The Case of the Prescient Poodle Page 11

  “Okay, but why don’t you want her to know?”

  “I’d like to get her through the wedding first.”

  “Sure, I get that. Because it would be more than she can handle at one time, right?”

  “You really haven’t been paying attention have you, Detective?”

  Chapter 18

  My strategy to get a meeting with the Police Commissioner had been easy to formulate and was based on the idea that there were very few public officials who didn’t like to see their picture in the paper, assuming that the photo was flattering and didn’t display the official in a comprising position or caught doing something nefarious. And since I would merely be handing over a check to the Commissioner, I thought my thinking was solid. My theory was confirmed when I got a call from someone on the Commissioner’s staff inviting me to a presentation ceremony in Georgetown.

  I parked across the street from a soccer field that definitely needed an upgrade. And if that was how the Commissioner was planning on spending the ten grand I was giving him, it was money well spent. A small bandstand sat in the corner of the field that was closest to the street, and I saw a couple dozen people sitting in folding chairs in front of the makeshift stage along with several kids in various soccer uniforms in a circle casually kicking a ball back and forth. I approached the bandstand unsure where to go and looked around. I saw Detective Renfro sitting in one of the folding chairs, but when our eyes met, he gave me a slight shake of his head, and I decided to keep my distance.

  “You must be Ms. Chandler,” a uniformed policewoman said with a smile and an extended hand.

  “I am,” I said, returning her handshake. “Please, call me Suzy.”

  “Suzy, it is,” she said. “I’m Officer Fritz.”

  “Please tell me your first name isn’t On The,” I said.

  “Oh, good one,” she deadpanned. “Never heard that one before.”

  “Sorry. I couldn’t resist. Where do you want me to sit?” I said, glancing around.

  “Up there,” she said, pointing at the bandstand. “We’ll go up as soon as the Commissioner arrives.”

  “Okay,” I said, rocking back and forth on my heels as I watched the kids continue to kick the ball around.

  “Barb, he just called and is on his way,” a cop in uniform said as he approached his colleague. Then he saw me. “Ms. Chandler.”

  “Officer Jones,” I said, surprised to see him. Then I caught a glimpse of the bandage on his hand. I did my best to hide my smile. “Wounded in the line of duty?”

  “Yeah, I got bit by a wild animal the other night,” he said, glaring at me. “The doctor says I’ll be fine. But I did get a rabies shot just in case.”

  “Maybe you’ll get a commendation for bravery,” I said, then muttered under my breath. “Ya big baby.”

  “Okay, guys,” Officer Fritz said, scolding us. “Don’t start. Today is for the kids.”

  “Then Ms. Chandler should feel right at home,” Officer Jones said before he walked away and took a seat in front of the bandstand.

  “Don’t mind him,” Officer Fritz said. “He’s been taking a lot of ribbing since your incident.”

  “Because he allowed himself to get bit by a girl?” I said.

  “Yeah,” she said, laughing. “That’s pretty much it. Oh, good. He’s here.”

  I turned and watched a large balding man with grey around the temples briskly walk toward us. Two other uniformed officers nipped at his heels as they tried to keep up with the Commissioner’s pace. He came to a stop right in front of me and gave me a thorough once-over. Then he nodded and extended his hand.

  “It’s nice to finally meet you, Ms. Chandler,” he said. “You look much better in person than your mug shot.”

  “Thanks, I’m glad to hear that,” I said, wincing from the strong grip.

  He gave me a small grin as he squeezed my hand, and I was sure he’d given me the handshake of death just to make a point about who was in charge.

  Like I’d want his job.

  “Okay, I’m here,” he said, turning to Officer Fritz. “Let’s do this.”

  “We’re just waiting for Jerome. He’s running a bit late,” she said, then turned to me. “Jerome is the president of the Youth League.”

  “And a devotee of island time,” the Commissioner said. “Jerome is going to be late for his own funeral. Come. Let’s go sit on the bandstand and get out of this sun.”

