The Nose Knows (23 page)

“You know, Spunk, we’ve got ourselves a real problem. No one knows what Mr. Johnson was up to, and then Donny’s apartment was broken into and someone messed with his computer. All of it’s so weird. Sure is making me uncomfortable. I don’t like it at all. It makes me remember too many things I’d just as soon forget. I don’t like it one little bit. . . .”

I so wanted to stick my head out of the window. But Mom was going on and on. I knew if my head was out the window I wouldn’t be able to hear a dang thing and I might miss something important. So I dutifully sat in my seat and cocked my head. That way she knew I was listening to everything she was saying. I don’t think she even noticed my longing glances toward the open window with the wonderful breeze rushing past. Ah, the things we sacrifice for love.

“Besides, Spunky, what would anyone gain from eavesdropping on our sessions? Maybe someone in the group has a past they’re trying to hide . . . I wonder which one it might be. . . . Alan sure is. . . .”

Luckily we had arrived at Cynthia’s house. Mom entered her “professional mode” and got herself back in control.

“Come on in, Dr. Richards. I see you brought your dog. Hi there, little guy.”

Little
guy
! Who did she think she was talking to?

Mom proceeded to put emphasis on the female pronouns. “Cynthia, this
gal’s
name is Spunky. I hope it’s okay if
she
comes in, otherwise I can leave
her
in the car.” No way was I waiting in the car. I gave Cynthia one of my extra cute looks. I cocked my head and raised my eyebrows.

Cynthia laughed. It was a good sign. “Of course, Spunky can come in.”

“What a lovely home you have, Cynthia. Have you lived here long?”

“Only a few years. But it suits me just fine. Let me show you around.”

It was a small but very nice house. It was a lot more modern than ours was. There were no critter smells, except for the mouse that was currently living in her kitchen. I didn’t linger and keep smelling that particular wall, or Cynthia might have noticed and caused trouble for the little guy.

“Come on, Dr. Richards, let’s go into my office. I picked up Donny’s computer early this morning and I’ve been working on it.”

“Did you learn anything yet?” Mom asked.

Cynthia’s eyebrows went way up. “I certainly did. Come on, I’ll show you.”

She led us into her office. Wow, it looked like something out of a science fiction movie, with all kinds of gadgets and techno-gizmos. What? Did you forget dogs watch the same television shows you do? Mom is a big “Star Trek” fan. I didn’t have a clue what any of this stuff was but Cynthia seemed comfortable with all of it.

I jumped onto a wooden bench so I could get a better look. On her worktable was another laptop. I guessed it was Donny’s computer. Cynthia had taken off the protective casing and we were looking at the innards.

There was a large magnifying lens on a long, moveable arm attached to the corner of the table. Cynthia swung it over the laptop. “Here, Doc, take a look at this.”

Mom peered through the glass while Cynthia used a pencil to point at something in the innards.

“See right here? That’s a bug. Someone planted it there so he could tap into the transmissions from any networks connecting to this computer. Our therapy group is one such network.”

Mom sucked in a breath. Her voice got very quiet. “Good Lord, why would someone want to do that?”

“Don’t know, but I can tell you someone tracked each of our computers when we communicated with Donny’s laptop. My computer is clean. It has no bugs. Since they chose to bug Donny’s computer, maybe he has more of a past than he wants us to know about. Maybe all that shy, timid stuff is just an act.”

Mom stepped back and folded her arms across her chest. She rubbed the sides of her arms. It wasn’t cold in Cynthia’s office, but then I didn’t think Mom’s sudden chill was due to the temperature.

“The same thought briefly crossed my mind, but I doubt it’s true, Cynthia.” Mom’s voice was calm and quiet. “Why would Donny let you tear apart his computer if he had something to hide? Besides, we all have something in our past that we’d just as soon forget. That doesn’t mean it would be the reason behind all this.”

Cynthia sighed. “Yeah, that’s true. So far, none of this makes any sense at all. Let me check your computer and make sure there’s nothing peculiar there.”

