Three Dog Day (29 page)

“
I want to be sure I understand,” Sheriff Bradley said. “Once a student has passed his PhD defense, that's it? He's done?”

“
Well, he or she has to submit two copies of his completed and bound dissertation to the graduate school. One is for the library. But then, yes, the student is free to start looking for jobs. Anthony Puglisi is one of our stars, Sheriff. He has a bright future in front of him. I understand the University of Connecticut and several other schools are interviewing him for positions. Canine Leukemia is an important disease and Anthony's work had been ground breaking.”

“
So, he wouldn't have needed to do any further studies after the defense?” Ben's attention was focused and intense. “Nothing that would have required more puppies? We're going under the assumption that the person who murdered Web Johnston needed more dogs. Mr. Johnston was getting rid of all the dogs at the puppy mill at the request of the owner. So the supply of puppies would've been cut off.”

“
Well, I wouldn't want to say that Anthony had absolutely
no
reason to need more puppies,” Dr. Weil said. “I was in France, as I said, and not present at Anthony's defense. You'll want to ask Dick Heisey that question. Is that all, Sheriff? I need to get back to the lab.”

“
Is your passport at the lab?”

“
Yes, it is.”

“
Then, if you don't mind, Detective Fuller will follow you back to the vet school and check your passport date stamps, so we can rule you out of this investigation.”

“
That would be fine,” Dr. Weil said. “I hope you find Web Johnston's killer, Sheriff. I'm going to have to get busy finding another breeder who can supply us with pups.”

“
Could you wait in reception just a moment, Dr. Weil? I need to speak to my detective.”

“
Certainly,” Dr. Weil answered and left for Dory's domain. Ben and Rob could hear them chatting.

Sheriff Bradley turned to Detective Fuller. “Rob, once you've seen the date stamps on Dr. Weil's passport—provided he alibis out—see if you can find the lab manager, Gretchen Wilkes. You saw her picture on the wall at the Vet School.”

“
On it, boss,” Rob said. “I'll see what I can find out about why she tried to get Mae's puppies.”

“
And also get some contact information for Dr. Heisey. Since he's in a wheelchair, I don't want to ask him to come in. If you can locate him, see if you can find out anything about that dissertation defense. I have a feeling what happened in that room on January third is vital to finding Johnston's killer. We need Mr. and Mrs. Puglisi's home phone and address, too.”

“
Got it,” Rob said.

Several hours later, Rob called the station.

“
The sheriff's been waiting for your call,” Dory said and buzzed him through.

“
Hi Rob, what did you find out?”

“
Okay. First things first. Dr. Weil was definitely in France the whole first week in January. He alibis out. Second, I found Dr. Heisey. It's like Dr. Weil said, the man's in a wheelchair. He couldn't even lift his hand to shake mine. He's not our man. I cornered Gretchen Wilkes for a minute. She seemed evasive and would only say that she wanted those two puppies to help Julia finish up one of her experiments. I think we should talk with her some more, but she's right handed, and not tall enough to meet Dr. Estes description of the killer.”

“
She said she wanted the puppies for Julia?”

“
Yes, that's what she said, but I spoke briefly with Miss D'Amato and she said Gretchen must have been confused. She didn't need any more puppies at this time. She would need more in a month or two for another study, but she didn't need any in January.”

“
And Mae told me Gretchen said that the puppies were for Anthony,” Ben said thoughtfully. “So what happened at that dissertation defense?”

“
That's when things got real interesting,” Rob Fuller's voice sharpened. “It seems that our Mr. Anthony Puglisi, star of the vet med school, didn't quite finish everything. One of his committee members reminded him that he had to submit an article to a professional journal before he could accept any job offers or positions.”

“
So, it's not just the defense, the candidates have to write an article based on their dissertation research, too?”

“
Right. And here's the most interesting thing of all. Anthony's sample size for his study was too small for a professional journal article. For that, he needed two more puppies.”

“
Ah,” Ben said as the pieces clicked into place.

“
We have Anthony Puglisi's cellphone, but we don't want to do this by phone, do we?” Rob Fuller asked. “Will we be going on a little field trip, Sheriff?”

“
Oh, we certainly will,” Ben said. “Anthony Puglisi is in my gun sights.”

D
ory was counting each dragging minute until Ben left the office on the day of what she was calling the “evidence retrieval mission.” She had asked Mae to help out by luring the sheriff away from the office and was expecting Mae's call to come in soon.

“
All I need is for you to get him to leave the office early,” Dory told Mae, when she asked for her help. Mae told her it wasn't a problem.

“
He's coming here tonight anyway,” she had said. “I'm picking Matthew up from his mom's at five-thirty and Ben is meeting us for an early dinner so we can get to the tux shop before they close. Why do you need him gone anyway?”

“
It's my idea for getting my investigator title back.” Dory was enigmatic. “The less you know about it, the better.”

“
And you're sure Ben is going to be happy about this?” Mae asked. She told Dory she wouldn't aid and abet this venture if it didn't benefit her boyfriend.

“
He'll be gleeful,” Dory said. “Seriously. He'll be so pleased by the initiative of his team.”

“
Don't get yourself or me into trouble, Dory,” Mae warned. “We've both been on the receiving end of Ben's disappointment in the past.”

“
Not this time, Miss December. We're good.” What Dory planned would end up getting Ben the support of Mr. Logan Yancey in his next election, she told Mae. Anticipating Mae's next question, Dory said, “I don't want you to worry, Mae. Since I won't be home until really late tonight, I've already called Nell to take care of True.”

“
Good. Speaking of puppies, I got some great news about the person who's taking Pearl Jam, Ray's puppy.”

“
Who is it?”

