The Telltale Turtle (The Pet Psychic Mysteries)

by Jim Lavene;Joyce Lavene

  THIRTEEN

  DANNY WAS ALREADY AT the clinic with Bubba when Charlie and Mary Catherine arrived. "I don't know what happened," he said. "Bubba and I were out for a walk when he started heaving. He wouldn't stop so I brought him back here."

  "Jenny said all the dogs were sick." Mary Catherine tried to see what was going on in the back of the clinic. "It's weird not hearing Bruno barking."

  "So you think that guy from Meaty Boy did something to the dogs?" Charlie asked.

  Danny stared at him like he hadn't noticed him before. He asked Mary Catherine, "What's he doing here?"

  "He took me to talk to the hermit crab. He wants to help with the investigation."

  "I want a million bucks, but you can't always get what you want, you know what I'm talking about? He's a traidor. I don't think he should be here."

  "Look, I'm sorry about that thing with Colin," Charlie started. "I did what I was paid to do"

  Danny pushed him against the wall. "Like you were paid to make our dogs sick?"

  "Don't be silly," Mary Catherine said. "He wasn't even there. Stop acting like an idiot, Danny. That was basically Colin's mistake. I'm not saying I liked Charlie letting Elmore know where Colin was, but I think he means well. Baylor likes him anyway."

  "He's been sneaking around here," Danny argued. "Maybe he sneaked in here and put something in the dogs' food when we weren't looking."

  "Why would I do that?" Charlie demanded. "I could just punch you in the face and get a lot more satisfaction."

  Mary Catherine was trying to separate the two men (this was getting to be an annoying habit) when jenny came out and asked them what was going on. "I can hear you out here over the sounds of six sick dogs. I don't think that says anything about my hearing."

  "How are they?" Mary Catherine asked.

  "I think they'll be okay. I gave them something for indigestion. That's all that's wrong with them. I think it was the food they ate at Meaty Boy today. It was heavily coated with lard and some meat byproducts."

  Danny and Charlie glared at each other one last time before they moved away. "You think that guy at Meaty Boy knew it would make Bubba sick?" Danny punched one fist into the palm of the other hand. "I don't like the way he hangs around MC as it is. But making my perro sick is enough to take him out."

  "That's just it," Jenny told him. "They were trying to make the food irresistible, not make the dogs sick. He cheated. Maybelle was a fool to do it. He had to know it would come right back on him."

  "Let's go find out how stupid he is!" Danny started toward the door.

  "Is that your plan?" Charlie stopped him. "We try to get into Maybelle's place, which is armed like a fortress and has more security than the White House, and punch him?"

  "That's what I've got." Danny snorted. "You got something better?"

  "Maybe. We won't get close enough to Maybelle to do anything to him if we drive up accusing him of making the dogs sick." Charlie turned to Mary Catherine. "Call him. Tell him what happened. Get him to come here, if you can."

  Danny nodded. "Si! That makes sense!"

  Mary Catherine agreed. "I don't think Buck would knowingly make the dogs sick. His image means too much to him. This event was on TV. The bad publicity could really hurt him. He was just desperate to have the dogs like his food."

  "I think we should still tell him we know he cheated and it made the dogs sick," Charlie said. "Give him a call, MC."

  Mary Catherine stared at him, her blue eyes like sapphire daggers. "Danny is the only one who has ever called me something other than my name. Except for my first late husband, Andrew Smith, and that's another matter entirely. You're on probation as it is. Watch it!"

  Charlie laughed, but didn't press the point. Mary Catherine took out her cell phone and called Buck. Her phone performance of being distraught and worried was only slightly magnified from how she really felt.

  In the back of her mind, she kept thinking about Baylor's close call the night before. She knew there was nothing seriously wrong with Bruno and the other dogs, but coming on the heels of everything else that had happened, it was scary.

  After talking to Buck, who panicked and told her he was coming down to the clinic, Mary Catherine closed her cell phone and went into the back of the clinic to talk to Jenny. She found the surly vet poring over some dog food. "I'm sorry I left you alone to figure this out."

