Mary limped into her house by the back door, ignored the kitchen, for perhaps the first time in her life, and headed for the sofa in the living room. She sank down on it, raised her legs as she had been told in the hospital, and propped her head up on one of the sofa pillows. What an ordeal! They’d stitched her leg, given her shots, put IVs into her hand, pushed her through some kind of tunnel machine to take pictures of her head and finally told her she was fine and could go home. She knew she was fine. A couple of butterfly bandages would have taken care of the leg and two super strength Tylenols would take care of her head. That and an ice pack. Ellen brought the ice pack.
‘Tea?’
Mary started to nod but thought better of it. ‘Please.’
Ellen paused long enough to put another pillow under Mary’s head and an afghan over her knees before returning to the kitchen. Mary lay still and fumed. If that stupid box had held together one more minute, none of this would have happened. She closed her eyes and let her drifting thoughts take over. Evan. Killed. Lying all night, dead, in his shop. She hoped he’d been dead. The thought of him lying there, no one to help him, perhaps in pain, was too much. The only possible good thing she could think of was it meant Evan hadn’t killed Cliff. Didn’t it? It must, but somehow that was no consolation.
She let her thoughts move on to what was now the most important question. Why? It had to have some connection to Cliff’s death, didn’t it? Something to do with the dogs, with the missing poodle. Only, what? Evan didn’t have anything to do with the poodle. He sold cockapoos in his shop, though. He sold them for John and Glen. He sold his own puppies. Were they cockapoos? What a silly name for a dog. Why would anyone …? The puppies were so cute. She thought about Sampson. Where had he come from? Was he part of the litter Evan had in his store? How did you go about finding out? Who owned those puppies, anyway? Poor Evan. What a terrible thing. This had to stop before anyone else – oh my God. The children. Mary sat up abruptly, holding the ice pack to her head. If the same person killed both Cliff and Evan, were the children next?
‘What are you doing? You’re supposed to be lying down.’ Ellen set two mugs of tea on a magazine on the coffee table and walked over to her aunt. ‘I’ll help you.’
‘I don’t need any help, and I can’t drink tea while I’m lying down. Quit fussing.’ She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ‘Ellen, do you think the same person killed both Evan and Cliff?’
Ellen didn’t say anything for a moment. She picked up both mugs of tea, handed one to Mary and sat down in the rocker. ‘Ouch. This is hot.’ She passed her mug back and forth between her hands. ‘It seems likely. But why? Evan didn’t have anything to do with Cliff. At least, I don’t think so.’
‘I don’t know of any connection between them, either. Do you think whoever it is will try to harm the children?’
Ellen almost dropped her tea. ‘Oh, my … twice. This person, whoever he is, has murdered twice. At least, we think so. But children?’
‘They saw him.’
‘They didn’t recognize him, though.’
‘The murderer doesn’t know that.’ Mary blew into her tea. She thought about the children and their reactions through all this. How much danger, if any, might they be in? They had to find the murderer, and fast, before something else terrible happened. The children’s reactions. The Blisses’ winery. ‘Bill Bliss.’
‘What?’ Ellen looked at her aunt as if the bump might have done something more than cause a headache. ‘What about him?’
‘Reactions. I was thinking about Dalia and Ronaldo’s reactions. When we were in the Bliss winery, they stopped short when they saw him. Just skidded to a halt and stared at him. I’ve been thinking about it. Maybe it was because of his size.’
The expression on Ellen’s face clearly said that bump had done some damage. ‘His size? Bill Bliss isn’t fat.’
‘No. But he’s tall. They described the murderer as tall. Father D’Angelo is tall. So was Evan.’
‘We can eliminate Evan as a murderer.’ She seemed doubtful but willing to try to follow Mary’s train of thought. She took a sip of her tea as she thought about what Mary said. ‘That’s not much to go on. There are a lot of tall men around. Dan, for one.’
Mary put down her ice pack and reached for her mug. ‘I think we can eliminate him also. I know it’s not much, but it’s the only place I can think to start.’
‘So, you think Bill Bliss could be the murderer? Why?’
