Twenty-five

John Adele stared at me.

I couldn’t tell if he was scared or sad or some combination of the two. Either way, it appeared to be an odd reaction at seeing me there. Was he going to accuse me of following him again? Marmalade’s mom, Laura, sat at the table with him and appeared to be flirting.

Trixie, who evidently had not received the message that we had been dumped, ran over to John and placed her paws on his thigh. Cooper and Gingersnap wagged their tails and politely sniffed each other.

It was way too late to pretend I hadn’t seen them. There was nothing I could do but give a gracious wave, lift my chin, and walk by on the sidewalk, ever so conscious of their presence. I whistled for Trixie and fervently hoped she would not make me go get her.

A few steps past the outdoor dining tables, Trixie and Gingersnap caught up to me. I breathed a sigh of relief and slipped each one of them a mini-treat as a reward. But a third nose wanted one, too. Cooper! I fed him one and stroked his broad head.

When I continued on my way, Cooper loped along with the other dogs. He also hadn’t gotten the message that John wasn’t interested in us. I heard John call him, but I didn’t look back or stop.

I could hear footsteps hitting the sidewalk behind me.

John caught up to me and called Cooper. “Sorry about that, Holly.”

I faced him. Why did he have to be so cute? “John, this is silly. You’re going to be in town awhile longer, and we’re going to run into each other. Let’s just get over the awkwardness and be friends. Okay?” I held out my hand to shake in a gesture of peace.

He took my hand and said, “You’ll quit stalking me now?”

I could feel my face and ears getting hot. I yanked my hand out of his. “I have never stalked you!”

There was nothing to do but turn and walk away as fast as I possibly could. After all, I had some dignity left. To my amusement, though, Cooper continued to walk with me. I couldn’t help grinning and slipped him another treat as we walked. It was bad of me, of course.

John called his dog, and I noted a pause in Cooper’s stride, but he stayed with me.

“Holly!” John jogged up to us and snagged Cooper’s collar.

“Bye-bye, Cooper,” I said. And then I added, “I couldn’t be stalking you because Cooper would have given me away.” With that, I continued on my way.

John shouted after me, “It wasn’t Cooper who gave you away.”

I kept going. The last thing I wanted to do was have a shouting match on the sidewalk. I turned left as soon as I hit the green and walked down to Heal! for a soothing calorie-rich treat. I deserved it. I hadn’t murdered anyone, or stalked anyone. Why were people accusing me of things?

The drugstore bustled with customers, but I found empty seats at the end of the soda counter and jumped up on the last one.

Bob wiped the counter in front of me. “I hear it’s hot out there today.”

“It is. Could I have a bowl of water for the dogs, please?” I looked down at them. “They’ll pick out their own biscuits. And I need an indulgence because nothing is going my way.”

“How about my special? It’s guaranteed to make you feel better about whatever ails you.”

“Okay. Surprise me.”

While he worked, I watched Gingersnap chose a hard beef-flavored cookie that would take her a while to eat and would probably be good for her teeth. Little Trixie, on the other hand, opted for an iced cookie in the shape of a squirrel. The drugstore had placed cookies near the floor, where dogs could choose their own. The clear bins had lift-up lids that Gingersnap and Trixie had learned to open with their noses. I kept an eye on them so they wouldn’t be piggy and help themselves to more.

John brought me a chocolate milk shake. The icy concoction cooled me right away. “Mmm. This is delicious!”

“One of our bestsellers. Once people try it, they forget about their troubles.”

“Looks like business is good.”

“Animal Attraction has been phenomenal. We’ve had a lot of people come in and get to know one another over ice cream, milk shakes, and just plain old coffee. The merchants are talking about making this an annual event. You know, I think we might even see one or two marriages come out of it.”

“Really! That’s hard to imagine. But maybe so. Macon said we make up our minds about people in minutes.”

With his sculptured good looks, I imagined Bob had had more than his share of admirers over the years. “How about you? Did you participate?”

He pointed at his graying hair. “Those days have passed me by. No one is interested in an old coot who has been single all his life. I’m a nightmare,” he laughed.

