“Who's Mandy and Jill?” Jeffrey asked.
“Friends of Karen from back in high school. Apparently, they met for the first time after many years at the business meet.” Cynthia replied.
“I see,” Jeffrey said, not really seeing or knowing what else to say.
Chapter Four
Roger sat close to the carrying case with the white cat. He looked at her and did not remember ever being this close to another cat. Mandy consisted of his only other contact and he never had contact with any other animals. Only when they kidnapped him did he ever engage with other animals. Those animals had gone out of his life now. And now, here he was sitting close to another cat. Suddenly the cat in the cage said:
“Hey big guy, what's your name?”
This took Roger aback. A cat talked to him. If people were standing around listening, all they would hear is meows, but Roger actually understood this cat.
Roger replied “Are you talking to me?”
The white cat said “Well, there's nobody else around and I don't talk to myself much, so, yeah, I'm definitely talking to you.” And she smiled when she said this.
“Sorry, I never socialize with other animals or other cats, I don't get the chance. It caught me by surprise. I'm amazed a cat is talking to me and I can understand. My name is Roger, what's yours?”
“Lana is what everybody seems to call me.”
“Well, nice to meet you. What are you doing here?”
“My people went on vacation and they couldn't take me, so this place is a day care center for pets, and I'm being taken care of while they're away. It's not a bad place, you get fed, you get pampered and you relax most of the time.”
“Mandy usually takes me everywhere she goes, so I get around quite a bit.”
“I gather Mandy's your person?”
“Yes, she is.”
“Well, lucky you, my people never take me anywhere. They own a great house, they take good care of me. But I never get to explore the great big world.”
“Mandy takes me to the park regularly, I get to chase birds, she throws a ball at me and I try to catch it. It's a lot of fun and we go to all these stores and places. Sometimes, I want to chase everything.”
“Roger, you're killing me. The most they've ever done is take me out to the backyard, while carrying me and after a little while, bring me right back in the house. I keep wondering if they're afraid I'm going to break or something if they let me loose.”
“Well, perhaps Mandy can talk to your people and we can all go to the park or something?”
“That's very nice, but how are you going to tell Mandy that she should go and talk to my people?”
“That's something I'm going to have to figure out, but they've never seen me with another cat, so it's possible they'll think this is special.”
“Actually, you're pretty special Roger.” And she winked when she said this to him.
At that action, Roger experienced feelings that he couldn't put his finger on, and he didn't know how to articulate what he was feeling. He felt as though a long time ago, he experienced similar feelings.
About five minutes later Mandy and Jill came back to the room, Mandy mostly to check on Roger.
“Oh look, it seems as though Roger has made a friend.” Mandy said.
“Yep, he's sitting in front of that other cat and looks very comfortable there.” Jill responded.
On the side of the cat carrier, it had Lana's name printed on it.
“Roger is Lana your new friend?” Mandy asked him. She turned to Jill.
“Lana is a nice cat. I wonder if Roger gets lonely. He never shows it though.” Mandy said.
“Well, working at the animal shelter, animals do sometimes make friends. Sometimes, they become couples. I think in this instance, Roger is having the experience of another cat. Does he ever mingle with other animals?” Jill asked.
“Not at all, it's usually just him and me going around town, or him staying at home while I do errands and jobs. He probably isn't aware there are other cats other than himself.” Mandy said.
“Well, after this blows over, we should try to find out who is Lana's owner. Maybe you can go on play dates for Roger.” Jill said.
“That would be great.” Mandy said.
Chapter Five
After another hour, Fred finally finished doing his investigation. Mandy and Jill had distracted themselves walking around exploring the different rooms of the spa. Cynthia and Jeffrey spoke of the best way to run the business in the coming weeks in light of Karen's death. Fred received word that unfortunately they had not been able to save Karen.
“So, are we free to go or do you need anything else from us?” Mandy asked since Fred seemed to be finished.
“Could I ask everyone to please visit the police station and make a statement regarding today's events? I especially need a statement from you Cynthia, since you found the body, but also from you Mandy and you too Jill, since you were on the premises. Jeffrey I don't need a statement from you, but I would appreciate it if you can keep the shop closed tomorrow and perhaps the next day while we continue to explore the premises for clues.”
“Is there a possibility it would last any longer than that?” Jeffrey asked.
“Well, at the very most, if we find an overwhelming amount of incriminating evidence, three days. Chances are it will last one, one and a half. Once the lab guys explore the rest of the spa, they'll tell me if they need more time.” Fred responded.
“Well, the animals here need taking care of. They can't be left unattended. I understand not being open to the public, but Cynthia and other employees have permission come here and do their duties.” Jeffrey explained.
Fred looked thoughtful for a moment. “Ok, but it has to be the absolute minimum number of people. We don't want to lose valuable evidence.”
“Ok. Cynthia, see who your skeleton crew will be for the next couple of days and find out if any of the animals must remain on the premises. It's probably for the best if the animals returned to their owners for now. Not the best solution, but if we are proactive with the owners, they'll see that we're putting the safety of the animals first and foremost. If we keep this a secret, they may get very upset that we kept this from them and kept their animals when a horrible thing happened here. People are funny, and word of mouth could hurt business in the future.” Jeffrey explained as he tried to come up with a plan.
