Pet in Peril

by Marie Celine

  FIFTEEN

  ‘Howie, come quickly!’ She ran around the corner but Howie had disappeared too.

  She tiptoed back to her door. This was silly, she told herself. She might have left the door ajar, forgotten to pull it all the way shut like the security guard was cautioning her about. Or maybe Fran had come back early from her date and had forgotten to pull the door shut. That sounded like something Fran would do. It sounded exactly like something Fran would do. Kitty was forever having to remind Fran to lock up the apartment behind her.

  Kitty nervously licked her upper lip and pushed the door open with the toe of her right foot. ‘Oh.’

  Ransacked! She sucked in her breath. Clothes were strewn everywhere. The refrigerator door hung open. Drawers were open or askew. Both mattresses lay half-off their bedframes. The intruder had pulled the dresser away from the wall. What had they been looking for? She certainly didn’t have any jewelry worth stealing. Except for her engagement ring, and that never left her finger.

  She leaned down to pick up the glass coffee urn from the floor. It held the remains of the pot of coffee Fran had brewed that morning. The housekeeper had forgotten to clean and replace it.

  ‘What happened here?’

  Kitty screamed, sending a cold shower of coffee all over her legs. Ted Atchison stood in the doorway with Fred, Barney and his own mutt. Cold brew dripped down his arms and hit the floor like dirty rain. Fred barked, Ted’s dog cowered behind Ted’s legs and Barney went diving under the disassembled bed.

  ‘Sorry,’ said Kitty. ‘You startled me.’

  ‘So I see.’ Ted smiled. ‘Too much caffeine?’ His eyes seemed to follow the dark drips running down her legs. ‘Or did you have a wild party in here?’

  ‘No.’ Kitty set the coffee pot down on the tray atop the refrigerator. ‘It looks like somebody broke in while we were out.’ She shook her fingers, sending coffee rain scattering in all directions. ‘Either that or the maid has rage issues.’

  ‘I’ll say.’

  Kitty frowned. ‘I can’t believe it.’ Especially since she was breaking into another room a few doors down at the time. Ironic, wasn’t it? Not that she could find any humor in that at present.

  Ted turned serious. ‘Are you all right? Was anything taken?’

  Kitty shrugged, taking in the room. ‘Not that I can see.’ She picked through Fran’s open suitcase. It didn’t look like anything was missing there either, but she’d have Fran check when she got back.

  ‘What are you doing here? And with Barney and Fred?’

  Ted shrugged sheepishly. ‘The movie was over and you were nowhere to be found.’ He scratched behind his ear. ‘Man, that guy—’ He snapped his fingers a couple of times. ‘The smarmy-looking one. What’s his name?’

  ‘Steve.’

  Ted looked amused. ‘Yeah, boy was he mad when he learned you weren’t there. You ever see a nest of hornets poked with a stick? Well, that was him.’

  Kitty groaned loudly as she looked at her watch. The movie had ended almost half an hour ago. She was supposed to be doing an after-movie meet-and-greet with questions from the audience. Good grief. ‘I completely lost track of the time.’ She squeezed Ted’s upper arm. ‘Thanks for bringing the guys home.’

  ‘My pleasure. In case you were wondering, the movie was OK but I was glad to get out of there. I was sitting near some blonde bombshell with a pair of poodles. She spent half the movie whispering into her cell phone.’

  ‘That’s Victor Cornwall’s widow.’

  ‘No kidding? Maybe he begged somebody to kill him.’ Ted slowly circled the room. He stopped at the sliding glass door and pulled on the handle. ‘This door’s locked. Nobody got in or out this way. Any idea what they might have been looking for?’ He toed a chair cushion that had been knocked to the floor.

  ‘None at all.’ Kitty tried coaxing Barney out from under the bed and failed. Maybe he was better off where he was. ‘It could have been random.’

  ‘Maybe,’ Ted agreed. ‘I’ll help you straighten up.’ His hands went to the sideways dresser.

  ‘I don’t think we should touch anything until we’ve notified the authorities,’ Kitty said.

  Ted nodded. ‘We’d better call the front desk. And the police.’

  ‘Definitely.’ She wiped her dripping hands down the sides of her ruined blue dress. ‘Give me a minute to wash this coffee off first. It might sound vain but I don’t want to get caught looking like this.’

  ‘I think you look great,’ Ted said. ‘But you go ahead. I’ll hold down the fort.’