‘Insurance money. Maybe he didn’t want to kill the dog so he handed it off to someone, claimed it was stolen and collected the insurance. Cliff found out, so he killed him. We know the dog is still alive somewhere.’
‘OK. But how do you explain Evan?’
Mary couldn’t. ‘Bill Bliss went into Evan’s shop right about closing yesterday. Why he might want to kill Evan, I don’t know, but he had the opportunity.’
‘He was probably going in to buy dog food. That’s where I buy Jake’s cat food.’
‘They no longer have a dog. Naomi said so.’
Ellen started to shake her head but stopped when her tea sloshed. ‘It seems so improbable. The Blisses have plenty of money. Why would he do such a thing?’
‘I don’t know. I wouldn’t have even considered him if the children hadn’t had such a strange reaction when they saw him.’
‘The children. We have to talk to Luanne and Tony. It’s obvious they can’t be left alone, even for a moment. I have a hard time believing they could be in danger, but I wouldn’t have believed Evan could be either.’
She didn’t say it, but Mary knew what Ellen was thinking. She had the same thought. Evan was dead. It didn’t matter what they believed, or had a hard time believing. What mattered was what they did, at least until they knew beyond any doubt the children were safe, and that wouldn’t be until they knew who murdered both Cliff and Evan.
The front door opened and Pat appeared. ‘Ellen, could you help me, please?’
‘Sure. Help you do what?’ Ellen set her mug down and walked toward the door. ‘What’s all this?’
Ellen backed up, her arms now full of a dog bed, a sack of dog food, a bowl and a leash draped over one of her arms. A large dog carrier followed her into the room, pushed by Pat Bennington.
‘This thing is heavy.’
A whine emanated from the carrier in response.
What do you have? Mary was on her feet, staring at the dog crate. It couldn’t be, could it?
Pat answered as if Mary had asked her question aloud. ‘We’d better get this little girl out of there and in the backyard before we do another thing.’
A loud bark emanated from the crate, a bark Mary was sure she recognized.
‘Is that …’
‘Evan’s dog? Yes.’
‘Why did you bring her here?’
‘Dan called. He told us what happened to Evan.’ Pat stopped pushing the crate and ran the back of her hand over her eyes. It looked suspiciously as if she wiped away tears. Her voice broke. ‘He said she was all alone and you were worried about her.’
‘Well, yes, but I didn’t think you’d bring her here.’
‘It’ll just be for a day or so. We’re full up at the clinic, and I didn’t know where else to take her.’ Pat opened the door of the crate and waited.
The dog poked her head out and looked around. Evidently she didn’t think any of them looked dangerous because she took a step into the room.
Pat immediately removed the leash from Ellen’s arm and snapped it onto her collar. ‘Come on, baby. There’s a whole lot of nice grass out there, just waiting for you.’ She started for the kitchen, the little dog trotting at her heels, when she stopped and looked back at Mary. ‘You don’t mind, do you? Dan said you got hurt, but not badly, so I thought it would be all right.’ She looked more closely at Mary. ‘I don’t know. That’s a pretty good-sized lump on your head. Can you handle this?’
Mary bristled. If she could handle just about every difficult woman in town, she could certainly handle one small dog. ‘Of course I can. It’s just that, well, I’ve never had a dog.’
‘I’ll teach you.’ Pat smiled and walked on toward the back door.
Mary followed. If Pat was going to teach her, she’d better start to learn.
There wasn’t much to it. Pat let the little dog loose and watched her wander around the yard, dragging her leash. The dog squatted, Pat picked up the leash and they both headed back toward the house. Mary stood aside as they came in then closed the door. She followed them into the living room and went back to her sofa and mug of tea. If that was all there was to dog ownership, why had she put it off so long?
Pat accepted the mug of tea Ellen handed her. The dog, no longer dragging the leash, curled up on the living-room rug and went to sleep. They all looked at her for a minute.
Pat looked at Mary. ‘OK. What happened?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘You must know something. You were in the alley getting yourself a cut leg and a goose egg on your head and poor Evan is dead. Something happened.’
