“I’m trying not to let things get blown out of proportion,” Maggie said. “But any more weeks like this one, and I could be ruined. Out of business. My life’s dream down the tubes.”
“That’s not going to happen, Maggie. It just can’t.”
“Well, I’ll go to dinner. Take the next step. Get a good night’s sleep. We’ll tackle it again tomorrow,” Maggie said, with a trace of her normal joviality. “Tomorrow’s a new day. It will get better. Or I could change course and be a dog walker.” She gave a short laugh and said her goodbyes.
“We won’t let it happen,” Po said to her now silent phone.
“I couldn’t bear it.”
Hoover seemed to nod in agreement. And then he plumped up the couch cushion and went back to sleep.
“I wish I shared your confidence,” Po said with a slight frown at her lounging pet.
Given that she’d taken a fairly healthy siesta, Po found herself with unusual energy for the end of her day. She sat down with the copies of the appointment book and thumbed through them once. Nothing. All that information, and yet nothing that seemed to help her situation. She started again, this time just looking at the totals spent. Some were higher, some lower. Again, nothing seemed to relate to Mercedes or her disappearance.
Po sat for a moment staring at the pile of papers. Then she reviewed one more time, just looking at who’d visited. Almost right away she found Jack Francis was on the list of clients, not once but three times. And a couple of pages later she found Mercedes listed. And Jack Francis again. And Mercedes again. And again. “Maggie did say Mercedes was her biggest spending client,” Po said to Hoover, who managed to lift one heavy eyelid and cock one lazy ear her way. “But I guess I didn’t realize how often she’d be visiting.”
Near the end of the sheaf of papers, she found her own name right next to Mercedes’, a record of that fateful day when Aaron found himself facing Mercedes’ wrath. “Who’d have ever thought one crabby cat could lead to such a big mess,” Po thought.
She sat for one more moment thinking, and then totaled up how much Mercedes and Jack Francis had spent over their visits in the month. “I guess Maggie might know whether this is typical,” she thought. And she bundled up the papers and piled them on the kitchen table to talk about later.
Next she popped a chicken and some potatoes in the oven to roast and put a bottle of wine in the fridge to chill. And with dinner going, she went back to her studio room to focus on her writing for the hour remaining before Max arrived.
The sound of Max’s gentle knock as he opened the door was a welcome reprieve from her computer screen, and she went to greet him with a smile.
“You look wonderful,” he said, leaning in to give her a kiss.
“Thank you,” Po said, enjoying, as always, his open appreciation.
“Now,” he said. “Are you staying out of trouble?” He was smiling, but Po knew he was serious. And, she had to admit, she’d gotten herself in a couple of tight spots during the time he’d known her. But, she thought, this was different.
“Of course,” she said, smiling back. “I have offered Maggie some moral support during this challenging time. But that’s all.”
“So, you and Kate aren’t teaming up on some detective work on the side?” he asked, one eyebrow raised.
“Detective work?” Po asked slowly.
“Yes,” he said firmly. “Snooping. Prying. Excessive questions about things that police officers are looking into. Detective work.”
Po didn’t answer, choosing instead to lead Max into the kitchen.
“I think dinner’s about ready,” she said. “Would you pour the wine?”
“Sure,” he said. “But I did still notice the sidestepping.”
She turned to face him. “I’m just helping my friend,” she said earnestly. “You would do the same thing.”
His face softened as he looked down on her. “You may be right,” he said. “But you plow into these things as though you think you’re invincible.” He ran one finger along her set jaw.
“And Kate is just as bad or worse. Please, be careful.” “I will be,” she promised. “Kate and I will be very careful.” “I wish I believed that,” he said.
CHAPTER 15
Po got up in the morning, threw on a lounging-around suit of emerald green velour, and started a pot of coffee. Then she quickly mixed a batch of easy drop biscuits, one of Kate’s favorites. She sat by the sliding glass doors, thinking and drinking her coffee. And she was just pulling the biscuits out of the oven when Kate knocked gently and came in.
