Jenny scratched her head. "Oh I don't know. Maybe the last time I talked to dogs, they were all about the food. I think they told me I was beautiful too. Of course that may be the new dogs you brought back with you. Do we have shot records for them or am I supposed to research that too?"
Mary Catherine ignored Jenny's ill humor the way she always did. "I'll find someone to check it out. But I'm assuming, since the three new dogs were headed for the gas chamber, that they don't have shot records. In order to get them adopted, we'll have to vaccinate them." "
I think we should wait a few weeks to make sure none of them have rabies too." Jenny glanced at the quarantine room where the three new dogs were located. "I'm surprised they aren't barking. If you locked me in a room, I'd bark."
Danny snickered. "Come on, Bubba. It must be time for us to go. I'm beginning to think about locking people in rooms by themselves."
"You always think everything is so funny," Jenny fumed. "If you were a dog, you'd be a hyena." "
I don't think that's a perro," Danny said. "But don't mind me. I'm just the taxi driver."
"Thanks for letting me use Bubba as a lab rat," Mary Catherine said. "The dogs aren't barking because they know they're safe. They'll be fine."
"What about Bruno?" Jenny asked around the St. Bernard's deep-throated bark.
"He's barking for a whole other reason," Mary Catherine said. "We have to find someone to adopt him."
"You're never going to find someone who wants that big monster." Jenny took off her lab coat. "I'm going home now. Please tell Baylor I hope he feels better."
"I will. I'm feeling better too, if that interests you at all."
Jenny waved as she led Candy out the door.
"Apparently, it wasn't all that interesting." Mary Catherine picked up the clinic's mail-mostly bills-and started upstairs. Her cell phone rang. It was Detective Angellus. He told her that Colin's emergency had been a package delivery from UPS.
"Is that all?" she asked. "Did you at least have the package checked out?"
"The officers I sent over scared the poor driver so bad that he had to be rushed to the emergency room with an asthma attack. Will that do it? Or would you like me to go question him in the hospital?"
"No need to get nasty about it. I was just concerned for Colin"
"I think your friend is taking advantage of you." He reminded her about his hermit crab. She told him she'd be right over, closed her cell phone, then realized she didn't have her car and Danny had just left.
She didn't want to bother him again that day; he'd already made several trips to the airport. She decided to call another taxi company for a ride, but her cell phone was getting poor reception. She walked outside to get a better signal and found Charlie standing outside her door, his Suburban parked at the curb. "What are you doing here?"
"I thought I'd offer you a ride somewhere in case you need to go out."
It was very annoying, this habit of his turning up right when she needed him. She supposed it would be a good trait in someone she trusted. But in Charlie, where she was trying hard to stay objective in case he wasn't all that he seemed, it was difficult.
Was he somehow tuned into her frequency? She was psychic and had known many other people who were as well. It wasn't too far a stretch for her to imagine the possibilities. Part of that was where her problem lay. "No, thanks. I'm going to call a taxi."
"Why? I'm right here. I'll take you where you want to go"
She glared at him, wishing he'd go away. It was better when she could question his motives, like being there when her car wouldn't start. That was a physical thing. But she was beginning to feel he was going to be there when she needed him, like last night with Baylor. There were heavenly guardian angels, and then there was Charlie. "I'd rather call a taxi."
"What is there about me that you don't like?" He continued to badger her. "I don't think it has anything to do with my calling Elmore when I found Colin."
"You're right," she admitted. "Now go away. I'm trying to call a ride."
Charlie put his hand on her cell phone, grasping her hand beneath it. "I'm very attracted to you, Mary Catherine. I would've thought that was obvious."
"Of course you are. It's been a curse all of my life. I think it has something to do with talking to animals."
He stared at her for a long minute, then burst out laughing. "Are you telling me I like you because you can talk to dogs?"
