"At the risk of sounding ignorant," said Muffy, "what's a financier?"
Mr. Cutler tensed up to respond, but Fern spared him the trouble. "What he's saying is, Mr. Gelt provides the money so that the mob can operate."
The hamster man nodded.
Muffy felt as if her heart had been ripped out and she was wrestling to get it back.
"But…but that's impossible! My dad would never borrow money from gangsters! Never!"
"It may be that your father's unaware of the extent of Gelt's shady dealings," suggested Mr. Cutler.
"I don't believe you," said Muffy indignantly. "He may be a mean old man without a heart, but he's not an organized criminal, because I know for a fact that my daddy would never, ever do business with organized criminals."
After gazing thoughtfully into the air for a few seconds, Fern started to lead Mavis into the bathroom. "I'll help you change out of the dress," she said disappointedly. "I'm awfully sorry about this."
"That's nice of you," said Mavis, "but I can handle it."
"Humor me," said Fern, and the door closed after the two girls.
Meanwhile, Mr. Cutler gestured for Muffy to accompany him into the computer room. "Maybe a Google search will convince you," he said to the offended monkey girl. "Have a seat, and type in the words 'Meriwether Gelt' and 'Mafia'."
Anxious to prove the man wrong, she leaned back in the revolving chair, pulled the keyboard closer, and entered the search terms Mr. Cutler had given her. The moment she pressed Enter, a series of alarming headlines appeared:
Gelt accused of racketeering
Millionaire denies writing check to Mafia don
Probe widens in Gelt bribe scandal
Attorney's death suicide or mob hit?
Fern stepped into the room, her fingers busily tying the string around Muffy's dress box. "Find anything interesting?" she asked her friend.
"I'll say," replied Muffy, her face radiating with worry. "Newspapers don't lie—Mr. Gelt is a big-time crook. I've got to warn my daddy about him, right away."
"Assuming he doesn't already know," said Fern flatly.
"Don't even joke about that, Fern," said Muffy, hopping down from the office chair. "My dad's innocent in all of this, you'll see. Now let's go, chop-chop!"
Eager to leave herself, Fern followed Muffy with such haste that they struck and knocked over Mavis on the way out. "Omigosh, I'm so sorry!" exclaimed Fern, as Muffy extended a hand to help the girl to her feet.
"I wish you could stay longer," said the unruffled Mavis. "My mom bought me a CD set of the complete Shakespeare sonnets."
Fern abruptly froze in her tracks. "Come on!" said Muffy, dragging her along by the wrist.
Mrs. Walters, surprised to see the girls return so soon, closed up the computer training manual she was reading. "Where to now?" she asked them.
"My place," answered Muffy as she and Fern climbed into the back seat with their package. "And step on it."
"Yes, Miss Muffy," said the poodle woman facetiously.
Within a matter of minutes, Mrs. Walters was waiting on the street outside the Crosswire condo as her daughter and Muffy rushed inside. Finding her parents passionately holding hands in front of the television, Muffy staunchly placed herself between them and the set, holding the box under one arm. "Daddy, I've got something important to tell you," she announced.
"It must be important," remarked Mr. Crosswire. "You're normally too polite to stand in front of the TV."
Fern, her gaze suspicious, looked back and forth between Mr. and Mrs. Crosswire as Muffy began to speak. "You mustn't take out a loan from Mr. Gelt," the girl pleaded. "He's in cahoots with the Mafia!"
"What?" her father blurted out.
"The Mafia?" said her mother with astonishment that Fern found questionable.
"And furthermore," Muffy went on, "I think he sent that man to sideswipe me and Bailey."
The Crosswire parents turned to each other. "Did you know about that?" the wife asked the husband.
"I didn't have a clue," was the husband's reply.
They're phonier than an American Idol audition, thought Fern.
"Mr. Cutler knows all about him," Muffy related. "He's so afraid of getting mixed up with Gelt, he wouldn't even accept the dress."
"What do you mean, accept the dress?" said Mr. Crosswire, now appearing more startled than when Muffy had informed him of Gelt's Mafia connections.
"You didn't try to give them the dress, did you?" asked his equally astounded wife.
"That's exactly what I did, Mommy," said Muffy with pride. "It's worth ten times the amount of money they need for Mavis' operation."
"Out of the question!" her father snapped. "I forbid it!" What Fern saw in his face, she could only describe as terror.
"What?" said Muffy, now shocked. "But…Mavis needs the operation! She'll go blind!"
"Yes, honey, I know," said Mrs. Crosswire, nervous to the point of quivering. "But we have other plans for the dress. You can help your friend later."
"What other plans?" exclaimed Muffy, her grip on the box tightening.
Her parents hesitated to answer, and Fern saw an opportunity to interrupt. "Now it all makes sense," said the poodle girl boldly. "I was wrong about you, Mr. Crosswire. I thought you were totally about money, but now I see you're just a cringing coward!"
Muffy gaped. Her mother gaped. Her father's eyes became livid.
"He stole your dress, Muffy," said Fern, pointing at the man. "I saw his car coming and going at the scene. But he didn't do it for the money—he did it out of fear. He knew about Gelt's Mafia ties from the start, and he would've turned the dress over to him if I hadn't found him out."
Horrified to the point of tears, Muffy shook her head back and forth. "No…my daddy wouldn't…"
"Enough is enough!" bellowed Mr. Crosswire, leaping to his feet. With a brusque motion he tore the parcel out of Muffy's arms, stating, "The dress goes to Mr. Gelt, and you have no say in the matter!"
"Daddy, no!" cried Muffy, stretching out her arms after the box.
I've seen all I need to see, thought Fern.
Seizing her heartbroken friend by the fingers, she said, "Let's get out of here! Run!"
"No! No!" wept Muffy as Fern attempted to pull her out towards the door. "My dress!"
"Forget your dress!" shouted the poodle girl. "Let's go! Now!"
All Muffy could see through her tears was her father's merciless, stone-like face. Feeling that anything in the world was preferable to that view, she gave in to Fern's pressure and bolted out of the condo, wishing never to return.
To be continued