“I haven’t admitted that I even know this woman you’re talking about,” he said.
“Oh,” Willow said, leaning across the table. “So, her death means nothing to you? The fact that she toppled over and died while walking her dog doesn’t faze you?”
This got a physical reaction from Jack. He leaned onto the table to steady himself and turned pale.
“Kaitlin is dead?”
“So, you admit you know her?” Willow asked, a little more gently.
“Yeah. I guess I can tell you I knew her,” he said. “And you did too? You want to find out why she’s dead?”
“Something like that,” Willow said.
Wednesday put her phone away and watched the exchange.
“If that’s the case, the person you should be talking to is Terry Gib,” Jack said.
“Terry?”
“That’s right. I wouldn’t put it past her to do something like this. Terry was cutthroat. Just look at what she was like when she and Kaitlin were in the beauty pageant circuit together. She was a cheat. And she might have just progressed to becoming a killer.”
“You really think that Terry Gib could have killed her?” Wednesday asked.
“Yes,” Jack said solemnly. He cleared his throat and stood up. “But if you’ll excuse me, I have another client coming in. And this mama’s boy needs some serious help.”
Willow allowed herself to be ushered out the door. Wednesday promised to tag him in her posts, and he agreed but less enthusiastically than before.
“That was weird,” Willow said, as they walked towards the car.
“Which part?” Wednesday asked.
“Okay. All of that was weird,” Willow admitted. “But I was referring to when he suggested that Terry could have killed Kaitlin.”
“Because she’s your client and a friend now?”
“Because he also assumed that Kaitlin had been murdered,” Willow said. “I still think it’s likely that she died because of an illness. So why do two people already suspect that she was murdered? Was it because she was young? Or it is something in her past that makes everyone think this?”
Wednesday shrugged. “Good questions.”
Willow nodded and kept thinking. They were questions she would like to find answers to, and soon.
6
“It’s not fair,” Willow said.
Telescope made a snorting sound of agreement. They were both watching Lady Valkyrie fly over the last hurdles in the obstacle course, and he obviously wanted a chance to compete too. Willow ruffled his ears.
She supposed things weren’t quite fair for him either. However, what she had been referring to was how training a competition-ready Irish setter now came with the caveat that she needed to look into a potential crime. Willow tried not to sigh. How could wanting to work with such a beautiful dog lead Willow into trouble?
She didn’t want to dwell on Terry’s request for her to solve a murder, but it felt like it was looming over her. After all, as far as she knew, Kaitlin Janes had died of natural causes. This sort of thing happened every day. It was sad, but it wasn’t criminal. And it was far more likely that this was just a tragic death and not another homicide.
Either way, she didn’t want to think about it. She wanted to focus on the training session and on her plans for preparing for the championship. Willow smiled as she went through the list of notions she had for the training schedule. She liked being able to focus on her time with the dogs. It was certainly less complicated than dating or murder.
She worked with Lady Valkyrie for the rest of the afternoon while Telescope alternated between watching them and entertaining himself with a rope toy. The Irish setter made her jumps look effortless, and she was sure to impress the judges.
As they finished up, Willow couldn’t help but be glad that she had been able to train with Lady Valkyrie alone. She didn’t want to face Terry for an extended period while she was still figuring out her feelings towards her. Willow had wanted to work with Terry, but now she had doubts. Was Terry keeping secrets from her? Did she have a dark past?
And what about Kaitlin? If multiple people thought that she had been murdered, she had to be involved in something that could warrant those accusations. What could it be?
Then, another thought entered her head. Should she go to her dad with these suspicions? He was the Chief of Police and valued her opinion, so he would be the prime person to inform about a crime. But all she really had to report right now were two people’s suspicions, and they were both pointing fingers at one another.
She told Lady Valkyrie and Telescope to enjoy some free time, and the dogs began to frolic. Then she began to clean up the training area. It wasn’t especially messy, but there were chew toys left around the room. As she put the items in their rightful places, she couldn’t help thinking that she was glad that one problem was easy to tidy up.
Terry entered the gym and waved nervously. Willow responded with a plastic bone in her hand.
“Let me help,” Terry said.
After greeting Lady Valkyrie, Terry gathered the toys off the floor. Willow watched her out of the corner of her eye. She couldn’t stop herself from feeling a little suspicious. Was there some merit to what Jack Grim had said about her? How much did Willow really know about Terry anyway?
With two of them working, the doggie gym was soon clean. Then, Willow realized it was time to face the music. She was going to have to talk to Terry about what she had heard and, honestly, she was going to have to hear some good answers in response in order to keep working with the other woman.
“I appreciate you letting me train Lady Valkyrie privately today,” Willow began.
“It’s quite all right,” Terry said. “I trust you.”
“Thanks,” Willow said as a response because she wasn’t able to return that particular compliment. “It gave me some time to look at the few kinks that we have to work on before the competition. And it did give me some time to gather my thoughts about Jack Grim.”
