Bark Up and Smell the Coffee

by Stella St. Claire

  Miranda happily sat with them but opted for a virgin smoothie. “I still have a class to teach tonight, and I’m going to have to stand on my head.”

  “Maybe we should stay for that class too,” Willow said with a smirk. “Maybe if we stand on our heads, we’ll have a new perspective and can figure things out.”

  “What do you need to figure out?” Miranda asked.

  “Love, life, business,” Willow said, rattling a few things off. “And a murder case.”

  “Plus, how to spin an article about an evil B&B killing pets when the facts don’t quite match,” Wednesday added.

  “Are you talking about the dog-friendly bed-and-breakfast that Kaitlin owned?” Miranda asked.

  Willow nodded.

  “What dogs died?”

  “We know of a Yorkshire terrier,” Willow said.

  “And someone was trying to tell us that Truman Fitzpatrick’s show dog died,” Wednesday said. “But Willow knows that he’s signed up to compete in an upcoming event.”

  “Really?” Miranda asked.

  “Um. Which part?” Wednesday asked.

  “It’s only that I thought Nero had passed away too,” Miranda said. “Truman had come in here asking me for some sage. He didn’t say it outright, but I got the sense that he had lost his dog. When I didn’t see Nero for a few months, I thought it confirmed it. I’m very glad to hear that I was mistaken.”

  “It seemed like his dog had died?” Willow asked.

  “He was acting like it. He was upset. But maybe the sage was for another dog.”

  Willow bit her lip. She tried to think. How often had she seen Truman and Nero in town recently?

  “I should go and prepare for my next class,” Miranda said, setting her smoothie down. “Thanks for letting me join.”

  “Thank you,” Willow said, and she was very grateful. Miranda might have just given her the information she needed to figure out who the murderer was.

  22

  Back at the doggie gym the next morning, Telescope looked up at Willow as if he was questioning whether this was a good idea or not.

  “It’s going to be fine,” she assured him. “I just need to see for myself.”

  She ruffled the dog’s ears. She actually was feeling jumpy about her plan but didn’t want to admit it. Instead of doubting her idea, she used her nervous energy to check that everything was in order in the back room of her doggie gym. This was the last place that Griffin had worked on in the dog area.

  She willed herself not to think about Griffin as soon as that thought entered her head. She needed to keep sharp and stay focused.

  The back room was mostly used for storage, and there was an assortment of replacement parts for obstacle courses in case dogs of different sizes wanted to try a specialized run. There were extra chew toys and treats in the open, and there was a table where the dog trainers could sit on their breaks.

  There was also a locked closet. Willow kept some “valuables” in there, meaning the more expensive pieces that she would hate to have stolen if a burglar made his way inside. This was also where she was keeping anything that could possibly have ill effects on the dogs. After all the talk of poison recently, she was being extra careful. She didn’t keep any rat poison in the gym, but she did keep the cleaning supplies and extra cans of paint in the closet. After checking that everything was in order, she left her key in the lock. She didn’t want her pockets to jingle when she had serious work to do.

  After checking the back, she made her way to the main floor of the indoor dog gym and surveyed the area. Everything looked in place there. The obstacle course was just the way she wanted it to be.

  “Hello, there,” Truman said, waving as he entered the dog gym with his Irish setter.

  “Hi,” Willow said, keeping a smile on her face.

  They walked up to her. Telescope was sticking close to her legs. He could sense the tension in the air.

  “Is this true?” Truman asked. “Did you really set up a course according to the parameters of the Field Club Championship and you’re going to allow me some private use of it?”

  “That’s right,” Willow said, hoping she sounded convincing. “Terry hasn’t been able to come in for a training session for a while, and I’ve been feeling that my setup is wasted. I was hoping I’d win you back as a customer if you liked using the space.”

  “It might just work,” Truman said with a smile.

  Willow looked at the Irish setter at his side. He certainly looked like Nero. He was the same size, his fur was a brilliant red, and his eyes were alert. However, it had been ages since she had seen the dog in person. She needed to be certain.

  “Don’t worry,” Willow continued, as she realized she had been staring at the dog. “I won’t stay the whole time and spy. That’s not an admirable thing for the trainer of the competition to do.”

  “I appreciate that,” Truman began.

  “I just want to see a little bit of what Nero can do. It’s been so long since I saw him.”

  “Well, he’s the same old Nero.”

  The Irish setter looked up and tilted his head. He seemed to know that they were talking about him. He wagged his tail.

  “Can he still do the high jump over the hurdle?” Willow asked, pointing to the tallest obstacle. “The one that won him some competitions.”

  “Of course, he can,” Truman said.

  “I’d love to see it.”

  Truman tried to suppress a smile. “Were you having trouble getting Lady Valkyrie to leap over it?”

  “Maybe,” she replied, looking sheepish.

  “We can show off a little bit,” Truman replied. He was looking pleased with himself as he led his dog towards the obstacles.

  Willow ran a hand through her hair. This was going to be the moment of truth. She needed to see what Nero would do.

