21
“Aww! Who’s our little friend?” Trinity asked, coming around the counter, a big grin on her face.
“Stewie,” I said. The Pomeranian was leashed, and looked nervous, which wasn’t much of a surprise considering where we were. He knew what happened at a vet’s office. “He was Timothy Fuller’s dog.”
Trinity’s eyes went soft. “The man who died?” When I nodded, she dropped to her knees. “You poor thing.” She rubbed behind Stewie’s ears. The dog, of course, soaked it in.
“Is Manny free?” I asked, smiling. Sometimes, I was a bit cynical when it came to Trinity and her good looks, but she was good with the animals. Take away the snapping gum and phone addiction, and she might make a great veterinary assistant someday.
“He’s finishing up with Ms. Keller’s pooch,” Trinity said, not taking her eyes off Stewie. The dog was butter in her hand. “He shouldn’t be much longer.”
“Thanks, Trinity.”
I left Stewie in Trinity’s capable hands and walked past the exam room doors. It appeared Manny was the only one currently with an animal. Ray was likely in the back somewhere, running tests or cleaning up. I didn’t think any animals were currently being housed overnight, but that could have changed.
Manny was in exam room two. I waved through the window when he glanced up from Cathy Keller’s miniature poodle, Winnie. He returned the gesture, and shot me a smile, which caused Cathy to glance back. When she saw me, she practically beamed, before leaving both Winnie and Manny, to join me.
“Liz!” she said, giving me a quick hug. “It’s so good to see you.”
“Cathy. How’s retirement treating you?”
Cathy patted at her curly white hair. “I should have done it much earlier, if that tells you anything.” Cathy had been an elementary school teacher since I could remember. She was in her eighties, but moved and acted like a woman half that. I’m not sure if it was her diet, or hanging around all those little kids, but she seemed to have found the fountain of youth.
“I think we can all agree with the sentiment,” I said.
She laughed. “How are Ben and Amelia? I haven’t seen either of them in ages.”
“Amelia’s good,” I said, deflating. “Ben is, well . . .” How do you explain to someone’s old elementary school teacher that their favorite student was now in jail for a crime they didn’t commit?
“I hope it’s nothing serious,” Cathy said, noting my hesitation. “Ben was such a good boy. Why, I remember that time when he glued his hand to his desk and panicked because he thought he’d be stuck there forever.” She laughed, a full-bodied laugh, that shook her entire frame.
“He’ll be okay,” I said, not wanting to bring her down with tales of murder and money. I was actually surprised she didn’t know, considering it was likely all over the news by now. “Just a little bit of trouble.”
“Oh, dear. Is there anything I can do to help?”
Before I could answer, the door to exam room two opened.
“Mrs. Keller, Winnie’s ready to go,” Manny said, poking his head through the doorway.
“Oh! Thank you, dear.” She turned back to me. “It was good seeing you, Liz. We should all get together sometime and catch up.”
“I’d like that,” I said, and I meant it.
She went back into the exam room, gathered up Winnie, and then with an animated wave goodbye, she left.
While Manny cleaned up after the poodle, I retrieved Stewie from Trinity. She was practically lying on the floor by now, playing with the old dog, who was eating up the attention. When she saw me coming, she groaned, and kissed the Pomeranian on his head.
“See you soon,” she promised him, before returning to her spot behind the desk.
I took Stewie to exam room two. Manny had just finished wiping down the table with a disinfecting wipe. He glanced up when we entered.
“Who do we have here?” he asked. When he saw the Pomeranian, his eyes widened. “Is this who I think it is?”
“It is,” I said, setting Stewie down carefully on the table. “Ray said Stewie has been here before, so you should have his records on file.”
“Fantastic,” Manny said, stroking the dog to earn his trust, while looking into his eyes, likely checking for signs of disease. “So, you managed to get him after all.”
“I did, though it wasn’t easy.” I gave him a quick rundown of what had happened, including why Junior had been so keen on keeping the dog around.
“That’s crazy,” Manny said. “He’s not trained for that sort of thing.”
“I know. I don’t think Junior was thinking too clearly. He seemed off when I talked to him.”
Manny, by now, had Stewie’s nerves calmed enough, he could start checking his joints and teeth. The dog didn’t like the manhandling, but accepted it well enough. There was no barking, no growling.
“I did notice something odd,” I said, watching my husband work with admiration. I appreciated the care he took with the animals, but there was no way I could ever become a vet. For every animal he helped, there was always one who was too sick to be cured. It would break my heart every single time, and unlike Manny, I’m not sure I’d get over losing someone’s pet.
“What’s that?” Manny asked, gently squeezing Stewie’s front legs. “Something odd with Stewie?”