Mary sighed. ‘Something did. I just don’t know exactly what.’ She drained the last of her tea and sat back, resting her head on a pillow and stared at the dog, who snored. ‘She barked all night.’
‘Who did?’ Ellen looked down at the dog.
So did Pat.
‘That dog?’
Mary nodded. The dog slept on. ‘I didn’t know it was her. I had no idea where the dog was, but it was the first time I’d ever heard it. Anyway, in the morning I went to my rummage sale meeting then over to see how the Christmas Can Tree was coming along.’ She paused and smiled. ‘You wouldn’t believe how much food we’ve collected.’
‘Never mind that. What did you do then?’ Ellen’s tone left no doubt the Christmas Can Tree had lost all interest for her.
‘Well, after I talked to Luke, I went over to Evan’s shop. I wanted to know who owned the puppies he had for sale. Only, the shop was closed and it was after ten.’
‘And?’ Pat’s tone said let’s get to the point.
‘I was worried, so I went to Evan’s house. He and Glen Manning and John Lavorino were supposed to have gone to San Luis Obispo to some church function last night. I thought maybe something had happened.’ She felt herself get a little shaky as she relived those anxious moments. She had been so certain something had happened and had been so right. ‘His car wasn’t there but the dog’ – she nodded toward the still sleeping dog on her living-room rug – ‘was. She had no food or water. That really got me worried. It wasn’t like Evan to neglect an animal. I went back to his shop and found his car parked out the back.’
‘That’s when you got attacked?’ Pat leaned forward in her chair, her hands clasped, her eyes anxious.
‘I didn’t get attacked.’ Mary stopped. Her cheeks heated. It really was silly of her to climb on that box. She should have found something stronger. ‘I found a packing crate and stood on it to look in the window. Poor Evan was lying on the floor right by the bathroom and then, well, the box collapsed. That’s all I remember until I woke up and Randy was trying to put me on a stretcher to take me to the hospital. Totally unnecessary.’
Pat and Ellen looked at each other and grinned. The grins turned into giggles, which dissolved into gales of laughter.
‘I fail to see anything funny in this.’ Mary bristled.
Ellen grabbed a napkin and wiped her eyes. ‘Debbie from the flower shop next door said she heard a loud crack. She thought it was a gunshot. She peeked out her back door and saw you lying in the alley, bleeding. She was sure you’d been shot so she called nine-one-one. Poor Hazel, our unflappable dispatcher, almost had a heart attack. She darn near gave Dan one too. By the time I heard about it, they knew you weren’t dead.’
‘Oh.’ Mary couldn’t think of anything else to say. She had no idea she’d caused so much fuss. Why on earth hadn’t the silly girl come over and looked? She would have seen she was very much alive. Shot, indeed.
The dog lifted her head and stared at the front door. So did Mary. It opened and Dan appeared. He looked tired and profoundly irritated. He stopped when he saw the dog, glanced over at Pat, stepped over the dog and squatted down beside the sofa. ‘How are you?’
Mary lowered her ice pack and smiled. ‘I’m not shot.’
He smiled back. ‘Glad to hear it. So far, neither is anyone else.’ He patted her hand, nodded with what seemed to be approval and stood. ‘I don’t suppose there’s any coffee?’
‘We’re having tea, but it won’t take a minute.’ Ellen headed for the kitchen. ‘We’ve got about a thousand questions, so don’t start until I get back.’
‘Why am I not surprised.’ Dan stood over the dog, looking down. The dog sat up and returned his stare.
‘I see you got it.’
Pat nodded. ‘She was glad to see me.’
‘What are you going to do with her now?’
‘Mary’s going to keep her until we can find other accommodation.’
Dan turned toward Mary with a quizzical look. ‘Are you sure you can handle that?’
Mary’s hackles rose. If one more person asked her if she could handle something … ‘It’s a little dog. I think I can manage.’
A smile played around the corners of Dan’s mouth. ‘I imagine you can.’
‘OK. Now, tell us what happened.’ Ellen walked back into the living room, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. ‘Coffee will be right up, but in the meantime, who killed Evan and why?’
