The next day I was back at the movie theater. It had the look of an old vaudeville theater with a neon marquee and ornate decorations. I worked here three days a week, come rain or shine. Although it doesn’t rain much in Nevada, a gloomy atmosphere still prevailed at the old theater. I arrived early and literally waded into a big fat mess.
“No, Butch. I don’t need any help. Go do your job.” Megan, tiny and toned with a splash of pink in her hair today, looked ready to punch someone.
“What is my job today?” he asked as he looked around. “Kevin’s not in yet.” His violet eyes matched the huge purple Mohawk on his head.
The door slammed noisily behind me. I watched their heads swing in my direction almost comically.
Megan blew out a breath, lips pouting. “Finally. We needed you an hour ago, Lucy. This guy…”
As she ranted, I watched Butch out of the corner of my eye. He was tall and buff with an amused expression, and for the life of me, I couldn’t see why Megan would want to piss off such a hottie. I’d noticed the last few weeks that he was interested in her, but she continued to rag on him. They even had colorful hair in common.
“Take tickets today, Butch,” I told him while trying not to roll my eyes at Megan. “She can handle the concession stand.” I glanced around, stifled a yawn. “Where’s Bobby?”
“Not in yet.” Her grimace turned wary. “Why are you so tired?”
My yawn burst out then. “I didn’t get lots of sleep last night.”
“New boyfriend?” asked Butch with a grin. His single brass earring matched the one in Megan’s nose.
“I should be so lucky,” I grinned back. “No, Cindy and I are babysitting our landlord’s parrot for a few days. Baskerville hates him, which is mutual, so there was lots of screeching and barking last night.”
“A parrot?” Megan positively beamed. “I adore parrots! What kind is he? African Gray? Amazon? Macaw?” In her excitement, she leaned against the counter placing her hands on the glass.
“I have no idea and you’re smudging the glass, Megan.”
“Oh, no!” She hastily got out the glass cleaner as I walked away.
“Let’s get to work, everyone.”
Walking into the manager’s office, I looked around in dismay at the mess collected in there. Lots of movie posters, placards and displays needed to be assembled or returned to the movie distribution companies. I had last week’s receipts to log and another audit coming up soon. With Kevin and his wife reconciling, he seemed to arrive later and later to work. I couldn’t fault our manager for trying to put his marriage back together but it left us a person short sometimes.
And where the heck was Bobby?
I sat behind the desk and started in on the huge pile of mail when a shadow loomed in the doorway.
“Lucy?”
I glanced over and smiled. “Mr. Warner. What brings you to my movie theater today?”
“Just in the neighborhood and I wanted to see how the detective agency job was going.”
“Come on in and have a seat.” I motioned towards a paper-cluttered chair in front of the desk. “Push those things off.”
Joe Warner delicately brushed the envelopes, brochures and flyers off the rickety chair before tentatively trying the seat. When he was confident that it would hold him, he settled in, pushed back the black glasses on his nose and smiled. His tweed jacket with elbow patches and red bow tie were as familiar to me as the jeans and tee shirts I always wore. Ten years as my university advisor had made him more of a friend and I was glad to see him.
“So? How’s it going?”
I shrugged, moved back a pile of papers that threatened to fall off the desk. “Busy, as you can see.”
He shook his head. “Not here. I meant at the Bret Holmes Detective Agency. I haven’t heard from Bret in a while but I assume you’re still interning.”
“Yeah, but it’s very part-time,” I nodded, “which keeps me working here. A girl must eat.”
“True.”
I swallowed and waited. He wanted and deserved more information than that since he helped get me the job, but the truth was…it wasn’t going well. And I didn’t know how to tell him. I didn’t want him disappointed in me.
“Lucy? You seem at a loss for words, which is rare for you.” A small smile slipped out.
“Well, you see, Mr. Warner. It’s like this, I…”
“Lucy? I’m sorry I’m late.” Bobby stood in the doorway with a hangdog expression. At least he’d finally showed up.
“Overslept again?” I took in the yellow smudges on his young face, torn shirt and faded jeans. “You were up late painting, right?”