“No. Well, yes.” I waved a hand in uncertainty. Stewie watched it, eyes growing bright. He was likely hoping for treats. “It’s about Junior, really.”
“Okay?” Manny finished checking the basics, and resumed stroking the Pomeranian, who was being awfully good. Even the most well-behaved dog didn’t like getting poked and prodded by a stranger.
“It was something Ray had said. He told me that Stewie had a tendency to defend his owner, Timothy. He’d bark and get a little aggressive, though I don’t think he actually bit anyone. And while I know Pomeranians like to bark quite a lot, there is one person who seems to really get under his skin.”
“Let me guess, Junior?”
I nodded. “Every time I saw them together, Stewie would bark at him and cower away like he was afraid of Junior. He’s the only person with whom I ever saw him like that.”
“Dogs can sense when people don’t like them,” Manny said. “If Junior is as bad as you say, then it’s likely the reason why Stewie acts as he does toward him.”
“Could there be more to it?” I asked.
Manny’s brow furrowed. “Meaning?” Before I could answer, he held up a hand. “Hold that thought.” He poked his head out the door. “Hey, Trinity, can you get me Stewie’s records. They’d be filed under Fuller, Timothy. Thanks.” He popped back in. “You were saying?”
“Do you think it’s possible Stewie saw the murder and is barking at Junior because he was the one who did it?”
Manny appeared surprised by the question. “Do you think that’s what happened?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But as far as I can tell, Stewie only acts that way with Junior, which has to mean something, doesn’t it? He’s never barked at me, and he seemed fine around Timothy’s nurse, Meredith.”
“I suppose it’s possible,” Manny said. “But you can’t use his barking as proof of a crime. In fact, I’m more apt to believe he simply doesn’t like Junior, than he witnessed a murder and is reacting because of it.”
That wasn’t what I wanted to hear, but I wasn’t really all that surprised. It was a long shot. “Junior is pretty obsessed with finding his dad’s money,” I said. “If anyone had motive to kill Timothy, it was him.”
Manny gave me a sympathetic smile and walked over, took my head in both hands, and brought my forehead to his lips. “I know what you’re trying to do,” he said.
“What’s that?”
“You want to help Ben. I understand that, and I love you for it.”
I could feel the “but” coming. I stepped back and waited.
“But you need to let the police deal with it,” he said. “I want to help too, but what if you do something that messes with the investigation? We have to be careful, Liz. Tell the police what you know. If money is involved, I’m sure they’ll find it. Now that you have Stewie, there’s no reason for you to talk to Junior again. I don’t want something to happen to you.”
“I know, but . . .”
“I understand,” Manny said, though I hadn’t actually said much of anything. “I want to rush to the police station and demand they release Ben. I want to check the scene myself, see if I can find something the police have missed.” His fists clenched, some of his composure slipping. “But I know I can’t. If I do, I’ll mess it up somehow. I couldn’t live with myself if I did that. So, I’m here.”
“I feel the same way,” I said. “It’s just so hard to do nothing. And come to find out, the girl Ben was hanging out with at the time of the murder already has a boyfriend. I keep wondering if she was a part of it somehow. And then after what happened with Amelia, I’m afraid I’m losing complete control of everything.”
Manny went completely still. “Something’s happened to Amelia?”
Oh, crap. I hadn’t meant to say anything about her. That’s what I get for babbling on like a fool. “It’s nothing,” I said. Not very convincingly, I might add.
“No, Liz. What’s going on with Amelia?”
Reluctantly, I told him about my visit with Duke, and how I saw Amelia with the older man afterward. I downplayed the whole thing about me following her, saying I’d been heading in the same direction, but told him about it nonetheless. I ended with what she’d told me about wanting to be a detective or private investigator when she finally graduated college.
Manny was silent for a couple of minutes afterward, digesting everything I’d said. I couldn’t tell if he was upset, angry, or thrilled. He paced over to Stewie, who was watching us, head cocked to the side like he’d been trying to follow the conversation, before Manny spun, a wide smile on his face.
“This is fantastic news,” he said.
“It is?”
“It sounds like Amelia has finally found her calling.” He grinned. “I was starting to get worried there for a while.”
“I told her we’d support her,” I said, relieved. While I might have told Amelia we’d both be happy for her, there’d been a niggling of doubt in the back of my mind that Manny wouldn’t approve of her career choice.
“You know, we should celebrate,” he said. “Tonight.” The door opened and Trinity entered. She handed Manny Stewie’s file, giving us each a curious look, before heading back out front. “We should show her we support her, make a big deal out of it. She’ll probably hate it at first, but I bet she’ll appreciate it in the end.”