Dan gave a little start then started to laugh. ‘Nice to know you have that much faith in me, but I don’t know yet. We know how he was killed, like Cliff. Stabbed with something long and sharp. I have no idea who did it. Well, I have some ideas but no proof.’
The three women all looked at him, puzzled. The dog just looked. ‘That requires an explanation. Sit down and tell us.’
A lifetime of obeying Mary was not to be denied. Dan sat, seemingly gratefully. ‘This is what we know so far.’
‘Wait.’ Ellen held up her hand. ‘I don’t want to miss a word of this. That coffee should be ready. If it’s not …’
Dan settled himself in her large reading chair. Ellen would be back immediately. The pause and pour coffee machine was coming in handy. She was right. Ellen appeared with a mug filled with freshly brewed coffee which she handed to her husband. Mary sniffed. It smelled good. Maybe her next mug full would be coffee as well. In the meantime …
‘Talk,’ was all Ellen said.
‘We think he was killed after he closed the shop.’
‘What makes you think that?’ Mary thought so as well, but she wanted to know why Dan did.
‘We have reports of people seen leaving the shop after the closed sign was up and the blinds pulled down.’
‘Oh.’ Ellen and Pat looked at each other than at Mary.
We’re all thinking the same thing. ‘Who?’
Dan’s frown was deep and unhappy. ‘Father D’Angelo for one.’
Ellen groaned.
‘John Lavorino and Glen Manning came out carrying something, and John looked furious. Luke, from the library, was there as well.’
‘How do you know all this?’
‘Our little friend at the flower shop. She evidently wasn’t very busy Friday afternoon.’
‘Sounds like he was having open house.’ Pat sounded as distraught as Ellen.
‘Bill Bliss was there around closing time. Did anyone see him leave?’
‘No. No one mentioned him. How do you know that?’
Mary thought Dan looked unusually interested in that piece of information. ‘I heard it at the rummage sale committee meeting. Leigh Cameron told me. She needed dog food, but when she saw Bill Bliss, she went to the market instead. She doesn’t like him – thinks he’s stuck up.’
‘Mmm.’ Pat didn’t offer a comment but from the muffled sound she made, Mary thought she agreed.
‘Anyone else?’ Ellen’s remark sounded a little sarcastic.
Pat wasn’t far off the mark when she said it seemed like open house. It sounded as if half the town had been in and out of Evan’s store yesterday afternoon.
‘Todd Blankenship, but he didn’t get in. The door was locked by the time he went over,’ Dan answered.
‘Who saw all this?’ Ellen made it sound as though someone had had the place staked out, watching all the comings and goings.
‘I had someone asking questions in all the stores. Todd claimed he needed to buy dog food but the door was locked by the time he got there. He knocked but there was no answer. He assumed Evan had left, so he did also. Mary’s savior, Debbie from the flower shop, saw Father D’Angelo go in but didn’t see him come out. That was probably after John and Glen left. Luke says he went over right after he closed up the library, at five. He walked over so he’d get there before Evan closed. He says John and Glen were still there, talking to Evan rather heatedly. He didn’t see Father D’Angelo so doesn’t know if he came after him or before.’
‘What were Evan and John and Glen talking about?’
‘He doesn’t know. We’d ask them, but we can’t find them.’
Dan’s tone when he said that was mild but the statement sent shockwaves through Mary.
They weren’t home? Where were they? Surely not still in San Luis Obispo? They also had dogs to take care of.
‘What is it?’ Dan looked directly at Mary and his voice was a lot sharper. ‘What do you know?’
‘Nothing really.’
‘Uhuh. Suppose you tell me about nothing.’
Mary sighed. It really was nothing. ‘John and Glen were in Evan’s shop on Friday. They said they were going to San Luis Obispo to a church function, Evan too. Did they stop by the shop to pick Evan up? Only, he didn’t go. Where are they now?’
‘Good questions.’ Dan looked increasingly thoughtful.
‘Wouldn’t they have picked him up at home? He’d want to shower and change, wouldn’t he?’ Ellen walked around, picking up empty mugs and headed for the kitchen. ‘I’m surprised they’re not home now.’
