Three Dog Day

by Lia Farrell

  “No doubt it does,” Wayne smiled back, “unless you know how to shop on the Internet.”

  That evening Wayne called Lucy and invited her to go out to dinner. Afterward, sitting together in front of her fireplace with glasses of red wine, he told her he had seen Jocelyn.

  “What was that like for you, Wayne?” she asked, tentatively. There were tiny frown lines on her forehead.

  “Tough, really tough. She’s down to skin and bones. She remembered the night she killed Outinen vividly, though. I’m working with an attorney who runs the Abused Women’s Commutation Project in Lansing, Michigan. She’s trying to get her released.”

  “That would be wonderful, for her and for you. You wouldn’t need to feel guilt or responsibility any longer.” She smiled at him.

  “You know I want to set the record straight about Aarne Outinen killing my brother and get Kurt buried properly,” Wayne said quietly. “Just can’t figure out my next step yet.”

  “While you obsess about that some more, my next step is bed. Would you care to join me, Detective?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

  “If I ever say no to the question you just asked, you have my permission to shoot me.”

  They walked to the bedroom, hand in hand.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  January 16th

  Mae December

  Mae’s business phone rang at ten-thirty that morning. She was in her kitchen, playing with little Tater on the floor. She stood up and grabbed it on the third ring. “Mae’s place, how can I help you?”

  “Miss December, this is Larry Gunderson calling you from the ASPCA. Do you have a minute to talk?”

  Her eyes flew to the calendar hanging on the pantry door. January sixteenth, today’s date, was circled. Inside the circle, Mae had written; ‘test results for W.G.’ in red. “Yes, Mr. Gunderson, I can talk right now,” she swallowed.

  “Well, there’s no good way to say this, I’m afraid. Several of the dogs and puppies tested positive for the Warrior Gene.” He sighed. “The male puppy that you’re fostering is one of them.”

  “Oh, no, not Guinness! He’s a sweet puppy ….” Mae leaned her forehead on the wall.

  “I’m sorry, Miss December. I know its bad news, and I’m sure you’re already attached to him, but knowing that he carries the gene, we can’t in good conscience allow him to be adopted. He’ll have to be euthanized, unfortunately.”

  Mae didn’t answer, and Mr. Gunderson was quiet for a moment too. “You hadn’t already found a home for him, I hope?”

  “No, I haven’t found homes for any of them yet. I was waiting for the test results,” she told him sadly. A horrible thought crossed her mind. “What about the females? Are they okay?”

  “They have no more likelihood of becoming aggressive or dangerous than any other dog,” Mr. Gunderson responded in a happier voice. “Both of them tested negative for the gene, and you can go ahead with finding homes for them. As I’m sure you know, if they’re cared for and trained properly, they’ll be fine pets.”

  “I’m glad they tested negative,” she responded, trying to remain calm. “What do I need to do with Guinness, Mr. Gunderson? Do I take him to my vet, or bring him to you?”

  “We’re asking everyone who has dogs or pups that tested positive to bring them back to the ASPCA. The volunteers from the vet school who did the testing are going to euthanize the animals.” He cleared his throat. “It’s going to be a sad day here. If you could bring him in this afternoon, that would be best. And thank you for fostering. It really is a big help.”

  Mae agreed to bring Guinness back to the ASPCA and ended the call quickly. Crying, she sat down on the floor and the Tater climbed into her lap. The little dog licked her face and Mae let the tears fall until they slowed of their own accord. She hugged her little corgi to her chest, then got up to go into the hall bathroom and blow her nose. Tallulah, who was reclining on the big dog bed in the laundry room, lifted up her head as Mae went by. The black pug followed Mae into the bathroom.

  “I’m okay, Tallulah.” The pug tilted her head to one side, staring up at her with wide, lustrous eyes. Mae couldn’t help but smile. “Really, I am.” She blew her nose with a loud honk, splashed cold water on her face, and rolled her head from side to side. Her two corgis appeared in the bathroom and sat on either side of Tallulah, all three dogs regarding her solemnly. She bent down and petted them. When she stood back up they all followed her down the hall to the kitchen. They must think I shouldn’t be alone right now, and they’re probably right.