Cynthia said “Jeffrey, I'm going to do that from home tonight, cause I am not feeling too good, and staying around this area keeps reminding me of what happened.”
“Sure, I understand, just try to set up something for tomorrow so that they can come by and pick up their pets. Luckily, there are only a few animals we're taking care of right now.” Said Jeffrey.
Everybody started to move in different directions. Cynthia got her things, Mandy and Jill went to the back to get Roger.
Once in the back, Mandy said to Roger “Hi Roger, it's time to come home. Sorry I have to take you away from your little friend.”
Mandy put the leash on Roger and proceeded to pick him up. While this was going on, you heard a couple of meows going back and forth between Roger and Lana.
“Oh look they're communicating.” Mandy said. The conversation the cats were having went as follows:
Lana said, “Oh, are you leaving already? That means I'll be alone for the rest of the night. Will I ever see you again?”
“I wish I could say. Mandy is sensitive to animals it's possible she noticed that you and me are becoming friendly. She could bring me back. I'll try to do something so she'll have reason bring me back.” Roger said
“What are you going to do?”
“I'm not sure, I'll come up with something. This whole business is new to me, trying to get Mandy to do something with another cat.” Roger said, but he truly didn't know what to do at that time.
Everybody in the Mandy team went to the main area in front and found Cynthia confused and in a daze. Jill said, “Cynthia, we'
ll all go together to the station and make a statement. Afterwards we'll get something to eat. There's a very nice place we're very familiar with.”
“Oh, thank you so much. I really didn't want to be alone after all this, and it would be good to be in the company of other people that understand what just happened.”
Fred said to Mandy “Mandy you can make your statement at the station, but I'd still want to speak with you at some point regarding related stuff, not necessarily about the case.”
“Sure Fred, give me a call.” Mandy said. Mandy thought to herself, he probably wants to ask me how I find myself at yet another murder.
As they left, Cynthia noticed that Vance, the guard that stood outside the building, didn't seem his usual self.
“Hi Vance, what's the matter sweetie?”
“I didn't do my job, I didn't do my job.” Said Vance, gazing out into empty space.
“It's not your fault that Karen died Vance. It's something that happened. Are you feeling scared?”
“I didn't do my job.” Vance kept repeating.
Cynthia said, “I better call the clinic that he checks in with, so they could talk to him. Hello, this is Cynthia from the pet spa. Listen, we had a horrible situation today, somebody was killed, and it looks like Vance is blaming himself, keeps saying he didn't do his job. Can you send somebody out here to monitor him and make sure he's alright? Ok, thanks, that will help him a lot.”
“Vance, somebody is going to come over from the clinic to help you out, ok?”
Vance continued being silent, but rocking forward and back in his chair. Cynthia said, “They're going to send someone over. These things affect some people worse than others. Vance is definitely having some kind of episode.”
The people at the clinic said they would send someone right away. Five minutes later a car showed up and one of the counselors from the clinic walked towards him.
“Hey Vance, how are you today.” The man walked over to Vance and Cynthia told him, “I'm glad you came right away. He kept repeating he didn't do his job, over and over, and now he's just quiet.”
“He's probably freaked over something that happened. Anything out of the ordinary happen today?”
“One of the people that works at the spa was murdered.” Said Cynthia.
“Yeah, that would certainly put him over the edge.” Said the counselor.
After Cynthia felt that the counselor had the situation under control, she told them “Vance is a real sweetheart and he takes his job very seriously. I just wanted to make sure he was ok. He's very protective of us, and he probably feels he let us down. Also, it's great that he can hold a job and function normally and take care of himself daily with his condition.”
Chapter Six
Mandy, Jill and Cynthia went together to the police station. After making the statements, they headed to Joanie's to get something. Mandy wanted to know more about Cynthia, how she fit into the business, especially now that Karen had passed. Cynthia never heard of Joanie's.
“Wow, this place is very nice, I don't understand how I've missed this place in the past. Usually I'm up on all the good food places.” Cynthia said, as she sat down at the booth.
“We've been friends with Joanie since high school, so that's how we know this place. We've been coming here since it opened up.” Mandy said.
“Another high school connection. Me, I grew up in Clinton, and moved to North Bergen in the last couple of years. Also, being younger than you guys, I never would know Karen, or this part of the world.” Cynthia described her life in brief.
“Well, we're the two odd ones that remained behind. Almost everybody else left, for other states or other parts of Jersey.” Jill said as she looked at the menu.
Joanie came over to the booth “Hi there. There's my favorite boy, hi Roger.” Joanie petted Roger, and he responded, moving his head this way and that as though he really enjoyed it.
Mandy said, “Joanie, let me introduce you to Cynthia.” Cynthia and Joanie shook hands. “We came to get some of your great cooking to distract us. We had a horrible experience and we just want to forget.”
“Don't tell me another murder?” Joanie guessed.
“Yep. Exactly that Joanie. It's very strange what's happening lately.”
“Mandy, you're becoming a regular Sherlock Holmes.”
