Death at the Dog Wedding

by Stacey Alabaster

  Relief flushed his face. “Thank goodness someone in this town cares what happened to Maxine.” He bit his lip like he was trying to stop himself from crying. “She didn’t have too many friends besides me,” he said. “Just me and Massie. I think running the yoga studio took up so much of her time that she found it difficult to have a social life. And she could be a bit difficult to work with. I think she had some problems with some of her employees”

  That was too bad to hear. I was a bit of an outcast in Pottsville myself. I still only knew a handful of people. If I died, would anyone in this town truly care? Adam would of course. And Ryan. I wasn’t so sure about Brenda.

  I placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I will do my best, Elliot, I promise.”

  As I took a step back, a thought crossed my mind. “Seeing as you were such close friends—” I paused. Was it too much to ask? Well, I had to at least try. I couldn’t handle three dogs on my own, and this would save me trying to find Massie a new home. And it might settle Jasper down a bit.

  “What?” Elliot asked curiously.

  “Well, I feel bad lumping a young man with this responsibility, but I was wondering if you’d like to adopt Maxine’s dog, Massie?”

  Elliot’s face brightened and flushed with pride.

  “I would love to take her,” he said, one hand placed over his heart. “I mean. I was a bit overwhelmed the other night, but now I’d be more than happy to have her.”

  I sighed with both relief and sadness as I looked down at Massie, who had been keeping me company all day. I had to go home first and gather her things, her sleeping bag and the new dog bowl I’d gotten her, but right after that, I walked her over to Elliot’s house, with Jasper in tow.

  “Bye, Massie,” I said, a little bittersweetly as I knelt down to pet her good-bye one last time.

  “You can always come back to visit whenever you like,” Elliot said with a little wink.

  When I got Jasper back home, he was depressed again.

  Chapter 6

  Another call came through. Adam again. I pressed ignore call and put the phone back in my pocket. A text came through a few minutes later. “What’s going on? Are you still alive?” Again, I ignored it and went back to stirring the soup I was cooking.

  When I heard another call coming through, I pulled it out of my pocket and was about to throw it into the pot full of hot liquid just to get it to stop. But then I saw that it wasn’t Adam’s number. It was one that I didn’t recognize.

  “Hi, is this George? It’s Elliot…from the wedding. You dropped Massie off a few days ago?”

  I turned down the burner and left the soup on simmer. “Yes, yes, Elliot, of course, I know who you are. What’s wrong? Is everything all right with Massie?” I was terrified he was going to tell me that he had made a mistake, it was too big of a commitment, and he was going to have to give her back. It had only been three days since I’d dropped Massie off, but maybe it was all proving too much for Elliot.

  “Massie is great,” he said quietly and I sighed with relief. “But I need to talk to you about something else, George. Can we meet up somewhere?” We agreed to meet the next day at a pizza place and I hung up the phone, because Jasper was vying furiously for my attention.

  “What’s wrong, boy?” I asked, putting the food down in front of him. He sniffed at it for a few seconds and then turned his head away. Still depressed, then. What had happened to set him back like this? He’d been doing better.

  Well, taking him to Felicity and Flora’s was no longer an option. As far as I was concerned, he was never going on another playdate with Flora again. The wedding was not just postponed, it was officially cancelled. I never wanted to see Felicity again.

  Just as the timer went off, letting me know my soup was done, my phone rang again. This time it was Ryan. Apparently I was very popular all of the sudden.

  “Are you busy?” he asked me. “I thought maybe we could meet for dinner.”

  I eyed my steaming soup, still in the pan on the stove. I would much rather eat with Ryan than eat alone. “I’d love to!”

  We’d decided to meet in a neutral spot—the coffee shop across the road from my shop. I crossed the road a little nervously and entered the noisy room, wondering what was waiting for me at table three.

  “I thought it might be good to clear the air,” Ryan said, wrapping his hands around his coffee mug. But he was more interested in staring into the coffee than looking me in the eyes.

