They exceeded their expectations by quite a lot, and there wasn’t much to clean out. Bob, from the Food Pantry, was there with his truck and a couple of other men, loading up what was left, while several husbands of Mary’s most faithful volunteers were putting tables back and sweeping the floors. Pat was in the kitchen, dumping coffee grounds and rinsing out the sink. Joy was on her way to the bank with their money. Leigh was nowhere to be found. Neither was Caleb.
Pat put Mary’s car keys in her hand, her tote bag in the passenger seat of her car and ordered her to leave. ‘There’s nothing left to do but clean up, and we can handle that just fine. Go get Millie and go home. It was a huge success. You pulled if off again. I don’t know how you do it, but you do. Now, go rest. I’ll see you later.’
Mary pulled into the parking lot behind Furry Friends, exhausted but pleased. She hadn’t realized how tired she was until she got into the car, then all she could think of was getting Millie and going home. The first thing she was going to do was take off her shoes and put on her bedroom slippers. Her feet felt like two slabs of raw meat.
The lock on the shop’s back door opened easily. She shut it behind her and turned on the light in the back room, hoping it would be enough. She didn’t want to turn on the store light. They were supposed to be closed, and she wasn’t planning on staying any longer than it took to get Millie. John had pulled down the shades over the two front windows and the one over the front door. The shop was dark. Shadows made mountains out of what she was sure were ordinary displays and traps out of the paper-filled puppy and rabbit pens. She flipped the switch and, with relief, the shadows in the shop disappeared.
Millie’s high-pitched bark sounded as soon as the lights went on. Mary smiled. Millie would be glad to get out of that crate. She’d probably … she did. Millie wiggled with delight, barking and whining about how awful her day was, how she had a bath and a haircut and had bows put in her hair and where had Mary been … Could they go home now?
Mary laughed and examined Millie closely. She barely recognized her. She looked like one of cockers on TV at the Westminster or Crufts dog shows. Well, maybe not quite, but close. To Mary, Millie was better. When Mary got through hugging her dog and Millie finished covering her with kisses, Mary clipped on her leash and they started for the front of the store. ‘Just let me write a check for Krissie and we’ll get out of here. No. Wait. I was going to get you some toys. Let’s look.’
The rack with dog toys stood right outside the grooming area, next to a shelf filled with food dishes. The large glass tank that had held the Komodo dragon was pushed back against the wall. Empty. Mary heaved a sigh of relief and, while Millie nosed through the toys, she looked at the water dishes. Millie’s was a small plastic one. She kept stepping in it and turning it over. Mary was tired of mopping up the kitchen, so something bigger and heavier … one caught her attention. A large ceramic bowl, with a label that guaranteed the bowl wouldn’t tip over, spilling water all over the yard or kitchen. Mary picked it up. It was heavy. Something solid in the base seemed to give it weight, making it hard for the most eager drinker to flip it.
‘I think I’ll get you this,’ Mary said. ‘Do you know which toy you want?’ She looked down, but Millie was gone. Looking for another toy? Mary started to walk around the shelf, the water dish in her hands but came to an abrupt halt. Caleb blocked the aisle way, feet slightly apart, holding each end of a thin leather leash looped over each upraised hand, the leather loose and swinging slightly between them. Mary sucked in her breath and took a step back, almost falling in her shock.
‘I thought I’d find you here,’ Caleb said.
Mary didn’t say anything. She couldn’t do anything but stare at the leash. It swayed as Caleb moved it closer to her.
‘Picking up your dog, but there’s no one else here, is there? That’s nice. Means we can have a quiet little talk, just you and me.’ He took a step closer.
Mary took another one back but could go no farther. She was up against something. Something glass. The dragon tank.
‘What do you want to talk about?’ That came out more like a croak than words, but fear seemed to have done something to her vocal chords.
Caleb smiled. ‘Why, about the little toy dog, of course. You were supposed to give him to me, but you didn’t. I heard you telling Chief Dunham you know where Miss Emilie’s money is. ’Course you do – you’ve got it. You gave Richard back the key but you kept the money that was in him, and I want it. It’s mine. I’ve earned it. I worked like a dog for those old ladies, and what did they do for me? Nothing. I thought it would be at your house, but it’s not. At least, I can’t find it. But it’s there, somewhere, isn’t it? That’s where we’re going, so you can give it to me.’ He raised his hands, the dog leash swinging a little between those strong brown hands that could do so many things: push lawn mowers, fix sinks, paint rooms, strangle little old ladies and even throw one down the hillside. It would take nothing for him to flip that leash over her head, around her neck and pull … he meant her to know he could, he meant her to know he would … wait. What had he said? He’d been to her house? Looking for the money? In her house? Terror built but now it was mixed with anger.