“Yeah, well, don't forget Jill. She's like Watson, only a lot smarter.”
Jill laughed at being compared to Watson.
Cynthia asked, “Do you guys solve crimes?”
“Not if we can help it.” Mandy replied. “But we somehow managed to get drawn into some crimes through no fault of our own. We just happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Kind of like today.” Cynthia said.
“Exactly like today.” Jill replied. “But we just happened to be there today. There are no plans on my end trying to solve this. This seems to be a case of domestic violence gone wrong.”
“It seems to have that written all over.” Mandy said. “Besides, Fred will be upset if he finds out we're trying to get involved in solving this. I'm sure that's what he wanted to talk to me about when he said he would call me later.”
“You know the police captain?” Cynthia asked.
“Yes, he's another person from back in high school. Just like Karen. So tell me Cynthia, how did Karen behave when you and her worked together?”
“She could sometimes be very friendly and other times a complete a space cadet, unaware of her actions. Take the situation with Allen, for instance. She doesn't see that she flirts up a storm and that she's posing all the time. At first, I wasn't too keen on her because she started working there after me, and Jeffrey promoted shortly thereafter. Of course, a big part of it had to do with her dating Jeffrey, even though they tried to keep it quiet, but they were all over each other when they were in the office.
“Then Jeffrey told me that the managerial duties would be divided, where Karen would be doing the bookkeeping and new client handling I would deal with the day-to-day management of the business. This angered me at first, but I learned that Karen had a flair for numbers and she moved through the numbers faster than me. I never excelled at math and I had to struggle with keeping the books. So, after a while I calmed down and realized that this change was a good thing, because that part of the job drove me crazy.
“Also, Jeffrey wanted her to be the face of the spa. The truth being, Karen just loved showing herself off and she could be very personable with the new clients. She appealed to the women because of her fitness and personality. The guys liked her for the obvious reason. Being tall, blonde, and having an amazing body had its effect on the customers, whereas me, I'm a short, brunette Italian girl from Clinton, New Jersey.
“As time went on, we became friends and she could be very giving, always getting me a book, or earrings or whatever she found that she thought I would like or would make me happy. So, it definitely hurts to see somebody who became your friend to die in this fashion. No matter what faults she may have had, she didn't deserve to die. I have a very hard time thinking Allen would kill her. I don't want to believe that, but here it is, it's evening time and he hasn't shown up, hasn't called me back.” Cynthia said, realizing the late hour and no Allen.
“Well, he may still turn up tomorrow. It's possible he's wrestling with his conscience and it's just a matter of time.” Mandy said.
In the middle of this, Joanie came back to take their order. Cynthia hadn't looked at the menu, but she ordered on the recommendation of Mandy and got a soup and a grilled cheese sandwich.
“What about you, how long did you work at the pet spa before Karen joined up?” Mandy asked.
“I worked there for two years. Jeffrey hired me because I had worked at a pet shop and apparently, Jeffrey wasn't being very picky. I got the job right away. I don't know how he stays in business. Our business is not exactly what I'd call voluminous and yet he manages to stay open. We get a small number of animals, sometimes as many as
10. Usually the number of animals in the spa is seven, tops.” Cynthia continued.
“So, why do you need multiple people working there?” Jill asked.
“Well, the thing is, we must keep the animals entertained. That's what the owners expect. So, someone may be giving a pet a bath, while someone else is playing with the other animals. There's a pet run upstairs, where we let the animals loose. Someone controls the front desk for people who come in, answer the phone, deal with supplies. The activities that go into running a business such as this. If we had more business, we'd hire more people. But right now, there's enough to keep the place going on a daily basis.” Cynthia explained.
“I wanted to ask you, who does the pretty white cat belong to? Roger and she hit it off, and Roger never mingles with other animals, so I thought it was cute that he met a friend. I'd like for him to see her again.”
“Oh, you mean Lana, the English short hair. She's definitely a pretty cat. She has very odd owners. They're constantly leaving her here because they apparently travel out of town frequently. They leave her there for long periods too, sometimes as long as three weeks. Why would you get a pet if you never make any time to spend time with it? I don't understand people sometimes. But yeah, she's a regular here, so you can come see her at any time.
“Funny thing is, whereas some owners are very particular how we treat their animals, they never make any demands. As long as she gets back to them in one piece, they're ok with it. She's actually a very sweet cat, likes to be held and petted. Probably cause she never gets any love at home. So if Lana and Roger hit it off, I'm glad, because the few cats we get don't stay there very long, not enough time for them to mingle.”
“Oh good, I hoped we could set a play date for the two of them in the future. I'm glad that it won't be that complicated.” Mandy said.
The food came and everyone concentrated on eating and not talking much. However, Mandy was thinking of the things regarding the spa Cynthia had mentioned. This spa doesn't seem to be very busy, she thought. Is it the same for all spas? Is this really a business worth getting into? She figured if she could get in there in the next couple of weeks, see more of the place and get a feel for it, she could finally make a decision. Also, she wanted to hear what Jill had to say regarding everything that had happened and what she had heard.
Murder at the Pet Spa Page 4