  Truman called for the dog to begin the course. The Irish setter sailed over a few smaller easier obstacles. He seemed to concentrate more on the large ones but did make it over the high jump. He leaped straight over the hurdle and landed with only a slight thump.

  Well, she had her answer. She walked over to the grinning Truman.

  “Not bad, huh?” he said.

  “That was pretty good,” Willow said. “Of course, he’s not quite as good as your last dog.”

  “What?” Truman asked, surprised.

  “Your last dog. Nero.”

  “This is Nero,” Truman said defiantly.

  “No,” Willow said, shaking her head. “He’s not.”

  “Can you even hear yourself? What do you mean he’s not Nero?”

  “He might be a Nero, but he’s not the Nero that won those competitions in the past,” Willow said coolly. “And I think it might have been bad form to name your new dog the same name.”

  “What makes you think he’s a different dog?” Truman crossed his arms, keeping the leash in one hand.

  “That high jump,” Willow explained, pointing at it. “The first Nero used to wag his tail while going over the top. It was a subtle movement, but I always noticed it. This dog doesn’t do that.”

  Truman’s eyes narrowed. “Is this why you invited me over here? To try and trick me?”

  The Irish setter ran up to them, seeking attention. Willow kneeled down and patted him on the head, calmly saying, “I wanted to see what he could do.”

  “I trained the tail wag out of him,” Truman said. “You must not be a good enough trainer to know how to fix something like that.”

  Willow ignored the comment and focused on the dog. He had allowed his tongue to roll out of his mouth happily as she petted his head. This allowed her to get a good look at his teeth.

  “Did you also train away his age?”

  “What?” Truman asked.

  “Nero was almost three years old,” Willow explained. “But based on this dog’s teeth, he’s not even two. I know the Field Club focuses on athleticism instead of a judge’s examinations, but if I could recognize this, other dog
experts could as well. He’s too young to be Nero.”

  “But, they said…” Truman trailed off, and pointed a finger angrily towards her face. “You’re trying to get my dog disqualified from the competition. I won’t let that happen.”

  Willow stood up. “I was trying to determine whether Kaitlin had killed your dog or not.”

  Truman froze. Finally, regaining some composure, he asked, “Where did you hear that?”

  “From Linda. She also lost a dog because of Kaitlin’s negligent care while she was puppy sitting,” Willow said. “Miranda also had a suspicion that was what happened. You should be more careful who you buy sage from.”

  “That’s not conclusive,” he said.

  “It will be easy to test this dog and see if he’s the same one that won the championship or not,” Willow said. “It’s clear to me he’s a different dog. And Linda already told me that Nero died under Kaitlin’s care. Why lie about it?”

  “Look,” he said, “I have a contract to breed Nero. You don’t understand what Kaitlin took from me when she let him die under her care.”

  “And what was that?”

  “Nero wasn’t only my dog and friend. He was the source of my income. I lived off his championship win money and from his breeding contracts. Do you know how much money I would be out?”

  “So, that’s why you didn’t report Kaitlin?” Willow asked. “You thought it was more cost-effective to replace your dead prize-winner with a phony?”

  Willow continued to pet the dog. It wasn’t his fault what his master had done. He was a good boy.

  “I’m not proud of what I did,” Truman said. “But I did what I needed to do.”

  “Is that why you killed Kaitlin too?”

  “What?” Truman asked, taking a step back. “I didn’t kill anyone.”

  “You did,” Willow countered. “And you hoped Terry would take the blame.”

  “If Terry takes the blame, it’s because she looks so guilty. She is guilty! Look at her history. Look at what she did when she was involved with the pageants. She has a history of playing dirty. I didn’t know what underhanded thing she’d try, but it looks like she’s trying to get you to shift the blame to me. It’s not going to work. Terry is the killer.”

  “No. She’s not.”

  “It’s a shame too,” Truman said. “All her tricks didn’t work out. She’ll be in jail during the competition. Lady Valkyrie will never win now.”

  “I hate to tell you this,” Willow said, “your new Nero is a very sweet boy, but he’s no winner. He doesn’t have the spark that his predecessor had or the smooth landing.”

  “He’ll do fine.”

  “He won’t win against Lady Valkyrie. And, of course, she’s still competing. Regardless of what happens to Terry, she’s still going to run. Do you think I would be willing to give up on the championship?” Willow thought she could be excused for telling a white lie in the interest of catching a killer.

  Truman turned pale. “You’re still competing?”

  “You have no chance of winning,” Willow said, hoping to taunt him into a confession. “He’s not a winner, and neither are you. And you’re not a very good schemer either. I figured out what you did, and I’m sure the police will too.”

  Willow was hoping that she would make him angry enough to admit to the crime. Instead, she had put him into a rage that warranted attacking her. He lunged at her and she ducked under his arm and stepped out of his reach, narrowly escaping. Nero and Telescope started barking.

  Truman wasn’t finished. He continued after Willow as she raced away. A plan formed in her head quickly. She knew she was in better shape than Truman. If she could get him into the proper spot, then she thought she knew a way to contain him.

  She ran towards the back room of the doggie gym and opened the closet door before Truman and the dogs could catch up with her.

