Home is Where the Bark Is

by Stella St. Claire

  The truth was because of the new evidence he had found (even if he couldn’t present it yet), he wasn’t concerned about getting railroaded for the murder. Maybe he even deserved this stress in his life for punching the guy. Soon they would find the person who really killed him, and Griffin would be cleared.

  What he was concerned about was the strange news he had just heard. The phone call he made was to Thomas Danielson.

  However, Thomas said that he would have to talk to Griffin later because he was on his way to see his friend and help her sell her house and dog run. Thomas had to be talking about Willow, but why would he think that her house was for sale?

  Chief Wells walked up to Griffin and gestured towards the interrogation room, but then he paused.

  “Something on your mind?” Chief Wells asked.

  “Nothing about the murder,” Griffin replied, crossing his arms.

  Chief Wells suddenly seemed less like a stoic officer of the law and asked, “Willow?”

  Griffin nodded and stood up. “Thomas Danielson said that he was meeting her to help her sell her house. She wasn’t planning on selling it yesterday. Did she mention anything about this to you?”

  “No,” the chief said, looking thoughtful.

  “Something about it smells fishy to me,” Griffin said. “Thomas was actually on our list of new suspects.”

  “Wednesday!” Chief Wells called, and she passed by, headed toward her desk.

  “What?” she asked. “Are you trying to worm your way into being in my Cops and Robbers picture? I’m not sure how the makeup would look on you.”

  “Her other accomplice is here,” Chief Wells said, rising to his feet. “That means that Willow is all alone.”

  Griffin rose to his feet too.

  “What’s going on?” asked Wednesday.

  “I think we’re going to postpone this questioning,” the chief said. He turned to Griffin. “If that’s all right with you?”

  “Fine,” said Griffin. “There’s a new lead that we need to check out.”

  “Thank you so much for coming over,” Willow said to Thomas as they walked through the house and headed towards the yard. Telescope was keeping close by.

  “I’m happy to help,” he replied.

  “I needed an assessment that I could trust, and since you were so helpful to Griffin the other day, and because you had already seen the property, I thought you’d be the perfect person to ask.”

  They walked onto the porch and surveyed the view.

  "Are you sure you want to sell it?” Thomas asked. “I know it belonged to your aunt, and you seemed fond of the place.”

  “I was,” Willow said, pretending to wrinkle her nose in distaste. “But, after finding the body here, it’s not the same. And it’s just going to cost too much money and work to fix the place up. I’m going to throw the towel in now before I get too far in.”

  Thomas nodded. “Well, it is a large property.”

  “And it has the dog run,” Willow said. “Don’t forget about that. But it does need work done. Take a look at it and see what you think.”

  They both headed down the steps. She let him take the lead, interested to see where he would choose to walk to. He went right to the spot where Lee’s body had been found.

  After the little construction that they had been able to do and the rain, as well as the police removing the body, the area had to look different than when Thomas had been there last. This time there was a hole where the remains of his victim had been removed by the police. Thomas tried to look casual, but Willow could tell that he was examining the scene

  “What do you think?” she asked.

  “Well, of course, there can be some difficulty in selling a property where a murder took place,” Thomas said.

  “But the murder didn’t really have anything to do with Aunt Edna’s place,” Willow protested.

  “I know, but it doesn’t matter,” Thomas replied. “It can still turn some buyers off from a location. They don’t like knowing that a dead body had been there.”

  “I can understand,” Willow said, trying to keep the conversation going. “I guess I feel the same.”

  Telescope was pacing back and forth by them. Willow wondered if he had picked the habit up from her.

  “And parts of the property are run down,” Thomas continued.

  “I know you’re right,” Willow said, giving him a flirty smile. “But I’m sure a really talented real estate agent could sell the place. Someone like you.”

  “I’m not saying I can’t sell it. I just don’t want your expectations to be too unreasonable.”

  “I’m sure you’d get me the fairest price you could. Your reputation speaks for itself. I know you’re an honest man. That’s why I wanted to work with you.”

  “Thank you,” he said, avoiding eye contact with her.

  She gestured around the dog run. “There is work to be done, but maybe that could be a selling point. Some people love fixer-uppers.”

  “But they like them at a lower price.”

  “I guess you’re right,” Willow said, trying a different tactic. She started pointing out problems with the space like Griffin first did when they looked at the run. “There are a lot of things that would need to be repaired. The hoop is falling down. Some of the obstacle course pieces are leaning.”

  “I’m glad you can look at this objectively,” Thomas agreed. “Someone might even want to take down the dog run and do something else with the land.”

  Willow nodded. “Right now, some of these obstacles look like they might even be fire hazards.”

  “Lee was concerned about that too,” Thomas said.

  Willow smiled. Thomas had slipped. She replaced her grin with a look of confusion.

  “What do you mean Lee was concerned about that too?”

  “Oh, nothing,” he said, waving his hand dismissively.

  “Do you mean Lee Hunter?”

  “I guess I did.”

  He raised his shoulders defensively as Willow moved closer. Telescope stayed nearby.

