The drive to Bonnie’s was too short for Mary to sort out all of her thoughts. Why had the Mendosa children fallen quiet when they saw Bill Bliss? The children were many things, bright and fun, but never quiet. Had they recognized him? Or thought they did? No, not possible. They hadn’t looked scared. Wary perhaps, but not scared. Well, he was their mother’s boss, and their stepfather’s as well. Could that account for it? Someone had said something, though. What was it? Something … insurance. That was it. Ellen said the little poodle the Blisses had was insured to the hilt. Could Bill really have done something to the dog, made it disappear somehow, and collected the insurance? Could Cliff have found out and decided to blackmail him? She shook her head. This was beginning to sound like a made-for-TV movie.
She turned into Bonnie’s driveway and paused. The big gate was open. She drove through.
No one seemed to be around. Bonnie’s car was parked by the kennel building. Her van wasn’t, but that didn’t mean anything. Some people actually kept cars in their garage. She got out, stretched and let the car door slam. Immediately dogs barked. Yelped. Demanded to know who was on their property. If Bonnie was here, she knew that Mary, or someone, was also.
She’d heard. She appeared in the doorway of the kennel bulding, peering into the dim light of the yard. ‘Mary! I didn’t know you were coming.’
‘I was at the winery and thought I’d stop off and give you the receipt for the donations. I didn’t know if you were a nonprofit or not but thought you should have it. The Christmas Can Tree Drive is very grateful for your help.’
‘Nonprofit?’ Bonnie looked a little surprised then laughed and nodded. ‘There are times.’
Mary held out the paper she’d carried out of the car with her, but Bonnie shook her head again. ‘Can you put it on my desk inside? My hands – I’ve got gloves on.’
For the first time, Mary noticed the thin gloves Bonnie had on. They were the same kind the nurse and doctor wore when she went in for a check-up. The ones the dentist and his assistant wore – even the people at the bakery wore them when they filled your order. What was Bonnie doing with them? Mary looked closer. The knees of her jeans were damp, as if she’d been kneeling in something wet, her T-shirt was stained and there were streaks of dirt on her face. What was she doing?
‘Whelping.’ Bonnie smiled as if Mary had spoken out loud. ‘Mindy is having her babies. You’re just in time to see. Come on in.’
She headed back through the kennels’ doorway, Mary close behind. She’d only seen puppies born one other time, years ago when one of her sister’s dogs had produced a litter. She had obligingly let the entire neighborhood watch. It had been fascinating; she remembered that but not much else. She hurried a little faster.
‘Put that down on my desk then come in the last kennel. Try to be quiet. She’s a first timer and is doing well, but she’s a little nervous.’
Tiredness forgotten, Mary placed the tax statement on Bonnie’s cluttered desk, hesitated as she wondered how to keep it from getting lost in the pile of papers already there, placed a clear glass paperweight with a cocker spaniel etched on one corner of it and tiptoed down the aisle to the open kennel. Bonnie knelt in the dirt beside a large slat-sided box filled with shredded newspaper.
‘Is she all right?’
‘She’s fine. So are the pups. Come look. She’s got three already. She’s taking a little rest before she does it again.’
Bonnie sat back on her heels. Mary looked at her, sighed, then lowered herself down on one knee, placed a hand on the ground and got down on both of them. This was only going to last a short time. She hoped she’d be able to get back up.
However, while she was here, there were three puppies laying, wiggling by their mother. One was already sniffing the air, pulling itself around while making soft mewing sounds. ‘Where is he going?’
‘He’s trying to find his mother’s nipple. He can’t see yet, that will take a while, and can’t really get up on his feet, but he can smell and he knows he’s hungry.’
They watched the pup in silence while it tried to find its first meal.
Finally, Mary asked, ‘How many more will she have?’
‘One. At least, if that ultrasound we took is right. Probably is. Cliff said she had four and I’ve never known him to be wrong. She’ll lick these guys a little more, let them try to find a nipple then go back into labor. She’ll kind of shake off anyone who’s figured out how to latch on, break the sack on the new one, break the cord and lick the pup until its breathing on its own and starts to wiggle around. I never tire of watching this. It’s like a miracle, each time.’
Mary had no trouble agreeing with that. So tiny, so perfect, and both mother and babies seemed to know just what to do. ‘Who’s the father?’
‘The dog you saw the other day. This is his first litter, for me, that is, and I already have all of them sold.’ There was great satisfaction in Bonnie’s voice and obvious pride.
Mary thought back to the puppies she had seen at Evan’s pet shop earlier that day. Those puppies looked a little like these and the older pups she’d seen here when she’d collected the dog food for the Christmas Can Tree. That honey-colored one still stuck in her mind. So sweet, such long, silky ears, so … ‘Are these purebred cocker spaniels?’
From the expression on Bonnie’s face, Mary thought she’d just said something blasphemous. ‘Of course. That’s what we do. Breed cockers. I’m known for my cockers. Why would you think they would be something else?’
Mary was taken aback by how upset Bonnie seemed to be. ‘I didn’t mean – only I don’t know much about dogs and the puppies we saw at Evan’s shop look a little like these and they were only part cocker. So, I wondered if you ever did that.’
‘No.’
Mary had never heard a more emphatic one.
‘The dogs you saw at Evan’s are cockapoos. Part poodle, part cocker. People pay huge amounts for them but I wouldn’t consider breeding them. When people buy my dogs, they know they’re getting the best pure cocker spaniel bloodlines they can find anywhere.’
That seemed to be the end of that subject, and it was just as well. Mary could feel her knees protesting. The dirt was hard, her knees were used to a soft garden kneeler when she worked in the yard, and they were not happy. Neither was her back. It was time to go. She put her hand on the ground and started to position one leg under her, hoping she could get up in one movement, when Bonnie grabbed her arm. ‘Look. She’s getting ready.’
