How to Kennel a Killer

by Cat Clayton

  “I like it,” she’d said afterward. “It makes me stand out in a crowd.”

  “I think it looks pretty,” Stoney said.

  “I started the coffee for the COW meeting,” Daniel said with his head leaning on the wall, eyes closed.

  “It smells heavenly.” I stared up at the ceiling as I sprawled out on the cool linoleum. I hadn’t even bothered to sweep. I turned my head and smiled at Cuff and Taffy.

  Tired from their romp around the shop, they snoozed soundly in the corner on Cuff’s dog bed. Before he closed his eyes, he expressed his happiness Taffy wouldn’t be leaving with Angelica.

  I am over the moon, Chiquita. If she had left, I think I would have died.

  My little drama pup, I thought.

  Sitting in chairs, Gertie and Stoney chattered away. Gertie told her about her bowling league, the Gutter Nutters, while Stoney took it all in, smiling and nodding. It made me happy to see Stoney interacting on a personal level after all she’d endured.

  The front door jingled and nobody bothered to get up.

  “What’s up, buttercup?” Jackson asked. “Wow. It looks like a tornado hit this place.”

  I sat up, running a hand through my tufts of red hair. Handsome as a devil in his uniform, Jackson grinned at my disheveled appearance.

  “It feels like we’ve been through one.” He’d texted me earlier in the afternoon and told me he’d swing by the COW meeting and pick up Taffy. He didn’t mention Angelica in the message. I assumed he knew she left town.

  “Can I talk to you outside for a minute?” I asked him.

  “Sure,” he said, leading the way through the front door.

  I felt three pairs of eyes on us. I waited for the door to swoosh shut and let out a sigh.

  “Are you staying for the meeting?” I asked, stalling the inevitable conversation. Since they had assigned him three months ago to act as the liaison between the police department and our neighborhood watch program, I figured he planned on attending tonight’s meeting.

  “Yes,” he said, peering down at me. His lower jaw shifted, and I focused on the beginnings of the dark stubble on his chin.

  His rugged handsomeness swept me away.

  “Good. Because I think we should address Petunia’s murder this evening and ask if anyone’s seen anything unusual regarding the case. I won’t tell them about reading her journal. I’m not proud of sneaking into her house. Hindsight is twenty-twenty, you know? Maybe hint around and ask about Buzz or the fact Vivienne was gunning for Petunia’s job. I’ve also been thinking about the Stumble dating app on my phone. Maybe we could ask if anyone else has heard of it or if they’d heard of her seeing anyone in particular.”

  “Steely,” he said, interrupting my ramble session.

  “Yes?”

  “I’m good with all that, but I think first, we should address the big, pink elephant stomping down the street,” he said.

  “Where?” I shielded my eyes with a hand, pretending to hunt for the animal. “I don’t see an elephant.”

  He raised an eyebrow.

  “Okay,” I said, my hands suddenly feeling useless and awkward. I folded my arms over my chest and looked into his eyes. My heart melted.

  “So, Angelica left,” he said. “She wanted to bring Taffy to her appointment today. I guess it was her way of saying goodbye. She texted to tell me she’d left her with you.” His dark gaze held me prisoner.

  Rendered speechless, I nodded.

  “She also mentioned y’all had a little chat,” he said.

  “Uh huh.”

  “Steely, I’m really sorry for keeping all this from you.” He shoved his hands in the front pockets of his uniform trousers. “To be honest, I don’t know what else to say. I don’t know how to make this better.” He yanked a hand out of his pocket and ran it over his head.

  I could see him floundering. Did I let him continue to beat himself up or cast out a safety net?

  “Hey,” I said, reaching for his hand. “Thank you for saying that.”

  He squeezed my hand, his thumb rubbing my palm. I shivered at his touch.

  “I never meant to hurt you,” he said, his eyes and voice softening.

  “I know.” My heart fluttered.

  “Do you?” he asked, pulling his other hand out of his pocket. He placed both hands on my shoulders, gripping them softly. “Do you know how much I care about you?”

