Murder, She Barked

Thirteen

“He may be pompous and imperial, but that’s no reason to kill him.” Oma dabbed her lips with a napkin.

“You don’t understand. Someone did kill him. Holmes found him.”

Now I had their attention.

“This is not funny, Holly.” Oma scolded me like I was a child.

“I’m not being funny. Somebody bashed in the back of his head and strangled him with a dog’s choke collar. It was . . . horrific.”

“No, liebchen. It’s Sven who died. Ellie would never have complained about Jerry the way she did if he was dead. Besides, she would have told me immediately.” Oma leaned toward us. “Ellie thinks someone opened her gate on purpose to steal Dolce.”

I put down my fork. “Ellie probably doesn’t know yet. I just came from there.”

Rose and Oma stared at me. Oma reached for her phone.

“I don’t know how well you know Ellie, but I’d let the police tell her if I were you.” I drained my tea and poured more into the mug.

Oma set her phone down. “No. This is a joke?”

“It’s not a joke. Who jokes about something like that? He was . . .” I debated whether I should tell them the gory details or spare them. Wagtail was tiny, they would hear eventually. “He was sprawled on the stairs, like he was running away from something.”

Rose gasped. “A ghost! I knew that old house was haunted. He laughed it off every time I mentioned it.” She let out a little shriek. “It’s cursed. Now there have been two deaths there.”

I knew Oma and Rose took a different view of the supernatural than I did. More specifically, I just didn’t believe in ghosts. It was all nonsense and hogwash. I knew better than to criticize them for their stand, though. I looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath, which I hope conveyed skepticism at the very least. “Would he have bled if a ghost attacked him?”

“Of course. The ghosts might not bleed, but we would.” Rose spoke with conviction.

“What is happening here? This is not like my beloved Wagtail. Not at all. Rose,” said Oma, “I don’t think we’re dealing with a ghost this time. Someone killed Sven, and now Jerry. This cannot be a coincidence.”

“Our meeting! I forgot all about it,” exclaimed Rose, looking at the clock on the wall.

“Rose, we’ll call Ellie after the meeting, yes? Holly, would you mind keeping an eye on the desk?” Oma stood up.

“Not at all. Do you mind if I borrow your computer?”

“It’s a deal.” She hobbled toward me and glanced around. “Where’s your dog?”

I told them my tale of woe in abbreviated form.

Oma couldn’t have looked sadder. “Perhaps someone will find her. We will spread the word,” Patting my shoulder, she said, “I’ll be back soon.”

“Where are you going?”

“Just to the terrace.” She scowled at me. “We will be fine, Holly. Don’t look so worried. You can leave as soon as Zelda returns from her lunch break.”

They left through the French doors. Oma hobbled slowly, with Rose by her side. Their heads were bowed, but their agitated murmurs drifted to me as they made their way toward the terrace, where guests enjoyed the beautiful day and views of the lake and the mountains.

It didn’t take long to whip up a flier. When the printer started, Twinkletoes ambled indoors and sprang onto the desk. Fascinated by the paper that churned out of it, she reached a tentative paw toward it every time a new sheet appeared.

“I’m back from my lunch break, Mrs. Mil—” An attractive, ever-so-slightly-plump woman in her thirties with kind eyes and corn yellow hair that flowed down her back stepped into the doorway. “Oh! You must be Holly. I recognize you from your picture.” She pointed at a framed photo behind me.

I peered at it. My cousin Josh, Holmes, and I were posing on the dock. “I must have been about eight years old.”

“You still have that lovely long hair, but I bet you don’t wear it in pigtails anymore. I’d have known you anywhere.” She gasped and stared at Twinkletoes. “Oh my word! Did you know that Twinkletoes has adopted you? She says you’re the one.”

Huh? I shifted my focus from the kitten to the woman in the doorway. She’d spoken as though she thought she had said something very normal.

“I had such a hard time getting a reading on her. She was very protective. Perhaps now I can find out why. She’s a real sweetheart. You’re very lucky.” The woman turned around and helped someone at the front desk.

I gathered the stack of fliers and ran my hand over Twinkletoes’s silken fur. Whispering, I said, “I think someone might have a screw loose.”

The woman popped back into the doorway. “I should have introduced myself. I’m Zelda. Well, really Jane, but Zelda sounds so much more exotic, don’t you think? I’m the sevento-three shift, except on Fridays and Saturdays because I’m really a pet psychic and those are my busiest days. Well, not really a psychic because that would mean communicating with the dead, which I don’t do. More like an animal whisperer, really, but that confuses people, and they think I’m going to train their animals, so I just say I’m a psychic.”

She didn’t stop talking to take a breath but I felt like I needed one.

“I have some whopping bills to pay off thanks to marrying a boozer who laid around on my sofa and ran up my credit cards, so I’m working here to get back on my feet.”

She stopped her rapid-fire chattiness and gazed upward rotating her hand just below her chin. “I’m getting something . . . A white dog is looking for you. Do you have a white dog?”

Teeny hairs on the back of my neck pricked up. For a moment, I gaped at her in shock. How was that possible? How could she have known? Then I realized that Oma or Casey had probably told her about the dog. Or Shelley or Rose. A dozen people had seen me with her. “She’s lost.” I handed Zelda a flier. “If you see her, please let me know.”

“Of course.” She drew her hand in a circle again. “She’s trying to find you.”