Mom sat down and I climbed onto her lap. Once again, her rhythmic stroking of my fur soon helped to drop her nervousness a notch or two. However, not even my influence was going to erase this much anxiety. We watched as Cynthia worked on Mom’s computer.

“Now that’s really weird.”

“What?”

Cynthia hesitated. “Well, your computer has a bug all right, except it’s an old bug.”

Mom was up and out of the chair as I slid off her lap. Her voice was shaky. “What are you talking about?”

I jumped back onto the bench.

Cynthia swung the magnifier into position as she again pointed with her pencil. “See this, right here? That’s not supposed to be there. The weird part is this isn’t an old computer, but this is an old bug. I’m not even sure if it’s functional any more. I’ll have to run some tests to find out. Is it okay if I take it out of there?”

“Yes, of course, take it out. I sure don’t want it in there. But wait, maybe we should take all the computers to the police.”

The look on Cynthia’s face pretty much summed up the situation and Mom answered, “Yeah, you’re right. What would they do? Dust for prints and file a report? Donny said they found only his prints on his computer, so the intruder must have worn gloves. The police called me this morning asking about . . . well, they called asking a bunch of questions. I’m afraid if we show up now, worried about an old bug, they’ll think we’re all a bunch of loonies. Plus, they might take our computers as evidence and who knows how long before we’d get them back? You might as well see what you can learn first. Then we can decide what to do about it.”

Cynthia took the tiny device out of Mom’s computer and attached it to another device. After a few minutes she said, “Well, this bug sure isn’t going to tell anyone anything. It’s as dead as a doornail. I don’t have a clue how it got there. Did you buy this computer brand new?”

Mom answered, “Yes, about six years ago. I got a really good deal, too.”

“Well, that’s about how old this bug is,” Cynthia said. “In the world of tracking devices, that’s a very long time. So now what do we do?”

Mom sat down. “Well, that’s a good question. I’m not sure. Maybe it’d be a good idea if you checked everyone’s computer. Would you be willing to do that?”

Cynthia smiled. “Sure, I love playing computer detective. It’s what I do all the time for the insurance company. But do you honestly think Alan is going to let me poke around inside his machine? I bet he has a whole bunch of gay sex sites listed.” Her smile widened. “It could be very interesting.”

Mom frowned. “Cynthia, stop stereotyping people. I agree Alan might not like you poking around in his computer unsupervised, but that’s because he doesn’t trust you. So maybe he should stand right here and watch you do it.”

Cynthia shrugged. “Sure, what do I care? But he’d better keep his wisecracks to himself or his computer might suddenly develop some of its own strange techno-problems.”

Mom sighed. “Oh, for Pete’s sake. Just to make sure there are no so-called techno-problems, I’ll see if Alan and John will let
me
bring their computers over here. Maybe they’ll allow me to stand guard.”

Cynthia looked as if she was sorry for what she’d said. I gave her the benefit of the doubt. I was starting to like her a bit more. I was impressed with all she knew about computers, and besides she’d let me into her house.

Ultimately, Cynthia didn’t find anything unusual on the computer in the downtown office, nor on Alan’s and John’s computers, nor on Melanie’s personal computer. However, Melanie did remind us that most of the time she now logged in from her job and we couldn’t check those computers. I wished I could’ve gotten a peek at Melanie’s personal laptop. Would have loved to see what web sites she visited. Don’t get me wrong, it wouldn’t change my opinion of the girl one way or the other. I’d still like her. Terriers are loyal, sometimes to a fault. But this whole investigation of everyone’s computers made me think how beneficial it’d be if Mom could get a look into what they did in the privacy of their own homes. She could cut to the chase a lot faster. But I guess most of the fun is the hunt. Once you’ve treed the fox, the game’s over. Maybe plodding through their resistance and defense mechanisms has its own rewards.

