Chapter Twenty

I thought Renee was going to blow a gasket when Skip suggested that she might want to keep the other dog,” Kate said to Livvy and LuAnne the following afternoon at the Country Diner. “The look she gave him should have turned him to stone on the spot.”

LuAnne shook her head. “I’ve seen that look before. Poor Skip. I’ll bet he skedaddled right after that.”

“He didn’t stay long.” Kate admitted with a chuckle.

“That other Chihuahua must have looked a lot like Kisses to fool Renee for even a moment,” Livvy said.

“It was amazing,” Kate said. “He really was a dead ringer for Kisses, except for that patch of white hair.”

“Poor little thing.” Livvy pursed her lips. “What’s going to happen to him?”

“He already has a new home.” Kate smiled at the surprised look on her friends’ faces. “I just happened to know that Brenna Phillips has been wanting a small dog. Now she has one.”

“Isn’t that perfect?” LuAnne beamed. “What about Renee’s mama? How did she take all the goin’s-on?”

Kate laughed. “Would you believe she slept through the whole thing? And it’s probably just as well.”

“I’m sure you had your hands full enough just dealing with Renee,” Livvy said.

Kate nodded. “We didn’t leave until nearly midnight. I fixed Renee some chicken noodle soup. She said she didn’t have any appetite, so I sat with her until she finished most of it.”

She drummed her fingers on the table. “When I hugged her, I could tell she’s lost weight. I don’t think she’s been eating right since all this began.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me,” Livvy said. “She’s been going through a grieving process right now, just as if she’d lost a person she loves.”

“That’s exactly what’s happened.” Kate looked at her two friends. “I’m really worried about her. When she found out that little dog wasn’t Kisses, she was so distraught, I thought she’d disintegrate right there before our eyes. We just have to find Kisses. Why don’t we do a little brainstorming?”

“Sounds good to me.” Livvy pulled a notebook and pen from her handbag. “I can take notes while you go back over everything point by point.”

“That’s a good idea.” LuAnne nodded her approval. “When a bloodhound loses a trail, he has to go back to the last place he had a scent and try to pick it up again. So where’s our last scent?” She and Livvy eyed Kate expectantly.

“That’s the problem. There really isn’t any.” Kate ticked off the points as Livvy jotted them down in her notebook. “After seeing Renee in action at the dog-club meeting, I thought at first that one of the members might be involved.

“I also considered the possibility of a dognapping ring, but I can’t find any evidence to substantiate it. I can’t disprove it either, so we probably shouldn’t cross it off the list just yet, even though there haven’t been any other dognappings in the area.”

“What about whoever’s behind all the vandalism that’s been goin’ on around town?” LuAnne asked, a grim expression on her face. “Every one of those victims owns a dog.”

“That’s right,” Livvy exclaimed, her eyes wide. “Maybe that’s the missing connection!”

Kate hated to burst her friend’s bubble. She shook her head. “You two are thinking exactly like I did until, well, let’s just say I have it on good authority that the vandalism has been nipped in the bud. So that isn’t a factor anymore.”

“Do you know who was involved?” Livvy asked.

Kate chose her words carefully. “I think it’s best if I just say that the mayor has the situation under control.”

LuAnne quirked an eyebrow. “Well, that’s good to know. About it being over, I mean. Lawton Briddle has been tellin’ everybody he was goin’ to put a stop to it, and I guess he did.”

Livvy poised her pen over her notebook. “Okay, what else do we have?”

Kate shrugged. “Renee thought at first she’d receive a ransom demand, but nobody has called asking for money.”

Except for the Murphys, she thought. The couple had seemed awfully eager to leave as soon as Renee’s unexpectedly large check was in their hands.

“Earth to Kate.” Livvy snapped her fingers.

Kate blinked. “Sorry. I was just woolgathering.”

“Must have been an awfully interesting sheep,” LuAnne teased.

Livvy leaned forward, her eyes sparkling. “I know that look. What’s up, Sherlock?”

“Do either of you know a couple named Clifford and Cissy—”

“Murphy,” LuAnne cut in. “The ones from Pine Ridge? Yeah, they come in here every so often when Loretta’s meat loaf is on special. Why? What have they done now?”

Something in LuAnne’s tone made Kate feel like she might finally be on the right track.

“They’re the ones who turned in the phony Kisses last night,” Kate continued.

“Oh, brother.” LuAnne leaned back in the booth and rolled her eyes. “They’re a pair, those two. Always tryin’ some get-rich-quick scheme.

“First, it was worm farming, then they were gonna make big money raisin’ garlic. Last I heard, they had some notion they could make a fortune gettin’ other people to sign up for some kind of pyramid sales thing.”

She shook her head. “They’ll try almost anything to make a fast buck.”

Kate quivered like a bird dog on the scent. “Including trying to palm off a dog they knew wasn’t the right one in order to get a reward?”