I didn’t believe that Zelda could really read animals’ minds, but I had to ask, even if I felt stupid doing it. “Can you see where she is?”

“Stairs. She’s sniffing around stairs. That’s all I’m getting. Not very helpful, is it? Maybe if you had something that belonged to her? A ball or a stuffed toy?”

“I didn’t have her long enough to give her any toys.”

“Oh!” She tucked in her chin, as though that was the oddest thing she’d ever heard.

I got the feeling she disapproved. “If she comes back, she can have all the toys she wants.”

“I’ll let her know! And when she comes home, we’ll schedule her for a massage. All the dogs love massages. And maybe a nice hike? We have some openings over the next few days. Or you could take her swimming. Does she like to swim?”

“I have no idea. Dog massages?”

She nodded eagerly. “We don’t do everything in-house, but I can book anything you like from right here. The masseuse usually comes to the inn, and the acupuncturist will, too.”

I thanked her politely. The whole town had turned into a resort for pampered pets! I collected supplies to post fliers, picked up Twinkletoes, and hustled for the main part of the inn.

Twinkletoes purred, soft yet steady. She didn’t squirm or try to jump from my arms. Soft as cashmere, her fur brushed my chin. “You’d better adopt Oma if you want to live in the inn. Not that I would blame you. What cat or dog wouldn’t want to live in a town that caters to your every whim? My place in Washington is small, and there’s no masseuse or acupuncturist or pet psychic, but there’s a greenhouse window over the kitchen sink.” Why did that window sound so insignificant in comparison? “Assuming I get another job and can pay the mortgage, that is.”

If she had a response, unlike Zelda, I couldn’t detect it. I scurried into the Dogwood Room, the grand sitting room where guests gathered, and tried not to be too obvious as I looked out the glass wall onto the terrace. Mugs on the table in front of them, Oma and Rose conferred with Mr. Luciano, who tugged at the short sleeve of his casual golf shirt as though he wasn’t used to it. He wore his dark hair swept straight back off his broad face. A white bandage covered his injury.

At least a dozen guests relaxed in the gentle fall sunshine at other tables, and Shelley, the waitress at breakfast, still worked, serving everyone. It all seemed peaceful enough for me to dash through the walking area to post fliers.

I set Twinkletoes down. Without a care in the world, she jumped onto a sofa, strolled to a sunbeam, and curled up in a ball for a nap.

Armed with two rolls of tape, thumbtacks, and a sheath of fliers, I walked the quaint streets of Wagtail tacking fliers to telephone poles. The town bustled with tourists and their dogs. An occasional person carried a cat or walked one on a leash. If word of Jerry’s demise had swept through Wagtail, the tourists didn’t know about it yet.

I returned to the last place I had seen my dog, but it was a long shot that she might be there.

Avoiding the store where the evil woman had pinched her, I strolled the walking area, asking shop owners if I could tape my flier to their windows. Every single one of them promised to spread the word and be on the lookout. Except for the evil one, Wagtail had a remarkably friendly population.

For such a small town, Wagtail offered an amazing array of stores, and most appeared to carry higher-end merchandise.

If it had a cat on it, The Cat’s Meow sold it. Everything for feline lovers from cat jewelry, both for cats and their people, to cat lamps, presumably to be used by both cats and their people, and cat handbags far too big for cats to carry but large enough for a cat to ride in.

The residents of Wagtail had embraced their dog and cat friendly theme with gaiety and cleverness. Some of the shop names were a little confusing though. Did Au Bone Pain sell bread for people, bread for dogs, or bones? Bread in the shape of bones?

Dogs played in the grassy middle of the walking zone, catching Frisbees and romping together. Some strolled with their people, tossing only a curious sniff in the direction of other dogs.

Seeing them just deepened my sense of loss. I already thought of her as my dog. I’d spent less than twelve hours with her, and she’d become part of my life. I forged ahead with my fliers, hoping against hope that she might be found. The thought of her, lost and alone, maybe injured, hit by a car, or attacked by a coyote was simply unbearable. I had to push those images out of my mind and do everything I could to find her.

After hanging my last flier, I hurried back to the inn to check on Oma. She was at work in her office and looked up when I peeked in on her.

“Liebling, we have a group arriving at four o’clock. Yappy Hour begins at five, and I’ve arranged dinner with Rose tonight at The Blue Boar. It’s a little bit dressy. If you want to borrow something from my closet, feel free.”

“Maybe I could help you?”

“Ja? You would do that?” Oma lowered her reading glasses to look at me. “Wonderful! That would be such a big help. I’m slow like a turtle with this ankle injury.”

She handed me a ring of keys and a printout on a clipboard. “Please check the rooms on the list to be sure they are ready. Each room should have a special welcome basket for a cat or a dog, as the case may be. It’s all marked on the list. Then double-check with the kitchen to be sure we have their preferred dog or cat food on hand. It should already be there, but I like to be certain nothing slipped though the cracks. And inspect all the bathrooms carefully, please. I’m trying out a new housekeeper.”

Truth be told, I was glad to have something to do. It would take my mind off my missing dog and the murders, at least for a while. Besides, poor Oma couldn’t hobble through the entire inn doing this. It would take her forever. Clutching the list, I headed past the sitting room. Just as I reached the front door, Dave barreled through it, grabbed me by the elbow, and propelled me past the small dining area through a wide curved archway into the new addition on the other side.