  "I'm not on CSI, but it wasn't all that difficult. It's really not a bad solution but it was too heavy. Some dogs might not have had a problem with it. It could be modified to work, making the dog food better without causing the indigestion."

  "You're sure it's not like some dog stomach flu thing, right?" Mary Catherine looked at all the samples and slides on the table.

  "Don't touch anything!" Jenny slapped her hand. "I'm working!"

  Mary Catherine wondered for the hundredth time why she put up with Jenny's rudeness. She reminded herself it had everything to do with finding a vet who'd work for what the clinic could pay. There wasn't much chance of finding a volunteer vet who'd do everything Jenny did. She was grateful to the other woman, but wished she'd change a few of her ways.

  Fred, the toucan, told Mary Catherine he was afraid to eat his food. What if it made him sick like the dogs? He wanted new food that was safe. He babbled on about his cage not being big enough and not having enough water.

  She asked him to quit complaining or please be quiet. She was stressed enough as it was, without him giving her a hard time. She asked him if he'd seen anyone sneaking into the clinic when she or Jenny weren't there.

  Fred told her the only person he'd seen sneaking around was Charlie. He complained about Charlie holding his cell phone up a lot, not talking to him as he walked by.

  Mary Catherine thought she understood the reference to the cell phone. Apparently, Charlie had been taking pictures of the clinic as he had of Colin. Despite his proclamations of innocence, he was still working for her cousin. It was clear to her that he'd do whatever he had to do to make his clients happy.

  Of course she couldn't be sure he was still spying on her or if Fred was talking about the first time Charlie was in the clinic. The toucan didn't have a very good sense of time. It could go either way. But she'd confront Charlie at the first available opportunity. He might be more of a problem than she'd realized. And his heartfelt request to help with the investigation into Ferndelle's death might only be a chance to keep spying on her.

  It was only a few minutes later that Buck was driven to the clinic in his long, white limousine. He wasn't dressed up to his usual Marlboro Man standards. His shirt was half unbuttoned and his hair was messed up. The jeans he was wearing were dirty and wrinkled.

  "Have you called the police yet?" he asked Mary Catherine as he strode into the clinic.

  With all of them in the tiny space, the limited size of the clinic stood out even more. Mary Catherine was aware of the bad paint job and bare floors. She'd spent so much money on the care and feeding of the animals, she'd forgotten about what the place looked like. She had to find some way to raise funds to remodel. That was number 292 on her to-do list for that month.

  "Not yet," she said. "I wanted to talk to you first. My vet thinks the food the dogs ate during the taste test today made them sick." "

  "What? That's ridiculous! I hope you're not thinking I had anything to do with it."

  Danny jumped on him, pushing him against the wall. "That's exactly what we think, idiota! We think you wanted to hurt our dogs."

  I don't have any reason to want to hurt your dogs," Buck argued, not even trying to get away from Danny. "In fact, I have every reason to want your dogs to stay healthy. Imagine the field day the press will have with this! It would ruin me"

  "Maybe that's what needs to happen." Danny grabbed Buck's shirt collar. "I should punch your lights out right now for hurting Bubba."

  Buck appealed to Mary Catherine. "Will you call off this lunatic? I know you know I didn't do this. It wouldn't make any sense. If it happene
d at my factory, something else must be involved. I'll pay for testing."

  "Like we'd trust your testing," Danny said.

  "I think that's a good idea." Jenny pulled off her gloves as she walked out of the lab. "I can only do so much here with the equipment I have to work with. It's all we can do to feed the animals and keep the roof on this old place over our heads every day. I'm sure we can find an independent lab that could help us out with this."

  "Exactly!" Buck smiled at Jenny. "Mary Catherine, you should promote this woman! I like the way she thinks."

  "This isn't exactly a corporation like Meaty Boy," Mary Catherine said.

  Jenny snorted. "Or like anything else that's up and running."

  Mary Catherine started again. "We're a nonprofit organization. We exist on donations and whatever I can spare to keep the place going. There's nowhere to be promoted. Jenny is our only veterinarian."