“Never wanted to get married?”

Bob rubbed the back of his head. “There were a few ladies along the way who interested me. But one of them spoiled me for the others. I connected with her in a way that I never did with anyone else. It was a little weird, actually. Like we were synced up. We would order the same dishes in restaurants. We read the same books. Liked the same movies. Just little things, but we meshed. Never met anyone who could compare.”

“What happened to her?”

“I thought I was too young to marry at the time, and I wanted to go to pharmacy school. She married someone else.” He swiped his hand through the air. “Ah, but that was all years ago. I’ve been alone too long to change my ways. But that’s okay. Louis and I manage just fine.” He gazed lovingly at his papillon. “Hey, Holly.” He leaned toward me and lowered his voice. “I heard about Hank. You’re usually in the know about these things. Have they got any suspects?”

“Yeah. Me. Did you know Hank?”

Bob snorted. “I know Dave’s got problems if he’s accusing you. Unfortunately, I had some encounters with Hank. I was working here by myself one day when five hundred dollars went missing. I thought I’d be fired for sure. The owner was pretty nice about it, but I paid him back every single cent. It was on my watch, and I felt responsible. Not a week later, I caught Hank with his hand in the cash register. I told him he owed me five hundred bucks. Do you know that worm laughed in my face? I think every merchant in Wagtail was glad to see Hank leave town. We were always on the lookout for him in here. When he came in the store, I followed him around to make sure he didn’t help himself to anything. There are a lot of people in Wagtail who would have liked to punch Hank in the nose or worse. Dave can’t seriously think you killed him.”

“Afraid so. Some idiot claims he saw me in Zelda’s backyard last night.”

Bob stood up straight and eyed me. “And of course, we single people have no alibi for the middle of the night.”

“Exactly. Ben has been staying in the guest room, but that doesn’t help, because I didn’t wake him up every five minutes to prove that I was there.”

“Must have been a neighbor who claimed he saw you.”

“A neighbor!” Of course. That made perfect sense. “I was thinking the murderer might have tried to pin it on me.”

“Dave ought to listen to you. It’s been quite a week around here. At least Dave had the decency to interview me at home and not here.”

I tried to sound casual. “So what was the deal with you and Randall?”

“I’m sure Birdie got the gist of it right. There’s a drug that isn’t meant for anorexia, but one of the side effects is weight gain, so some doctors prescribe it for that. Unfortunately, it caused heart issues in this sweet young woman, and she died. Her parents’ lawyer did what they call suing up and down the line, meaning they sue everyone who was involved from A to Z. I filled the prescription, so they sued me, too.”

“But you didn’t do anything wrong. Right?”

“Exactly. Ultimately, Randall’s insurance company settled with the girl’s parents, but I was out the money for a lawyer to defend me. You have to respond and do all kinds of stuff when you’re sued. It cost me a lot of money and damaged my reputation. Not to mention that he killed that poor girl by prescribing a questionable medicine.”

“That’s why you’d like to shake the hand of the person who murdered him?” I asked.

Bob grinned. “That may have been a little harsh. But you know, around here all anyone remembers is that I was sued. They don’t think about the fact that I was cleared. I could have lost my license. And, more important, an innocent child lost her life because of that man.”

“I’m beginning to think he brought misery to everyone he met.”

Bob leaned against the counter. “Hey, Holly? Who lives in the house across from Birdie? The one that backs up to Zelda’s property?”

“I don’t know. But I bet Birdie does.” I tilted my straw to slurp out the last of the delicious puddle at the bottom of the tall glass, a little embarrassed that I had managed to consume the whole thing. I paid my check, thanked Bob, called the dogs, and walked out the door.

We ambled leisurely across the green. Trixie and Gingersnap met friends and sniffed the messages left by other dogs along the way. When we reached the west side of town, we walked straight to Birdie’s house.

She was outside, holding a steaming kettle in her hand.

“Aunt Birdie? What are you doing?”

“Boiling dandelions.”

“Don’t you have to pick the greens first and boil them in a pot?”