"No. Not exactly. I think it has to do with being psychic. People who don't use their gifts are attracted to people who do. You seem to use your psychic abilities somewhat. I'm sure you know what I mean. Women are probably attracted to you as well. That's why you find it hard to believe I could reject you."
"Is that what this is?"
She nodded, averting her eyes, trembling. It was a terrible thing to want someone and turn him down. When she was younger, she'd never tried. If someone she found attractive found her attractive as well, she gave in. But the loss of her last husband was devastating. She didn't know if she could go through that again.
"Okay. If that's the way you want it." Charlie shrugged. "I can do that too. That doesn't mean I don't want to help with your investigation and that I can't drive you where you need to go."
She took a deep breath that included a whiff of his spicy aftershave. She wasn't strong enough to completely cut him out of her life. She realized it could be the mutual attraction due to the psychic bond they were developing. "All right. Just friends." She turned her hand in his and gave it a hearty shake.
He solemnly shook back. "Just friends." He released her hand. "So where to?"
"I have a date with a hermit crab."
Charlie opened the truck door. "Is there a hermit crab with answers about what's happening to Colin?"
"Not exactly. I'll fill you in on the way."
They got out at Detective Angellus' modest brick home a little after six PM. Two cars were in the drive. Mary Catherine knew Angellus was home too. He opened the door when he saw them pull up and glanced at his watch. "I was wondering if you were going to show."
"I was in an accident today," she told him. "There are a few too many of those in my life right now."
A fragile blond woman appeared at his side. "I hope it wasn't anything serious?"
"Not so you could tell, but I think I'm bruised all over." Mary Catherine put out her hand and introduced herself.
"I'm Sallie Angellus. You know, you could've come over some other time if you were in pain."
"That's all right." Mary Catherine smiled as she walked into the house. "I'll be fine. I'm just a little stiff. I hope you have some sweet tea. I'm dying for a glass of tea."
Charlie introduced himself to Sallie. Detective Angellus shook his hand warily. "Are you traveling with the psychic circus now, Dowd?"
Sallie nudged him with her elbow. "John!" She turned to Charlie and Mary Catherine. "Don't mind him. His mother told me he never believed in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny when he was a kid. He doesn't believe in anything now either."
Angellus looked uncomfortable. "Honey, maybe we shouldn't say things like that to these people we hardly know." "
I don't know what difference that makes," Sallie retorted. "I'm sure they could tell from meeting you what kind of person you are"
Mary Catherine smiled, but didn't get involved. There was a little Yorkie who wagged his tail and pushed his head up under her hand. He was telling her more about this family than most people would know in a lifetime. His thoughts were so fast she couldn't keep up with them. But everything he said was something nice about the man and woman he lived with. He had a good life and the people were kind to him.
"I'm sorry." Sallie shook her head. She was barely five feet tall, with delicate proportions. The cloud of silver-blond hair made her blue eyes startling and almost seemed too heavy to hold up on her thin neck. "I didn't mean to drag you into this argument. You might as well know, if you don't already, that John is a skeptic. I'm sure it makes him a gr
eat cop, but it makes it hard for me since I was raised to believe in things we couldn't see."
"You're from near Charleston, aren't you?"
Sallie, Charlie, and Angellus all stared at Mary Catherine. Sallie recovered first. "Yes. How did you know?" She glanced at her husband.
"Moose told me" Mary Catherine scratched the Yorkie's head again. "He likes living here with you. He told me you took him to visit some people by a place that sounded like Charleston to me. I probably wouldn't have known, but I was down there staying with some friends who own a very nice bed and breakfast."
Sallie was astounded. "I can't believe it." She tugged at Angellus' coat. "See? I told you she was real. How else would she know we named him Moose, or where my parents live?"
Angellus bent down to look at the dog's collar. "His name is on his collar, Sallie. I'm sure she could have read it."
"How about the connection to my family?" his wife demanded.
The detective didn't have an answer for that. "The hermit crab is this way."