  Mae got back from the ASPCA after three that afternoon, feeling sad and lonesome despite a house and barn full of dogs and puppies. Ray Fenton was in the barn when she went out to give True and Pearl Jam their afternoon meal.

  “Oh, hi there—forgot you were coming today.”

  “Hi, Miss Mae,” the skinny teenager said. “Where’s Guinness?”

  She told him about the test results and he stood looking down at his shoes for a minute, wordless.

  “The girls are both fine though, don’t worry.” He looked up and glanced over at the female puppies. “I was just about to feed them. Do you want to take care of that?” He nodded. “Oh, and Domino and Maggie Pie can have their supper now too. If you could walk Lulu and then give everybody fresh water, they’ll be all set. Come into the house when you’re done and I’ll find a snack for us both.”

  “Can I bring True and Pearl Jam inside?” he asked with a little squeak to his voice.

  Mae smiled at him. “Of course.”

  She was on the phone with Tammy when Ray brought the two puppies into her kitchen twenty minutes later. “So, do you want to call that caterer back, or should I?” Tammy said that Grace, her mother, would take care of it. “I need to go, Tammy. Ray’s here with the puppies and I’m going to fix us something to eat.”

  “Mae, I’ve been thinking, would your niece Olivia like to be my flower girl?”

  She looked at Ray, standing patiently with two pups squirming against his chest. “Hang on just a second, Tammy.”

  “Do you want them in the studio?”

  “Yes. Did you make sure they did their business outside first?”

  Ray gave her a shy grin. “Yes Ma’am, they both did um, everything outside. I’ll just put them in there and take your house dogs out in the yard for a little while.”

  “Perfect.” She picked her phone back up off the counter. “Sorry, you still there?”

  “I’m here. Who’s Ray?”

  “He’s my new employee.” She heard the scrabble of toenails and the click of the door as it closed behind Ray Fenton and her three dogs. “He’s a nice kid. He’s actually the one who turned Jerrod Clifton in for animal cruelty, but he lost his job out there. Dory talked me into hiring him.” Mae looked out her kitchen window at the teenager, who was throwing a ball for the Tater to chase. She took a deep breath and told Tammy the heartbreaking news about Guinness.

  “Oh, Mae. I’m so sorry.”

  Mae put her phone on speaker and set it on the counter, then painstakingly opened a can of tomato soup and dumped it into a saucepan to heat up. “Yeah, it’s been a rough one. Anyway, I can ask July about Livy being your flower girl. Do you want Matty to be the ring bearer?” She got out some bread to toast for pimento cheese sandwiches to have with the soup.

  “That’s a great idea! The two of them would look really cute together.”

  Ray, the Tater, Titan, and Tallulah clattered back into the kitchen on a gust of cold, damp air. “I’ll ask about both of them, then. Talk to you tomorrow.” The two friends said their goodbyes and Mae put the sandwiches together, filled two soup bowls, and set everything on the kitchen table.

  “Help yourself, Ray.”

  He sat down and wolfed his food in short order. Small and skinny though he was, the boy could eat like a champ. He wiped his mouth with a napkin when he was finished. “Thanks, Miss Mae. That was good. Is there anything else you need me to do today?”

  “I don
’t think so. I want to ask you something, though. Do you think any of Jerrod Clifton’s dogs were being sold for uses other than pets?” Ray gave a little nod. “For dog-fighting, maybe?” Mae guessed.

  “I really don’t know.” Ray looked down at his feet for a moment. “Just sometimes a lot of dogs would go at the same time, not just puppies. I’d come back to work and some of the full grown ones would be gone, too. I asked Mr. Jerrod about it once and he said to mind my own business.”

  Mae did not like the sound of that at all. “All right, Ray, thanks. You can go play with the puppies if you want, while I finish eating.”

  Ray took his dishes to the sink and disappeared down the hall toward her art studio/puppy holding area. Mae ate the rest of her food. For a voracious teen, soup and a sandwich was a snack, but this was an early dinner for her. Ben wouldn’t be over until late tonight, but she planned to share her suspicions with him then. After she ate and took Ray home, she would be hashing out some more wedding details and taking a hot bath—with a nice glass of wine.