‘You went to my house? You broke into my house?’
‘Yeah. I found the dog, too, but not the money. Where’s the money?’ He stepped closer and raised the still-swaying dog leash higher.
‘I don’t have it. I’ve never had it.’ She took another step back. ‘I have the dog, yes, but there’s no money in him. There never was.’ If she backed up any more, she’d be in the tank. What could she do? Keep talking, if she could. She hadn’t taken her eyes off the leash, almost mesmerized by its sway, wondering if he managed to get it around her neck if she could get her fingers underneath it, keep its pressure off her throat until she could get help. Where would help come from? Nowhere. Caleb came in closer and pushed her up against the tank. The leash swayed, and, quick as a snake, he flipped it over her head, around her neck and tightened.
‘Tell me where that money is and I might let you live. I’ve already wasted time tearing your house apart looking for it and I’m not wasting any more. So make it easy for yourself.’
Mary couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. Her back pushed against the tank. The leash tightened. Lights flashed and she started to choke. Her knees started to go and she staggered. She brought up one hand and clawed at the leash around her throat. Could she get her fingers under it? One finger. The pressure eased a fraction. Could she still get the words out? She had to. ‘All that was in him was the key to that box. I gave it to Dan. You have it all wrong. I don’t know anything about the money.’
‘You’re lying.’
How odd it seemed that Caleb was so calm when all she felt was panic and sheer terror. The ‘no’ she uttered wasn’t much more than a squeak and about as convincing, even to her. She pushed her back into the tank a little more, braced her feet and thought hard. She raised her hand, trying to tell Caleb she wanted to say something. The pressure eased a little more. ‘Don’t push me. The dragon’s in this tank.’
Evidently Caleb understood her. The pressure eased just a fraction more, enough so the lights quit flashing and she could catch her breath. Caleb looked past her into the tank. His hands lowered and his eyes shifted. ‘What dragon?’
‘He was in this tank just the other day, but the lid’s off.’ The pressure relaxed a little more. She could get her words out without croaking and instead of clawing at the leash, which was her first instinct, she let her hands hang loose by her sides. She still had the water dish. If he backed off, just a little, if he was distracted by the idea of the dragon … ‘Do you suppose he got out?’
Caleb hesitated, searching on each side of him, then his expression changed, and not the way Mary had hoped.
‘That ain’t going to work. Dragon, huh. There’s no such thing and, if there was, there wouldn’t be one here.’
All she could do was nod, as vigorously as the leash around her neck would let her. ‘Oh, yes there was. It’s a large lizard with huge sharp teeth. It’s a horrible creature. Scares me to death.’ She tried to shift her weight, moved one foot just a little, then her hips. If she could get him off balance, maybe, maybe raise her hand … no.
Caleb’s smile seemed to consist of as many teeth as the dragon had and, while they might not be as sharp, the sight of them made her heart beat faster, and not with pleasure.
‘We’re going to your house, and you’re going to give me that money.’ Caleb leaned forward, tightening the leash as he did. Mary screamed and tried to drop sideways, sliding on the glass. She almost made it, but her foot slipped. She tried to catch herself, to break her fall, but all there was behind her was glass and, in front of her, floor. She screamed again as the leash tightened, then heard another, more piercing scream. Caleb.
The leash loosened, then fell on her shoulders as Caleb swung away from her, clutching at his pant leg and hollering. At first she couldn’t understand him, or his panic, but the words came out with another scream. ‘The dragon. It’s got me. Do something.’
She managed to get back on her feet, not an easy task as Caleb thrashed and screamed. Why? The dragon was gone, but Millie wasn’t. Her teeth were planted in Caleb’s calf, her growls fierce and intent, and she held on as he thrashed and yelled. Finally, he made one mad whirl, swinging the dog and beating at her with his bare hands. Millie let go and flew across the aisle, landing in the stand that held the dog dishes. Her howl of pain and protest sent a wave of anger through Mary, stronger than any she’d ever felt before.
‘You beast. You horrible man. You hurt my dog.’ She was screaming as she struggled to free herself to get to Millie, trying vainly to land a kick on his shins.
Caleb pushed Mary aside. His rage seemed entirely focused on Millie. With a roar, he lunged past Mary toward Millie.
Mary threw herself across the aisle to where Millie lay, trying to get between her and Caleb, the water dish still somehow in her hand. Without conscious thought, she raised it and brought it down on Caleb’s outstretched hands, smashing them hard against the display stand. Caleb screamed again, but his hands no longer reached for either of them. Instead, he stared at his bashed fingers.