  I agreed. Things had been a little awkward for a while now. Ever since Adam had arrived back in town, really, and I’d found myself caught in the middle of this weird little love triangle. Ryan and I had still never really talked about what had happened between us. There had been some dates, a kiss, and then…as soon as Adam had come to town, the whole thing had fizzled out. But I still got butterflies every time I saw him.

  “You certainly don’t call me as much as you once did,” I stated as the waitress brought me my double espresso.

  “I guess ever since your ex-husband showed up, I’ve just wanted to give you your space.”

  Ah, so we were finally talking about it then. I was quiet while I got my thoughts together. “I can’t say I blame you for that.”

  “He has an intimidating presence.”

  Now that caught me a little off guard. Intimidating? That was not the word I would have used to describe Adam. Yes, he could be a little moody, and a little immature at times—not to mention irresponsible. He was far, far from perfect. Believe me, I’d be happy to list every one of his character flaws! It was just that ‘intimidating’ was a strange way to describe Adam. When he wasn’t sulking, he was warm, friendly, and always willing to help anyone out. And that included Ryan—so I’d thought. The waitress brought the soup to the table and I waited for it to cool.

  So there was only one reason I could think of that would make Ryan choose that word to describe my ex-husband.

  I continued to stir my soup, wishing I’d ordered something a little more substantial.

  The words came out of my mouth so quietly I wasn’t even sure I had said them, let alone whether Ryan could hear them.

  “So you’re talking about the background check you did on him.”

  It wasn’t a question. Did I even say anything at all? I wasn’t sure I wanted to look up, have the answer confirmed. There was a heat radiating from across the table and it wasn’t just coming from my soup. The waitress came and asked if everything was okay with the food. I said delicious. Three minutes had passed and still Ryan had not said anything.

  “Do you do this to all of your dates?” I asked.

  He finally spoke up. “George, his record was a matter of public record. When we were investigating that murder a few months ago and Adam was on the scene of the crime, it was relevant.”

  Yes, and I could see by the way he was acting that he thought it was still relevant.

  “The charges were dropped. But I suppose that hasn’t stopped you from judging him, has it?”

  Ryan tried to stop me from standing up and fleeing the cafe. “George, sit down.”

  “Adam is not in the least bit intimidating. You are judging him on something that happened long ago—something that he was not even found guilty of, by the way. Adam is not a murderer!”

  I realized I’d been yelling. The entire restaurant had gone eerily quiet and everyone was staring at me

  “I never said he was, George—”

  “But you said he was intimidating.”

  I stood up and grabbed my purse. Ryan was left trying to hand the server some cash. I hadn’t meant for him to follow me, but he did, right to the front of the cafe.

  “I only meant that he is intimidating because he is your ex-husband. That is a lot of history to compare with,” he said softly.

  But the damage had been done.

  “This is going to sound super creepy,” Elliot said with a laugh. “But I saw you chatting with that cop last night. I was buying takeout at the same cafe
and there was…well, kind of a scene…”

  I cringed and lowered my head, biting into my slice of pizza. We’d chosen the Italian restaurant to meet at. It allowed dogs to sit outside so Elliot had brought a contented Massie along. “I was hoping that no one I knew saw that.”

  “Hey, I don’t blame you for storming out on a cop like that.”

  I shook my head. “The police force around here don’t have a clue,” I said, waving my hand around theatrically. “They are more focused on crimes that happened years and years ago rather than ones that are still unsolved here and now!”

  “Huh?” Elliot asked, putting his slice of pizza down.

  I realized I’d confused him. And I didn’t want to get into the fact that my ex-husband had once been a suspect in a murder case. “Never mind,” I said brightly. “Who needs them anyway, right? I’m on the case now, and I will find out who killed Maxine, don’t you worry!”