“Law, child! What kind of heathen do you think I am? I’m not going to eat them. I’m killing them. They blow into my yard because others don’t bother to keep their yards neat.”

I was glad I wasn’t Aunt Birdie’s neighbor. I was certain they couldn’t make her happy no matter what they did. “Speaking of which, who lives in the house across the way?”

Aunt Birdie groaned. “Albert Hemplewhite bought it to use as an unhosted bed-and-breakfast. It drives me completely mad. The worst idea in the world.”

“Unhosted? I’ve never heard of that.”

“It’s the lazy man’s bed-and-breakfast! He has a woman come to clean and change sheets. She leaves some staples like milk, bread, and eggs in the kitchen, and that’s it. The guests, and I use that word lightly, because if you ask me, they’re really very brief tenants, pick up the key from one of the real estate companies in town, then they come and go as they please. There’s no host to monitor them. This week, to my complete horror, they rented it by the bedroom, which I suspect may be illegal. A bunch of women who are strangers to one another are staying there. And let me tell you, they have come down this street singing at the top of their lungs, drunk as sailors, in the wee hours of the morning. I’ve seen them running around in their nighties. A couple of the girls have stood in the middle of the street smooching with young men. It’s disgraceful. I’ve half a mind to move over to the Shire, where rentals are banned. I don’t care for this at all, and trust me—I plan to bring this issue up next week at the town council meeting.”

Uh-oh. That might be quite a meeting. “Did you see anyone last night?”

“You are not on the ball today, Holly. If I had seen someone, I would know who left that bloody mess in my garden shed.”

“What did Dave have to say about that?”

“Not to touch anything. How am I supposed to tend to my prizewinning gladioli?” She pointed toward the rainbow of tall blooms along the side of her house. “All my tools and plant food are in the shed. I can’t even go in there to clean it yet.” Her mouth pulled back and she shuddered.

“That’s not very helpful.”

“He tried to reassure me that I am not likely to be the next victim, but I don’t think he can possibly know that. Two men have been murdered, and from what I understand, that Dr. Randall Donovan was quite upstanding and a prominent psychiatrist. You can’t compare him with someone like Hank, a lowlife who sneaks into unoccupied houses to sleep.”

“How do you know he did that?”

Aunt Birdie blinked at me. “I saw him with my own eyes. Just yesterday morning I caught him coming out of Randolph Hall. Must have been nigh on to noon. I guess he had just stepped out of the shower, because his hair was all wet. He looked like a shaggy dog. I loathe that day’s-growth-of-beard look. It makes every man look like a criminal.”

“That place hasn’t sold yet?”

“The for sale sign is still on the front lawn. It will be a while, I imagine. Not many people want to take care of a mansion with eleven bedrooms.”

“Hank walked out of the front door?”

“Indeed he did. Like he owned the place.”

I tried not to show my amusement. Aunt Birdie took note of everything. Too bad she hadn’t seen anyone last night.

“Thank you, Aunt Birdie. I believe I’ll poke my nose in the yard of Albert’s unhosted bed-and-breakfast.”

“If you happen upon any of those girls, you tell them I do not want to see them engaged in carnal relations out on the street anymore.”

I called the dogs and waved at Birdie as I crossed the street. No one sat on the porch. I hoped no one was home, and cut through the side yard, taking the same route I had the night before but walking slowly this time.

The white clapboard house was larger than it seemed from the front. The side revealed multiple additions in various styles. One room boasted the same diamond-glass windows as Zelda’s house. The rest of it was a ramshackle farmhouse, as far as I could tell.

The property was well shielded from Zelda’s land by shrubs and pine trees, much like the ones in Zelda’s backyard. It would have been possible for one of the guests to have seen me racing through here to Zelda’s. It seemed unlikely, though. She would have had to be looking out at exactly the right time. But with the yellow wig, would I have been recognizable on such a brief glance? Especially to someone who didn’t know me?

I turned to examine the back of the house. Upstairs, framed by a sizable window, Nessie and Celeste were engaged in a heated argument.