“That actually sounds like a good idea,” I said, thinking it through. With everything bad that’s happened lately, it would be nice to focus on something positive for a change. Amelia wasn’t big on us showering her with attention, but I thought she’d approve.
“Let me finish up with Stewie and we can make plans.”
“Sound good.”
“This is great,” Manny said, turning to the Pomeranian. “Don’t you think so, buddy?”
I left him with the dog, and went outside to make a call. Manny was right; I needed to let the police handle Ben’s case. I’d tell Detective Cavanaugh everything I’d learned since we’d last talked, and then I’d step away. There was no reason for me to keep going back to Timothy’s place, let alone Selena’s house, now that I had Stewie in custody.
I dialed the detective’s cell—I’ d found his number in the van—and waited as it rang. Eventually, it went to voicemail, but I clicked off without leaving a message.
I started to dial the police station, but only made it halfway through the number before I canceled the call and shoved my phone into my pocket. If I truly thought about it, it was unlikely Detective Cavanaugh would want to hear from me again today, even if I had information for him. He had a pretty full plate already, and what I had to say might not have anything to do with Timothy’s murder. I could always save it for tomorrow.
By now, Cavanaugh probably already knew about the money and everyone’s interest in it. And what difference did it truly make that Selena already had a boyfriend when she was flirting with my son? It wasn’t a crime—though in my mind, it should be.
Trinity was back behind the desk, attention focused on her phone, when I came back inside. When I peeked into the exam room, both Manny and Stewie were gone. I assumed the dog was getting weighed. Afterward, tests would be done, many of which, would likely leave the Pomeranian grumpy.
Instead of returning to the exam room, I sat down in the waiting area, on the dog admittance side. A woman sat across the way, a pair of black-and-white kittens in a carrier. She must have come in while I was on the phone, though I hadn’t seen her walk by. She cooed at the mewling kitties as she awaited her turn to be seen.
Theresa Rush came from the back a few minutes later, rather than Ray, who I’d expected. Theresa was five years older than me, and while we got along all right, I don’t think she really cared for me all that much. She saw me, gave a half-hearted wave, and then took the woman and her kittens to exam room one.
Fifteen minutes later, Manny came out, leading a surprisingly happy-looking Stewie on a leash.
“He’s all done,” he said. “He handled the exam like a pro.”
“Did everything check out?” I asked, accepting the leash when Manny offered it.
“It did,” Manny said. “He’s far healthier than I expected. No cataracts or signs of disease, other than maybe a little arthritis in his legs. Mr. Fuller took good care of him.” He rubbed behind Stewie’s ears. “The blood work won’t be ready for a day or so, so I can’t be sure, but I’m almost positive our friend here is going to get a relatively clean bill of health.”
That was good to hear. Maybe everything in the world wasn’t falling apart, despite how it seemed.
“Thanks, Manny,” I said. “I’ll start getting everything prepped for his adoption.” I looked down at the dog, and a pang shot through me. I liked the little guy, even though I hadn’t spent much time with him yet. This one was going to be hard to let go of.
Then again, weren’t they all?
“You calling them tonight?”
“No, I think I’ll wait until tomorrow,” I said. I didn’t want the Lincolns to get their hopes up if something came up in the tests overnight.
Or if Detective Cavanaugh called, wanting to see the dog. I still couldn’t shake the feeling that Stewie knew more about who killed Timothy than he could tell us. I doubted Cavanaugh would have any more luck than the rest of us getting it out of him, but I wouldn’t put it past him to try.
“I can keep him here overnight, if you want?” Manny asked, concern in his voice. “It’ll be no trouble.”
“That’s all right,” I said, forcing myself to smile. “Stewie and I can get the room set up together, right, Stewie?”
The Pomeranian yapped in agreement.
Manny laughed. “If you say so.” He gave me a quick hug, and then stepped back as the door opened and a couple came in with a Labrador. “If you change your mind, just let me know. We’ve got room here.”
“I won’t,” I assured him. “I’ll see you tonight.”
“Liz,” Manny said as I started to walk away. “Remember what I said.”
I flashed him a smile, and then left, a happy dog trailing behind me. When I opened the back of my van, he pranced in place, as if he actually wanted to be picked up and put into the carrier.
“Things are looking up for you,” I said, picking up the dog and putting him into the back of the van. He ran into the carrier, and immediately curled up and lay down. Apparently, the exam had taken more out of him than he’d let on.
I closed the back of the van, content. Stewie was going to a loving home. And while his former owner was gone, I was pretty sure the Lincolns would make sure he remained happy. Things were definitely going his way.
I just hoped that some of his good fortune would eventually rub off on me.