  She came out several minutes later after rinsing her legs in the tub and throwing on a fresh pair of jeans and a heavy flannel shirt that belonged to Jack. ‘Who was that on the phone?’ She’d heard the suite phone ring while she was under the shower.

  Ted rose from the edge of the bed that wasn’t hanging out into space. ‘Some cop.’

  ‘So the police are on their way?’

  ‘No, I don’t think so. I mean, I haven’t called them yet. I was waiting for you, like you said. This guy was calling from Sacramento.’

  Jack. ‘What did he say?’ She’d have to call him right back. After she’d called and reported that her room had been broken into.

  ‘Not much. He asked for you. I told him you were in the shower and he hung up.’

  Kitty groaned.

  He handed the receiver to Kitty. ‘If you don’t mind, I think I’ll rinse off a bit myself while you let the hotel know what’s happened.’

  Ted disappeared into the bathroom. Kitty dialed the front desk to report the break-in and the clerk at the desk said he’d let the police know right away.

  Ted’s dog was scratching away at the bathroom door. The mixed-breed definitely had a fair amount of terrier in him. A white patch ran from his chest to his chin. His slender body was tan with tufts of thick hair sticking up every which way. Kitty pulled him gently away by the collar. ‘Come here, you.’ She was afraid the dog would mark it up so badly that she’d get hit with a bill from the resort for the charges for repairing and refinishing it.

  On the front side the stainless-steel tag gave a four-digit number and identified the animal as Chloe. The back side read Little Switzerland Pet Shelter and gave a telephone number. Kitty held Chloe’s face in her hands a moment and looked the long-haired mutt over. Yep, definitely a Chloe. Hadn’t Ted said the dog was a male? Kitty straightened. Chloe ran off to play with Fred who bounced into action. She could hear water running in the sink in the bathroom. Atchison was whistling. ‘Are you from around here, Ted?’

  ‘What’s that?’ She heard the water shut off.

  ‘I asked if you were local.’

  He opened the door then wiped his hands on a white towel. ‘No. I’m from San Juan Capistrano. How about you? Did you call the police? Are they coming?’

  ‘I live in Los Angeles.’ A cold chill ran up her fingers. She suddenly hoped that the police were coming.

  And soon.

  SIXTEEN

  The sharp knock of knuckles on the door sent a wave of relief coursing through her. Kitty didn’t think she’d breathed even once between the time Ted came out of the bathroom and then. She opened the door quickly. Chief Mulisch and another officer stood in the hallway. The second man looked like a younger, taller and thinner version of the chief, albeit with a quickly receding hairline that belied his obvious youth. His eyes were the same color as the chief’s.

  ‘Hello, Chief Mulisch. Thank you for coming so quickly. I was expecting Deputy Nickels.’

  ‘Deputy Nickels is working at the pharmacy this evening.’ He explained that the LSPD was a small group. ‘Only four full-timers and three part-timers. Nickels works at the pharmacy downtown.’

  The chief twisted his jaw and strode to the center of the room, one hand on his weapon. ‘What are you doing here, Atchison?’ He squinted at Ted.

  Ted cleared his throat and held out his hand. ‘Ted Atchison, yes. I’m a friend of Miss Karlyle’s.’

  ‘T
ed was kind enough to bring Fred and Barney back to my room for me.’

  ‘Fred and Barney?’ Chief Mulisch’s brow went up as he frowned. ‘You should’ve asked them to stick around,’ he said. ‘I might have had a few questions for them.’

  ‘Go ahead and ask them,’ Kitty replied, waving toward Fred and Ted’s dog, Chloe, who were lying side by side under the small table by the sliding door.

  ‘That’s Fred and Barney?’ asked the younger officer.

  ‘The Lab is Fred. Barney’s under the bed somewhere.’ Why couldn’t that nice Deputy Nickels have come? He’d interrogated both Fran and Kitty after the murder. Though the questions had been serious, he hadn’t seemed like such a bad sort.

  The two officers shared a look. ‘You trying to poke fun at me, Miss Karlyle?’ Chief Mulisch asked sternly.

  Kitty reddened and her heart skipped a quick beat. One more second of her life she’d never get back. ‘No, sir.’ She shook her head. ‘Not at all. I guess I’m just jittery – what with the murder and now this break-in.’ She flashed a wan smile.