  "What about him making our dogs sick?" Danny demanded. "We don't trust him too, do we, MC? We can't trust every idiota who walks in off the streets."

  "No we can't," Mary Catherine agreed, tactfully moving Danny away from Buck's throat. "And we don't have to trust him if jenny picks out an independent lab and Buck pays for the testing."

  "Sure! I knew there was something I'd have to do with it." Jenny shook her head. "It's not enough I single-handedly run this place. Now I'm the Yellow Pages." "

  I think it sounds like a plan," Charlie added. "We hold off telling the press about this while Buck pays for the tests. Sounds fair to me."

  "Don't I know you?" Buck walked toward Charlie as he straightened his shirt. "I'm sure I've met you before."

  "Charlie Dowd." He held out his hand. "I installed the security system at your house."

  "That's right! I remember now. Great job! Not even a seagull can get through."

  Mary Catherine smiled, thinking there were too many layers to Charlie. "You could've told us how you knew about the security at Buck's home."

  Charlie shrugged. "What would be the point? Danny already hates me. I can't imagine that makes you trust me any more."

  "It doesn't matter," Mary Catherine lied. "Tomorrow morning we'll find an independent lab that can do this testing for us. Charlie's right. We'll hold off talking to the press until we know what happened."

  "What about the police?" Danny asked. "Whoever did this should be locked up."

  "Look, all I did was add some meat flavoring to the food," Buck said. "I'm sorry it made the dogs sick. But maybe we can find a happy medium here. The dogs really liked the food. If we add a little less, maybe that would work and not make them sick. I'd be happy to give the clinic a sizable donation for your help."

  Danny got in Buck's face again. "Not if you're entre rejas, Mr. Meaty Boy. We'll just see."

  Mary Catherine woke up late the next morning. She'd been up helping jenny with the dogs until almost one AM. She flew through her morning ritual, found a gold and sapphire caftan to wear, and waited downstairs for Danny to come.

  Jenny had slept on a cot in the sick room with the dogs. She was already up and checking them when Mary Catherine got there. "Are they any better this morning?"

  "They're fine. It wasn't anything really serious."

  "I'm so glad. I was worried about them."

  "Candy has a very sensitive system. I hope we've made Buck feel bad. But I think he may be on to something. It will take some development, of course."

  "Are you sure? I'd hate to make any other dogs sick."

  "It was a stupid thing for Buck to do." Jenny sighed. "But probably good for your talk show ratings. It's been all over the news."

  "Which is ultimately good for the dogs and all the other creatures we take in here. Good ratings mean more money at contract time."

  Jenny snorted. "Not if they're all sick."

  Mary Catherine was glad when Danny honked his horn. Even with her natural optimism, jenny could be enough to ruin her day. "Call me if you need anything. I'm going to the station."

  "While you're there, pick up an extra fifty thousand dollars to remodel this old place. I could use another exam table and some supplies."

  "I'll see what I can do," Mary Catherine said. "Talk to you later."

  There was no sign of Charlie outside the clinic this morning. It was just as well. How could she feel secure about his ability to be there when she was in trouble if he was the one causing the trouble?

  "Morning, MC" Danny turned back to pull out into the road. "It was an awful night last night without Bubba. Is he looking any better this morning?"

  "I think so. You know jenny. It's hard to say."

  "Yeah. I'd just as soon ask the toucan."

  "Hopefully, Jenny will be able to sort through all this with some of Buck's resources."

  "Are you sure we shouldn't call the cops on this? I mean, it's one thing to get that dirt bag Maybelle to cough up some money to help out. It's another to let him get away with this."

  "I know you think Buck did this on purpose," she argued. "But I don't think he'd do anything to ruin Meaty Boy's reputation."

  "Unless he thought we wouldn't find out or suspect him."

  "Which would be saying we were complete morons. Even Buck can't think that."

  Danny stopped at the radio station. "I hope you're right. I just want Bubba back home. I really miss that little dude"

  Mary Catherine said goodbye and went into the building. A black man in an expensive gray suit was waiting for her. He obviously knew who she was. When he saw her, he got up and held out his hand. "Mary Catherine Roberts?"

