He made it sound like a reasonable request, but so far this man was guilty of calling the police to report a false crime that turned out to be true, trying to shut his competition out of winning shows, sabotaging his suppliers and who knew what else. I wasn’t sure that I’d be the best character reference for him.
Perhaps he could sense my hesitation or perhaps he had just decided to make a clean breast of everything, because he continued. “You know, I’m the one who offered the police the cash so that they could hire you.”
I looked at him. “What? Why would you do that?”
And just as easily as I read a dog’s face, I could see on his face how he felt about me. Wayne felt a mix of pity and derision. He felt sorry for me in that I didn’t take care of myself or my clothes. He saw me as a joke.
The realization hurt. I’d thought that I was hiding by doing my best to stay under the radar, but apparently I’d just managed to get the wrong kind of attention. I was noticed for the very things that I did, thinking that I was not visible.
“I donated the money to the police to bring you into the case. Don’t worry, I’m not going to ask for it back.”
I felt my cheeks flush with anger. He’d insulted me and thought I was only interested in the monetary side of the situation. “You do realize that the last two times I was involved in a case like this that I solved them?”
He shrugged. “So you say. The police were less enthusiastic about a man who talks to animals.”
“You still haven’t told me why though. What do you hope to gain from this?”
“Mr. Fitzpatrick, you’re a distraction just like my call to the police about the barn. You should understand that. It’s the same thing that magicians do. It’s all misdirection. I’ve seen you in action today. You’re asking questions, making connections and then you’re going to tell the police about the dogs and about the Pekes. Except you’re going to tell them that a dog told you.”
“So what’s your aim with the misdirection?” I asked, still feeling pissed at the man.
“The Pekes, of course. I want them for myself, so that my competition can’t get them. Shut down the barn. Adopt out the dogs. Snag the Peke sir and dam.”
“So you just brought me in to mask your intentions?”
He shrugged. One of the Pekes was barking in the house, and he turned his head to look at it. “Pretty much. If you’re doing your act in front of the crowd, no one’s going to notice when I take the dogs in. I’ll just look like a humanitarian for the poor things.”He smiled. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go check on the dogs. I know that none of this will become public. How can you possibly say that my dogs said that you’re a fraud? They may be right, but I doubt you’ll make that announcement.”
Chapter 4
I drove back to my place in silence. Damn, my own game had checked me. I knew who had hired me and why, but I couldn’t share that information. I could imagine the look on Green’s face when she heard that someone had hired me to be the sideshow for this murder. I was the distraction so that others could carry out what they wanted. Just as this case had too many dogs, it also had too many people involved in it. I liked it better when one person was responsible for the problems, not an entire group, some of whom even liked Fred Zook.
I’d totally expected Zook to be roundly despised for his profession, but I was finding people who’d done business with him on a regular basis and now wanted to buy his stock. This was not the man that I had built up in my mind. So often we get preconceptions about a person based on a single characteristic, but as I got to know the man, he’d done bad things with good results. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
I came home to find that the little Corgi girl had attacked a roll of toilet paper and made confetti of it. I took my time cleaning up, trying to encourage her to stay away from it with little success.
The list of names of Zook’s clients still rested on top of the computer, far from the teeth of little puppies. It was too late to start more calling tonight, so I grabbed the police folder from my sister’s disappearance and went upstairs to read in bed.
I made it through another seven pages before nodding off. My dreams were troubling, thinking of Susan again. I hadn’t dreamed of her in years, but tonight she came to me in my dreams as vividly as the day she’d disappeared. I woke up with a profound sense of loss.
The feeling persisted as I got ready that morning. It showed in my choice of clothing, a pair of irregular jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt that I’d found at a thrift store. It had a photo of dogs on the chest, which had first attracted me to the shirt. I felt more like the old Griff as I looked in the mirror and not doing much with my hair. I was comfortable in hiding behind my slovenliness.
The phone rang before I could leave the house. I answered and Detective Green was on the other end of the phone. “I found out some things about the missing person,” she said without wasting time on chit-chat.
My first reaction was to think of Susan, but I realized quickly that she was talking about the body under the crates in the barn. “Got a name or address?” I asked hopefully, though I knew she wouldn’t be calling me if they had found the information. The police department would have cancelled my contract without comment if that had happened. I was in a race to get paid at this point, and Green knew that I wanted the money.
“Don’t be funny,” she said without emotion. I wondered how she could kiss me one day and then barely register on the emotional scale the next time we talked. Maybe that was part of her training as an officer, but it unnerved me. I didn’t know how she would be the next time I saw her.
“So what did you find out?”
“The vic was a woman, age 35, been dead about seven months.” She read me a few more details that I pushed out of my head. The whole discussion of tissue decomposition in sludge was more than I wanted to hear.
“What about clothes?” I asked her, thinking about the shoe I’d seen fished from the sludge. “Can they tell anything from the shoes or anything else?”