  It was almost nine that night and Ben had yet to arrive at her house. Mae had already taken her bath and spoken with Tammy’s mother, Grace. The catering decisions had been finalized. Mae’s sister July had agreed to Olivia being the flower girl—apparently Olivia was already the proud owner of what July described as “the perfect dress”—and they had no family plans that conflicted with the February fourteenth event.

  “I’ll try and get a sitter for the boys, and Fred and I will come with Livy,” her sister said. “Unless you want them for ring bearers or ushers or anything?”

  “I think Matthew’s going to be the ring bearer, but Nathan and Parker would be great ushers.”

  “As long as they behave themselves,” her sister said doubtfully. “Ask Tammy. If she wants them to do it, I’ll put the fear of God into them and we can have a family Valentine’s Day celebration.”

  The Tater jumped off the couch where she’d been curled up beside Mae and ran to the door. She gave one sharp yap. “I’ve got to go, July. Ben must be here.”

  “Hello, girls.” Ben came in dressed in jeans and a heavy coat. Slipping it off, he hung it on the stair post and plunked down on the couch beside Mae, giving her a quick kiss.

  “Glad you’ve got the fire on. It feels great in here.” He leaned back into the cushions with a sigh, turning to look at her. “Are you okay, babe? You seem quiet.”

  She told him about her day—test results and having to take Guinness in to be put down, dinner with Ray and her fears that Jerrod had been supplying dogs for illegal purposes, as well as her progress with wedding planning.

  Ben listened, and when she was done talking, he moved Tatie from in between them and pulled Mae close. She lay against his chest and felt herself melt into him. The tightness in her throat that had been there ever since Mr. Gunderson’s phone call finally eased and she took a deep breath. “Thank you.” She sat up and gave him a smile. “How was your day?”

  He frowned and shook his head. “Not great. Matty was a real chore at my parents’ tonight. Just tired, maybe, but he was extra picky about dinner and cried about everything. And the DNA results came back from the rag and knife Dory found. It was the murder weapon, and there was DNA from two men—Web Johnston and someone else. We don’t have the results on the comparison with Jerrod Clifton yet. If he isn’t our guy, I’m at a loss as to where to go next, Mae. Maybe you can help figure out what Clifton was really doing with his dogs, though.”

  His blue eyes were dark in the subdued light of her living room and his brown curly hair was ruffled. As usual, he smelled great.

  Mae stood up. “I’ll look into it. And I know where you need to go next. Will you put Tatie in her crate, please?”

  “Sure. You going to bed?”

  She untied her robe and let it slip until it caught on her cast, showing her bare shoulders and chest. “I am. It might be cold up there, though.”

  Ben was on his feet and in the kitchen with the little corgi before she could blink. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you warm,” he called over his shoulder. “You aren’t going to need that robe at all.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  January 17th

  Dory Clarkson

  As soon as he and Detective Nichols finished questioning Jerrod, Sheriff Bradley had asked Dory to let Mr. Gunderson of the ASPCA know that Mr. Clifton was in custody. He wanted the ASPCA to schedule the hearing on the Clifton puppy mill. Ben had told the staff he suspected Clifton of master-minding the copper theft ring and potentially the murder. If Jerrod were given jail time for animal cruelty, that might provide the sheriff with a chance to collect sufficient evidence for a felony indictment on the other two crimes.

  Judge Garrett Sower, an animal lover who had made a specialty of hearing ASPCA cases, moved the case to the front of his calendar. A lucky cancellation on the court docket had given them a January seventeenth date. George and Rob were assigned to bring Jerrod Clifton to the court dressed in an orange suit and cuffs. Dory had arranged it as a nice theatrical touch.

  Dory dressed carefully for the hearing, hoping the ASPCA attorney would call her as a witness. The ASPCA attorney, Miss Marina Seng, and Dory had already had several meetings while waiting for Jerrod to turn up. Dory was bringing young Ray with her. The drive to the courtroom would give them a chance to talk. She was concerned about him, knowing it was going to be a tough day for the teenager.