“I wouldn’t put it past ’em,” LuAnne said flatly.

Livvy drew in her breath. “Do you think that’s what they tried to do last night?”

“I don’t know,” Kate said. “But I’m going to find out.”

“ARE WE GETTING CLOSE?” Kate steered her Honda around a bend in the two-lane highway that led from Copper Mill to Pine Ridge.

“I think so.” LuAnne peered at the map printout she was holding. “It looks like we have a half mile or so to go before we turn off. Wouldn’t you figure they’d live out on some back road?”

Kate waited until a furniture van passed by, then she checked for oncoming traffic before she risked a glance at the map herself.

“I think you’re right. It shouldn’t be much farther now.”

Kate directed her eyes back onto the road. “I’m glad you were able to come with me.”

“No problem. Things tend to be pretty slow during this time of the afternoon. J.B. and Loretta can handle anything that comes up until I get back.”

After their brainstorming session at the diner, the three friends had hurried over to the library, where Livvy pulled out a Pine Ridge phone directory to look up the Murphys’ street address.

Armed with the information, Kate had used one of the library’s computers to pinpoint the location on the Internet and print out a map with driving directions to their home.

Livvy had used up her afternoon break time, so when Kate announced her intention of confronting the shady couple alone, LuAnne had insisted on going along, telling Livvy she would play Watson to Kate’s Sherlock just this once.

“I’m not about to let you go up there by yourself,” she had said in a tone that brooked no argument. “Not with a couple like the Murphys.”

Kate was grateful for friends like Livvy and LuAnne, who were always willing to back her up.

“See that?” LuAnne pointed to a small road intersecting the highway. “I think it’s the turnoff right up there.”

Kate slowed and put her blinker on, then made a right turn. The narrow road wound its way back through thick stands of hickories, hemlocks, and ash trees that arched over the roadway. Kate found the effect almost oppressive.

If someone wanted to cover up an activity like a dog theft, a location like this—away from neighbors and the likelihood of being stumbled upon by accident—would make an ideal spot. Suddenly, she was doubly glad for her friend’s presence.

She pulled well off the edge of the road and turned to LuAnne. “Before we go in, I want you to know what’s in the back of my mind. I have no idea what we’re going to find out here. It may turn out to be nothing more than a wild-goose chase.

“Even if it turns out that the Murphys knowingly brought in a counterfeit Kisses so they could claim the reward, they didn’t get away with the money. After all, Skip retrieved the check, so they can argue that no actual harm has been done.”

LuAnne pressed her lips together in a grim line. “Except to Renee.”

Kate tapped her thumbs on the steering wheel. “It’s just that something you said back at the diner keeps gnawing at me. You told Livvy and me that these people are always looking for ways to get easy money and aren’t too particular about how they go about it.”

LuAnne grunted. “That’s a polite way to put it.”

Kate spoke slowly, struggling to voice the thought that had been forming in her mind ever since their earlier discussion.

“What if they took Kisses and sold him immediately, then saw the flyers and jumped at the chance to make a little more cash?”

“Kind of like double-dipping, you mean? Get money once for poor little Kisses and then again when they turned in his look-alike for the reward?” LuAnne thought a moment, then nodded. “That’s the kind of thing that would make sense to them.”

“It would appeal to anyone with a greedy, grasping nature,” Kate added. “In fact, the reward Renee gave them might even have amounted to more than what they sold Kisses for.”

“You just may be onto something.” LuAnne’s eyes lit up. “Let’s go check it out.”

Kate put the car in motion again. She drove around a couple of curves that set her teeth on edge, then she spotted a small-frame house set back in a clearing off the road.

“This must be it,” LuAnne said.

Kate turned into the driveway, her tires crunching on the gravel. As a precaution, she turned the car around before she parked so it was pointing back toward the road. In the event they had to make a hasty getaway, she wanted to give herself every possible advantage.

Clifford Murphy stepped outside before they reached the porch. “Afternoon, what can I do for...”

His voice trailed off, and his jaw sagged when he recognized Kate.

“Hello, Mr. Murphy,” Kate said. “We’ve come to talk to you.”

“Who is it, hon?” Cissy pushed past her husband and froze when she saw Kate. “What are you doin’ here?”

“Just a friendly visit,” LuAnne said. She regarded the house, from its untidy porch to the lace curtains that hung at a slightly crooked angle in the front window. “Cozy little place you’ve got here.”

Cissy drew back and stared at LuAnne suspiciously. “We like it.”

While they were talking, Kate studied the property, looking for any signs of canine life.

No kennels, no doggie toys, no yapping. Not even any telltale deposits on the lawn.

Kate wondered whether she was barking up the wrong tree, but the memory of Renee’s tear-ravaged face spurred her to press on. She took a step closer to the porch.

“We’d like to ask you a few questions, if you don’t mind.”

Cissy and Clifford shifted uncomfortably where they stood and exchanged glances.