‘They may have gone somewhere else today and haven’t heard the news yet.’ Pat followed Ellen toward the kitchen. ‘Mary, more tea? Coffee, Dan?’
They both shook their heads.
‘If they haven’t heard yet, they soon will. At least, they will if they’re close to a radio. The local news will be all over this.’
Mary nodded but her thoughts weren’t on John and Glen. At least, they weren’t right that minute. ‘Dan, why would anyone want to kill either Cliff or Evan? Well, I guess Cliff gave people reasons to hate him, but Evan … the most disagreeable I’ve ever seen him was when he played Scrooge in the Victorian Christmas Extravaganza and he wasn’t too mean then. Why would anyone do such a thing?’
Dan sat very still then shook his head. ‘I don’t know. Yet. But I’d guess Evan knew something. Maybe something about why Cliff was killed.’
‘Dogs. It’s got to have something to do with dogs.’
‘Maybe. Maybe not. But one thing is clear: whoever’s doing this isn’t shy. Cliff was killed in a place about to be invaded by literally hundreds of people. Evan was killed in his own shop, a busy shop. My team is going over the shop right now, hoping to find something, but it’s not going to be easy.’ He pushed himself to his feet. ‘I came by to make sure you were all right, but also, Mary, I’m worried about the Mendosa children. I’m going to talk to Tony and Luanne, but until I know who’s doing this, I want those kids with someone. Day and night. If you don’t feel up to it, then I’ll help the Mendosas cover them. Maybe Agnes can stand in when Luanne is at work or at the doctor. Sister Margaret Anne called and after she gave me an earful, we worked out something for the school. But—’ He never got to finish.
‘I’m just fine. When did a little scratch on the leg stop me? I will, of course, help with the children. Tell Tony to stop by here and we’ll make a plan. Now, go back to finding out who’s behind all this. I’ll tell Ellen …’
‘You’ll tell Ellen what?’
‘That I probably won’t be home for dinner.’ He put his arm around his wife and kissed her on the nose.
She smiled at him. ‘I hadn’t planned on you being. I figured you’d be a little busy. Just be careful, OK?’
‘I think I can manage that.’ He gave her one more squeeze, turned, gave Mary a very careful kiss on the cheek and headed for the door. ‘I’ll call the Mendosas when I get back.’
‘Dan, wait.’ Pat stood in the doorway to the kitchen, looking worried.
Dan stopped, looked at her and waited.
‘The animals in the shop. The puppies, and I think there are still a couple of kittens. There are turtles, lizards and snakes. Who’s taking care of them?’
‘I called Karl. He sent someone over. Cute girl. Doesn’t seem to be afraid of any of them, even that ugly lizard who hisses.’
‘Pam. Thank goodness. She’s a vet student. Works for Karl sometimes. That’s perfect.’
‘She also follows directions, which is helpful. My guys are trying to take fingerprints and look for anything that might give us a clue, and she keeps out of their way. Pretty hopeless job considering the number of people in and out of that store, but you never know.’ He turned and was out the door.
The three of them watched him go. Even the dog raised her head, stood, stretched and looked around expectantly.
‘Does she have to go out?’ Mary suddenly found she was nervous watching her. She had no idea what the dog had in mind. She could tell by the way a child sat in class whether they were paying attention or planning mischief. She could tell by the gleam in an eleven-year-old boy’s eyes if he was thinking about tripping his arch enemy as he walked down the aisle, or if a twelve-year-old girl hadn’t heard a word Mary said but had gotten every nuance directed her way by the boy two seats in front of her. Suddenly, she was afraid she was out of her element with a dog. ‘Should I take her outside?’
‘Feed her.’ Pat grinned and started for the kitchen. ‘Come on. I brought the food I found on Evan’s back porch. I brought her dinner dish and water bowl as well. We’ll set her up on your back porch. She’ll feel right at home.’
Mary followed Pat into the kitchen. The stainless-steel bowls she’d seen earlier that morning were now on her counter beside a huge bag of dog food. Pat filled one bowl with water and carried it onto the back porch. The dog followed and started to lap. Mary watched her for a moment then picked up the other bowl.
