The Case of the Abandoned Aussie Read online

“Your mother tells me that you own a hotel for dogs,” he said, chuckling.

  I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise.

  “Why does that strike you as funny?”

  “It’s not funny,” he said, unable to maintain eye contact. “It’s just… unusual. Yes, that’s it, unusual.”

  “It’s a lot more than just a boarding hotel. We run a full-service veterinary operation. And we operate a dog rescue program.”

  “Is there any money in dogs?” he said, then took a sip of his martini and stared at me over the top of the glass.

  “Why would that matter?” I said, reaching underneath the table for my phone.

  “Because money’s important,” he said, shrugging as if the answer was obvious. “Isn’t it important to you?”

  “I have money,” I said. “What I don’t have is enough dogs.”

  I glanced down and texted Josie the message: KMN. I slid the phone back into my purse, then picked up my wine glass.

  Oblivious to my texting, Jerry stared off into the distance, his face in profile. I realized that while he seemed to be in deep thought, he was posing for me.

  “How many dogs do you have?” he said, refocusing on me with a small smile.

  “All in?”

  “Yeah, sure. All in,” Jerry said, shrugging.

  “Between the temporary boarders, permanent residents, and the rescues, today’s count is twenty-nine.”

  “Twenty-nine?” he said, laughing until he coughed. He composed himself and wiped his mouth. “And I thought cat ladies were supposed to be the crazy ones.”

  “I beg your pardon,” I said, making a mental note to have a serious chat with my mother. She had outdone herself this time.

  “No offense,” he said, draining his martini. “So how long do you keep the rescues before you euthanize them?”

  “What?”

  “You know, put them to sleep. Isn’t that what you do with dogs nobody wants? Isn’t that the humane thing to do?”

  Before I could reach across the table and slap his smug face, Josie approached the table.

  “Hey, Suzy,” she said, grinning. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming here tonight? We could have ridden together.” She caught the scowl on my face but didn’t miss a beat. She turned to Jerry and held out her hand.

  “Hi, I’m Josie. Suzy’s business partner.”

  Jerry took her extended hand and gently shook it. Stunned by her, he stammered out a hello.

  “W-won’t you join us?” he said, pointing at the empty chair next to mine.

  “Don’t mind if I do. I’m starving,” Josie said as she sat down. “So, what you are two talking about?”

  “Dog euthanasia,” I said, taking a sip of wine.

  “Not while I’m sitting at the table we’re not,” she said, glaring at Jerry.

  “I just asked the question of when you put rescue dogs to sleep,” Jerry said.

  “If we ever decide we need to put a dog to sleep, we’ll just bring it to dinner with a lawyer,” I said.

  “Oooh, good one,” Josie said.

  “Let’s say we all just take a deep breath and start over, shall we?” Jerry said. “I’m sorry I asked.”

  “So you’re a lawyer,” Josie said.

  “Yeah,” Jerry said. “Mostly financial law. Some corporate stuff. I work out of New York, but I occasionally get up here in the summer.” He glanced up at a man approaching the table. “Well, what a surprise. Look who’s here.”

  “Hey, Jer, what’s up?”

  I glanced up at the man and waited. He could have come from the same mold as the dog-killer sitting across from me. Another lawyer I decided.

  “Frederick Naylor, I’d like you to meet Suzy and Josie. They own a hotel for dogs.”

  “Nice to meet you, ladies,” he said, sitting down across from Josie. “Is there any money in that?”

  “Millions,” Josie said, wet-noodling the man’s handshake.

  “Man, she wasn’t kidding,” Frederick said, looking at Jerry. “She’s gorgeous.”

  Jerry flinched, but it was too late. The damage was done. Josie and I looked at each other and scowled.

  “Who wasn’t kidding?” I said, looking back and forth at them.

  “Geez, Frederick,” Jerry said. Then he looked at me and shrugged. “Okay, you caught me. Your mother told me about your little first-date game and how Josie manages to show up unexpectedly when things aren’t going well. I thought I’d try to outflank you by inviting Frederick along.”