“I understand,” Terry said. “You said that it wasn’t obvious that he was involved, but you wanted to think about the interaction a little more before you told me all the details. And I can see where you’re coming from. It’s a big deal to accuse someone of murder.”
Willow couldn’t help saying, “Of course, it comes more easily for some people than others.”
She kicked the artificial grass that they were on.
“Well, what’s your conclusion now?” Terry asked.
Willow looked her in the eyes. “The truth is that I don’t know what to think. The strange thing that I mentioned happening? It was that Jack accused you of her murder.”
Terry pointed a finger towards herself as if she didn’t believe it. “Me?”
“He didn’t know that I knew you, and I never said that I thought she was murdered. Only that she died,” said Willow, driving home the point. “But the first thing he said when he heard she was dead was that I should ask you about your involvement.”
“I can’t believe he’d say that about me.”
“And that’s not all he said. He mentioned cutthroat behavior and your time together in the pageant circuit.”
The other woman just shook her head and muttered about the term cutthroat.
“Terry, I think you need to tell me the whole story.”
She sighed and turned away. Lady Valkyrie must have sensed her master’s distress. She ran to her and leaned against her leg. Terry placed a hand on the dog’s head and nodded.
“I asked you to get involved, so it’s not fair if I keep you in the dark.”
Telescope ran to the group and sat next to the Irish setter, watching what was unfolding. Willow crossed her arms, waiting for the woman to continue.
“I still think Jack is involved. And I do have some more details I could share that would support this. But I suppose I should address what he said about me first.”
“What did he mean about the beauty pageants?” Willow asked.
“Did you win many competitions?”
“I did,” Terry said. “But I suppose it wasn’t all completely due to my talents and poise. Kaitlin and I were competitive, and she pushed me. We did a few things that weren’t completely above board, but I never did anything outrageous. And I never cheated.”
“But Kaitlin did?”
Terry nodded. “And I couldn’t deal with that. I left the pageant world and tried to find another one,” she said sadly. She knelt down and brushed her dog with her hand. “But I think I found it with Irish setters. They’re so majestic but also loyal. And I can still be a part of competitions. But it doesn’t have to be me on stage anymore. I’ve had enough of that.”
“It sounds like Kaitlin was the cutthroat one and not you,” Willow said, frowning.
“Which is another reason why I think Jack has to be involved,” Terry said, returning to her feet. “If he was dating Kaitlin at the time, then he would know that it was her behavior at the semifinals that was so ruthless, and not mine. He must be trying to push the blame onto me to get away with what he did.”
“His motive doesn’t seem that strong to me though,” Willow said. She counted on her fingers. “His relationship with her was a long time ago. Dating gurus should be allowed to be in relationships sometimes. He’s single now, which is the image he wants. How does her death help him?”
Terry moved closer to Willow even though they were the only people in the room. She appeared to want this to remain confidential.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you this earlier, but I didn’t want to betray a confidence. Even if it was to a dead woman.”
Willow was intrigued. “Go on.”
“I immediately thought of Jack as a suspect because of his on-again, off-again relationship with Kaitlin. They went on like that for years, and the whole time Jack was proclaiming to be a bachelor and making money off it. But I found out even more about their relationship when Kaitlin and I cleared the air.” She scanned the room before continuing, “Right around the time that I left she was pregnant.”
Telescope barked, and Willow assumed he was as shocked by this announcement as she was.
“She had Jack’s baby? How old is the child now?” Willow realized she was much louder than Terry had been, but she couldn’t help it.
“She miscarried during her second trimester. Kaitlin told me how disappointed she was.”
“Poor Kaitlin,” Willow said.
“That certainly wouldn’t have been good for the eternal bachelor’s image at the time,” Terry said. “But I think it looks bad for him now too. He didn’t handle the situation well, and that could still ruin his reputation.”
Willow nodded. She didn’t want to add any more fuel to Terry’s “he did it” fire, but she had to admit that some valid points had been raised. Jack was in the area, and he had a strong motive.
Of course, Willow reminded herself, they still didn’t know that Kaitlin had actually been murdered.
She heard someone at the doors to the doggie gym and turned towards it. Her father was entering the room. He was dressed in his police uniform, but that wasn’t unusual. What was unusual was that he was visiting her at the gym during business hours. Maybe he was finally considering taking her up on her offer to let the police dogs train here.
Telescope ran to greet him, but he just nodded at the dog and didn’t touch him.
“Hi, Dad,” she said as she walked towards him. His face looked serious behind his mustache.
“I saw Terry’s car outside,” Frank Wells said, keeping his hands on his police belt. “When you didn’t answer your door, I figured you were out here.”
“And you found us,” Willow said with a smile.
He didn’t return it. Instead, he said, “I’m afraid I’m here to see if Ms. Gib will accompany me to the station.”
“What’s this about?” Terry asked.
