1 PAWsible Suspects (8 page)

“What do you want in the house?” she asked. She made it sound more like an accusation, which I started to become annoyed at, but then realized that she was correct in her deductions that I was going to snoop around.

“Food for the dogs. I don’t have a collar for Perry. Medications for the dogs, things like that. You can come with, if you’d like to.”

She barked out a laugh that wasn’t sincere at all. “Is this your idea of a date?” she asked. “I’m used to a bit better than this, though not much.”

I laughed back. “Not at all. I usually take dates to restaurants, not to crime scenes.” This was not the way I had expected our conversation to go. I had thought she’d be suspicious of my every move, but instead she was suggesting a date. I might talk to pets, but I’ll never understand women.

“Technically, it’s not a crime scene, so I can’t stop you from going in. The neighbor, the one you tampered with, he has a key to the house. Since you and he are good friends, I’m sure he’ll let you inside the house.”

Before I could respond and perhaps ask her out on a real date, she’d hung up the phone. I decided that I needed to do this errand now, before it got much later. The faster I was done with this case, the better I’d feel.

I drove back over to the Jenkins’ house and parked across the street. The woman I had talked with twice before pulled her curtain aside and watched me as I got out of the car. I waved, but all she did was let the curtain fall back into place.

I patted the two Beagles who were still outside despite the rapidly dropping temperatures. I opened the gate, closed it behind me and knocked on Mr. Lindauer’s door. He responded within seconds as if he’d been standing inside the door. He stared at me for a moment, like he’d never seen me before, and then stood aside to let me in. The two dogs ran inside through my legs and curled up by a heat vent. It was much too cold for them to be outside.

“What do you need now?” he asked as bitter as the weather. He was far less friendly than he’d been before. I wondered if Detective Green had paid him a visit and angered him with questions about a gunshot.

“The police said that you had a key to Ruby’s house. I wanted to pick up some supplies for the dogs.”

He grunted, but walked away. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to follow him or not, so I stood there waiting until he returned. He held the key up between his thumb and forefinger. “You’ll need to show me what you take out of the house when you return the key. So don’t get any ideas,” he said, actually making complete sentences.

I nodded and headed back out into the cold. The wind blew through the yard, through my coat and rushed against my skin. I shivered. This errand would need to be over quickly, so that I could get home and warm. A bed full of dogs sounded good about now.

I opened the door without trouble and went inside. The house smelled musty and old. I had read that science had proven that old people really do smell, and I wondered if they had used Ruby’s house as evidence. I turned on a few lights to push away my thoughts about seeing Ruby’s body.

I found the food and medication without problems. The leashes were hanging by the door, but the collars that Jimmy had said were there were missing. I shrugged. I’d just have to buy some more that fit Perry, I thought. I wondered who would be in charge of buying these things now that she was gone. I was certain she’d provided for these dogs. I dumped all of the things I’d found by the front door and quickly located the door that Jimmy had indicated was always locked.

It was open now, ajar, and I walked inside the room. The furniture was bare. A wood-framed bed stood by the one window covered only with a comforter. No sheets and no pillows. It was too Spartan for me. The curtains were a plain white panel that barely closed together. There were gaps around the sides of the window.

A single chair stood in the corner as well. I sat down in it, but nothing happened. There were no hidden compartments on it and no place to hide things. I was striking out fast. Maybe Ruby had just been a private person like me. I’d be going nuts if I thought that someone had invaded my home and was rooting through my things. However, it occurred to me that Ruby was in no position to complain these days. Someone had removed that luxury from her.

I heard the floor squeak outside the room. I got up quietly, assumed a defensive stance and waited. Nothing happened. Finally I decided to walk into the hallway to investigate. I went from room to room quickly, like I’d seen happen on a million cop shows, except I had no one to yell “clear.” It made the operation much less enjoyable. My nerves jangled as I moved around the house.

When I came to the kitchen, I found the source of the noise. One of the Beagles had escaped and was sitting in the kitchen eating some sugar cookies that had been on the table. I picked up the plate and the remaining cookies and brought the dog along with me to the bedroom again.

This time I heard no new noises. The room was so quiet that I could hear the sounds of the traffic outside.