  Care? Oh jeez. People care about their neighbors or an acquaintance they see in the grocery store who’s been ill.

  “Um... okay.” I stammered.

  “Steely Lamarr, I’m crazy about you,” he said, pulling me into his warm embrace.

  Crazy? Now, I can do crazy.

  THE CITIZENS ON THE Watch group gathered in the front lobby of the shop. Jackson, Pop, Daniel, Mr. Peters, Donny Thomas, April Schirmack—who’d taken over Baker’s Bliss, and me. Sitting in were Gertie and Stoney. Giddy and with a renewed sense of puppy love, I had a difficult time keeping my eyes off Jackson and not stumbling over my sentences.

  Steely and Jackson sitting in a tree. Cuff sang. K... i... s... s...

  I shot my dog a look. Really?

  “So, does anyone have anything to report?” I asked my fellow members.

  April raised her hand. “Is this about Petunia Jinks or in general?” She wore her mousy brown hair in a short bob with the sides tucked behind her ears. A pair of red-rimmed glasses sat perched on top of her head. Her green Baker’s Bliss apron sat folded on her lap.

  “In general,” I said.

  “I thought we were discussing the Jinks murder,” Donny said, grumbling.

  Always disgruntled. Did the man ever smile?

  I wonder if someone peed in his Cheerios this morning. He seems extra grumpy.

  No kidding, I thought.

  Cuff sat on the floor, his tail swishing back and forth. Taffy laid beside him, sound asleep and oblivious to our human banter.

  Stoney sat off to the side, her head bobbing from member to member, like a ping pong ball.

  “We will get to it. But first, anything else so Officer Jackson can report back to the station?” Pop asked. “We don’t want to waste his time or the city’s money.” He sipped his coffee and nodded at me.

  April raised her hand again. “Well, I did notice for the past few nights someone’s been leaving empty beer cans out behind the bakery. I don’t know if it’s a crime to do so, but it sure is annoying to have to pick them up every morning.”

  “Ms. Schirmack, have you noticed anything vandalized?” Jackson asked.

  She shook her head. “No. But I think it might be a good idea to set up a security camera back there. You know, just in case,” she said.

  Heads nodded around the room in agreement.

  That is a good idea. Maybe we should set one up in the back parking lot, Chiquita.

  I gave him a little nonchalant nod.

  Jackson jotted down something in his notebook. “Smart move. Let us know if you get anything. Meanwhile, I can mention it to the chief. Maybe we can get the night-shift unit to drive past the bakery a few times every night.”

  She smiled, blushing. “Oh, that’d be great. Thanks!”

  Gertie tapped away on her phone. I leaned over and noticed her playing the word game again. She snickered as she entered a word I couldn’t read.

  I think she is playing that word game with Mr. Peters. Look at him go.

  I glanced over at Mr. Peters. He tapped away on his screen, a smug expression on his face.

  “Anything else?” Pop asked, his voice snappy. He peered over his wire rims, scanning the group.

  I wanted to remind him this wasn’t an interrogation, but he seemed anxious. I didn’t want to tip him over the proverbial edge, so I kept my mouth shut.

  Donny Thomas cleared his throat. “If that’s all I’d like to discuss the Petunia Jinks murder. I want everyone in this room to know, I had nothing to do with it.”

  I held up a hand to intercede. “Donny, nobody is accusing y
ou of harming Petunia.” I cringed, recalling I’d asked him if he’d seen her the day after she died. Oh, please don’t call me out.

  Looking rather uncomfortable in his brown tweed jacket, he pointed a crooked finger at me. “Well, you did.”

  I think he called you out.

  I crouched in my chair. I waited for the verbal bashing from the rest of the group, and when it didn’t come at me, I sat up a little taller in my seat.

  “I only asked if you spoke with her about a job.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “I never accused you of doing anything to her and you know it.” I crossed my arms. “It’s important we find out what really happened to Petunia. And you were one of the last people to see her. Alive. Anyone would be curious.”

  Donny mumbled something under his breath, scratched his head, and exhaled loudly. “You’re right. Being one of the last people to talk to her before she died makes me uneasy, is all. I’m sorry for snapping at you.”