  “Well,” I said, taking a sip of wine. “I have to give you a point for your creativity.”

  “That has to be worth something, right?”

  “Not much,” I said.

  Jerry turned in his chair and snapped his fingers at the waitress to get her attention.

  “Don’t do that,” I said. “That is not how you treat people. And she’s a friend of ours.”

  “Sorry,” Jerry said, glaring at me. “I’d just like to order another drink.”

  “Yeah, that should help,” I snapped.

  “This is going very well,” Josie said, not looking up from her menu.

  “It certainly is,” Frederick said, unable to take his eyes off Josie.

  “Put it in neutral, Frederick,” I said.

  “No, I’m serious,” he said. “Josie, you’re incredible. Those tight black jeans really work on you. And that silk blouse goes great with your skin tone. What shade of brown is that?”

  Josie glanced up from her menu, took a quick look at one of the sleeves and said, “Spring mud, I think.” She went back to her menu.

  “Well, you look fantastic,” Frederick said, nudging Jerry in the ribs. “Say, what’s black and brown and would look great on a lawyer?”

  “A Rottweiler,” I said, not bothering to look up from my menu.

  Josie snorted with laughter and closed her menu.

  “Suddenly, I’m not hungry,” she said.

  “You know, I’m feeling the same way.” I looked across the table at the crestfallen Jerry. “If you gentlemen will excuse us, I think we might call it a night.”

  “How about a raincheck?” Jerry said.

  “Doubtful,” I said as I stood up and grabbed my purse. “But it was nice meeting you.”

  “Yeah,” Jerry said. “Your mother warned me. She said you were a tough one to crack.”

  “What can I say, Jerry? I’m the macadamia nut of dating.”

  We waved goodbye and left them at the table squabbling with each other.

  “I’m still starving,” Josie said.

  “Me, too. Let’s go eat in the bar.”

  “Are you worried they’ll see us?” Josie said, nodding back at the table.

  “Not in the least.”

  “A Rottweiler,” Josie said, laughing. “That was a good one.”

  “I wasn’t joking.”

  “I know. That’s what made it funny.”

  Chapter 7

  I worked my way through a Greek salad as I watched Josie devour two dozen steamed clams. I cringed every time she slurped down one of the nasty creatures, but I couldn’t resist dipping my bread in the garlic butter sauce.

  “You sure you don’t want to try one of these?” she said, simultaneously offering me a clam and dipping a piece of bread in the sauce.

  “If it’s from the sea, it’s not for me,” I said, shaking my head.

  “You don’t know what you’re missing,” she said, tossing back the clam and taking a bite of bread.

  “You mean things like E. Coli, Hepatitis, Red Tide?”

  Josie shrugged.

  “More for me.”

  The waitress arrived with our entrees; salmon for her, steak for me. I thanked the waitress, then attacked my steak. As always, it was perfect. I took a sip of wine then popped a Kalamata olive in my mouth. I chewed it slowly and glanced around the crowded lounge.

  “Here we go again,” I said, nodding toward the entrance to the bar.

  Josie looked up from
the salmon she was quickly devouring and frowned when she saw Jerry and Frederick scoping out the room. They both saw us at the same time, ignored us as if we were strangers, then continued to scan the lounge.

  “How quickly they forget, huh?” Josie said, laughing.

  “I think we hurt their feelings,” I said, following their stare.

  “Or their manhood.”

  “Now this is interesting,” I said.

  “What?” Josie said, following my eyes toward a table in the back corner of the lounge. “How about that? It looks like they made up.”

  I watched the two women as they leaned in close across the table. The whispered conversation was intense. I glanced back at Jerry and Frederick who continued to watch the two women at the table, then looked at each other and shook their heads. They turned and left the restaurant.

  “I guess they didn’t want to run the risk of being shot down twice in the same evening,” Josie said, watching the two men leave.