“No. This country has become one big chain store. The pink gym shoes were from Foot Locker, but they’re sold in practically every county in Ohio and every state in the US. Size 6, women’s shoes, which are ridiculously common. You’re not going to get anywhere with that line of questioning. You’re having to work your butt off for this one, aren’t you?”
Since she seemed to be enjoying this, I let her comments go. So all I knew now was that it was a woman. That wasn’t a spectacular amount of help in finding out anything more than I knew.
In turn, I shared with her the information that I’d learned from Anthony Wayne. He’d made the call to the police under false pretenses that just happened to be true, and he was systematically buying up all of the dogs from Zook’s farm. Green was impressed with my work, even if she didn’t come out and say it.
“I’m going to call some more people and try to find out more about his puppy mill. The motive for the murder had to be in that place. I know it.”
It did make me wonder about any possible romantic ties for Zook. He’d been single and traveled out of town. That sounded like someone who might date as well. Were all of his exes accounted for? It would bear questioning, if I thought of someone who would have any answers.
“You’re not talking much,” Green said. “Something the matter?”
I told her about my line of questioning yesterday and then told her about my thoughts on Zook dating.
“You can definitely ask questions about the dating. I would think that’s a good line of questioning. Husbands, wives and love interests are always at the top of the list for police to question. Makes you wonder why I’m even wanting to date, doesn’t it?”
“I can see where it would make you cynical.” I told her that I’d read another 11 pages of the file on my sister. She asked me probing questions, but I honestly had no idea where she was trying to lead me with her questions. Did she have a particular person in mind for the crime that I was missing? Or
did she just want to provoke me to think about my own behaviors based on what I’d thought had happened. I knew better than to ask her to explain it. She wanted me to see it for myself.
I did tell her that Siever had been the one to tell my mother about the file. She seemed genuinely surprised by that revelation. “I’d heard that he’d never let that case go. I’m wondering if someone down in records let him know that I’d requested it. The rest of the information to your mother would have been guesswork, but it would make sense that I’d shared some of what I’d learned from that file with you. He could easily find out from the newspapers that we’d been involved in the same murder cases. He’d just need to put two and two together, and he’s good enough to do that and then some.”
“But why? What’s it to him after all these years?”
She laughed, but it didn’t sound happy. “I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but some people have trouble letting go of the past. Cops get that way too. They get a case that they don’t solve, and it sticks with them. I’ve known cops who’ve retired and taken a box of unsolved cases with them on their last day. They want to keep digging until they die or it’s solved. Siever might be that way.”
“I remember him from the investigation, but I didn’t know that he still even talked to my mother.” I recalled the men who seemed to just hang around the house, waiting for something to happen. We’d spent hours like that with the police and then years waiting as a family.
“How do you know that he does now?” she asked. “Tap her phone? Did you go NSA on her?” Her voice was more light and playful than I’d ever heard it. I had a hard time not joining her in some banter.
I hadn’t told her of my exploits in finding out the source of the information. I told her now how I’d hacked my mother’s phone to read her call list.
“Good thinking,” she said. I had expected either laughter or derision, not a compliment. “I doubt that your mother would have told you anyway. It was best to go for the low interaction approach. It’s hard to argue with hard evidence like a phone log, though you’d be surprised how many people will try to argue it.”
I had to wonder what Green knew about my mother. Had she read the file and made her own opinions of the people in the case. I wonder what she’d thought of my family post-disappearance, what conclusions she’d jumped to about them – about me.
She made some small talk for a few minutes and hung up before I could ask anything else. I was left with my own thoughts.
I decided to go back to the puppy mill case and take my mind off my sister’s disappearance. Now that I knew who was adopting all of the rescue animals, I could let Allison know that they would be safe and well cared for with Wayne.
I called the offices of Saved by the Bell. “Allison Graybill, how may I help you?”
I hadn’t known Allison’s full name before, but it suited her. “Allison, this is Griff Fitzpatrick. How are you doing with the number of rescues?”
“We’re full up at the moment, but the response has been terrific. We’ve had a real outpouring of donations. You wouldn’t believe it.”
“So are you still stalling the buyer?” I asked.
“Yeah, we’re trying to find out more about him. Do you have any thoughts? Any of those dogs spoken to you about it?”
“Actually, yes. I met the guy. His name is Anthony Wayne, and he has a large farm outside of town. I spoke with his Pekingese there, and all seven of them are quite happy with the place.”
“Is that so?” She sounded skeptical, but I didn’t care. I’d done my part to place the dogs.
“I have to go. More pets to talk to.” I ended the phone call. My next task was going to involve a car trip.
Just as with the information for my mother, I felt better if I asked about Zook’s involvements from someone else other than Zook. I was going to ask him about the secretary and the message, but for affairs of the heart, I’d try elsewhere.
Since I only knew one other person in town besides the police, I decided to go with the Afghan Hound lady. She’d been helpful before, and I thought that perhaps I could learn more about the puppy mill from her and her knowledge of it.
