4 Yip/Tuck

by Sparkle Abbey

  I faced Malone, happy to concentrate on someone alive. He’d arrived in his detective uniform—jeans, T-shirt, and leather jacket. It was very similar to my usual dress, the main difference being I wore mostly dog-inspired graphic tees. Today my T-shirt read, “You had me at woof.”

  My eyes narrowed on Malone. “As I said on the phone, Darby and I found him like this. Well, sort of. He was sitting on the bench, looking like a bum, but then Fluffy, you remember Fluffy, well she took it upon herself to sniff, uh . . . him, and then he tumbled off the bench and whacked his head on the cement.”

  “Did you touch him?” Malone gave me his signature stone-faced cop look. Having recently been on the receiving end of that look more times than one could count, I was immune.

  “I checked for a pulse. But that’s it. As you’re aware, I’m not a fan of dead people.” I glanced over my shoulder at Dr. O’Doggle, his crumpled body still in a heap in front of the bench.

  “Yet somehow you continue to find them.”

  “Yeah, well, there are just some things a girl can’t control. Apparently, for me, it’s dead bodies. I have to be good at something.”

  “Detective Malone,” a female crime scene tech called out.

  “Don’t leave,” Malone ordered.

  I rolled my eyes. “Where would I go?”

  The tech gently rolled Doc over then pointed toward his back. Malone blinked, leaning in for a closer look. I wanted to see, too. Was it the green leash they were looking at? They didn’t need to move him to see that.

  I stood on my tiptoes and swayed side-to-side, angling for a better view. I didn’t see anything odd or unusual, but something had piqued the police’s interest, which in turn piqued my curiosity.

  Malone mumbled something under his breath only the tech could hear. She nodded. A couple of uniformed officers asked me to step back as they taped off the area around Dr. O, which happened to include the front door to Bow Wow.

  “Uh, you can’t do that. My customers won’t be able to get into my store.” Once word got out about Jack, I’d have plenty of foot traffic. Not a whole lot of purchasing, but a ton of gossiping. That’s just how it worked here.

  “Mel, you know the drill. This is a potential crime scene,” Officer Salinas ground out.

  “Thanks for the reminder.” This wasn’t my first two-step with Salinas. He hadn’t been receptive to my Texas charms the last time I’d wanted to enter a crime scene, either. All I’d wanted then was to go inside Fluffy’s owner’s home and retrieve Fluffy’s hairbrush and a towel. You’d think I’d threatened to take Salinas’ cop car on a joy ride through our little oceanside town.

  I have to commend myself, though. I was handling this situation much better than the last one. I only felt like throwing up. The lack of blood on Doc’s body made a huge difference.

  I checked my watch, just after ten. Customers would start trickling in soon. I didn’t want to sound insensitive, but I needed to know if a schedule shuffle was in order.

  “Salinas, how long do you think you’ll be?”

  “Longer if you keep talking to me.” He continued to stretch bright yellow police tape across Bow Wow’s front door. Dang, this was bad for business. Bad, bad, bad.

  Darby popped out of her studio and made her way toward me. She’d found a black-felt pea coat to ward off the chill. I noticed she avoided Malone. “What’d I miss?” she asked.

  “Nothing. Malone doesn’t want us to leave. He has questions.”

  “I don’t like his questions.” Darby had every reason to be wary. It wasn’t that long ago when she and Malone were at odds. He thought she’d killed Mona Michael, Fluffy’s original owner. You couldn’t blame him. The evidence at the time pointed in Darby’s direction. It certainly didn’t help that she’d kept a major secret from all of us.

  Malone noticed Darby standing next to me. He finished his conversation and then made his way back to where we waited.

  “Ms. Beckett.” His mouth split into what I’m sure he thought was a smile. Man, it needed a lot of work.

  “Detective Malone.” Her voice cracked. Nerves.

  I winked at her in an effort to boost her confidence. Darby wrung her hands then caught herself and tucked them in her jean pockets.

  “When the two of you arrived, was anyone hanging around?” he asked.

  “Not really,” I said.