"I'm so sorry." Sallie glared at her husband. "Let me get you some sweet tea. I have some shortbread cookies too."
"Thank you, dear." Mary Catherine followed Angellus to the sun porch in the back of the house. "I'm used to skepticism. It takes some people a while to believe."
While Sallie was gone, Angellus turned to Charlie. "You investigated my wife, didn't you, Dowd? I don't appreciate scams in my own house."
Charlie smiled. "I didn't do anything. This is all Mary Catherine. You might not want to believe it. I didn't. But I think she really talks to animals."
Angellus glared at Mary Catherine. "I was beginning to trust you. As long as you're hanging around with this jerk, no one will take you seriously."
Charlie pushed up against him. "Now I take offense to that, Detective."
Mary Catherine slid her ample form between the two men, who looked like pit bulls getting ready to spar. Only pit bulls would've been easier to reason with. "Excuse me. I'm sure neither one of you really want to do this. Let's talk to the crab and drink some tea. I know you can both act like gentlemen for a few minutes."
The two men glared a few minutes longer, but finally separated. Charlie sat down on a red-flowered wicker sofa and Angellus showed Mary Catherine where the hermit crab lived. "She calls him Bo-Bo. It's after some clown she remembers from when she was a kid. Don't bother trying to impress me"
Angellus took a moment to give Charlie a hard stare, as though he could make him disappear by looking at him.
"Believe me; I have no reason to bother impressing you. You may not believe, but there are millions who do," Mary Catherine said.
She turned her back on him and focused on the little crab, whom she could barely make out in the shell. His habitat was a large aquarium filled with sand, rocks, a water puddle, and a few extra shells. It seemed nice and spacious for him.
Because he was still a wild creature, his thoughts were unclear. Being a crustacean, he was even more difficult than a mammal would have been. There was no ego like the poodle, but Bo-Bo had a hard time forming thoughts she could comprehend. Unlike the Yorkie who was sitting patiently by her feet, there were no thoughts of the people who lived with him being kind or good. It was more like disjointed memories of his life, first at the pet store, then at the Angellus home.
Sallie brought in tea and cookies. Mary Catherine thanked her and took a few sips before focusing on the crab again. Angellus paced the room impatiently, refusing tea or cookies. Sallie stood and watched Mary Catherine. Charlie helped himself to cookies and tea, not bothering to hide his amusement with the situation.
"How much longer?" Angellus demanded.
"Shh! It takes as long as it takes." Mary Catherine bit into a shortbread cookie. "These are excellent, Sallie! You have to give me the recipe."
"I'll be glad to. It's been handed down for four generations in my family."
"Oh, for God's sake-" Angellus picked up a glass of sweet tea and sat down in one of the red-flowered wicker chairs to wait.
Two hours later, they were all still waiting. Sallie had scooted a chair close to the aquarium so Mary Catherine could sit down. Angellus had gone into another room to make a phone call. Charlie was asleep, his head thrown back, mouth open slightly, faint snoring noises coming from his throat.
Mary Catherine was beginning to understand the way the crab thought. It was random, almost making no sense at all, but there were certain images that kept repeating. Like deciphering some ancient text, she began putting those repeat images together to form a sort of pattern she felt sure would provide the answers she was looking for.
This wasn't the first time she'd tried to communicate with a creature even less easy to understand than the pelican trapped in the mesh. At least in that case, she could see what was wrong and what needed to be done to help the poor animal.
When she'd lived in Los Angeles with her second late husband, George Wilson, she'd run into the same thing with a snake. A friend of theirs had bought the ten-foot boa constrictor as a joke, parading the creature for his friends and allowing them to throw things into the snake's habitat. In that case, the snake just wanted to be left alone to finish a meal in peace, since it took him several days to digest what was given him. Mary Catherine persuaded their friend to donate the snake to the zoo. After that, he was fine.
"I think I understand some of the problem," she finally told Sallie.