  I followed him up a small set of steps and stood quietly off to one side as he surveyed the crowd and waved to several people. Then he gestured at a chair and sat down next to me. I had hoped for a few minutes alone with him, and it looked like this was going to be my best shot. But before I could get my opening question out, he beat me to the punch.

  “Been to any good cockfights lately?” he said, glancing over at me.

  “Yeah, I guess I should apologize for my behavior, Commissioner,” I said. “I just take animal cruelty very seriously.”

  “Understandable,” he said, nodding. “But in the future, how about you try to remember that you’re a guest in our country?”

  “Absolutely,” I said, then had to ask. “How close was I to getting deported?”

  The Commissioner extended a hand and held his thumb and index finger about a quarter inch apart in front of my face.

  “That close, huh?”

  “Indeed,” he said. “You’re lucky that Gerald has as much juice as he does. If it had been up to me, I would have put you in a leaky boat and wished you good luck finding land,” he said with an evil grin.

  “Okay, now we understand each other,” I said, annoyed. “I take it you’re a fan of cockfights.”

  The Commissioner slowly turned his head and gave me an angry stare. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, but I held my ground.

  “You need to be very careful, Ms. Chandler.”

  “Is that a threat, Commissioner? Or just a piece of friendly advice?”

  “Take it any way you want,” he said, shrugging. “But thanks for the check. Ten thousand was very generous.”

  “It was the least I could do,” I said, staring out at the small crowd.

  “No, actually, five thousand was the least you could do,” he said, laughing.

  “I was prepared to give you twenty,” I said, beaming at him.

  “I’ll keep that in mind the next time you do something incredibly stupid,” the Commissioner said, waving at someone sitting in the front row.

  “All I did was save some defenseless roosters.”

  “And nearly caused a public riot in the process.”

  “Tomato, tomahto.”

  “Not to mention the damage you did to a very important investigation,” he muttered under his breath.

  “Really? An investigation. Do tell,” I said, grinning at him.

  “Not a chance in hell,” he said, not returning the smile.

  “What sort of investigation do you need to do with illegal cockfighting?” I said, going for demure. “It seems like a very straightforward activity. Barbaric, but straightforward.”

  “Yes, one would think,” he said, nodding again as he glanced out at the crowd that looked like it was going to remain sparse.

  “Of course, an activity like that must attract all sort of shady characters,” I said. “You know, evildoers.”

  “Evildoers?” he said, laughing as he looked over at me. “That’s a Batman reference, right?”

  “I’m not sure,” I said, shrugging. “I’m not a big fan of the superhero genre. Those movies are way too loud and violent. You know, all those explosions and things blowing up.”

  I let my comment hang in the air and waited for his reaction. But all I got from him were narrowed eyes and a slight change in his posture. I guess you don’t make it all the way to top cop by revealing too much to strangers.

  “Gerald warned me about you,” he said after a long pause.

  “And?”

  “And he was right,” the Commissioner said, t
hen stood up and stared at a man who was making double-time toward the bandstand. “He’s finally here. It’s about time.”

  The man climbed the short set of steps carrying an oversized cardboard check. He leaned it against the podium then wiped his hands on his pants and extended his hand to me.

  “Sorry I’m late, Commissioner,” he said, shaking my hand. “It took them forever to deliver the check. You must be Ms. Chandler. I’m Jerome Albert, President of the Police Youth League.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Jerome,” I said.

  “Thank you so much for your generous donation,” Jerome said.

  “No problem. It was almost the least I could do,” I said, flashing the unamused Commissioner a grin.

  “Okay,” Jerome said, confused. “Why don’t we get started before all our guests fry in this heat?”

  He briefly ran through the process with us then approached the podium. He welcomed everyone, introduced the Commissioner and me to polite applause, then turned the microphone over to the Commissioner who managed to thank me without choking on his words. The Commissioner explained to the crowd that the funds would be used to renovate the soccer field, then he motioned for Jerome and me to stand next to him as we posed for pictures. The Commissioner stood in the center of the photo and held the poster check up with one hand.