  "Of course. And you are?"

  "Bartholomew Jesup. I'm your cousin's attorney. Do you have a moment?"

  "Not really. My show starts in just a few minutes. I have to check in upstairs. Can you wait an hour?"

  "No. I'll make this brief." He reached into his expensive leather briefcase that made Mary Catherine shudder to look at it and produced a handful of photographs. They were taken inside and outside the clinic and her apartment. "Your cousin is concerned about the condition of his mother's building. He's not an ungenerous man, however. He's prepared to offer you double what it's worth."

  "I'm not interested, Mr. Jesup." Mary Catherine knew Charlie had taken those pictures. Danny was right about him. He wasn't to be trusted. It was a pity; she knew she could grow to be very attached to him.

  "My client is very persistent. He won't give up easily."

  Mary Catherine lost her temper. She'd look back and see it as a combination of stress and lack of sleep. It didn't help she'd allowed herself to run out of her favorite perfume. "Mr. Jesup, the mayor himself knows about the clinic. He was there for our grand opening. Half the city council has contributed money to us. I don't think you'll find a receptive audience there. Tell my cousin I'm not selling or giving the property back to him. My aunt obviously knew what she was doing when she left him out of her will. Good day, sir!"

  She stamped into the elevator and refused to look at the man before the doors closed, shutting out his face. Of all the nerve! The man wouldn't take no for an answer. She didn't know what it would take to make him leave her alone. She knew she could cut Charlie out of her life and at least her cousin wouldn't have inside information.

  Colin was in the studio that morning. Mindy was there too, but not with her usual smiling face. "I told her about Charlene," Colin said when he was alone with Mary Catherine. "I hope you're happy. She's not speaking to me."

  "I've had just about enough of you whining about this thing happening to you," she told him. "You chose to sleep with Charlene. Everything else has been part of that. Mindy is a great girl. You chose to ignore that. If she never speaks to you again, I wouldn't blame her."

  "Don't say that, Mary Catherine! I can't live without her."

  "Then you better start acting like it. We all have to be responsible for what we do with our lives, Colin. Grow up!" She put Baylor down on the floor and he jumped on the closest chair before she closed the door to the sound booth and put on her
headphones. "I don't know what's wrong with the world today, Baylor. It's like somebody opened the door and all the crazy people ran out."

  Corey and Mindy gave her the high sign to let her know they were on the air. "This is Mary Catherine Roberts, the Pet Psychic, on Lite 102.5, WRSC. I'll be here for an hour, answering your questions about animals."

  A call came in almost immediately. "Good morning, Mary Catherine. I have a question for you about my hamster, Zack. He doesn't like for me to pick him up. He's started nipping at me when I put my hand down close to him. What can I do?"

  "Well, first of all, did he ever like for you to pick him up?"

  "When I first got him, he didn't seem to mind. We had an accident and I dropped him. It wasn't far. He didn't get hurt. I don't think that's the problem."

  "You might if you were as small as a hamster and some giant came along and picked you up and dropped you," she said. "Are you sure he wasn't hurt? Did you take him to the vet?"

  "No. But he was up and running right away."

  "But he bites you when you come close now." She sighed. "You're going to have to be patient and work to regain his trust. You were the one who dropped him. You have to prove it won't happen again. It might take some time. Believe it or not, the hamsters I've known had very long memories of any slights against them."

  "But he's just a hamster."

  "And you're just a human. You made a mistake. Have you apologized to Zack? That might go a long way toward him trusting you again. After that, take your time when you approach him. Show him you aren't in a hurry and are willing to be very gentle with him."

  "It might be easier to get a new hamster!"

  Mary Catherine held on to her temper by a slender thread. Why was he even calling her about the poor hamster if he was ready to chuck him down the toilet and get a new one? "That may be true, but you would probably face the same issues with another hamster. They're small, fragile creatures. If you want to be careless and not take the time to get to know your hamster, I suggest you get a bigger pet."