“
Ray's father. Apparently Ray's parents divorced when he was little, before Mrs. Fenton got sick. Ray's dad picked him up from my house the other day and we got to talking.”

“
I just bet you did,” Dory replied with amusement. “You should've gone into sales, young lady. You're very persuasive.” She heard Mae giggle. “So does the story end with Pearl Jam being adopted by Mr. Fenton?”

“
Yep, he and Ray filled out the forms at the ASPCA yesterday, and next time Ray comes over here to work, his dad will pick both of them up. By tomorrow afternoon I'll be out of puppies.”

At five thirty-five, Ben walked out to the front area wearing his coat, issued some last minute instructions and walked out to his car. Dory had already enlisted the luckless Deputy George and the eager Miss Gomez in her mission. When the front office door slammed behind the sheriff, Cam and George both sidled over to her desk to see if it was time.

“
Rob has a date with a young woman he's been pursuing, and Wayne left at four,” Dory whispered. “The dispatcher in Mont Blanc is handling our night calls. All we have to do now is sit tight until Rob leaves.” The deputies went back to their respective stations. Around six-thirty, Rob came out to the front reception area.

“
Still working, Dory?” Rob asked.

“
Double checking everything we have on Web Johnston,” Dory said, not raising her eyes from her computer screen.

Rob said he was leaving for the night and departed. Dory waited another half hour, watching the minutes go by in what felt like hours before giving the nod to George and Cam.

“
George, are you ready?” Dory asked.

“
Yes, I am. Should I bring my gun?”

“
Seriously, George, seriously? No way. Go get the patrol car, will you?”

She looked at Deputy Gomez in her uniform and said, “Cam, we're ready to go. You're coming with me.” George was walking past Dory's desk when she told him, “Deputy Gomez and I have to stop at the drug store to pick something up, but we'll meet you at the corner of Willow and Red Oak Drive in half an hour.”

“
Okay.” George grabbed his coat and went out into the cold rainy night. The street lights lit up the wet pavement of the parking lot when the two women left in Dory's T-bird. Dory stopped at a nearby Walgreens and purchased an enormous red bow she found in the gift-wrap section.

“
Now what did you want this for?” Cam asked when Dory returned to the car, her pretty brow furrowed in perplexity.

“
We're giving Sheriff Bradley a big fat present,” Dory grinned. “I want to put a bow on it.”

“
You're not going to put it on the culprit, are you, Dory?”

“
It would look pretty sweet on his dumb head, but no, it's for the property that I'm going to put in the sheriff's office.”

They got to their destination at the corner of Willow and Red Oak right on time. George was sitting in the patrol car with the radio on. Dory parked her distinctive vehicle in a nearby cul-de-sac, and she and Cam walked at a fast clip along the rain-slick sidewalks to join George in the patrol car. Dory slid into the front seat, Cam in the back. The three conspirators looked at one another in barely suppressed delight.

“
So, here's the plan, George,” Dory said, looking intently into his eyes. “I'm just going to go over it one more time, okay?” George nodded. “These folks have a semi-circular driveway that comes up pretty close to their front door. We're going to drive the car into the driveway and leave it running with the red light on top flashing. Just as we get out of the car, you'll turn the siren on and then off quickly. Then you know where you're headed, right?”

“
Around back, right?” George asked. “And you and Cam are going up to the front door?”

“
You got it, George, and if the guy goes out the back door, you get to arrest him.”

“
What if he runs?”

“
For pity's sake, George, say, ‘Stop, sheriff's department' and run after him. Trip him if you need to, but don't let him get away. You have the cuffs, right?”

George gestured to the handcuffs attached to his belt loops.

“
Ready, Cam?”

“
Ready,” she said and George drove into the semi-circular drive of the large stone house. He turned on the siren for just a moment and flipped the button for the red revolving light on top of the car. Dory watched the house and saw a shadow of a woman near the front drapes. The silhouette parted the drapes slightly to allow for a view of the police car.

“
Go, George!” Dory said. George ran, bent over, around the side of the house. Cam got out of the car with Dory right behind her. They walked to the large front door and rang the bell. Holly bushes by the front door glistened with rain drops. The motion light came on and a large birch tree with a remnant of yellow leaves shone. They could hear footsteps approaching and a woman opened the door.

“
Good evening. I'm Deputy Gomez from the Rose County Sheriff's Office,” Cam said and produced her ID. “This is Investigator Clarkson, also from our office. Are you Mrs. Junior Barnes?”

“
Yes, I'm Cindy,” she said but made no move to open the door any wider. “What'dya want?”

“
We just need to talk to you for a few minutes.” Cam inserted her foot into the door opening. “May we come in?”

“
I guess.” The woman reluctantly opened the door wider. “What's this about?” Cam and Dory walked into a two-story entryway. It was floored in shiny patterned Carrera marble. Dory remembered Rob's report on the Yancey theft; several pallets of marble had gone missing
. I wonder if the flooring in the Barnes entry was installed recently.
A curving staircase with white spindles and a black curving handrail rose into the dark upper story of the house.

“
We've had a report that you and your husband have a fireplace surround in your possession that belongs to Mr. Logan Yancey,” Cam said. “We're here to take custody of the item. We need to confirm that it's Mr. Yancey's property. Can we see it?”

“
There was an error in delivery,” Cindy Barnes told them. “They brought us the wrong surround by mistake. I better ask my husband what he did with it.” Turning toward the staircase she called, “Junior, come down here! The sheriff's office wants that fireplace surround.” There was a sudden clattering of feet descending a back staircase and the sound of a door at the rear of the house slamming. Dory crossed her fingers that George Phelps would be up to the task.