  “I’m going to put my arm around your waist for the picture,” he said.

  “Okay,” I said with a casual shrug. “Knock yourself out.”

  “Try not to bite me.”

  Chapter 19

  We grabbed a handful of tennis balls and headed across the lawn with five excited dogs leading the way to the gate that led down to the beach. All three of us removed our sandals when we reached the soft sand, and we each fired a couple of the balls in different directions and laughed as we watched the dogs try to make up their minds about which one they wanted to go after. Soon, they all decided, and we had a few minutes of peace and quiet as we strolled toward the edge of the water.

  Captain was the first dog to return carrying three balls in his mouth. He dropped them at Josie’s feet and stared expectantly out at the water.

  “No,” she said, shaking her head. “You’ve been in the water enough for one day.”

  Captain woofed his displeasure but raced off in pursuit when Josie threw one of the balls downwind along the beach. We repeated the process with all five dogs as we walked through the sand toward my mother’s place.

  “You ready for this?” Chef Claire said.

  “Sure, she can’t still be mad at me, right?” I said, then looked at her. “Can she?”

  “She was in a pretty good mood at lunch today,” Chef Claire said.

  “That’s good to hear,” I said.

  “Of course, you weren’t there.”

  Josie snorted then threw a couple of tennis balls onto the path that led up to my mother’s backyard. All five dogs chased the balls then just kept going and disappeared from view. We followed them up the path, and they were already saying hello to everyone by the time we arrived. Then the dogs started roughhousing on the lawn. I glanced around and noticed the table was set for eight. I did the math, came up one short, then decided that the eighth person had to be Gerald. Henry was working the grill and Josie and Chef Claire wandered over to see what was on the menu. I saw Rooster and Paulie sitting poolside and headed for them.

  “Well, look who finally worked up the courage to show her face,” Rooster said, laughing.

  “Don’t start,” I said, giving both of them a hug before sitting down. “But I figured I’ve waited long enough. How’s she doing?”

  “She’s good,” Paulie said. “Just don’t bring up the other night and you’ll be fine.”

  My mother and Gerald came out of the house carrying bowls and set them down on the table. Deciding I couldn’t avoid it any longer, I got up and crossed the lawn. My mother watched me closely as I approached, then nodded.

  “Good evening, darling.”

  “Hi, Mom,” I said, giving her a long hug. “It’s nice to see you. And, again, I want to apologize.”

  “Apologize? What for?” she said, raising an eyebrow.

  “For being late to dinner,” I said. “What else?”

  She laughed and pulled me in for another hug.

  “What am I going to with you?”

  “It’s a question for the ages, Mom.”

  “Indeed. I need to head back inside for a bit.”

  “You need a hand?” I said.

  “No, I’m fine,” she said. “Just sit here and keep Gerald company.”

  We watched her stroll back toward the house, then we sat down at the table. Gerald grabbed a bottle of wine and poured. We clinked glasses then settled into our chairs and got comfortable.

  “Well, that certainly went better than I expected,” I said after my mother disappeared into the house.

  “She’s fine,” Gerald said, waving it off. “Has she ever been that mad at you before?”

  “Is there much sand at the beach?” I said.

  “Got it,” Gerald said. “How did the presentation ceremony go today?”

  “It was pretty uneventful,” I said. “But the Commissioner doesn’t like me.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about it,” he said, taking a sip of wine. “The Commissioner doesn’t seem to like anybody.”

  “He said that, if it hadn’t been for you, I would have been deported in a leaky boat.”

  “Ah, don’t mention it,” Gerald said. “Besides, the place wouldn’t be the same without you. What’s your take on him?”

  “He’s definitely all cop. At least, that’s the impression he likes to give. And I know that what I did was pretty stupid, but he seemed way too angry.”