“You’re the best,” she said, sniffing the warm, welcoming aroma of the freshly baked treats and pouring herself a cup of Po’s rich coffee and adding a healthy dose of warm milk. She gave Po a little squeeze, and then retrieved some small plates and napkins from the cupboard while Po put the biscuits on a platter and got out the butter and a jar of smooth blackberry jelly, her favorite.
“So, did you have time to think?” Kate asked as she dug into the flaky treat.
“I want you to look at something with me,” Po said.
She opened the laptop she’d positioned within comfortable reach and launched her picture viewer to display a set of photos. “I took these on the day after the police came to Maggie’s clinic,” she said. “I thought we could look at them. Maybe it will spark something for us.”
“Great idea,” Kate said, wiping her hands on a napkin and reaching for the computer. “And you were brilliant that you thought to take the camera.”
“As my expert advisor on both photography and police procedure, you seemed like the perfect person to review them,” Po said, smiling.
Kate expertly maneuvered through the folder, frowning with concentration, her head tilted to one side and her coffee forgotten for the moment.
Po sat quietly, just watching as Kate reviewed every shot. “You took a lot,” she said when she finished. “I need to look at them again.” She ate another biscuit, and then repeated the whole process, squinting at each and every picture a second time. Finally she pushed the laptop back to the middle of the table and looked at Po.
“Well, what do you think?” Po said. “Do you see anything out of the ordinary?”
“You took pictures of all the areas that it looked as though the police paid special attention to, right?” Kate asked.
“Yes,” Po confirmed. “But it’s hard to know for sure what they looked at, unless Maggie saw them or they left things disrupted. So then I just tried to take whatever I could think of.”
Kate thought for a moment.
“Did Maggie look at these?”
“No,” Po said. “But she said she didn’t notice anything unusual around the clinic either before or after the police had come.”
“So,” Kate said slowly, “If there’s something unusual here, it doesn’t look out of place to the people who know it best.” She took another biscuit and ate it slowly.
“Did you notice anything in the pictures, Po?” she asked finally.
“No,” Po admitted.
She got up and refilled both their coffee cups, and the two drank coffee in silence for a moment.
Kate finally sighed. “It seems smart to have taken the pictures. But I’ve got nothing here.”
“Thanks for trying,” Po said gently. She was a little disappointed.
“You gave me an idea, though,” Kate said a little more brightly. “What we need is more information. And photos are great for that.”
She got up with energy. “You’ve taken pictures of the clinic. I’m going to go hit other sites of interest. Mercedes’ house, the dealership. Maybe we’ll notice something when we look at those.”
Kate agreed to bring P.J. back for dinner and headed out.
After she left, Po called Leah to get her up to speed and get advice on the plan for the next day.
“Kate is right,” Leah said with authority. “We need more information. Where better to go than as close to the source as possible?”
Po was still not completely convinced that visiting the Richardsons’ house was a completely safe, well-thought-through option. But she couldn’t disagree that it might be the next logical step.
“Taking food is always the right thing,” Leah said. “We can go together. With two heads, maybe we’ll ask some good questions and learn something.”
They agreed to go the next day, after the Queen Bees assembled.
“I hope this is a good idea,” Po said to Hoover.
He looked at her with a quizzical expression.
“I just have a bad feeling about it,” she said in answer.
It was something of a tradition for Po to find a way to fill her house with people on Friday night. She cooked for a crowd and was rarely disappointed. This week seemed to be no exception. The door swung open at a bit before 6, when Maggie arrived.
“So, how did it go with the consultant?” Po asked, when they’d both found a comfortable seat and a pleasing beverage.
“I think it went well,” Maggie said, letting out something of a sigh. “She really helped me focus on where the problem might be.”
Like what?” Po asked, taking a sip of her signature drink, a beautiful ice cold martini with a delicate slice of apple floating on the top. “I keep hoping there’s a quick fix.”