“That depends,” Clifford said slowly. “What kind of questions?”

Kate’s pulse quickened. This was her opportunity. “Where did the dog you turned in last night actually come from?”

She held her breath. She knew it was a long shot. She had no proof that the Murphys hadn’t found the little Chihuahua exactly as they said, scampering around the SuperMart parking lot. If they stuck to their story, she would have no way to pursue the matter further.

The Murphys stood stock-still for a moment. Then Clifford’s shoulders slumped, and he looked at his wife. “I knew we weren’t going to be able to pull that one off.”

Cissy smacked his shoulder. “You just hush. They can’t prove anything.”

She turned to Kate. “We didn’t get to keep that check, so we haven’t done anything wrong, not technically, anyway.”

LuAnne rolled her eyes and gave Kate an “I told you so” look.

Kate held up her hands. “We’re not trying to stir up trouble.” Unless it turns out you stole Kisses and ripped Renee’s heart out in the process, she thought. “We just want to know more about where that dog came from.”

The Murphys looked at each other for a long moment.

“Might as well tell ’em,” Clifford said. “I’ve got a feeling we’re not gonna get any peace until we do.”

Cissy threw her hands up in the air. “All right, have it your way.”

She stepped to the edge of the porch and looked down at Kate. “We’d seen the flyers around town. Who could miss ’em? They’re everywhere! But we didn’t think anything about it at the time.

“We were over at a swap meet in Chattanooga this past weekend, and one of the vendors was selling a little dog real cheap. The minute we laid eyes on it, we knew it looked just like the one on that flyer, and—”

LuAnne folded her arms. “And so you figured you’d just make yourselves some easy cash.”

Cissy’s shoulders stiffened. “Well, who was to say it wasn’t really that poor dog on the flyer? He’s a dead ringer for the one who’s missing. We just wanted to reunite him with his rightful owner.”

Kate, LuAnne, and even Clifford stared at her in stunned silence.

Cissy shrugged. “Well, you never know.”

Clifford moved up to stand beside his wife. “They wanted twenty dollars for him, and we happened to remember that the owner was offering a reward for the lost dog.

“We figured if there was a reward, it had to be more than twenty dollars. We’d at least break even, and maybe make a nice little profit if things went well. It seemed like a good business investment.”

Cissy picked up the thread of the story. “So we bought him and brought him home with us. Clifford spent some time in Copper Mill on Monday, asking around just to make sure the real dog hadn’t been turned in already. When he found out he hadn’t, Clifford came back home, and we called the sheriff. And you know the rest.”

“We never expected a reward like that.” Clifford looked down at the porch steps and shook his head. “I thought my teeth would drop out when I saw the size of that check. Nine hundred and eighty dollars of pure profit. You don’t come across a deal like that every day.” When he finally looked up, his face was a picture of utter dejection.

Kate studied the couple. The story sounded logical, at least to their way of thinking. She felt inclined to believe that was the way it happened.

Still, it didn’t answer her other question.

She said casually, “LuAnne thought you might have been in Copper Mill the Saturday he went missing. It sure is a shame you didn’t find him then.”

Clifford rubbed the back of his neck. “Man, I wish we had! That way we’d have been able to keep that check, and we’d be in clover right now.”

He gave a long, low whistle. “Imagine, givin’ somebody a thousand dollars for a dog that’s only worth twenty.”

Kate nodded. That settled things in her mind. It was evident the Murphys had no idea of the actual market value of a pedigreed Chihuahua.

“I guess that’s all we need to know.” She turned back toward the car, and LuAnne followed suit.

“Wait a minute!” Cissy’s shrill voice rang out from the porch. “What about our dog?”

“Your dog?” LuAnne’s face was a study in bewilderment.

Cissy set her hands on her hips. “Yeah! We paid twenty dollars for that mutt. That makes him our property, and we want him back.”

Kate reached into the car and pulled out her handbag. She drew two ten-dollar bills from her wallet and walked over to place them in Cissy Murphy’s hand.

“How about if I just reimburse you for the dog and save you all the added expense of food and supplies and vet fees?”

Cissy rubbed the bills together between her thumb and forefinger. Finally, she nodded.

“Yeah, I guess that’ll work.” She held the money up to Clifford. “Well, we didn’t make the big bucks, but at least we broke even.”

“DID YOU EVER SEE the likes of those two?” LuAnne said on their way back to the highway. “I feel like I need to take a shower.”

“I know what you mean,” Kate said as she guided the Honda onto the highway. “So, what do you think Sherlock and Watson would do next?”

LuAnne gave one of her rich, hearty laughs and propped her elbow on the window ledge. “My grandpa would’ve said it was time to load ’em back in the truck and call it a day. But we can’t do that.”

“No,” Kate said, “not yet. So...”

LuAnne grinned. “You got it, darlin’. These bloodhounds are gonna keep right on sniffin’.”