  Darby cleared her throat. “Mr. Forester across the street arrived at his shop about the same time we did. But that’s all. This place doesn’t usually get busy until eleven.”

  “No customers, delivery trucks, pedestrians?”

  I shrugged. “I wasn’t really paying attention. I was thinking about what I had to do today.”

  “He was here to see you specifically?” he asked.

  I wanted to look offended, but I couldn’t pull it off. “I suppose. I overheard an argument between him and Tova last night when he called her. He planned to pick up a gift for Kiki during the private party I threw last night for a new designer. But something came up, and he never showed.”

  “Did he say why he wasn’t coming?”

  I shook my head. “I never talked to him. Just Tova.”

  He narrowed his eyes and asked, “Are you sure she was talking to him on the phone, not to someone else?”

  “Well, not one hundred percent. But I did see her caller ID, and it said Jack, so I assumed that’s who she was talking to.”

  “Did she mention how he sounded?”

  “Tova usually only talks about herself,” I explained.

  He nodded and scribbled mysterious notes in his black notebook. “When did you speak to the doctor last?”

  “Yesterday morning.” When I didn’t elaborate, he motioned with his hand for me to continue. I sighed. “It was nothing. He called in between surgeries and asked me to set aside a pair of dog booties for Kiki. Tova’s dog.”

  “Is that the gift you mentioned earlier?”

  I nodded.

  “And neither of you know why he didn’t show up last night?”

  “I wasn’t at the party,” Darby offered.

  “Ms. Langston didn’t invite you?” he asked evenly.

  Darby threw her shoulders back and mustered her moxie. “I had plans.”

  “How’s Fluffy?”

  Darby blinked rapidly, completely caught off guard. “Fine. We’re fine. Thank you for asking.”

  He nodded. “Ms. Langston, how was Dr. O’Doggle acting the last time you talked to him?”

  I frowned, not sure what he was getting at. “What do you mean?”

  “Happy, sad, scared, depressed?” he rattled off the emotions as if he were reciting his grocery list.

  I shook my head. “I don’t know. We talked over the phone. I don’t know him all that well.”

  “What about Tova?” Mr. Personality asked.

  “She was ticked off. And impatient.” Boy, was I familiar with the latter.

  “Do you know how he died?” Darby asked the one question on both our minds.

  He slapped his notebook closed and tucked it into his inner jacket pocket. He gave us the don’t-ask-questions look. “Too early to know for sure.”

  What he was really saying was it’s none of our business. But it was, as long as Dr. O’Doggle lay dead in front of Bow Wow.

  “I know you and your crew have a lot to do. Should I take the day off, or will I be able to open for business today?” I motioned to the activity behind us.

  “I’m sure you can find something to do for a couple of hours.”

  Well, there was something I needed to do. An important something I’d put off for too long. “Do I need to call before I come back?” I asked.

  “You’ll know when we’re finished.”

  Wow. Such a communicator.

  Chapter Five

  I DON’T MEAN to sound uncaring, but finding murder victims has become, well I don’t want to say routine, but it’s not as unusual as it should be for someone who’s not a cop. Missy and I left Darby and
Fluffy at Paw Prints and headed to Glitter, the local jewelry shop. A couple weeks ago I’d once again recovered my brooch from my cousin, Caro. A family heirloom, the pin was a multi-jeweled basket of fruit as ugly as a Texas armadillo and equally tough.

  It belonged to our Grandma Tillie, who’d left it to “her favorite granddaughter.” That was me. Of course, Caro thought it was her. For either of us to just hand it over to the other would be unthinkable. We’re Montgomery women. Montgomery women do not roll over and accept defeat. We Texans handle our differences our own way.

  Caro had been at her trickiest and had used herself as a decoy (she’s a smart lady), convincing her new friend and neighbor, April Mae June, to steal my brooch right out from under my nose. I was more than a little miffed at her ingenious heist.

  I’d plotted, planned, and schemed before finding my pin in Caro’s dresser drawer. I’d been so excited, I’d worn it to Mewsings, a local art show. Mewsings exhibited artwork painted by felines, not humans. Surprisingly, the show had been a huge success. I still didn’t get what all the buzz was about.