He beamed. “Thanks, Lucy. It’s great that you understand.”
I laughed, rose and fished a theater shirt from a box behind me. “I may understand but that doesn’t excuse your lateness. Lucky for you that Kevin’s not around—he wouldn’t be thrilled. Make sure you wash your face.” I handed him the shirt and his eyes shone. He grabbed it eagerly with two hands.
“Thanks! What am I doing today?”
“Running projectors in theaters one and two.”
“Gotcha,” he smiled, glanced at Mr. Warner. “Sorry to interrupt.” And departed as quickly as he’d come.
Returning to my chair, I caught my reflection in a yellowing mirror on the wall. My auburn hair needed combing, my hazel eyes looked bloodshot and what was that stain on my shirt? Mustard? Oh, boy. I looked as bad as Bobby. Quickly smoothing my hair, I came back to Mr. Warner. He shifted uneasily in his chair.
“Listen, Lucy. I know you’re busy. I just came here to…”
When he didn’t continue for a moment, I prompted him. “To what, Mr. Warner?”
“There’s a problem in my neighborhood and I…thought you might be able to…help.” He shifted again. Whatever he wanted to say was making him anxious.
“What is it?”
Pulling at his bow tie, I could see him visibly swallow. “Oh, never mind. You’ve got two jobs now. One I even helped you get so you couldn’t possibly have the time.”
He had me interested now. “Time for what?”
“Well, it’s the dogs in my neighborhood.” He stopped, bit his lip and looked away.
I gave him another moment to collect himself before pressing.
“What about them?”
“It’s very peculiar. No one can figure out what’s going on and I happened to think that this was the sort of puzzle you always enjoyed.”
“And?”
“Um, these dogs, many of them that is, are disappearing.”
I blinked at him, surprised. “They’re gone? How many?”
“At least four now, including mine last week.” His expression crumbled and I reached over to pat his hand.
“Wow, I am very sorry, Mr. Warner. That’s got to be rough, I know.” But the smart alecky portion of my brain immediately went into overdrive. He might need a new pet and voila! I had a parrot in my living room that needed a new home. I shook my head to clear it. Chastened, I stuffed that selfish thought way down and became the caring friend he needed.
“What is it that you’d like me to do?”
His shoulders moved up and down. “I’m not sure really. The police have been notified to no avail and the animal rescue people don’t do this sort of thing, so I thought of … you.”
“You want me to look into this?”
He nodded quickly. “Lucy, there’s too many dogs disappearing in too short a time. I’d hate to think that one of my neighbors poisoned them and stuffed their bodies in the garbage, but we feel it would better to know than just imagining the worst.”
“We?”
“The other dog owners and myself. We got together the other night because of all the ‘Have you seen this dog’ signs on the utility poles.”
I thought it over. It sure sounded a lot more interesting than the case I’d been assigned at the detective agency, which should be wrapped soon anyway. And finding a home for the parrot might be time-consuming but it certainly wasn’t a mystery to solve. I looked back at him, stood and reached out my hand.
“Sure, I’ll see what I can find out.”
His smile stretched from ear to ear. He rose and grabbed my hand. “Thanks, Lucy. You can get to the bottom of this, if anyone can.”
“Don’t be too complimentary yet, Mr. Warner. Let me nose around. Can you get your neighbors together tonight so I can interview them?”
Even as he nodded eagerly, I shook my head. “Darn. Tonight’s no good. I have another stakeout. Tomorrow? I’ll work here again and will be free tomorrow night.”
“Six o’clock at my house? You know the address.” He was already heading for the door. “I’ll let you get back to work. I’ve taken up enough of your time. Thank you, Lucy. I feel better already.” When he went out the door, I plopped back in my chair. I swiveled completely around to see a cardboard cutout of Benedict Cumberbatch staring back at me. He looked pretty cute as Sherlock Holmes with that sexy top hat, sleek black coat and a view of turn-of-the-century London behind him. It must have been serendipity.
Benedict seemed to agree with me. I did have the time and what’s more, I had the interest. Why, you might ask? Because right now it’s inexplicable, as Sherlock would say and inexplicable is as good as it gets.
* * *