Trouble at the Kennel

by Dianne Harman

  The Dog Who Nose is pretty sure the rumors are true. No Duchess at shows and no mention of Duchess’ puppies up for sale – a combination that almost insures that Duchess is pregnant, but not by the stud her owner was hoping would be the sire. Stay tuned and when The Dog Who Nose has more information, you’ll be the first to know.”

  Wow, Kelly thought. This really is a different world. I’ll bet the owner isn’t too thrilled with this article. And to think that everyone who comes to this show can pick up the newspaper and read about Duchess.

  When she put the paper down she noticed that the dogs were being brought into the ring by their handlers. Each of the dogs that was trotting around the ring had been fluffed, combed, and carefully groomed. She smiled, thinking they looked like they should be sitting on chaise lounges having champagne served to them by attentive maids or butlers. These dogs didn’t look like they belonged to the working class, but instead would be more at home with a member of the aristocracy.

  While she was sitting there mulling over the grooming of her dogs, which was practically nonexistent, versus the Yorkies’ grooming, she overheard a conversation taking place behind her.

  “Susie, it’s good to see you,” a woman sitting behind her said as the woman named Susie sat down next to her. “Kind of interesting that Lisa doesn’t have Duchess in the ring. I remember Lisa saying that Duchess was going to be coming into heat. Makes me think that the article by The Dog Who Nose might be right. Have you heard anything? Is that why they’re not here?”

  Kelly realized they were talking about the woman Mary had been concerned was going to sue the kennel, the one Noelle had mentioned.

  “Probably,” the woman named Susie answered. “A good friend of mine works for Dr. Simpson, and he confirmed that she’s pregnant, but evidently Lisa is furious about it.”

  “Why would she be furious? From what she gets for the puppies that are in Duchess’ litters, I’d think she’d be ecstatic.”

  “Normally she would be. I guess you didn’t read the article very thoroughly because there’s a little problem with this pregnancy. I know you’re discreet, Gina, but I would appreciate it if what I tell you isn’t repeated. You know how people in the dog world like to gossip. The mere scent of a scandal and the rumors start. I really don’t want to get involved in something like that, plus I promised my friend I wouldn’t say anything.”

  “I understand. Susie, you know you can trust me. What’s going on with Duchess, and no, I just glanced at the article.”

  “Well, from what my friend overheard Lisa telling Dr. Simpson, it seems like she went to her nephew’s wedding about a month ago. The woman she usually uses to dog sit Duchess became ill and had to cancel. She called several people she knows who have champion dogs, and they all said the best kennel for boarding, if you had to do it, was the Doggie Love Kennel. She left Duchess there over a weekend.”

  “I know the kennel, and it’s excellent, but did you know the owner was murdered yesterday? I also heard that someone released all the dogs from their kennels. Can you imagine what would have happened if Duchess had gotten out? One look at her, and I’m sure she’d be stolen and wind up in one of those terrible puppy mills.”

  “Yes, I heard the same, and when I tell you what happened, you’ll understand why my friend heard Lisa tell Dr. Simpson that she thought the owner deserved to be murdered. She said she was so angry she could have killed the owner herself.”

  “Wow, that’s so unlike Lisa. What happened?”

  “Well, she left Duchess at the kennel and arranged for her to have a special kennel because the owner has a policy that any female dog that’s not spayed and could come into heat has to have its own special kennel, and they cannot be around any of the other dogs. And from what my friend said, those kennels don’t come cheap. Lisa said it was almost like she was being punished for not having Duchess spayed.”

  “I’ve boarded Fluffy there, and I felt the same way. So what happened?”

  “A week or so ago she said she noticed that something seemed to be off with Duchess. She told Dr. Simpson that she waited a few days thinking that her loss of appetite and lack of energy were due to a touch of the flu or something like that, but then Lisa became suspicious and made an appointment with Dr. Simpson so he could examine her. He confirmed she was pregnant. He wanted to know who Lisa had bred her to because he followed the dog shows and knew most of the other Yorkies that were quality show dogs like Duchess.”

  “Well, so who is the proud father? Like the vet, we know most of the champions in the breed.”

  “That’s the problem, Gina, she didn’t breed her to a Yorkie or any other dog for that matter. Dr. Simpson told her Duchess was about four weeks pregnant, and she should check her calendar and try and reconstruct where she might have been at that time. It turns out that was when she’d boarded Duchess at the Doggie Love Kennel.

  “She called the doctor after she got home and told him she’d taken Duchess to the Doggie Love Kennel that weekend. She said someone must have left the door of her kennel ajar and some male dog got into Duchess’ kennel. Lisa told him what really worried her was she has no idea who the father is. She’s afraid it might be some very large dog, and if that’s the case, Duchess could very well have problems delivering the puppies. My friend said she was calling the doctor almost every day, and the doctor was getting pretty tired of all the drama.”

  “Do you know if she called the kennel when she realized Duchess had probably gotten pregnant during the weekend when she was at the kennel?” Gina asked.

  “Yes,” Susie said, “but she told Dr. Simpson it sure didn’t do her any good. She said she’d spoken to the owner, a woman named Mary. She’s the one who was murdered yesterday. The owner denied having any knowledge of Duchess’ door being left open and actually told Lisa she had to be mistaken. She said it could not have happened at her kennel. She was in a state of total denial. Lisa told the doctor it was not a good phone call. It ended with Lisa telling the owner that her lawyer would be calling her, and you know Lisa. With all her money, she has a lawyer on a permanent retainer.”