  The younger officer was stooped over inspecting the door and frame. ‘No signs of any damage.’ He ran a hand along the door jamb. ‘Technically not a break-in.’

  ‘Good catch, son.’

  ‘Son?’

  Chief Mulisch smiled. ‘This is my son, Peter.’ He clapped the young man on the shoulder. ‘He’s only a deputy now but, believe me, this boy’s going places. Probably have my job one day,’ laughed the chief.

  As if encouraged by his father’s words, the deputy asked Kitty and Ted if they had any idea who might have wanted to do this to her suite and what they might have been looking for.

  Kitty hesitated.

  ‘Spit it out,’ ordered Chief Mulisch.

  ‘Well.’ She sat at the edge of the bed and Ted quickly sat beside her and patted her leg. She scooshed over. ‘I did see Mr Ruggiero turning the corner that way.’ She pointed to where the corridor went outside.

  Peter Mulisch’s eyes lit up. ‘You think Rick Ruggiero busted into your room?’ He slapped his belt. ‘That’s a hoot.’ He leaned over Kitty. ‘You do realize that Rick is the manager of this resort, don’t you?’

  ‘Hey—’ Ted interrupted. ‘If Kitty says she saw the manager then that’s who she saw.’

  Kitty gulped and nodded. ‘It’s OK, Ted. The police are only doing their job. I know Mr Ruggiero is the manager but I’m sure that’s who I saw.’ As manager, he would have a master key to her room. To all the rooms. That would explain why there were no physical signs of a break-in. She said what she was thinking.

  ‘No offense to your dog, Miss Karlyle,’ said Chief Mulisch, ‘but I think you are barking up the wrong tree.’

  Deputy Mulisch laughed. ‘Good one, Dad.’ He pulled out a black leather-bound pad and pen. ‘Was anything taken? Did you have any valuables in the room?’

  Kitty shook her head. ‘Not that I can tell – taken, that is. I didn’t have any jewelry or money or anything like that, at least nothing worth stealing.’ She pointed. ‘And what jewelry I did bring is there on the dresser.’ A small pile of inexpensive bracelets and earrings lay spread across the corner of the dresser. She rose, unable to sit any longer, her nerves singing. ‘What happens next? Are you going to be taking fingerprints?’

  Chief Mulisch said no. ‘With all the guests going in and out of these rooms, plus the housekeeping and maintenance staff, I’d be surprised if there was anyone’s prints that I didn’t find.’ He strode to the door and motioned for his son to follow. ‘You let us know if you discover anything missing. Otherwise, try to put this all behind you. It could have been a random occurrence. These things happen, even in a nice little town like Little Switzerland.’

  ‘Like Mr Cornwall’s murder and then his car getting broken into the very next day?’ Kitty said pointedly.

  The chief stretched his neck. ‘So you heard about that, did you?’

  Kitty nodded. ‘Was anything taken from the vehicle?’

  ‘Well, now, if you were a member of the Little Switzerland Police Department you might be entitled to know that.’

  Kitty wanted to scream but kept her cool, at least on the exterior. ‘What about the murder? Have you found the killer? Identified any suspects?’

  ‘Oh, yeah. You’re sharing a room with her.’

  ‘Fran Earhart never hurt anybody. I’d stake my life on it.’

  ‘Sleeping in the same room with her, I’d say that’s exactly what you are doing. Good night, Miss Karlyle.’ His finger toyed with the safety latch. ‘And remember to keep your doors locked.’

  ‘Wow, quite a piece of work, isn’t he?’ Ted stood beside Kitty. ‘Can I help you clean up now?’

  ‘I’m really tired, Ted. Thank you, but I think I’d like to rest now.’

  Ted said he understood and called his dog. As he stood in the open door, Kitty said, ‘Ted, how did Chief Mulisch know your name?’

  ‘What?’ He smiled. ‘I introduced myself, remember?’

  ‘No.’ Kitty shook her head. ‘Before that, he asked what you were doing here. He called you by your name.’

  Ted hesitated only a second but Kitty caught it. ‘You’re right. I guess he remembered me from earlier today. I popped in the police station when I was walking around town. I thought somebody there might be able to recommend a good place for lunch.’ He smiled. ‘That’s how I met you.’

  ‘That’s exactly what I told Fran.’

  ‘Pardon?’

  Kitty explained how Fran had recognized him leaving the police station as she was being escorted in.