  “It’s okay,” I said. “Can you recall anything from the day you went to see her? Any little detail may help.”

  Pop smiled at me in approval. “Steely has a point, Donny. Think back. Anything unusual or off to you about her or what she was doing at the time of your visit?”

  Donny glanced up at the ceiling.

  The rest of us sat at the edges of our seats. Well, except for Gertie and Mr. Peters. I thumped her in the arm.

  “Ouch!” she said, snatching her arm away from me. “What the hell?”

  I pointed to the swear jar.

  “Oh, for Pete’s sake. You’re like a dog with a bone,” she said, springing from her chair. She asked Pop for a quarter.

  He squinted at her and dug into his pocket.

  She tossed a quarter in the jar. “It’s like robbing the poor, I tell ya.” She plopped back down in her seat.

  “Donny, go ahead,” Pop said, shaking his head.

  Donny scratched his chin. “Not really. I found Petunia working in the gardens. She had a broken water pipe. I asked her if she needed any help. She said yes, but she couldn’t pay me, seeing as how the city denied her request to hire help. We made small-talk. I sold her a pint of strawberries. So, I got on my bike and left,” he said.

  “Did you see anyone else?” I asked him.

  He shook his head. “No. Said she was waiting to hear from Buzz McCoy about the broken water pipe. I told her I could look at it. I even offered to cut the water off at the main valve, but she said she’d take care of it. Has anyone questioned Buzz?”

  Jackson took the lead on this one. “He’s detained right now. I brought him in last night, but he’s not saying much.”

  “Whatcha holding him for, may we ask?” Donny questioned.

  Jackson took a deep breath and let it out. “Several things. He attempted to make a break for it when I questioned him last night. He and Petunia apparently had a big feud going on, and I’m sure y’all will hear about this soon enough, but we found a prescription bottle of fentanyl in his shop, the same opioid discovered in Petunia’s coffee.” He left out the part of my involvement and Buzz coming after me.

  “Oh, my gosh,” April said. “Y’all think he did it?”

  Jackson eyed me, probably willing me to keep quiet.

  “He’s considered a person of interest,” Jackson said.

  I pulled my phone out of my pocket. “Y’all ever heard of the dating app called Stumble?” I opened the app and flashed my phone around so they could see.

  Jackson told you to delete the app, Chiquita.

  Well, I didn’t. And from the guilty look on Pop’s face, maybe I shouldn’t have asked.

  “I signed up for it two weeks ago,” he confessed. “I found Petunia on there last week, and we had our first date the night before she died.”

  An uncomfortable silence settled in the room.

  “Mr. Lamarr, beg your pardon, but doesn’t this make you a person of interest in the librarian’s murder, too?” April asked.

  Chapter 19

  I sprung from my chair. “I know you haven’t lived here very long, April, but my father didn’t kill Petunia!”

  “Steely, she isn’t accusing your father of murder,” Jackson said. “Calm down.”

  “No, she has no right to say anything,” I said. “And by the way, nowhere in the history of calming down has anyone calmed down when being told to calm down.”

  Well said, Chiquita.

  I fumed, despite Jackson being right. I needed to get ahold of my temper and my feelings.

  “I didn’t mean to imply your father did it. I’m sorry,” April said.

  Keep your head, Steely. I swear it sounded like Mama’s voice in my ear.

  I took a deep breath and exhaled. “No, I’m sorry. I lost my temper.” I offered her a smile.

  “Look, I think I can clear things up,” Pop intervened. “Petunia and I met for supper the night before. She said it’d been her first date since she’d broken up with another guy. She’d seen him several times, and he was, well, married. She didn’t want to talk about it much. But she told me she’d come to her senses and broken it off.”

  A few gasps issued from the room.

  “It has to be against the dating app’s policies,” Daniel said. “I’m on two dating apps and both of them clearly state if you’re married it violates their policy.”

  “Did she tell you anything else?” Jackson asked Pop.