The only place that I had not searched was the closet. When I opened the door, the contents nearly spilled out on me. There were mountains of papers in the closet. Ruby looked like a closet hoarder, pun intended. I couldn’t get through all of this paper in a week, much less a few hours. This was a job for one of those television shows about hoarding.

I managed to get through the better part of one stack before I gave up in frustration. This chore would have to go to the estate now that Ruby’s body had been found. That reminded me that I had to contact the lawyer to see about the disposition of the dogs now. I didn’t know what Ruby had provided for them, but it was a good bet that she’d provided well for them, and I wanted to find out who was supposed to take care of them now. I didn’t particularly mind having them with me, but the reality was that it would be better for the dogs to go to a forever home as soon as they could. Dogs don’t like disrupted schedules any more than humans do.

I put the papers back, collected all of the gear I’d found for the dogs, and returned to Mr. Lindauer’s to return the key and show him that I hadn’t taken anything not belonging to the dogs. I asked him about the collars, but he only maintained that Ruby had kept plenty of collars around for the dogs. It seemed reasonable to me. I had several for Bruno, including his very first one when he was just a little cute puppy.

I returned home, and the pair of Scotties met me with excitement. They apparently could both smell their own things and were excited to have a piece of “home” here. They played with some of their toys, even letting Bruno play a few times, before we all went to bed.

Since I had the dogs, I thought it would be easy to get a lawyer to open up to me, but I should have known better. Lawyers are always about protocol and confidentiality. I did manage to make an appointment, during which he gave me his name, but everything else was slow going.

“How did you come into possession of the Scotties?” Mr. Knox had asked. The man was rotund in practically every way. He had a very round head, perched on top of an amorphous body. He sat in the chair behind his desk and didn’t move as I started to tell him the story.

I explained the situation the best I could, trying to make Ida not sound like a terrible person for pawning them off on me. He nodded his head several times. “I’m still not clear on the purpose of this visit,” he said. “Are you asking for an advance from the estate for the care of the animals? That’s very irregular.”

“Not at all. However, I knew Ruby, and I highly suspect that she made provisions for the dogs in her will. I was wondering if I could find those out so that we could arrange for a stress-free transfer of the pets. They’ve been through a lot, and Perry, that is the male Scottie, has some injuries which seem to be related to Ruby’s death. I just want to make sure that they are properly cared for – just as Ruby would have,” I added for good measure.

He nodded. “I can tell you that Ms. Jenkins did make provisions for the dogs. They are to go to a family member who will receive a stipend that will allow them to properly care for the pets without any financial penalty to themselves.” He cleared his throat, as if he’d actually told me too much information. In fact, he hadn’t even told me enough to know who got the dogs.

“That’s great,” I replied. “Would it be possible to tell me which relative, so that I could contact her and prepare for the transfer of the dogs?”

“Her?” the lawyer asked without changing expression. “You believe that it’s a woman?” His brows furrowed as he looked at me.

“I was under the impression that all of the remaining relatives were females. Ida, and Phyllis’ two daughters.” I had a puzzled expression now. Was he just messing with me to try not to divulge any details of the will, or had I missed something? Was there another relative that I’d missed? Perhaps a male relative who might be very sore from being hit with a bat the other night?

The lawyer’s face didn’t move. It was entirely devoid of expression and indication of what was going on. “I really can’t tell you much about the will until the heirs have been notified of the disposition of the estate. It’s my duty to them and to Ruby. Privacy is always a big part of our business.”

“Well I know Ruby would like the estate to take care of the dogs. Could you then provide me with some money to care for the dogs?” I decided to go at it from another angle. Perhaps asking for cash would lead to a meeting with whoever was supposed to be in charge of the dogs. This was not an easy nut to crack, and the lack of expression made him difficult to read.

“I thought you said that you had sufficient funds?” he asked.

“I do, but if I don’t know how long I’ll have the dogs, then perhaps I need to be reimbursed for the care and feeding. This could be months or years before the will is probated and the heir takes the dogs.” I sighed, to let him know how put upon I felt.

“It could indeed be a while. I’ll have to check with the executor regarding that outlay.” He fiddled with some papers on his desk, but didn’t move to make contact. Apparently he didn’t want me to know anything about the executor.