Angellus had come back in the room a moment before. "Thank goodness! Please tell us why the crab won't come out of his shell."
Sallie frowned at him, giving him the look all wives know how to give. When she turned back to Mary Catherine, she smiled. "Thank you so much for taking the time to do this."
"You're very welcome. I hope it makes a difference."
Angellus deliberately slammed the door into the sun room and opened it up again. Charlie shot straight up on the sofa, blinking his eyes and wondering what was going on. "I didn't want you to miss the big moment, Dowd. Then you can get out of here."
"You're such a sweetheart, Angellus." Charlie straightened his shirt and ran his fingers through his hair.
Mary Catherine ignored them. "I think Bo-Bo's problem, which by the way, Detective Angellus, the crab is unaware that you've named him, so thank you for telling me his name. It didn't matter to him, but it was nice to have. Anyway, I think his problem is that his shell is too big for him."
"And how did you glean that tidbit of information?" Angellus hovered over the aquarium.
"It seems hermit crabs have a habit of grabbing the biggest shell they can find on the beach in case they can't find another shell for a while. Bo-Bo grabbed this shell, but it's far too heavy for his little body. Now normally he would've used the water coming in from the tide to get himself out. In this case, the only water is over there and he can't reach it. That's really all he needs. Then he can pick up a smaller shell. I'd advise not putting in shells that are too big for him."
"That's amazing!" Sallie said. "Thank you, Mary Catherine."
Angellus was still skeptical. "Let's just see about that, shall we?" He picked up the shell that held the crab and dropped it into the little pool of water. "Come out, Bo-Bo."
"John! You are the rudest man I've ever met!" Sallie reached for the little crab, but Mary Catherine stopped her.
"Wait! You see? Here he comes now."
The crab was slowly emerging from the shell, using the water to free himself. He finally pushed completely out, then scuttled out of the water to pick out another shell.
"Well, I'll be damned!" Angellus stared at the crab.
Charlie laughed. "No doubt."
"Look!" Sallie pointed. "He's better now."
Mary Catherine nodded. "He should be fine. You might want to consider a little more water in his environment. And the smaller shells, of course."
"Thank you so much," Sallie gushed, glancing significantly at her husband, who cleared his throat and thanked her as well.
"I was glad to
do it. It's my gift, really the only one I was given. Helping animals is my life." Mary Catherine stood up and asked for the powder room. Sallie showed her the way, leaving Angellus and Charlie alone in the sun room.
"You believe she talks to animals?" Angellus stared at Charlie.
Charlie shrugged. "I've seen some wild things since I met her. She's doing something. I don't know how she does it, but it seems to work."
"What about you, man? What happened to you?"
"I don't know. I got tired of it." Charlie stood up. "You will too someday. I just wasn't worried enough about the pension and the gold watch to stay there. If that makes me crazy, I guess I'm crazy."
"They say you could find things you shouldn't have been able to find. Some people think you planted them."
"I can't explain that either and I don't care what they think." Charlie turned toward the door that led out of the sun room. "Nice talking to you, Angellus."
"Stay out of my case, Dowd, and keep her out of it too. I'd hate to see you lose your PI license."
Charlie didn't turn back or answer him. Mary Catherine and Sallie came out of the back of the house and met him in the hall. "Are you ready to go now?"
"Please come back anytime," Sallie urged. "It was wonderful meeting you. I love your talk show."
"Thank you, dear." Mary Catherine hugged her. "Don't worry. Angellus is a good man. He'll catch on in time. It's so difficult when one doesn't believe as a child."
Sallie laughed. "Don't worry. I'm not giving up on him just yet."
Mary Catherine walked out the front door into the damp heat that seemed stifling after the cool of the air conditioning. Charlie opened the truck door for her as her cell phone rang.
It was Jenny. "I hope you're on your way back. I think I've found out why all the dogs liked Meaty Boy best."
The Telltale Turtle (The Pet Psychic Mysteries) Page 12