‘How much of that stuff does she get?’
‘I don’t know what Evan fed her, but for a dog this size one scoop should do it.’ She produced a red plastic scoop out of the bag and handed it to Mary. ‘Scoop away.’
Mary had to stand on tiptoe to get the scoop into the bag. ‘We’ll have to put that sack somewhere lower. Is this enough?’ She poured the food into the other dish. There didn’t seem to be very much. Mary was used to feeding people and did it with a generous hand. This didn’t look very generous. It didn’t look very appetizing, either.
‘It’s plenty. Just set it down beside the water.’
They spent the next few minutes getting both Mary and the dog settled in. The dog ate, went outside, came back in and looked around.
‘What’s she looking for?’
‘Her bed if she’s got any sense. She’s likely tired after the night she put in.’ Ellen pushed herself away from the doorjamb she’d been leaning against while she watched the dog-settling program. ‘Where is she going to sleep?’
That caught Mary by surprise. She hadn’t given it a thought. Where did dogs sleep? Some of her friends let their dogs sleep on their beds. She wasn’t quite up to that.
‘I brought her basket. It’s on the front porch. Tell me where you want it. Where ever you start her off, that’s where she’ll stay, so decide.’
‘Unless she changes her mind.’
‘There’s always that.’ Pat headed for the front porch and almost immediately was back. ‘Where do you want her to sleep?’
Mary felt a bit helpless, an unfamiliar feeling and one that was not welcome. ‘I don’t know. Where do dogs usually sleep?’
‘Depends. You can put her bed beside yours or you can put it in the living room, or you can put her on the back porch and close the door. You can even put her bed out on the back steps.’
Horrified, Mary stared at her. ‘On the back steps? She’d be lonely. Scared. Do you think she’d like her bed in the living room?’
‘She’d like it better if you put her bed beside yours. She’d be less lonely that way.’
It took Mary a minute. ‘You’re setting me up. That damn dog doesn’t care if she’s next to me or the TV.’
‘I don’t think that’s true, I really don’t, but I think you’ll feel better if she’s right beside you. Try it tonight and see how it goes.’
Unconvinced, but also not sure what else to do, Mary agreed. It took no time at all until Pat had the dog’s basket, with the dog bed in it, set up beside hers. The dog sniffed it, decided it was indeed hers, got in, curled up and promptly fell asleep.
Mary stood for some time after Ellen and Pat left, staring down at the sleeping dog, wondering how she’d gotten herself into this, wondering what ‘this’ was. Cliff dead, Evan dead, the children in danger, well, perhaps in danger. What was going on? She wasn’t going to figure it out tonight. She was exhausted and she hurt. She also needed to eat, but the bowl of soup she ate while watching a rerun of Antiques Roadshow didn’t help much. Tylenol was needed. She walked back to the kitchen, conscious she was moving slowly. She rinsed her bowl and put it in the dishwasher, poured a glass of water and swallowed two pain pills. She slipped off her, by now, very dirty sweater, examined it closely, decided it would recover from a good washing and laid it over a chair. She’d wash it in the morning. The same could not be said of her blood-stained and torn sweatpants. They went into the trash. Clad only in a bra and panties, she headed for the shower. That pleasure was denied her, at least for tonight. Don’t get either bandage wet, she’d been warned. The hot washcloth she applied liberally to her body was a poor substitute for a hot shower, but it was better than nothing, and it got off a little of the hospital smell. Her nightgown warmed and soothed as it settled over her and, slowly and carefully, she crawled into bed. Her head still hurt, and so did her leg, but her brain refused to succumb to pain and exhaustion. What had happened to Evan? Where were John and Glen? Why wasn’t Evan with them last night? Did they know he was dead? What was Bill Bliss doing at Evan’s shop? What was Father D’Angelo doing there? Buying cat food? Maybe. Bill Bliss wasn’t. And Luke. He’d said he needed dog food. What else did he need? Her thoughts went round and round until finally the painkillers worked and sleep wiped away all of her worrying thoughts. The last thing she remembered was her hand creeping over the side of the bed, reaching out, finding and stroking the silky black fur of her very new friend.