“Could I speak to the executor?” I asked. “I could explain the situation. I’m really just looking for what’s best for the dogs.”

Another shake of the head. “I’ll get back to you regarding the funds. In the meantime, we appreciate your patience.”

I made another call to Detective Green when I got home. I knew of no other ways to find out the information I needed for the case in a timely manner. I could wait until the will was probated, but an estate had months to file the paperwork. In the meantime, the Scotties would be getting more attached to me. She answered on the third ring. “Hello, I was just talking about you, or did you know that already?”

“That’s not what I do. I’m not a psychic. I can just talk to animals.”

“So then to what do I owe the honor of this call?”

I cleared my throat. “I had a question regarding the will. I thought you’d probably seen it already and could tell me something.”

She tsked her tongue through the phone. “That’s cheating. You’re supposed to be solving this by talking to the animals in the case. Don’t you know that?”

I took a deep breath. “It’s actually about the animals. I wanted to know who gets the dogs under the provisions of the will, and what type of accommodations are being made for them. Obviously the dogs can’t answer a probate question for me.”

She paused, but stayed on the line. I could hear her breathing softly on the line. “I think I can answer that question for you. It’s actually related to what you need to know, and it’s not betraying any confidences. The will should be filed with probate this week, so it would be public at that point anyway.”

“Great. So what does it say?” I took out a pen and paper to write down the information, though I expected it to be a person I already had met.

“According to my notes, the dogs go to someone named Gregory Maxwell, identified as Ruby’s nephew, I think. He gets the dogs and most of the estate to take care of them. Sweet deal for a pair of dogs.”

“Most of the estate?” I asked. That was a lot of money based on what I’d heard. Hadn’t Ruby once mentioned a fortune?

“What there is of it. She had very little in the bank and even less in annuities and other accounts. We’re trying to figure out how she lived on what she had. Unless she had some money tucked away in the house, she was on the edge of bankruptcy.”

I explained what Mr. Lindauer had told me about the money squirreled away in a hiding place. I was sure to add in that Perry had seen her hide money from time to time, but he was unclear about the where and when. Even though I wasn’t a psychic, I knew that she was rolling her eyes at this one. Still, I wanted to throw in enough animal talk to ensure that my success would include a mention of the business. Free advertising is the best kind to have. Plus Green was always trying to find a way to trip me up on my abilities, so I wanted to make sure to keep it front and center, so there would be no doubts where my information came from. 

“Great. So we’ll have to keep on the lookout for someone trying to get into her house and trying to dig up the yard. That should be a treat. We’ll all be ready for stake-outs at ten below.”

I didn’t have much to say to that. I wouldn’t want her job for anything, even though she had come in handy more than once on this case. The thought of trying to dig up ground that had been frozen for months would be daunting to a construction crew. I wondered how Ruby did it.

However, it did get my mind to thinking about some of the events of the past few days and how they could be put together. Of course, when all was said and done, Della and Perry would be the two who told me the entire story, but for now, I just started taking the clues and putting them together until I had a picture of what could have happened. I was somewhat satisfied with my solution, though it would take some more work.

“Are you still there, or are the dogs talking to you again?” she asked. “Maybe they’ll tell you that you should call me sometime when I don’t have the information you want at the moment.”

I laughed. “Della has brought that point up on more than one occasion. After this is over, so soon, okay?”

She laughed. “Good for Della. At least someone there has some intelligence.”

“Um, I have to go. I just thought of something and I need to look into it, but I will be in touch, I promise.”

I hung up before she could ask what I was doing or what was so important. I knew now something about what had happened and who had been involved. Of course, it was a long way from knowing something and proving it in court. I was trying to think of what I needed to prove my theory, but it seemed like a long shot at best. I grabbed a few things that I might need and left the house.

My first stop was to Ruby’s sister, Ida. She was home when I arrived there. Her eyes squinted at me, taking in my rather manic attitude. Whatever she determined about me, she still let me in the front door to sit in the same room we’d sat in during my last visit.

“What’s so important that it couldn’t wait?” she asked.

“There were three children by Phyllis,” I stated simply. “You only mentioned the two girls.”