“Well, nothing overnight. But I feel better because I know what the next steps are, at least. And we ruled out a bunch of things.”
“Really?” Po asked, taking a heavily laden piece of brus-chetta.
“Yeah,” Maggie said. “My problem really could only be revenue that’s too low or expenses that are too high. And there are really not that many things that fuel revenue. So we looked at those today. I see about an average number of new clients each month. So that’s not the problem.”
“Well, it’s nice to cross something off the list,” Po smiled.
Maggie gave her a wry smile in return. “Unfortunately I feel a little like I do about weight loss,” she said. “The formula is very simple. Eat less; move more. But it’s still not that easy for me to do.” She frowned a little at the hors d’oeuvre she was eating. And then she shrugged and took another bite.
“Well, what is it exactly that you have to do?” Po asked.
Maggie took a small sip of the fragrant wine. “I have to adjust my fees, for one,” she said. “I haven’t bothered for a couple of years.” She made a face. “It’s not really my favorite thing to think about. But Maya is right, my expenses have gone up. So I have to adjust.”
Po nodded. “That makes sense. And it doesn’t seem that bad, really.”
“Yeah, I know,” Maggie said. “I also need to do a better job reminding clients to come back in for the care their pets need. Right now, we sort of expect them to keep track and call when they’re out of medication or when it’s time to do tests. But given how busy people are, that’s probably not realistic.”
Po nodded again. “So, you’re happy about it over all, right?” she asked.
Maggie nodded. “Yeah,” she said. “You know, I didn’t apply to veterinary school because I wanted to own a business,” she said. “I just wanted to help pets. But I can’t do that unless the business is running well. I need to be able to pay the electric company and my team and buy equipment and supplies.” She sighed again. “It has taken me 15 years, but I think I finally get it. I need to work on my business, and not just in it.”
Po laughed. “You make it sound so bad,” she said. “You deserve to be successful. And you’ll be great at the business side, if that’s what you decide to do,” she said. “You’ve always been able to do anything you set your mind to.”
Maggie seemed to cheer up a little. “You’re right,” she said. “This is all about my attitude. So that means I can fix it.”
“So,” Po said, “I know you have a million things on your mind and a bucket load of clients to see, since you’ve been busy with Maya. But do you think you could fit in a quick meeting with your team? I think they’d benefit from a five-minute recap of your consultant’s recommendations.”
“Well, sure,” Maggie said. “I was going to wait until we had a little more time to talk about it. But I could do it sooner.”
“I don’t mean to meddle,” Po said. “But it came out in the little talks I did that they’re worried you may cut back on staffing.”
Maggie laughed. “I should have known,” she said. “We all see the problem from our own perspective, don’t we? I like
those easy-to-fix issues. I’ll let them know that no one’s getting fired this week.”
Then her pep seemed to fade a little again.
“Of course, I’ve got a couple of other problems,” she said. “I’ve been closed up in an office for two days. Is there any news about Mercedes. I mean, I know I’d have heard if she’d been found, but are the police making any progress?”
Po caught Maggie up, with a review of Phoebe’s report, what she’d learned about Jack Francis, Po’s own concerns about Jarrod. She finished with an account of the outing with Aaron and the rope they’d found.
“Aaron says Fitzgerald had a rope around his neck when Aaron found him,” Po explained to Maggie. “And if he’d been tied up, that certainly makes it seem certain that he was taken and not that he found a way out or was unintentionally freed.”
“I agree,” Maggie said thoughtfully. “I’ll ask him about it again tomorrow,” Maggie said decisively. “And I’ll talk to him about what Angela said about the food.”
She sighed. “I like him. I don’t want to believe he’d ever do anything to hurt the clinic. But I have to be realistic, too. I have too much invested in my practice to be sentimental if someone I trust doesn’t deserve that faith.”
“I feel the same way,” Po said. “I really like him. But you have to be clear-minded about this. Get to the bottom of it.” She paused. “I’m sure he’ll put all your worries to rest,” she said, trying to be reassuring.