  I saw his face drop and felt terrible. This wasn’t a game or a matter of ego to the poor kid—he just wanted to find out what happened to his friend.

  “Sorry,” I said, bringing my tone back to a more neutral one. “I understand how difficult this is for you, Elliot. I don’t want to just give you the brushoff like the police did, okay? I am going to help you.”

  Elliot nodded. Then he leaned forward and whispered something to me. “This is just a hint, George. But I would start with the people who worked for Maxine. Like I said, she could be a difficult person to work for.”

  I hadn’t quite admitted something to myself yet. I needed to take the long way home, clear my head, before I was finally ready to.

  Jasper actually stood up to greet me when I opened the door. He wasn’t quite up to jumping on me yet, but he at least lifted his head for a pet, which was a start. He seemed very interested in sniffing me to see what I smelt like that day.

  I got out the dry erase board and sighed when I saw Felicity’s face there, drawn in exaggerated fashion, including the mole which I’d made to look more like a wart. Plus, I’d practically given her a witch’s nose.

  I picked up the eraser and slowly started to erase her face. Jasper cocked his head to the side and looked at me curiously, as though wondering if I had made a mistake.

  I shook my head. “I think it’s time to admit that Felicity is not a suspect,” I said, uncapping the marker. “The only thing she was hiding from me was her relationship with Adam.”

  That was why she had been unaccounted for at the time of Maxine’s death. She had been with Adam.

  Jasper pouted and got down again, looking up at me with sad eyes.

  Sighing, I turned back to the dry erase board and started drawing a new face on it. It was a little difficult to draw Ollie’s face from memory, giving that I had only seen it once. The thing that Elliot said had stuck in my mind.

  Jasper was still giving me a questioning look. “You’re right, Jasper,” I said, sitting on the sofa with him on the floor right in front of me. “It’s not enough to go on, is it?” He seemed to shake his head in agreement. “Well, that only means one thing,” I said, standing up. “We are going to have investigate him some more. A lot more.”

  I jangled the leash, hoping that bringing Jasper along with me might finally be the thing that cheered him up and got him out of this doggie fog.

  It was difficult to get him down the lane, but I had a few treats in my pocket to try and sweeten the deal. “What happened, Jasper? You used to love walks.” It was as though refusing to walk down the aisle that day had triggered something in his dog brain, and now I couldn't get him to walk anywhere.

  He kept stopping and refusing to budge, so each time, I had to grab a new treat out of my pocket and wave it around so that the promise of it would lead him across the road. When he stopped right in the middle of the road and a huge truck started approaching, I panicked and pulled on his leash. “Jasper!” At the last moment, I had to use all my strength to pick him up and rush to the other side of the road before we were both crushed. I landed on the soft grass, exhausted, Jasper falling on top of me.

  After catching my breath, I looked up and saw a sign across the street.

  “Be Alive Yoga” was stenciled in white paint against an aqua backdrop. The name sounded startling familiar. Then it hit me.

  The yoga studio where Maxine had worked

  It was open—at least that was what the sign said—but it was very quiet inside with only a few dim lights on.

  The wooden door was left ajar at the top of a couple of steps. I crept up to the door and, not wanting to scare anyone sitting at reception, called out, “Hello?”

  I tiptoed up the stairs and pressed the door open. There was no one there to greet me, but as I walked into the studio, I stopped abruptly when I found a small room, filled with six or so chairs, all full with nervous-looking men and women wearing what looked to be their best suits.

  “I think they are here for job interviews,” I whispered to Jasper, backing out before he pounced on one of their freshly pressed suits.

  “Hello there,” a gentle-looking woman with black curls called Meg said to me, extending a hand when I turned back toward the reception area. “Are you here for the job interview?”

  Erm.

  “I-I’m a little surprised to see that you are filling Maxine’s position so quickly,” I said, a little flummoxed. Seemed a little insensitive to me—and anyway, wasn’t she the owner? Did this person even have the authority to just replace her like this?