  The look on Caro’s face had been priceless when she’d realized I’d stolen the brooch back. Of course, the shocked look on my face was equally priceless when I realized she also wore Grandma Tillie’s pin. My cunning cousin had had a duplicate made.

  I needed to know if I had the real one, so I’d dropped my copy off at Glitter for an appraisal. Grant Trask, the owner, had called a few days ago to let me know I did, indeed, have the original.

  Now it was time to pick it up and take it home, where it was safe from my sneaky cousin.

  “Hey, Gloria. How’s business?”

  She came from behind the counter and greeted me with a handshake, Missy with a loving head rub. Gloria’s apple cheeks were full of warmth. “Good, good. How about you?” her voice quavered.

  I thought about the murder scene in front of Bow Wow. “My life is always interesting. I’m here to pick up the brooch. Is it ready?”

  Gloria didn’t move. Not even a blink. I immediately had a bad feeling. “The brooch?” she squeaked.

  “I brought it in a couple of weeks ago.”

  She ran her hands down the sides of her sweater, smoothing invisible wrinkles. “Yes. Right after the cat art show at the Arman Gallery.”

  I nodded. “I waited to pick it up until I had a hiding place. You know Caro, she can’t be trusted.”

  Gloria nodded slowly as she inched her way back behind the counter. “That Caro. She’s a wily one. I thought Grant had called you.”

  My breath caught. “You don’t have it, do you?”

  Gloria clasped her hands together. “No. I’m sorry Mel. I’m so sorry. Caro came and picked it up yesterday.”

  “But I dropped it off. Why would ya’ll hand it over to her?” I’d worked extremely hard to lose my Texas twang. But it was times like this when it would not be denied.

  For those of you who know the story, I’d pulled a similar shifty tactic on Caro earlier this year. As much as I want to say that I was justified, we all know the only difference is that I came out the winner.

  I hated losing.

  If Grandma Tillie were alive, she’d look me in the eye and tell me not get all “het up” about it. But she wasn’t alive. And I was more than “het up.” I was fixin’ to track down my cousin and yank my brooch out of her iron fist.

  “I’m sorry,” Gloria whispered. “Zane didn’t realize.”

  Zane, the owner’s nephew, was the same young man I had sweet-talked into giving me the brooch.

  Hells bells. Karma stinks.

  Chapter Six

  MALONE AND HIS crew were still gathering evidence when Missy and I returned to Bow Wow. Salinas noticed us right away and explained they needed an additional thirty minutes. I wondered if the police were questioning Tova. She didn’t seem the type to hold up well under police scrutiny.

  Wanting to lick my wounds without an audience, Missy and I meandered into Paw Prints. Darby was setting up for a photo shoot when we arrived.

  I unleashed Missy, who trotted over to the sheepskin rug and joined Fluffy. They greeted each other as all dogs do. I was grateful to be a human, able to just fist-bump anyone I hadn’t seen in an hour.

  “We’re back. Are you free to grab some lunch?” I called out.

  “Sure, let me finish up here. What do you have in mind?”

  “No rush. How about a portabella burger?” I dropped with dramatic flair onto the Victorian couch and watched Darby move a wooden bench, searching for the perfect angle.

  “When do you shoot Caro?” I’d like to shoot my cousin about now.

  “Next week. Why?” Darby asked.

  “She’s got the brooch.”

  Darby stopped fiddling with the fall backdrop and turned in my direction. “But how? It was at the jewelry shop. You just got it back.”

  “Nope.” I propped my feet up on the scuffed coffee table and stared at my boots. “She beat me there. Grant’s nephew returned it to the wrong cousin. Caro stole it right out from under my nose. Again.”

  Only difference? This time Caro hadn’t used her new sticky-finger friend with three names. I wasn’t sure about that little Tinkerbell girl, April Mae June. She appeared sweet and vulnerable, but that gal was sneaky and a thief. Just like Caro.

  “Do you have a plan?” Darby asked.