  ‘That explains it.’ He said goodnight and Kitty watched him growing smaller and then disappear around the bend.

  That was what she’d told Fran and that did explain it. But was it the truth? Or was Ted Atchison a criminal of some sort? Maybe even an unnamed suspect in Victor Cornwall’s murder? That would also explain what he was doing down at the police station.

  There was a lot about Ted Atchison that Kitty didn’t know. And a lot she wanted to find out.

  SEVENTEEN

  She grabbed the phone book out of the night table drawer, scooped up the phone and looked up the number to the Little Switzerland Pet Shelter. She quickly dialed, repeating the ID number she’d seen on the dog collar over and over in her head so she wouldn’t forget. Maybe she could learn something about Ted’s dog, Chloe.

  All she got was a voice recording telling her that the shelter was closed, reeling off the hours of operation and wishing her a good day. She’d ring back in the morning. She wanted to call Fran to tell her what had happened but didn’t want to interrupt her date. Fran didn’t like anybody messing with her dating life. Not that that ever stopped Fran from sticking her nose in and voicing endless opinions about Kitty’s own love life. She pushed her bed back into place as best she could and flopped down on top, anxiously waiting for Fran to return.

  The next thing she knew, someone was shaking her by the shoulders. Kitty woke with a start and cried out before realizing she wasn’t being murdered, ‘Oh, it’s you!’

  ‘Yeah, it’s me,’ Fran said, pulling back. She was wearing her Bob Marley T-shirt and a pair of gray drawstring pants. ‘Who were you expecting? The party police? Because it looks like you had some fun here last night. What happened, anyway?’ She indicated the mess that had not been miraculously put back together by kind lederhosen-clad elves in the night.

  Kitty sat up on her elbows and explained.

  ‘Wow,’ Fran said over and over again as her friend filled her in.

  ‘What about you?’ Kitty asked, fluffing her pillow and stroking Fred’s chin. He sat on the bed beside her. ‘The date went well, I take it?’

  Fran shook her head. ‘Not exactly. I mean, it started out OK.’ She walked to her suitcase and pulled out a fresh skirt and shirt. ‘John invited me to Yappy Hour. We were going to go out to dinner afterward.’ She accepted the skirt and rejected the blouse, going back for another.

  ‘Yappy Hour
? Seriously?’ quipped Kitty, her eyes rolling up into the back of their sockets like a pair of cheap blinds.

  ‘There’s a sign in the bar if you don’t believe me.’

  Kitty could just picture Fred coming back with a buzz on. It wasn’t a pretty picture.

  ‘You should have been there,’ exclaimed Fran. ‘They held the most darling pet fashion show in the lounge. There were local designers showing off their fashions for pooches and even some fall knitwear for cats. Very fashion forward.’

  ‘Sorry I missed it,’ replied Kitty. Not.

  Fran grabbed Kitty’s hand. ‘They had the cutest little tuxedo. I thought of Fred the minute I saw it. He’d look adorable in a formal outfit.’

  ‘Fran,’ said Kitty, pulling away, ‘even if he were going to the puppy prom, I don’t think Fred would like to be caught dead in a tuxedo. What’s next? Bridal gowns for the pooch in puppy love?’

  Fran’s eyes dilated. ‘Say, you just might have something there.’ She rubbed her thumb and index finger together quickly enough to start a fire – if only she’d been a Girl Scout. The closest she got was being a woman scouting for men. ‘We could start up a business.’

  Kitty clapped her hands together against her cheeks excitedly. ‘We could call it Say Woof To The Dress!’

  Fran hugged her. ‘So you’re in?’

  ‘Sure,’ answered Kitty. ‘When poodles fly.’ Fran let go. ‘And are allowed to take off and land from LAX.’ If Kitty had been dripping sarcasm any more fiercely she’d have needed a towel to wipe herself off.

  ‘You are such a buzz kill, Kitty Karlyle.’

  ‘Never mind that,’ Kitty answered with a laugh. ‘Tell me what happened on your date.’

  ‘Like I said, not much. John got a call about a half hour after we met.’

  Kitty wondered if John had subjected Fran to the famous ploy of having a friend call and bail you out of a bad date routine. She kept these thoughts to herself.

  ‘We’d barely finished our first round of drinks here in the Alpine Grotto when he got a call and suddenly had to leave.’ She lifted her shoulders. ‘Business, he said.’