Mary sat for a long time after Dan left, running dozens of thoughts through her mind. It seemed as if there were a whole lot of different threads running through this story and she couldn’t untangle them. She was convinced the same person had murdered both Evan and Cliff. There were several people who might have wished one of them dead, but she couldn’t think of anyone who might want both of them out of the way. There had to be something that connected them, but what! She needed more information. She also needed a shower. She still smelled like a hospital, despite using the washcloth.
‘Down you go.’ She tried to pick up Millie, but she was heavy. However, the dog took the hint, jumped down and headed into the kitchen where she stood beside her dish and looked hopeful.
Mary followed. ‘It’s only three thirty. Are you sure you eat this early?’
The dog wagged her stub of a tail.
Still dubious, Mary picked up the dish, pulled out the dog food sack from the broom closet where Ellen had stashed it and scooped some into the dish. The dog drooled on the floor.
‘Shades of Pavlov.’ Mary set the dish in front of Millie, who evidently didn’t care about Russian scientists. She buried her head in it and proceeded to devour the food. Mary watched her for a moment, returned to the closet and stuffed the sack back in. She rummaged through the boxes on the floor and brought out a large black trash sack. ‘Just the thing to put over the bandage on my leg, don’t you think?’ She got no answer, but then, she hadn’t really expected one. She started to close the door but stopped. Dog food. What kind was it? She pulled the sack back out. It didn’t seem to be one of the commercial dog foods they sold in the grocery. This food was in a large, tough brown paper sack stamped the same way as the bags in Bonnie’s feed room. She wasn’t sure but thought the name of the company was also the same of a company in Los Angeles.
‘Bonnie has these kinds of sacks in her feed room.’
The dog paid no attention. She put one foot in the empty bowl and started licking the edges.
‘Do you suppose she bought all that special food she talked about from Evan?’
The dog gave up licking the immaculate bowl, sat down and yawned.
Mary continued to stare at the dog food sack. ‘Half the dog owners in town seem to have bought their food from Evan. Is it really so much better?’
The dog got up and walked to the back door. She looked back at Mary and gave a sharp bark. Mary hurried to open it. The dog walked through it and down the stairs without a look back.
‘You’ve adjusted well.’
She sniffed around the grass, evidently looking for a perfect spot, but Mary’s mind wasn’t really on the dog. At least, not Millie. It was occupied trying to figure out what Cliff and Evan had in common that could have gotten them killed. She wasn’t coming up with anything. Except dogs. Cliff was a vet. He cured sick dogs. Evan ran a pet store. He sold dogs and the things people needed to take care of them. There had to be more to it than that. In a way, Evan also took care of dogs. Bonnie had been adamant about what she fed her dogs, a food Evan evidently supplied. Luke, from the library, fed his dog the same food. So did John and Glen and Leigh, spacy as she was. A lot of people did. However, Evan could hardly have been killed over dog food. She sighed, watched Millie come in, closed the door and headed back into the kitchen to tie the trash bag over the bandage on her leg. Sponge baths were well and good but she didn’t feel clean. She wouldn’t until her hair was washed, but she’d leave that to Irene.
‘I’m taking a shower, but I need to make a phone call first.’
Millie looked at her and stared with apparent interest at the sack but made no comment.