The little dog contracted. She lay on one side and pushed. A small, greenish sack appeared from under her tail. The dog paused, panted a couple of times, looked back at the sack, laid her head back down on the newspaper and pushed again. The sack slid out a little farther, enough so Mary could see a nose. A little black nose. With a groan, the dog pushed one more time and the sack was almost out. The puppy it contained didn’t move. Neither did the mother. Mary forgot her knees, her back and how to breathe. Were they dead? The beautiful mother, her head limp on the damp newspaper, and the puppy entrapped in the thick membrane sack would surely die as well. They had to do something. Why was Bonnie not …
She was. ‘Tired, aren’t you.’ She reached under the dog’s stub of a tail, gently pulled the sack all the way out and broke it open. Liquid poured out along with a puppy. A black puppy with white feet, with white across its shoulders, its flanks and a white diamond mark on its chest. ‘Will you look at that. A parti-color. I wasn’t expecting that.’
The puppy started to shudder. At least, that’s what it looked like to Mary. The mother picked up her head, looked back at her baby, turned so she could reach it and started to lick. The sack was off completely, the cord disappeared and the puppy started to wiggle.
Mary breathed again. ‘How many times a year do you do this?’
Bonnie laughed. ‘I have three bitches and I only breed them once a year. She’s got four beauties. Time to leave her alone. Come on, I’ll help you up.’ She stood, reached out to Mary and helped her to her feet. They stood for a moment, looking at the mother dog as she let the first puppy nurse while she licked the newest one. The other two sniffed the air and headed for their first supper.
‘Even three times would be a little too much drama for me. I’m wrung out.’ Mary stretched and flexed her knees. They were fine. ‘Does that include the dogs you bought from Alma?’
It was almost as if Bonnie hadn’t heard her. ‘Cliff used to be with me when I had a litter born. The first time I thought I was going to pass out, but he walked me through the whole thing. The dog was fine. I almost didn’t make it. He taught me so much, not just about whelping but about breeding, about caring. He knew what to look for in a dog. He was the one who taught me how to judge. He went to dog shows with me. Even after … He would have been here with me today. It’s hard to believe he’s gone.’
Bonnie wiped her eyes with the back of her hands, seemed to realize she had on gloves, stripped them off, threw them in a close-by trash can and headed out the kennel building’s doors into the now-dark yard.
Mary followed. ‘Alma’s dogs. You have three including hers?’
Bonnie stopped and looked around. ‘Oh. Alma’s dogs. No. I haven’t bred them yet. I’m not sure what I’ll do. They’re nice but not quite …’ She seemed a little lost once more. Grief. Grief and strain.
Only, from what she had read in Cliff’s diary … She must have misunderstood. Or Bonnie had. Anyway, it wasn’t important. What was important was that she went home and took off her shoes.
‘Is there anything I can do for you?’ She fervently hoped not and immediately felt guilty. Bonnie was grieving. If she needed help, Mary would give it, but she really wanted to go home.
Bonnie shook her head. ‘No. Thank you for asking, and thanks for coming by. Actually, it helped just having someone else here. Todd will be home soon, and even though he doesn’t know it yet, he’s taking me out to dinner.’ She pushed back a strand of hair and left a grayish streak on her cheek.
Mary got in her car and rolled the window down. Bonnie rested her elbows on the door and leaned on them. ‘You’re close to the Mendosa family, aren’t you?’
Mary nodded. What had brought that on?
‘I heard the Mendosa children were in the manger when Cliff …’ She shuddered. ‘I heard they saw the man who killed him and that’s where they found the puppy. Is that true?’
Mary felt as if she’d been hit in the chest with a meat mallet. ‘Who told you that?’ She could barely get the words out.
‘It’s all over town. Do they know who the man was?’
Mary wasn’t sure what to say. All over town? No. It couldn’t be. If the murderer heard that, if he thought those children really knew who he was … She had to stop this rumor, right now. Starting with Bonnie. ‘They don’t know anything. They did go out to the manger. They wanted to see their mother ride in on the donkey, and that’s when they found Cliff’s body. They have no idea – they saw a shadow. It might not even have been a man. Dalia thought it was a cow.’ She tried to laugh a little. It came out as a giggle. ‘The only ones who might know anything are the police, and so far they haven’t said much. As for the puppy, no one seems to know where it came from. I don’t see how it can be connected.’ Mary was babbling. She didn’t approve of lying and wasn’t very good at it. ‘You tell whoever’s spreading this they’re wrong. Dead wrong.’ Oh, that wasn’t good. Never mind. Was she convincing? She hoped so. She needed Bonnie to spread the word that the children knew nothing. If whoever did that to Cliff thought they could identify him … Goose bumps broke out on her arms. It was a long shot, but the best she could do right now. She smiled. ‘You’re sure there’s nothing I can do for you?’
Bonnie stepped away from the window and shook her head. ‘No. Thanks, Mary. I’m fine. I’ll go feed the dogs and wait for Todd.’
Mary nodded. She tried to read the expression on Bonnie’s face but couldn’t. Did she believe her? Would she tell whoever was spreading the rumor they were wrong? Would she even talk to that person? Mary ground her teeth, slipped the car into gear and drove out through the gate opening.
She turned into the street with one hand and fished in her tote bag for her cell phone with the other. She knew she shouldn’t drive and talk, but this was important. There was one person who needed to know about this rumor going around and needed to know right now. She dialed the police station.
‘Hello, Agnes? Did they get the apartment cleaned out? Good. Agnes, I need to talk to Dan. Now.’