The computers were clean. There were no new clues. Mom now faced the proverbial “What next?”

A
few evenings later, Mom had Jacob over for dinner. Jacob and Quincy had been keeping close tabs on Mom by hanging around more than usual and accompanying Mom on her trips to town. I guess Mom’s earlier annoyance with him had faded. We both wanted to thank them. Mom had bought Jacob a big steak. I brought out one of my new rawhide bones. Quincy was polite and initially refused my gift by saying, “Hey, that’s not necessary. You know Jacob and I really care about all of you. It’s an honor to look out for you.”

“I appreciate that, Quincy, and although we both know I’m fully capable of watching out for Mom all by myself, I think having the extra security around makes her feel better. Really, I appreciate it. So, you just go on and take that rawhide. I was saving it for something special, and I think you qualify. ”

I knew Quincy would cave in and take it. He was already drooling. Besides, I knew he loved a good chew. He was courteous and didn’t begin chewing right away, but waited until I had found my old one under the couch. My best guess, Bobby was the one who’d try to hide it from me. Foolish child, he’d need a couple feet of dirt to hide it from this nose. I began gnawing away. Quincy hunkered on down and started enjoying his present.

As we chewed, we listened to Mom and Jacob. They were relaxing on the sofa and sipping their coffee.

“So now what do I do?” Mom asked. “We know Donny’s computer was bugged and mine had that weird old bug on it. But I don’t see how the two could be related.”

“Sure would be weird if they were,” Jacob answered. “Why would someone put a new bug in Donnie’s computer but such an old one in yours? That makes no sense. But, even if they aren’t connected, I’m still not comfortable with you just logging back on like before and acting like nothing happened. Have you talked to Donny?”

“Yeah, in fact I had two private sessions with him. Of course, I didn’t charge him anything. The first one was to help him deal with the fact that someone had been in his apartment. But I’ll admit the second session was more for me. I wanted to poke around more and see if I could find out anything he might be hiding.”

“And?”

Mom hesitated but said, “Well, Donny is either a very good actor or else he really is that shy and sweet. I’m even more convinced now that he’s the real deal. In all honesty, he’s the last one in the group I’d suspect of doing anything underhanded.”

“Maybe that makes him the perfect one to pull it off.”

“Maybe,” Mom said. “But my gut says he’s genuinely upset about all of this. I believe he’s telling the truth.”

“What about the others?”

“Same reaction. Some of them can be a pain in the butt, but each one is protective of the group. Like in a family, one child can get mad at another but they’re still family. If someone threatens your brother, you forget your anger and protect him. You might pick on him but that doesn’t mean you’ll tolerate anyone else picking on him. The only one I’m not sure about is Alan. My opinion could be tainted by the fact that he’s so annoying. But I think he’s more edgy lately. I can’t put my finger on it, but I think something else is going on with him. He’s the one who acts like he’s hiding something.”

“Do you think you should tell the police about your computer?” Jacob asked.

Mom shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe we should let them know about the old bug. But Donny called them when his place was broken into, and look how far that got him. They think he is a paranoid loony. Besides, we can’t prove when Donny’s computer was bugged. His bug might’ve been there for a long time too. No, I just don’t see what the police could possibly do at this point. I guess all we can do is to stay alert and have the group meet the old-fashioned way—in person—and in public— at least for awhile. What else can we do?”

“Nothing, I guess.” Jacob’s words were fine, but his voice wasn’t. I studied his face. He was avoiding looking at Mom. He was fiddling with his napkin and his leg was vibrating up and down. He was up to something. He was holding back. But he didn’t give any indication what it was. He did say he’d continue to follow Mom to every group meeting so he could keep her in his sights.

“And of course,” Quincy said, as he stood and stretched himself up tall, “I’ll also be in the car, just in case I’m needed.”

Jacob put down his coffee, moved closer and put his arm around Mom. She stiffened, but apparently Jacob either didn’t notice or else he chose to ignore it. Dumb move.