  She was about to yell a taunt to lure the dog breeder into position when he stumbled into the room. Feeling confident about her plan to get him into the closet, she allowed him to come closer. She was about to dodge away when he did something unexpected and terrible.

  He swung the leash he was still holding around her neck and pulled. She felt the leather tightening around her neck and tried to gasp for breath.

  Fear began to set in. Everything was backfiring. She had wanted to catch the killer. She hadn’t wanted to give him an opportunity to kill again!

  Her knees buckled, and she felt the world starting to fade away. She wasn’t making sense of what Truman was saying in her ear, but she knew it wasn’t kind words.

  Then, she saw a white ball of fur running towards them. It was Telescope zooming forward to come to her defense.

  He sunk his teeth into Truman’s ankle and the man yelped. He loosened his grip on the leash, and that was all Willow needed to resume her fight.

  Coughing, Willow jerked the leash further away from her neck. She elbowed Truman as hard as she could. He stumbled backward, and she escaped his grasp. She gave him a final push, and he fell into the closet. Heaving for breath, Willow locked the door. She leaned against it and slowly slid down until she was sitting on the floor.

  Telescope ran up to her, and she hugged him close.

  “Good boy.”

  “The next time you want to catch a killer by yourself—”

  “Wait for backup?” Willow suggested.

  “Don’t follow through with the impulse,” Frank said.

  Willow was seated in his office, making a statement about what had happened. Her father had told her that Truman had confessed, so she probably wouldn’t have to appear in court. But she was eager to hear more about the confession and fill in the gaps in what she knew. However, it seemed she would have to listen to a lecture first.

  “I’m sorry I worried you, Dad. But I was perfectly fine. I had the situation under control.”

  Frank moved closer and looked at the marks on her neck.

  “I did,” she said, covering the bruises with her hand. “I had Tele as back up.”

  “I should give that dog a medal. After all the times he’s saved your neck,” Frank muttered. “Literally this time.”

  “I could put it on his collar,” she said with a smile.

  Frank just shook his head.

  “I promise I won’t do this sort of thing again,” Willow said. “If…”

  “If?”

  “If you tell me the details of Truman’s confession.”

  This time Frank had a slight smile. “You don’t have it all figured out?”

  “I knew Truman was the killer,” Willow said. “As soon as I realized that his champion dog had died under Kaitlin’s care, I realized that he was the one to poison her. He wanted to frame Terry too. That’s why he started using the rat poison the day she came into town. But when did he actually add it to the coffee?”

  “Do you really promise not to get into these situations again?” he asked, leaning on his desk.

  “To the best of my ability,” she said, thinking that was fair.

  Frank realized that was as good as he was going to get. “Will you at least promise to always have that dog of yours with you?”

  “That I can definitely promise.”

  Her father sat at his desk. “Truman Fitzpatrick used to date Kaitlin. That’s how he learned about her past relationship with Terry Gib and how to get into her apartment undetected. He was furious with her when his dog died under her care.”

  “I would be too,” Willow admitted.

  “He thought that he would be able to kill Kaitlin and frame Terry for the crime, getting rid of his competition and enemy at the same time. After Terry Gib arrived in town, he snuck into Kaitlin’s B&B and laced the coffee every morning. He knew her routine and put the poison in her mug when she walked her dog in the morning. He was going to add the poison again the morning she died, as usual, but it was no longer necessary.”

  “But you found rat poison in her mug that day,” Willow pointed out.

 
; “She must have re-used a mug.”

  “That’s how it happened,” Willow said with a nod. “I was hoping he’d tell me. But he opted for another plan of attack.”

  “Will, I hope that you already know this.”

  “That her being a hoarder worked as part of his plan? He wanted the traces of rat poison to be found to implicate Terry.”

  “That I care about you,” Frank said.

  Willow smiled and blushed. “I know that, Dad.”

  “You and your sister are the most important things in the world to me,” he continued. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you. Please don’t make me face that.”

  “I won’t,” she said, quietly. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

  He got up again and patted her shoulder. “I know you didn’t mean to. And I don’t mean to sound harsh when we have the proper killer in custody because of your efforts. But try to imagine how you would feel if you lost somebody that you cared about.”

  Willow nodded. She realized it wasn’t that difficult to imagine. She was already afraid that she had lost someone.

  “Dad, do you mind if I sign my statement tomorrow?” she asked. “I have someone I need to talk to.”

  Frank raised an eyebrow.

  “Someone who I think being with feels right.”

  23

  Two months later, Willow began her morning like she did every day – with a cup of coffee. However, there was something different about this particular morning.

  “What are you smiling about?” Griffin asked as he refilled her cup.

  “Well, I do have a lot to smile about,” Willow said coyly. That was certainly true. In the few weeks since Terry had been cleared of the crime, there had been a lot of activity, but almost all of it had been positive.

  “Really?” Griffin asked, playing along. “Do you?”

  “There was that Field Club Championship,” Willow said, taking a sip of her coffee.

  “Right. I seem to remember something about that,” Griffin said, pretending to be deep in thought.

  “Yes. It was yesterday.”

  “And how did that go for you?” he asked, playing dumb.