  “Oh, we’re not holding interviews to replace Maxine,” Meg said, her hand across her chest like she took great offense at such an accusation. “We are just looking for a new receptionist to replace our old one, Ollie.”

  I supposed that Ollie’s sudden departure had impacted them as much as Maxine’s death had.

  “Oh, right,” I said. I flashed her a smile. “Well, I have plenty of reception experience,” I lied. “I know that I wasn’t technically called in for an interview, but now that I’m here, what’s say I give it a go?”

  She looked a little unsure. When she glanced at Jasper, that uncertainty multiplied.

  “He can wait outside,” I said.

  Jasper was not happy about being tied up. At least it was opposite a nice, moderately sized park and a garden beside it which was growing sunflowers that reached up to your shoulder.

  On any other day, he would have tugged on his leash to try and escape across the road to the flowers and the park. But on this day, he just sat there and didn’t move.

  I settled in and smiled at the woman sitting next to me. We’d all been giving stick-on nametags to wear for the interview and hers said Melissa.

  She looked nervous. “I feel like I spent all night preparing. And yet I just keep going over and over all the questions they might ask us in this group interview.”

  Hang on. Hold the presses.

  “Group interview?” I asked, dropping my magazine.

  One on one, I might be able to wing it a little and charm my way through. After all, all I was really trying to do was get the scoop on Maxine and Ollie. But a group interview was going to be a little different. I mean, let’s be real—a group interview sounded like torture.

  I was about to stand up and get out of there when Meg walked back in holding a clipboard.

  “So, I thought we’d start this off a little differently,” she said with a bright smile. Uh-oh. What did that mean?

  “First off, let’s start with a little ice-breaker activity…”

  You could feel the tension in the room as everyone tried to stifle their groans. Everyone was trying their best to impress, to show that they were an agreeable team player, so no one wanted to show their horror.

  But icebreaker activities were one of my least favorite things in the world. I didn’t need to break the ice with these people, or get to know them—I was never going to see any of them again! I was just there to find out about Ollie. “Meg?” I called out. She stopped and peered at me over the top of her glasses
.

  “Yes?”

  “Can I ask why this position is free? Do people not tend to stick around here for very long? Is the culture here not very nice?”

  She screwed her face up in offense.

  Then I caught myself. Had to remember that Pottsville was a very small community and I probably would run into them again. Anyway, wasn’t I just saying that I needed some new friends in town?

  A now grumpy Meg announced that we would go around the room, tell everyone our name, and which celebrity we had been told we looked like.

  Hmmm. I had to think long and hard about that.

  Melissa said Lorelei from Gilmore Girls. And I nodded and agreed. Great, it was my turn to speak. I briefly introduced myself—Georgina, but everyone calls me George, I moved here from Paris and now I run a craft store.

  “Um,” I said, thinking about it. “Well, people have told me I look like Blythe Danner.”

  I was hoping that was going to be it, but there were even more games to come.

  “Okay, now we are going to work together to solve a mystery.”

  Oh, I am going to ace this.

  I’d totally forgotten that I didn’t even want the receptionist job. I just wanted to be the best, get the job done, the mystery solved, outshine everyone else. I’ve always been that way, ever since I was a teenager. I think growing up doing ballet is what did it. Gave me that competitive edge. Melissa suggested we do a mock timeline of the crime—a bank robbery.

  “Should we list all the potential suspects up on the board?” I suggested instead.

  Melissa looked a little put out. But Meg started nodding and raised an eyebrow like she was impressed, then scribbled down a few notes on her note board. She smiled at me when I was the first one to solve the crime—the bank teller did it.

  “George, it’s time for your one-on-one interview.”

  I stopped. Jasper was still waiting for me outside and had been waiting for nearly an hour. One-on-one interview? There was even more to this process? It was a receptionist position, but anyone would think they were recruiting for the CIA.