“We have some questions related to the murder of Kaitlin Janes,” Frank replied. He looked at both of their faces. “You don’t seem completely shocked by this.”
“We had some suspicions about the manner of her death,” Willow admitted.
“I suspected foul play,” Terry responded. “And I’ll be happy to come with you and tell you what I know.”
Frank nodded and began leading her to the door. Terry stopped and faced Willow. “Will you keep an eye on Lady Val for me?”
“Of course.”
She watched Terry and her father leave the gym and shook her head. What a way to find out that this was officially a murder case!
7
Ordinarily, Willow would have loved to spend extra time training a dog to become a champion. However, between the fact that they had already had a training session that morning and her concern about the dog’s owner at the police station, Willow didn’t accomplish much with her that afternoon. She did play fetch with some of the pups, spent a little time with Mr. Wenderson’s Great Dane, and made sure that her business was running smoothly.
When Terry arrived late that night to pick up Lady Valkyrie, she was too tired to discuss the questions she’d been asked. The next morning, Willow wondered if Terry would make her training session. She headed into the training center with Telescope to make sure it was ready if plans continued as scheduled. If they didn’t, she decided that she would just let Telescope run the entire course, show off for her, and let the dog have his day.
When everything was set, she checked her watch. She wouldn’t have been surprised if Terry didn’t show up, but Willow was surprised by who she saw bringing Lady Valkyrie to the gym on time that day.
“Morning,” Truman Fitzpatrick said.
“Good morning,” Willow said, trying not to act too confused.
Terry Gib and Truman Fitzpatrick both raised Irish setters, and their rivalry was not friendly. Even though Truman was a Pineview resident and Terry was a visitor, Willow knew that they saw each other frequently during the dog show circuit. In fact, Willow considered Truman’s dog, Nero, to be their main competition.
He held onto Lady Valkyrie’s leash stiffly and walked in a less fluid motion than the dog did. He had salt and pepper hair and looked on edge.
“Terry asked me to bring Lady Valkyrie in,” he said by way of an explanation.
“That was nice of you.”
He shrugged. “This is strange business. Terry’s B&B owner dying. Now they’re saying it’s murder and questioning Terry.”
“It is very strange,” Willow agreed.
“I saw her this morning and she wasn’t looking too good.”
“I bet this has all been pretty stressful.”
“I reckon so. I think that’s why she asked me to bring her dog over. I didn’t have the heart to say no. She looked so tired. Apparently, they kept her at the station real late last night.”
Willow nodded. She knew that for a fact since Lady Valkyrie was picked up late into the night, but she didn’t need to add any details to his account.
Truman continued. “She said that they kept her so late because there was some sort of problem with paperwork. It needed to get sorted out before she could go.”
Uh oh. Willow tried to keep a neutral face as she realized some unpleasant truths. The police must think that Terry could be the murderer. She recognized her father’s interrogation technique of blaming the paperwork. However, that was really an excuse to keep the suspect in the building and give them more of an opportunity to talk.
Willow didn’t plan on revealing any of this to Truman. Not only was it not her business to reveal more about a police interview than Terry would be willing to share, but Truman and Nero were still their competition. She didn’t want him to think that he had a leg
up on them.
It sounded as if he was guessing at the serious nature of the police questions though as he continued talking. “I don’t know. Whatever the reason they told her, I think if they keep you at the station that long, they probably think you’re a suspect. What about you? Do you think Terry could have killed her?”
“Definitely not,” Willow said, though she was portraying a confidence she didn’t feel. “Terry isn’t a killer.”
She reached for Lady Valkyrie’s leash, but Truman wasn’t ready to abandon this line of conversation.
“I don’t know the specifics, but I heard that she and Kaitlin had a past.”
“I don’t know anything about that. But I know Terry will kill me if I don’t use this training session to work with her dog.” She cringed the moment the words left her mouth.
“And apparently, they had a big fight a few months back. Yelling and stuff.”
Lady Valkyrie was sitting patiently during this entire exchange. Telescope had begun pacing around the room.
“I hadn’t heard that,” Willow said. “But it sure is nice catching up with you. I haven’t seen you and Nero here in a while.”
Truman nodded. He had done most of his training at home, but he did like to take advantage of the gym’s amenities and obstacles. Now that she thought about it, she realized that she hadn’t seen Nero in at least a month - maybe two. That wasn’t so strange though. With the Field Club Championship approaching, Truman probably wanted to keep his dog’s abilities a secret, especially with his competition now in town.
“Yes. We’ve been working privately. No offense to you. What you do here is great. But I wanted to work with him one-on-one for this show.”
“I understand,” Willow said. She hoped if she could keep him talking about dogs, he might forget the subject of interrogations. “How is Nero doing though? Does he still wag his tail in the air when he makes it over a high hurdle?”
“He – well, I guess I’ve taken up enough of your training time already with my blathering on,” he said, finally handing the leash over to Willow. “I should let you get to work.”
Bark Up and Smell the Coffee Page 5