  “But why was Lee Hunter looking at this property and evaluating it? It wasn’t on sale until today.”

  “I must be confusing this property with another one,” he said, turning from her.

  “You’re confusing Edna’s old dog run with another property?” Willow asked, not letting this go.

  Thomas turned on his heel and faced her. “Just what are you implying?”

  She paused and looked at Telescope. She had to be careful with what she said next. What would be the right thing to keep him talking without enraging him?

  “I think you know what I’m implying,” Willow said gently. “But I also know why you did it. And I can’t blame you. Who could?”

  “You – you know why?” he asked, looking hesitant.

  “Lee Hunter killed your wife, and he was about to hurt your daughter,” Willow said supportively. “You did what you had to do.”

  “You do understand,” he said. He breathed a sigh of relief.

  Willow saw Telescope edging away from them, but she kept her attention on Thomas. It looked like he was willing to talk if she kept acting like she understood his motivation.

  “I would have had to do something if someone poisoned my family with their negligence,” Willow said.

  “It was her artist’s studio,” Thomas said, lost in a memory. He looked at Willow without seeming to really see her. “My wife Nancy used to love to paint. She had her own studio. She drank the water there without thinking about it. You shouldn’t have had to think about it in a nice building that you pay rent for. But that’s what killed her. It was the pipes.”

  “And Lee Hunter was responsible.”

  “He claimed that he didn’t know. That it was an accident. Nancy was already sick from the water. She wanted to forgive him. Told me to sign that form. And I tried to forgive him. I really did,” Thomas said, walking around as he talked. “But he said that this would never happen again. But it was going to.
He didn’t change at all. There were bad pipes in his new building too.”

  “Where your daughter was going to move,” Willow said.

  “She wouldn’t listen to me. I knew she was going to move there,” Thomas said. “And so I needed to save her. In fact, I saved a lot of people with what I did.”

  “You lured him to Edna’s house by telling him it was for sale and then you killed him?” Willow asked.

  “And it was one of the best moments of my life,” Thomas said, as an unpleasant smile crept across his face. “My daughter’s birth, my wedding day, and the day I killed the monster who was threatening them.”

  Willow couldn’t help herself. Hearing him say the words was so shocking that her sympathetic expression slipped off her face.

  Thomas noticed. “I shouldn’t have told you this.”

  Willow moved away. She heard Telescope running but couldn’t see where he was. The glint in Thomas’s eyes looked dangerous.

  She was just about to start running away when Thomas lunged at her. She screamed, anticipating the hit, but instead, she saw Thomas fall.

  Telescope was her hero. He had moved his walker so that Thomas tripped over it. Willow reacted on instinct and pushed Thomas again. He completely lost his balance and fell into the hole in her yard.

  Part of her wanted to appreciate the irony that Thomas had gotten trapped in the hole that he used to hide his victim. However, the other part of her just wanted to catch her breath and thank her dog for saving her life.

  “I’ve told you before that rescuing you was the best thing that I ever did, right?”

  Telescope barked and wagged his tail.

  “Willow!”

  She turned and saw her dad and Griffin rushing towards her. She noticed that her dad had one hand on the gun on his belt. Griffin had rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. They were afraid that they might have to save her from a dangerous killer, but she and her Chihuahua had already taken care of the situation.

  “He’s in the hole,” Willow said, pointing.

  Frank made his way over to the suspect who was trying to dig his way out of the dirt.

  “Is he the killer?” Griffin asked.

  Willow nodded and took her cell phone out of her pocket. She had been recording the entire conversation. When Frank heard this, he began reading Thomas Danielson his rights.

  Willow picked up her hero dog and gave him a hug. Telescope was looking very proud of himself. He had earned himself a brand-new bone.

  Willow turned to Griffin and smiled. “Looks like I cleared your name.”

  “Thanks,” he said. “But can you promise me something? If you ever plan to confront a killer again, will you tell me or your dad first?”

  “How often do you think this is going to happen?” Willow teased.

  22

  Willow couldn’t believe this day had finally come. Her Doggie Gym was having its grand opening. Happy dogs were playing in the open space, and she was talking to owners about training.

  So much had happened since the first day they tried to break ground that there were times she thought that it would never happen. Finding a dead body in her yard had felt like a bad omen, but if today’s opening was any indication, there was no curse on her business.

  She thought back on the case, glad that it had all been cleared up quickly after Thomas’s confession. Griffin had been cleared, and his reputation didn’t seem to suffer any. They had finally cleared up the mystery of the ring found at the crime scene that had been bothering Wednesday so badly. When they tracked down the proper jeweler, they found out that Lee had bought a ring identical to Isla’s but with a real diamond. He was planning to propose to her a third time. Isla had been telling them the truth about their rekindling romance.

  Wednesday’s Cops and Robbers campaign had been a big success – thanks to their dad allowing her to use real police props for the photos. She had been doing more campaigns, and Willow couldn’t be prouder of her.

  The renovations had gone as smoothly as they could. Willow thought that was only fair considering what a terribly rough start it had gotten. She and Griffin had worked together to salvage what could be saved from the original dog run and to build new obstacles for the course. Telescope had run through what they had created and gave it his bark of approval.