  Marina Seng met Dory and Ray Fenton on the courthouse steps and escorted them into a nearby conference room for a briefing. Marina was a young Asian woman with smooth dark hair cut in a bob and beautiful ivory skin. She was dressed in a silver gray suit and a black blouse. Dory looked at her reed-like slimness and compared it to her own, more curvaceous self. More celery sticks were in order.

  Miss Seng asked Dory a few last-minute questions, reassured Ray Fenton that he would be safe from reprisals, and took them both into the courtroom. She said she would be leaving it up to Judge Sower to determine whether either of them would be called. When they entered the courtroom, the defendant, Jerrod Clifton, was sitting at a table in the front of the room beside his attorney.

  “All rise,” the bailiff said, and everyone stood.

  “This is a hearing on animal cruelty. Mr. Clifton, how do you plead?” the judge said. Jerrod and his attorney, Jim Mitchell, approached the bench.

  “My client pleads not guilty, Your Honor,” Mitchell, a skinny guy with a military style haircut, stated.

  “Given the exigencies of the situation and the need to get the animals placed in permanent care, we’re hearing this case today. This is not a remand hearing. You may begin, Miss Seng.”

  “I have photographs to show Your Honor,” she said and pulled photos from her briefcase. There was a mild ruckus in the back of the courtroom and the judge banged his gavel. Dory’s heart sank. It was her nemesis, Carrie Adams, along with her crew and reporters from other local stations.

  “Quiet in the courtroom, or I’ll have the bailiff evict all of you,” Judge Sower said. His brow was deeply furrowed in obvious resentment at the interruption. “Go on, Miss Seng.”

  “On January eighth, the ASPCA conducted a raid of Mr. Clifton’s premises and took custody of several female pit bulls, fifteen puppies, and three adult males. All the dogs were thin, some almost skeletal, and as you see from the photos, their cages were filthy. Only one cage had a filled water dispenser. All the food bowls were empty. This is clearly a case of neglect, verging on cruelty. The following witnesses are present and prepared to testify today—Mr. Gunderson of the ASPCA and his assistant Allison Ware, Ms. Dory Clarkson, an investigator from the sheriff’s office, and Mr. Ray Fenton, who alerted the authorities to the matter. In addition, we have a veterinarian, Dr. Sheldon Weil, here as an expert witness.”

  “Very good, Miss Seng. You may call your first witness,” the judge said.

  “I call Mr. Lawrence Gunderson, Director of the Nashville ASPCA Office.”

  Gunderson
came up, was sworn in and took his seat in the box next to the judge.

  “Mr. Gunderson, how long have you worked for the Nashville ASPCA?” Marina asked.

  “Twenty-three years.”

  “Do you consider yourself an expert on telling when an animal is in poor condition?”

  “Certainly.”

  “How would you describe the condition of the dogs on Mr. Clifton’s property?”

  “They were weak from dehydration and lack of food, and one female was close to death.”

  “I understand that you went out to the property at the behest of Sheriff Ben Bradley of Rose County, prior to the actual raid. Is that correct?”

  “Yes, the sheriff’s office had received a tip about neglected dogs on the Clifton property. I sent two officers to the property the day we were notified. Unfortunately, the ASPCA is not able to take possession of any animals without notice to the owner. If we can’t find the owner, we have to wait three days. In this case we couldn’t locate him.”

  “When were the photos taken that I presented to the judge?”

  “We took those the day of the raid, January eighth.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Gunderson.”

  “Are there any questions from the defense?” Judge Sower asked.

  “No, sir,” the defense attorney said, after a brief consultation with Clifton.

  “Very well. You may call your next witness, Miss Seng.”

  “The court calls Mr. Ray Fenton,” Miss Seng said, and Ray shuffled forward, looking pale. He glanced quickly at the defendant and then away.

  After Ray was sworn in and took his seat, Miss Seng asked, “I understand you had been working for Mr. Clifton part time as an animal care assistant. Is that right?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Ray said.