “Ding! Ding! Ding!”

“But how is that possible?” I said. “You mean to tell me that Jefferson Hope wasn’t always a murderer, but rather was once a young man in love?”

“And why should that surprise you so, my dear Catson? We are all changing all the time. None of us end up exactly as we have begun, not unless we are to remain babies or puppies or kittens all of our lives.”

“Or hatchlings,” Mr. Javier put in, somewhat angrily.

“Pardon me?” said Bones.

“Hatchlings,” Mr. Javier said. “You named all the others but you did not mention baby turtles. When we turtles are babies, we are called hatchlings.”

“Ah, yes!” Bones said. “And thank you so much for correcting me!”

Even though Bones normally hated to be corrected, he thanked Mr. Javier with such a soothing voice, I could only guess that he had no desire to raise the turtle’s ire further. Well, who could blame him?

“And thank you also, Mr. Javier,” Bones continued, indicating the remains of our supper, “for gathering this amazing spread for us. I cannot imagine that anyone in the land negotiates the intricacies of ordering and then collecting takeout with the same extraordinary skills that you exhibit.”

OK, that was laying it on a bit thick. Surely, the turtle would see through this and realize the dog was only trying to stay on his good side?

And yet, the turtle didn’t. Rather, he gave a slight bow of his reptile head in a display of humble pride.

Oh, brother. If Bones kept this up, the turtle would grow so full of himself, he’d be expecting all sorts of praise on a regular basis. Never mind praise, he’d probably demand a raise!

“Good,” Bones said, “now that everyone is happy again, I shall continue with the story of our young man in love, the man we all know as Jefferson Hope.”

“That’s an excellent idea, Boss,” Mr. Javier said, back to his usual pleasingly eager self. “But first, why don’t you all retreat to the drawing room and I’ll bring in dessert.”

“What are we having?” I asked casually, as if this idea didn’t appeal to me greatly. I must confess: I do have a sweet tooth.

“A new recipe I made this morning,” Mr. Javier said, more eager still. “It’s a pineapple upside-down cake. Something went a little wrong in the preparation, so instead it is a pineapple right-side-up cake, but I’m almost certain it will be good just the same.”