  “Not yet. While she’s with you, I think I’ll let myself into her place and search for it.”

  Darby bit her lip, holding back what I knew was a smile. “I’m sure you’ll come up with something. You always do.”

  I stood, brushed off my jeans and took a deep breath. “Oh, please. You’re thinking what I’ve already said aloud. Payback stinks. Caro’s a worthy adversary, but in the end, I’m going to win. That’s my brooch.” I pointed to the autumn set-up she was fussing over. “Who’s coming? Anyone I know?”

  “Cheryl and Nemo. I think they’ll make a lovely October, don’t you?” Darby raked some scattered silk leaves into a pile.

  “Do you want help?” I asked.

  Darby held out the plastic rake.

  We worked quickly. Darby had a great eye for creating a realistic nature setting. I couldn’t wait to see what she came up with for Missy and me.

  Cheryl and her pooch arrived right on time. Nemo strained to greet his cohorts, but Cheryl wasn’t ready to let him off his lead. She was a tall lady with warm eyes. She penned a successful cartoon strip starring Nemo. Think Marmaduke but with a super-smart Jack Russell Terrier.

  For the past month, the comic strip story involved Nemo escaping from the backyard and all the elaborate contraptions his owners built to outsmart the little guy. Yet he’d always found a way out. Knowing the athleticism of the breed, I believed the comic was heavily biographical.

  Darby greeted her clients and made quick introductions.

  “I love your comic,” I gushed. “I read it to Missy all the time.”

  “Thank you.” She smiled shyly, pushing a lock of light brown curls off her face. “You own the dog boutique next door right?”

  “That’s right.”

  She shifted her weight. “Did you know the police are in front of your shop?”

  Darby and I exchanged a look. Thank goodness the coroner had already removed the body.

  Word was bound to get out eventually. Time for damage control.

  “Do you know Dr. Jack O’Doggle, the plastic surgeon in Newport?” I asked.

  Nemo paced alongside Cheryl. She pointed her index finger at the floor and told him to sit. He quickly obeyed, tail wagging, waiting for her next command. Instead, she returned her attention to us. “I’ve heard of him.”

  “Darby and I found him dead in front of Bow Wow this morning.”

  She gasped. “Are you both okay? What happened?”

  “A little shaken up, but fine,” Darby reassured her.

  Missy waddled over to see what was going on. She snorted and sniffed Nemo and found him acceptable. Nemo tipped his brown
eyes toward his owner, begging for his freedom.

  “You can let him off his lead anytime you want,” Darby said. “Don’t worry about Fluffy. She keeps to herself, and Missy’s already accepted him into the pack.”

  Cheryl gave Nemo a couple of instructions before turning him loose. Once he was off the leash, he raced around the room excitedly, with Missy bringing up the rear.

  “What happened to the doctor?” Cheryl asked.

  “We’re not sure,” I said.

  “Do the police think he died of natural causes?”

  Darby and I looked at each other again. I shrugged, uncertain of how much to say. “Detective Malone likes to keep his information to himself.”

  The dogs dropped a ball at Cheryl’s feet. She tossed it across the room. They tore off after it. “I have a friend in the plastic surgery business. She said there have been some shady dealings in his office.”

  “Like what?” I asked.

  “Accusations that he was poaching patients from other surgeons, lawsuits. I wonder if the stress got to him, and he had a heart attack.”

  I didn’t think so. I think someone strangled him with a dog lead. That reminded me. I wanted to research something on my office computer.

  I called Missy and excused myself from the photo shoot. We headed for the boutique. Salinas and his crew were gone, but Malone was loitering in front of Bow Wow. Now what?

  Chapter Seven

  I LED MALONE inside. Missy charged for her water bowl and splashed water everywhere under the pretense of drinking. Malone cased the place without turning his head.

  “I see you got the call you could open the shop.”

  “No. I was next door with Darby. Just luck that I was leaving at the same time ya’ll finished. Did you suddenly get a dog, or are you here to ask me more questions?”

  He pulled out a beautiful, pink-diamond tennis bracelet from his pocket. “Do you recognize this?”