  “How so?”

  “It was like I’d somehow touched a nerve. It was strange.”

  “Do you think he might be involved?” Gerald said, swirling the wine in his glass.

  “Maybe. I did get a bit of a reaction out of him when I dropped a comment about things blowing up.”

  “Oh, Suzy,” he said, frowning. “Please, tell me you didn’t do that.”

  “It’s okay,” I said. “I worked it into a conversation about superheroes.”

  Gerald stared at me, bewildered.

  “Relax, Gerald. Did you talk to Detective Renfro today?”

  “I did,” he said, topping off our wine. “He’s personally started doing some surveillance on the guy who was putting on the cockfights.”

  “Ramon.”

  “That’s the one. But he hasn’t seen anything suspicious yet. Ramon goes to work in the morning, stops by some hole-in-the-wall bar after work, then heads home.”

  “Does he live in the house in front of the place where the cockfight was held?”

  “He does. By himself.”

  “Geez, I’m surprised,” I said. “I thought a charming guy like that would have to beat the women off with a stick.”

  “Or an armed rooster,” Gerald said.

  “Funny,” I said, raising my glass in salute. “I’m heading back to Jennifer’s place in the morning. Should I send her your best?”

  “No, don’t do that,” he said, shaking his head. “Have you figured out what sort of excuse you’re going to use for dropping in unannounced.”

  “I’m still working on that.”

  Seemingly on cue, Polly got to her feet, picked up a nearby tennis ball, then trotted toward me. She sat down at my feet and dropped the tennis ball. She stared back and forth at me and the ball. Then she trotted off and returned with a second ball. Eventually, a half dozen tennis balls were scattered around my chair. I finally got the point and laughed.

  “What a great idea,” I said, rubbing the poodle’s head. “I think that just might work.”

  “You’re speaking dog now?” Gerald said, staring at the poodle.

  “Well, it’s not like I’m fluent.”

  Chapter 20

  I made the drive to Jennifer Jensen’s place from memory
and parked in front. I considered knocking on the front door, but I again heard splashing and laughter coming from the pool area. I wandered along the path next to the house that led to the backyard and had a déjà vu moment. The same couple was stretched out next to each other in the same lounge chair smoking weed and making short work of a cooler filled with Caybrew. This I knew because of the empty beer cans circling them on the tile. The other three people were in the shallow end in pretty much the same spot they’d been when I last visited. But they seemed to have added a twist by playing a game that involved seeing who could hold their breath underwater the longest, then the losers would have to do a shot of what looked like tequila. It seemed to be a good way to spend the day as long as your goal was to ensure that at least one of your fellow pool mates drowned before lunch. Regardless, all three were oblivious to my presence so I headed for the couple in the lounge chair and soon decided I would have to talk fast since they were both well into what Josie liked to call the Double-Baked Zone; baked on the outside by the sun, baked internally by the behavior modifying substance of choice. Or in this case, substances.

  “Hey, look who’s here,” the man said, glancing up at me behind his sunglasses. “What’s your name again?”

  “Suzy,” I said, sitting down on the edge of the recliner next to them. “I don’t think I got your names the other day.”

  “I’m Danny,” he said, offering me a beer I waved off. “And this is Terry.”

  “Danny and Terry,” I said, smiling back and forth at them as I committed their names to memory. “Another day in paradise, huh?”

  “Yeah, it’s a tough life,” the woman named Terry said, then giggled. “You want to get high?”

  “No, thanks,” I said, holding my hands up. “But you guys go right ahead. I’m sitting upwind.”

  For some reason, they both laughed long and hard. While I waited for them to find their focus, I watched the game in progress in the pool. Two men surfaced within seconds of each other and stood in the shallow end gasping for breath Moments later, a woman popped to the surface, then placed her elbows on the edge of the pool and laughingly poured two large shots and handed them to her vanquished competitors.