All of this meant another trip out to Green Springs. I set up some food, water and a thick layering of puppy pads before heading out. The little Corgi girl looked bereft at my departure. Bruno and The Countess were used to the vagaries of my schedule.
I was there in an hour and opted to start with the Andriot place. I found someone in town who gave me a set of directions that mostly involved turning left at a landmark and right at another. I got lost twice before I found the house. For all the trouble, no one was home. I could hear the yip of the little dogs and the louder sounds of the big dogs. The house was recently renovated. It had the markings of a place that had just been completed. The wear and tear of rain, snow and heat had not been left on the brick façade of the home. If only people could be so easily renovated, I thought. I still carried the scars of my life around, visible to most people, especially if they knew my back story.
With no idea if Jill Andriot would be home soon, I decided to head to see Zook. This time I didn’t need to ask directions or turn at the corner with the broken telephone pole. I knew the way to his home. There were no trash cans at the curb today, but I still found the place without effort and pulled down the long driveway to his farm. It was a sharp contrast to the Andriot place which was so fixed up. I doubted that Zook had touched this driveway since his parents had passed away ten years ago.
I didn’t have to look far to find him. He was outside the house, stuffing a flowered suitcase into the car.
“Can’t talk,” he said. “I have to catch a plane.” He continued to push at the suitcase, which seemed stuck on something.
I walked up to the car. The wheel on the flowered bag was stuck on a mat, and I flicked it off. The luggage slid onto the floor of the backseat.
“Why such a rush?” I asked, wondering what Green would do in a situation like this. She had the power of the badge with her. I was just trying to find out information with no authority. Still I thought that it couldn’t hurt to gain some trust while I was trying to pump him for information.
“Plane to catch. Need to get to the airport soon.” He walked back into the house. He didn’t tell me not to, so I walked along with him.
“Toledo or Cleveland?” I asked, looking at the disarray in the kitchen. It looked like a tornado had blown through it. Drawers were pulled out, things thrown about. Either someone had robbed this house or he didn’t care what the place looked like on his departure. I wasn’t sure which was more plausible.
“Cleveland,” he replied. It made sense. If he planned on leaving without coming back, the Cleveland police wouldn’t be looking for him, since Toledo was the closer city.
“Where to?” I asked, seeing how far I could push it.
He just laughed.
“What I wanted to ask you about was your trip last March,” I stated, hoping to throw him off-guard a bit.
“Last March? What about it?” He looked a bit puzzled as if he couldn’t remember or didn’t want to.
“I was talking to Anthony Wayne,” I said.
He put down the bag. “What the hell would you do that for?”
“He was your biggest dog buyer. I wanted to see if he was fighting them or killing them. This is a murder investigation, you know.” I tried to sound like Green, though I doubted that I was anywhere near as intimidating as she could be.
He laughed. “He makes a killing, but not like that. He shows Pekes, then he breeds them and sells the pups for five times what I sell them for. He’s the last person in the world who would want to see me shut down for good.”
“Then who would like to see you shut down?” I asked, noting that he’d moved us away from last March.
“The animal rights people, the people who didn’t like their dogs after they got them, a few ex-girlfriends.” He smirked as he said the last one as if this was a badge of honor. To me,
being the awkward soul that I was, I had no idea how to deal with an ex-girlfriend. So a relationship that would involve murder and someone you used to date didn’t seem all that appealing.
“Were there animal rights people here?” I asked, trying to keep this going. He was busy throwing possessions of all kinds in the bag he was holding. I tried to pretend that I didn’t notice what was going on.
“Yeah, some girl came out, wanted to buy a dog, and then gave me a lecture on puppy mills after she saw the barn.” He threw some clothes in on top of the other items and shut the bag.
“Do you remember her name?” I asked, thinking that a confrontation with an animal activist could lead to an altercation.
He shrugged. “Not at all. It was in June, if that means anything to you. She wanted to buy a Sealyham. She was forgettable though.”
I nodded. He didn’t know I had his records. He’d seen them hauled off to the trash and hadn’t seen my retrieval. “So March? You on vacation?” I tried to bring him back to the topic at hand.
“Yeah, what about it? I went to Maui for a few days. The weather here was crappy, and I wanted to get away.”
“Did you go alone?” I was amazed at the speed he was collecting his life’s belongings and moving them out of the house.
“No, took my girlfriend. What’s this to you?”
“Wayne said that he called while you were gone, and a secretary took a message for you. That would put a woman out here around the time that someone put a woman in that sludge.”
He stood and stared at me for a minute. He started to say something and then changed his mind. “Must have been a wrong number,” he said finally.
“Wayne said that you called him back when you got home and said you’d gotten the message.” I had him trapped at this point, and he knew it.
I heard a sound behind me. I spun around to look, and the next thing that I knew I was falling to the floor, my world closing in on darkness.
Puppy Mills, Puppy Kills (Animal Instincts Book 3) Page 6