  “Yeah, probably,” I said, still focused on the women in the corner of the lounge. “For two people who recently had a screaming match, they sure seem close at the moment.”

  “Maybe a lovers quarrel?”

  “Anything’s possible,” I said.

  Josie took another large bite of salmon and chewed in silence, deep in thought.

  “Or it could be just the raw emotions brought on by shared grief,” she said, finally. “You know, a recent death in the family.”

  “Except neither one is family. One was Crawford’s girlfriend; the other worked for him.”

  “You know what I mean,” Josie said.

  “Yeah, but they certainly weren’t exhibiting much grief when we saw them. It was more like open hostility.”

  “I’m sure their emotions are on overload,” Josie said.

  “Maybe,” I said, pausing from my snooping long enough to take a bite of steak. “But why would they have been screaming at each other?”

  “I don’t know,” Josie said, polishing off her last bite of salmon and looking down at her empty plate. “Well, I certainly made short work of that. I’m such a little piggy.” She laughed at her joke and took a sip of wine. “Since they aren’t family members, both of their situations are probably a bit shaky at the moment. And the ex-wife is arriving tomorrow. I can’t imagine she’s a big fan of the girlfriend. And if wifey is going to inherit the business, maybe Rosaline is nervous about losing her job.”

  “Maybe,” I said, focusing on my dinner. I stared off into the distance.

  “Uh, oh,” Josie said.

  “What?”

  “You’ve got that look.”

  “What look?”

  “The look you get when you think something’s rotten, and you need to figure out what it is.”

  “I do not,” I said. I caught the look Josie gave me, then shrugged. “Okay, maybe I do sometimes. But you said yourself that the whole thing seemed suspicious.”

  “Yes, I did. And I’m still having trouble getting past the maple syrup. But that doesn’t mean somebody killed Crawford. Or that those two over there in the corner had anything to do with it.”

  “No, you’re right. But wouldn’t you like to be sure? I’m only thinking about Chloe’s well-being.”

  Josie laughed loud enough to draw the attention of several people sitting nearby.

  “You’re unbelievable,” she said.

  “I couldn’t live with myself if we ended up giving her back to a stone cold killer.”

  “A little dramatic, Suzy, even by your standards. Admit it, you just can’t resist sticking your nose into something you consider a mystery.”

  “Aren’t you curious?”

  “Maybe a little,” Josie said, wiping her mouth as she glanced back at the women in the corner. “Oh, this is interesting.”

  “What?” I said, turning my attention to the back of the lounge.

  The two women had finished their intimate conversation and were now sitting back in their chairs and exchanging unpleasantries. I couldn’t hear what they were saying above the noise, but it was clear that whatever truce they had agreed to was over.

  “I wonder what set them off,” I said.

  “Could be anything,” Josie said. “Wow, it’s escalating.”

  “Yeah, it certainly is. And I doubt if it’s about who’s picking up the check.”

  We watched Roxanne stand and toss a full glass of red wine across the table. It hit Rosaline in the face and splattered her white blouse. Roxanne stormed out of the restaurant leaving the other woman at the table. Embarrassed, Rosaline calmly wiped her face with a napkin and did her best to clean her blouse while avoiding the stares she was getting. She tossed the napkin aside, then signed the check and got up from the table.

  “C’mon,” I said, grabbing a hundred dollar bill from my purse and tucking it under my plate.

  “What are you doing?” Josie said, perusing the dessert menu.

  “We’re going to follow them.”

  “Follow them where?”

  “How would I know where they’re going?”

  “But I wanted dessert.”

  “I’ll buy you an ice cream later.”

  Josie reluctantly put the dessert menu down and got up from the table.

  “Okay, so what’s your plan?” she said, following me out of the lounge.

  “We’ll figure something out.”

  “Yeah, that oughta work,” Josie said.

  We waved goodbye to our waitress and headed for the front door.