So did Mary, but just for a moment. Millie was whining and hadn’t moved out from under the wreckage of the food bowl stand. Mary gasped and pushed at Caleb to get to her.
‘No, you don’t.’ He grabbed her with one hand, the other hanging limp by his side, blood dripping from his fingers. ‘Hit me, will you. You’re a dead woman, now. I don’t need you. I’ll go back and tear your house apart until I find the money, and by the time anyone finds you I’ll be long gone. You and that rotten little dog.’ He grabbed Mary by the front of her shirt and swung her around so she was facing the dragon tank. ‘Lucky you, it’s empty.’ He thrust her, her head pointed right at the glass side of the tank, and her feet came off the floor. She tried to kick but couldn’t get any traction, and then she was on the floor in a crumpled heap. Caleb once more gave a terrified howl. Mary heard a dog growling and snarling, a dog that couldn’t possibly be Millie, but was. She heard something else. A man’s voice, loud and concerned.
‘What’s going on in here? Who’s in here? You’d better show yourself. I’ve called the police. They’re on the way. What the …’ Glen Manning stood in the aisle, seemingly unable to move, as he stared at the scene. Mary on the floor and Millie doing her best to chew off Caleb’s leg, who was beating at the little dog while bleeding all over the floor.
‘What …’ Glen grabbed Millie, who didn’t want to release Caleb. She came away with a large piece of his pants in her mouth and, it appeared, some of his skin as well. Caleb stared at Glen, touched the bleeding open wound on his leg with his good hand, glared at Mary and raised it as if to strike her, but stopped.
‘Shit.’ Caleb charged at Glen who, arms full of dog, staggered backward. Caleb brushed past Glen and headed for the back door.
‘Stop him!’ Mary struggled to her feet and started after him.
‘Where are you going?’ Glen, still holding a wiggling Millie, tried to follow. ‘What’s going on around here?’
‘Caleb is the murderer. He killed Miss Emilie and Gloria, and he’s getting away. Stop him.’
‘I don’t need to,’ Glen said calmly.
He set Millie down, who immediately ran to Mary, jumping up on her leg, making little whimpering noises. Mary sank back down on the floor, not because she wanted to, but because her legs no longer cooperated. Millie climbed into her lap, sniffing her all over, trying to lick her chin, making sure she was still in one piece. Mary responded by holding the little dog close and burying her face in her fur.
Finally, she looked at Glen. ‘Why don’t you need to? He’s getting away.’
‘He won’t get far. I really did call the police. I couldn’t imagine what was going on in here, but it didn’t sound good. I imagine that’s them, pulling him over right now.’
Sirens. Police sirens. They hadn’t registered, but Mary finally heard them. They were close – in the parking lot in back of the store close.
‘I imagine they’ll be in here any second.’ Glen squatted beside Mary and looked at her closely then up at that tank. ‘He was going to throw you up against that tank, wasn’t he?’
Mary nodded and closed her eyes. ‘It’s a good thing that dragon’s gone. I wouldn’t have liked sharing a tank with him.’ She opened her eyes and looked at Millie. ‘It was Millie who saved me.’ She hugged the dog tighter. Millie laid her head on Mary’s shoulder and sighed.
Glen patted the dog. ‘Did Caleb really kill them? Why?’
Mary buried her face once more in Millie’s neck then looked up. ‘It’s a long story, and not a very happy one. It’s not over yet, either.’ She sighed. ‘This whole thing, it’s such a tragedy.’
The sounds coming from the parking lot suggested one piece of the play was coming to an end. Sirens had halted; voices, a voice that had been screaming at her only minutes before, was quiet, and the drone of another suggested someone was being read their rights. Mary pushed Millie off her lap and held her hand out to Glen.
‘You sure you’re all right to get up?’
The look she gave him made words unnecessary. She was on her feet, Millie beside her, when Dan walked in.
He nodded to Glen then stood in front of Mary, evidently examining her for injuries. Deciding she wasn’t injured, at least not seriously, he nodded. ‘OK. We’ve got Caleb, we’ve read him his rights, the medics are fixing one thoroughly smashed hand and another well-chewed leg right now, but I need to know.’
‘Know what?’
‘What I’m supposed to charge him with.’
Mary took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ‘Two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.’
Dan waited, but Mary said nothing more.
‘Not grand larceny?’
Mary shook her head. ‘What Caleb stole was a couple of lives.’
‘Then where’s the money?’
‘The only place Lorraine thought she could put it where Caleb wouldn’t find it. In the quilt on Richard’s bed.’