  When Willow first looked at the final product, she was filled with a sense of accomplishment. It had taken a lot, but her business was open. She was on her way to achieving her dream. She couldn’t help thinking that Edna would be proud of what she saw.

  She was just wishing Aunt Edna could be there to see all the happy tails wagging when Wednesday ran up to her.

  “Wills, this is a grand grand opening,” Wednesday said. She hugged her and then yelled, “Selfie!”

  Willow suspected she didn’t look very good in this picture either. She never did in Wednesday’s selfies, but she was sure that there would be a lot of good photos from the opening.

  “I know my followers are going to love all these pictures of the cute puppies,” Wednesday said. “And you can use the photos on your website too.”

  “Thanks,” Willow said. “Just not the selfie that you took.”

  Wednesday laughed and went back to snapping pictures of the dogs. Willow watched. She was pleased by the mix of canines that had made their way to her opening. There were family dogs and potential show dogs. Some just wanted a place to play, some were in need of extra exercise, and some were in training to compete in the dog show circuit.

  There was one show dog in particular, though, who was breezing through her obstacle course, and she was hoping she would have the opportunity to train her. Her name was Lady Valkyrie. Willow had wanted to talk to her owner about training the Irish Setter but was waiting for the right moment.

  She spoke to a Pineview resident with a chubby bulldog and promised to help him shed a few pounds, and then talked to a little boy who wanted to train his mixed breed to run the obstacle course. After watching Telescope complete it, he was in awe and wanted to teach his dog to run through the hoops too.

  “Looks like these pooches are keeping you busy,” Griffin said.

  Willow smiled. The one slight downside of her grand opening day arriving was that it meant all her renovations were done. She had had a lot of fun with Griffin as they completed the projects, and she was sorry that the work had come to an end – even if it did mean that she got to sleep in to a more reasonable hour.

  “That’s what I was hoping for,” Willow said. “Lots of paws padding across the gym floor. Of course, after this opening party, most will come in at set hours or at training appointments. It won’t be quite so chaotic.”

  “After what we faced getting the construction started, this doesn’t feel like chaos at all,” he joked.

  Telescope jumped over a hurdle, showing off for the other dogs and then came running up to Willow. She knelt down and rubbed his back, telling him what a good boy he was. She loved all dogs, but Telescope was special. She knew this even before he saved her from a murderer.

  She was still cooing at her pup on the floor when she saw an expensive pair of shoes enter her line of sight and heard Griffin say, “Um, Willow?”

  Willow got to her feet and found herself face-to-face with Lady Valkyrie’s owner. This wasn’t quite the first impression that Willow had wanted to make. She wanted to come off as a competent dog trainer and business lady, and not as someone on her hands and knees like the dogs.

  “I’m Terry Gib,” the woman said, extending a hand.

  “Willow Wells,” she said, shaking it. “And this is my, um, my friend Griffin Maynard.”

  “Nice to meet you,” he said.

  Terry smiled and patted her dog. “This is Lady Valkyrie.”

  “She’s beautiful. She looks like she could be a winner in the show circuit,” Willow said, complimenting her. Then she finished her side of introductions with, “And my dog, Tele.”

  Telescope seemed to bow at the sound of his name. Terry was
charmed.

  “What a smart animal,” Terry said. “And I must admit that I was impressed to see how well he handled the course. You have trained him well.”

  “I knew he’d enjoy it,” Willow said with a smile. “Are you, by any chance, looking for a trainer for Lady Valkyrie?”

  Terry Gib smiled. “I am. And I’d love to talk to you more about it. But why don’t we set something up later this week? I don’t want to interrupt the grand opening party.”

  Willow wanted to yell that it wouldn’t be an interruption and get the training locked down, but she played it cool. “This week would be perfect.”

  “I’m so glad I decided to come by today,” Terry said. “It’s such a wonderful setup. I love that it’s a gym for dogs.”

  Willow thanked her again, and Terry walked away with Lady Valkyrie. She turned to Griffin.

  “She’s complimenting your handiwork too when she talks about the gym,” she said.

  “We did good, partner,” he said with a smile.

  “I don’t know if you can keep calling me that,” she said. “We’re not investigating a case, and we’re not building anything anymore. People might get the wrong idea.”

  Griffin didn’t get a chance to respond because Frank walked up to them. He smiled at his daughter and patted her on the back.

  “This is quite a setup you’ve got here.”

  “Thanks, Dad.”

  Frank offered his hand to Griffin who shook it. It didn’t appear that there were any hard feelings between them. Griffin had said that he knew that Chief Wells was just doing his job. Willow also liked to remind him that there weren’t any viable suspects for a long time and teased him by saying that he did make himself look more suspicious at every turn.

  “So, tell me more about this gym,” Frank said. “I understand the training part of things.”

  “I know,” Willow said. “You were the one who first got me into training dogs.”

  “I thought they would be police ones,” Frank said with a chuckle. “But things don’t always go the way you plan.”