“I hope so, too, Po,” Maggie said. “But we’ll see.”
A few minutes later, Po felt the familiar burst of pleasure when she saw Kate walk through the door, and she was just as pleased to see her goddaughter had P.J. in tow.
“It’s been forever since you’ve been over,” she said, giving him a hug.
“A couple of weeks, at least,” he said, laughing. “But I’m glad you missed me.”
Po set out round two of her snacks, a big tray of fresh veggies and dip. Max arrived on the heels of Kate and P.J. and started pouring wine for the newcomers, and the talk naturally turned to the trials Maggie was facing and the latest developments.
“Maggie,” Po said slowly. “The police seemed awfully interested in the drug log. What would they be looking for there?”
“We use all kinds of restricted drugs,” Maggie said. “Just like human physicians. But many practices don’t have very tight security measures.”
“But you do?” Po asked.
“I’m not saying no one could ever leave with anything,” Maggie said. “But we know the rules and follow them.”
“What kind of rules?” Po asked.
“Well, controlled substances must be stored in a locked drawer or cabinet. And you have to limit access to authorized members of the team. When you use a controlled substance, you have to note the date, the amount you used, the amount remaining in the container, the animal receiving the drug, and your name.”
“What drugs are most likely to be targeted?” Po asked.
“Ketamine might be the biggest lure for a thief,” Maggie said. “People have broken into practices to steal it in the United States, although it tends to happen more in Mexico. It used to be used more in human medicine, but it causes hallucinations.”
“Nice to avoid that if you can,” Max commented, dryly.
“Exactly. When it’s stolen, it’s either injected or the liquid is evaporated until it makes a white powder, which is snorted.” Po looked at her wide-eyed, and Maggie laughed at her surprise. “We hear right away when
a clinic’s been hit,” she said. “The veterinary journals have done a good job informing us about the thefts and the drugs’ uses.”
“What other controlled drugs do you keep on hand?” Po asked.
“We have about 10,” Maggie said. “Many of them you wouldn’t recognize. But we have morphine, pentobarbital, euthanasia solution, of course.”
“Not that long ago, Illinois police broke up a drug ring that was targeting veterinary clinics,” P.J. chimed in.
“Really?” Po asked.
“Uh, huh. They were stealing ketamine. And there wasn’t anyone in the group who was older than 20,” he said. “One boy in the group said he was making up to $2,000 a week selling the drug.”
“Who would he be selling to?” Max asked. “Other kids?”
“Mostly,” P.J. said. “Ketamine is a popular club drug. It can be injected, smoked, swallowed, or snorted. Mostly they prefer injection, because it burns your nasal passages if you snort it. And it tastes terrible. But it will make you high.”
“I had no idea,” Po said.
“You haven’t been very into the club scene lately,” P.J. teased.
“Is it dangerous?” Po asked.
“The high doesn’t last long. An hour or less. And it’s tough to overdose. The lethal limit is many times the standard dosage,” P.J. said. “And then you would just pass out.”
“Are other drugs commonly stolen from veterinarians?” Max asked.
“Ketamine is the most common,” P.J. said. “But I did do a little digging in the archive. There are also reports of a practice that had euthanasia solution stolen in a break-in. I think that had to have been a case worthy of the Darwin awards.”
“What’s that?” Po asked.
“Stupid theft. Dumb enough you’d laugh. What would you ever do with euthanasia solution?” P.J. said. “You’d go into a coma long before you got high.”
“Truly not bright,” Kate said, rejoining them after a sojourn to the kitchen to check the roast and baked potatoes. “Ready to eat?”
And with that, talk of overdoses and theft was abandoned, at least for the moment. But it left Po with things to think about for hours after they’d all gone. Disagreeable thoughts, for certain. Surely Aaron couldn’t be stealing food from the clinic. Or drugs. It was just impossible. Wasn’t it?
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