“We were talking about Ruby’s morals and judgments against her family members. The girls got the worst of it. Phyllis’ boy didn’t have the same problems that the girls had with her. She expected the girls to behave like young ladies from another era. They had to dress a certain way and act a certain way. After Melissa became pregnant, she was twice as hard on Marie. She watched that girl like a hawk.”

“Why would she do that?” I asked her.

“I’d rather not talk ill of the dead,” Ida said. The silence of the room overwhelmed us for a moment. I had no good comeback to that line, and she had nothing more to say on the matter.

I took a deep breath. “Well, perhaps you can tell me why Ruby didn’t trust banks. I’ve heard from a few people that she tucked her money away in the yard instead. Is that true?”

Ida laughed. “You’re certainly jumping around here. Ruby had a bank account just like the rest of us. However, she’d come into an inheritance when she was young. Rather than invest it in stocks or bonds, which she knew nothing about – and could lose everything – she opted to keep it near her. She liked the security of it.”

“Do you know where she kept it? What form it was in?” I had a couple of ideas on the matter, but I wanted to hear if the family knew it.

“No idea. We talked about it alright. She was tight, but one time she gave each of the nieces and nephew,” she added, “older currency, not the new bills, but something from back in the 1960s. So there was speculation in the family that she had kept a wad of bills at the house. When each of the kids graduated, she gave them each a gold coin worth a bit of money as well. So Gregory especially thought that she had a stack of gold coins lying around somewhere. As for me, she didn’t give me any money and so I had no ideas on the matter. Wasn’t worth my time. I would never be getting her money.”

I nodded. “Did the family know about her will? Have you heard the terms of it?”

The woman eyed me strangely now. “What about her will?”

“Did you know who got most of the estate?” I asked, wondering what her reluctance to talk indicated.

“The dogs do. They got nearly the whole thing.” She shook her head. I knew that she couldn’t understand an owner’s desire to ensure that their pets lived a happy and healthy life after they were gone. Ida would think it a waste of money to spend it on the family pets.

“But they had to have someone watch out for them? They had to have an executor.”

Ida’s mouth dissolved into a thin line of disapproval. “From the tone of your voice, you already know, so why are you asking me? Gregory got it. She cut the two girls out almost entirely. Melissa was cut out because she’d gotten pregnant. Marie was cut out because she had pet dander allergies and couldn’t have kept the dogs. Of all the reasons to knock someone out of your will – the kid had allergies.”

“Did Phyllis’ kids know about the estate?”

“Of course they did. Ruby wasn’t smart enough to keep her mouth shut about it. She told them all one time when we were together. It was one of the few times she came to visit without the dogs. She told Marie that she would have left her the estate if she’d had been able to tolerate the dogs. However, Marie sneezed and wheezed terribly whenever they were around.”

“Thank you. That’s what I needed to know.” I took a deep breath. At least the first step towards proving this case was complete.

“Why would you need to know this? What good does it do?”

“I have a pretty good idea of who killed Ruby and why,” I shared with her. “I am pretty close to solving this case.”

She rolled her eyes. “Fat lot of good it does for the family. Gregory won’t share with the family, that’s for sure.”

“How can you be so sure?” I asked. I wasn’t sure how our family would be at a time of death. We’d all reacted in our own way about my sister’s disappearance. We’d tried to ignore the ramifications of my father’s death and its causes. However, I wasn’t sure at all how we’d be in terms of a death from old age.

“He’s told us so. Gregory said that the money would only be used for the dogs and nothing else. Point blank.” Her cheeks had grown bright pink and a fire shown in her eyes. I wasn’t sure why she was so angry about money that she had no right to, but apparently she’d taken a huge interest in the funds.

“I was hoping to talk to Phyllis’ children,” I said honestly. I suspected that the answer to the mystery lay with them. I wasn’t sure who exactly, but Ida’s demeanor was making me feel that I was on the right track. Perhaps she was the one who had killed her own sister. It was possible, but I needed a male figure. Gregory looked like the best bet. I knew that someone had carried Ruby from her home, which required a lot of brute strength. I also knew that a man had broken into my house to look for the dogs. So I needed a man who could carry a woman around.