  Pop nodded his head. “Yes. She told me when she tried calling it off with him, he wanted to keep seeing her. She mentioned she’d received some weird, threatening messages through the app’s messaging service, but she refused to engage and deleted them. She believed the wife may have somehow found out about the relationship and hacked into the guy’s Stumble account and sent the messages herself,” Pop said, running a hand through his salt and pepper hair. “When Petunia and I met, she said it made her feel better to tell someone, just in case.”

  “Just in case, what?” Jackson asked him.

  “Well, in case something happened to her,” Pop said.

  “And you didn’t think to involve the police?” Donny asked.

  Pop’s shoulders slumped. “After she said she’d ended the relationship, I presumed it’d work itself out and all would be well. I’ve worked nearly a hundred domestic cases, seen plenty of cheating spouses. I never thought...” he said, his face pulling into a grimace. This had been eating at him. “I planned on calling you, Jackson, after I brought Stoney home. But her situation has preoccupied me. I’m sorry.”

  I rushed over and put my arms around him. “It’s not your fault, Pop.”

  “Steely’s right,” Jackson said, reassuring him. “You’re not to blame.”

  “Well, it’s nice of you to say so, but, the fact remains. I should’ve done something,” Pop said, gazing out the front window. “Maybe if I had convinced her to report the threat on the evening we had supper, she’d still be alive.”

  Gertie looked up from her phone. “Did she give you the guy’s name?”

  Pop shook his head. “She refused and said she didn’t want to cause him any trouble. But she let it slip the guy lived in the area.”

  “Is that all?” I asked, patting his shoulder.

  “Yeah. She needed to put it all behind her and wanted to meet other people, which is why we went out for a bite. We’d agreed to meet for coffee soon.” He let out a big, long exhale. “I really thought everything would work out.”

  “Speaking of coffee. I keep going back to her coffee mug. Who fixed it? Who brought the coffee to her?” I added.

  “Oh, my God,” Donny replied, clamping his palm over his mouth.

  “What is it?” Jackson asked.

  Donny’s eyes popped wide open. “Petunia was drinking coffee when I left. Said she didn’t feel so good and might take a break until Buzz arrived. And...”

  I straightened up. “And what?”

  “And she mentioned someone had dropped off a latte,” Donny said.

  “Did she give you a name? Was it a man
or a woman?” Jackson asked.

  “She didn’t mention either, but she said the coffee came from Baker’s Bliss,” Donny said.

  All eyes fell on April, newest owner of the bakery.

  “What?” She fidgeted with her glasses on her head. “You can’t possibly think I had anything to do with this!”

  “Of course, we don’t, April. But this means she knew her killer. And if we can figure out who delivered her the latte from your shop, then we can figure out who poisoned her,” I said.

  Chiquita, whodunit is the magic question.

  “PLEASE DELETE YOUR account,” Jackson said to me at the kitchen table upstairs.

  After the meeting, Pop had driven Gertie and Stoney home, the rest of the members had left with promises they’d keep their eyes and ears peeled for information on Petunia’s murder, and I’d invited Jackson upstairs for a late supper.

  Pot pies. Dinner of champions in my book. And I didn’t have to lift a finger to cook. The crust-covered meal in a tiny tin basically covered all the major food groups. Sort of. Minus the milk.

  I broke the crispy crust of my beef pie. “I will.” Although, before I deleted my Stumble account and removed the app from my phone, I had one more mission.

  “When?” he said, pushing the issue.

  “Later,” I said, which wasn’t entirely untrue. “What’s going on with Buzz down at the station?”

  He sighed, shaking his head in frustration. “I don’t believe he had anything to do with poisoning Petunia, although he held a grudge against her and he had the fentanyl in his possession,” he said.

  “But it makes sense. Right? He clearly had the means, motive, and opportunity.”

  “Yeah, except he’s taking the fentanyl for chronic pain because of his cancer. His doctor confirmed it,” he said.

  Cancer? Poor guy. “Well then, why’re y’all still holding him?”

  “Another matter regarding a large fine he owes for poaching,” Jackson answered. “As soon as he deals with it, he’ll be out.”