  “I hope they came in the same car,” I said. “C’mon, I don’t want to lose them.”

  “Okay, I’m coming, Miss Marples. Lead the way.”

  Chapter 8

  We stood outside the restaurant and watched the two women wave their arms and point fingers at each other as they strode to their car. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but whatever it was, their conversation was heated. We waited until they got into their car, then Josie and I hopped into my SUV and waited.

  “Now what?” Josie said, glancing at the women’s car.

  “Like I said, we’ll follow them.”

  “They’re staying on Candyland, so I think we already know where they’re going.”

  “Maybe they have someplace else to go before they head back to the island.”

  “If the ice cream shop closes before we finish this nonsense, I’m not going to be happy,” Josie said.

  “Relax, we have ice cream back at the house.”

  “Mint chocolate chip?”

  I thought about our ice cream inventory in the freezer.

  “No, I don’t think so.”

  Josie frowned and looked at her watch.

  “We’ve only got about an hour before they close.”

  “Shhh,” I said. “There they go.”

  We watched the car exit the parking area and turn left on Route 12, heading north. I pulled out and followed them at a safe distance.

  “They don’t seem to be in a hurry,” I said.

  “It’s probably hard to drive and go ten rounds at the same time,” Josie said.

  “What on earth?” I said, glancing back through the rear view mirror.

  “What is it?” Josie said, turning around in her seat.

  “A car is coming up on us. Wow, it’s flying. It just flashed its lights.”

  “Cop?”

  “I don’t think cop cars can go that fast,” I said, slowing down to fifty and moving to the far right side of the two-lane highway.

  The car flashed its lights one more time then blew by us as though we were parked. There was a quick tap of the horn, and I caught a glimpse of the wave the driver gave us.

  “She is so going to jail,” I said.

  “Geez, that car is a rocket,” Josie said. “What is it with your mom and fast cars?”

  “I wish I knew. For someone who has no idea where she’s going in life, she sure is in a hurry to get there.”

  “I think your mom knows exactly where she’s going
,” Josie said, laughing.

  “I guessing someplace very warm.”

  “You don’t give her enough credit. I admire her ability to squeeze every last drop out of life.”

  “Yeah, maybe. I just wish she’d stop squeezing every drop out of me while doing it.”

  Josie laughed again and, as usual, it relaxed me. I refocused on the car in front of us. A few miles later, its right turn indicator started flashing.

  “Interesting,” I said. “Our new friends are turning away from the River, so we know they aren’t heading for their boat.”

  The car turned off the highway, and I slowed down. I checked the rearview mirror and didn’t see any other cars behind us. I slowed even more, turned off my headlights, and turned onto the small paved road.

  “No lights?” Josie said. “It’s nice to see your mom’s not the only one in the family with a death wish.”

  “Relax,” I said, peering through the windshield. “We’re fine. Now, where the heck did they go?”

  “I don’t see any taillights.”

  “Me neither,” I said, continuing to squint through the darkness. “Maybe they turned off somewhere.”

  “There you go. They disappeared,” Josie said. “No sense wasting any more time. Can we get ice cream now?”

  “Hang on,” I said, coming to a stop and turning around. “Keep an eye out for side roads.”

  “At least turn the lights back on,” Josie said.

  I complied and drove slowly back towards the highway.

  “There,” Josie said, pointing out her window.

  I pulled off the road onto a dirt road. I followed it for about two hundred yards, then stopped when we came to a single strand of thick chain draped about two feet off the ground across the road. It was locked and had a sign that read Private Road posted on both sides.

  “Is it my imagination or is the chain still swinging back and forth?” I said.

  “Could be the wind,” Josie said.

  “There’s no wind tonight,” I said. “They just went up that road.”

  “You know what that means, don’t you?”

  “That one of them had the key?”

  “Yes. Or maybe both of them,” I said. “What do you think?”

  “About what?” Josie said, giving me a suspicious look.

  “About going in. It can’t be far. We can just walk it.”