  “Now that the owner of the kennel is dead, do you think she’ll go ahead and sue the kennel?”

  “I don’t think so. My friend told me Lisa said she was just glad the owner was dead, and she hoped the kennel would be bulldozed and the land sold to some developer. She was worried it could not only be the end of Duchess’ career, but it could even be the end of her life. And all because somebody left the door to her kennel open.”

  “That really is a shame. Duchess is one of the best Yorkie terrier show dogs in the country. I think Lisa even told me once she had a waiting list of people who want her puppies, and they are very expensive What about terminating her pregnancy? I know that’s an option.”

  “I wondered the same thing. I guess Lisa is morally opposed to abortions and feeling that way, she couldn’t allow her dog to have one. Dr. Simpson said about the best thing she could hope for if she wasn’t going to allow an abortion was to hope Duchess had a miscarriage.”

  “As a dog owner, I can understand how she feels. That is so sad.”

  “I know. There’s a good chance she could be injured giving birth to the puppies and never be able to have another litter. Plus, Lisa might not be able to show her again if she’s injured, to say nothing of the fact that she might die delivering the puppies.”

  “I honestly don’t know what I’d do in that situation. The one thing I do know is I’d be furious!”

  “From what I hear she was and is. Oh, look. Fluffy’s doing really well. The judge just motioned to your handler. Congratulations!”

  “Thanks, I better go down to the ring. Fluffy likes to see me as soon as she finishes a show.” She stood up and started walking down to the ring. Kelly got up from where she’d been sitting, and walked towards the door. As she was walking out, she happened to be behind the woman who had been talking to Susie. The woman stopped in front of another woman, bent down in front of the
other woman and said in a low voice which Kelly could barely hear, “Cindy, you won’t believe what happened to Duchess. I’ll call you and tell you all about it.”

  Well, Kelly thought, so much for not breathing a word of it. I’ve read where dog shows are viciously competitive, but to promise someone you won’t tell anyone about a confidence and then a moment later renege on your promise is really wrong. Guess she wants Fluffy to be the number one Yorkie, and with Duchess out of the running, she very well might be. It sounds to me like Lisa had a motive to commit murder, and she’s very angry. That’s a combination that easily makes for another suspect. Time to head home and see if Mike’s found out anything.

  CHAPTER 14

  “Hi, everybody, I’m home,” Kelly said to the two big dogs who greeted her as soon as she walked into the house from the garage. “Come on guys, let’s get Skyy out of her kennel and take her outside. You two could probably use a little time in the yard as well.”

  A few minutes later Kelly saw all three dogs frolicking around in the back yard, two big ones and one little one who kept herself busy aping whatever the big ones were doing.

  Puppies need to eat a lot and even though she’s been fed twice today, I’ll bet she’s hungry. I’ll take care of all three of them before I start our dinner. Fortunately, none of them is food possessive, and I can put all of their dog dishes with food in them on the patio.

  She carried the three plastic bowls to the patio, pink for Lady, light blue for Skyy, and dark blue for Rebel. Within minutes, the food had been eaten. Kelly refilled the big water dish she kept on the patio for them and let them back in the house.

  Mike’s probably had a long, tough day, and there’s nothing better than a good meal at the end of one of those kind of days, Kelly thought. Sometimes there’s nothing better than a hamburger, and the recipe I got from the manager of a fast food chain in Portland will be perfect tonight. I’ve got a can of beans, and I’ll doctor them up the way Mike likes, so he’ll be a happy camper.

  She looked at the monitor of her ringing phone and saw that it was Mike. “Hi,” she said. Hope you’re not calling to tell me you’re going to be late.”

  “Nope, I’m calling to tell you I’m almost home. Be there in about five minutes. How are all the dogs doing?”

  Kelly heard a commotion and looked down the hall where Skyy was running with a roll of toilet paper in her mouth and trailing a long white banner behind her. “Well, other than the fact that Skyy has just discovered how much fun it can be to take a roll of toilet paper from its holder and run with it, they’re fine,” she said laughing. “I’ll let you clean that mess up when you get home, so I can concentrate on fixing dinner.”

  A few minutes later Mike walked in, looked down the hall and rolled his eyes. “I don’t know if your cuteness extends this far,” he said to the little ball of fur that was jumping on his legs, begging to be picked up. “Rebel, Lady, you have a little work to do with this one. I have no intention of buying stock in a toilet paper company simply because we have a dog that has to run around the house with a roll of it in her mouth.” He walked over to Kelly and lightly kissed her. “So, how was your day?”

  “Very interesting. And yours?”

  “About the same.”

  “Any luck on finding the killer?” She paused for a moment. “Mike, those words sound awful. I wonder how many marriages there are when almost the first words one spouse says to the other is ‘any luck on finding the killer?’ I can’t believe that’s the first thing I asked you.”

  “I can believe it. It seems we’re always in the wrong place at the wrong time, but in answer to your question, no, I didn’t have any luck finding the killer. I’ll tell you all about my day, but first I need to change clothes and pick up toilet paper. I’ll be back in a minute,” he said setting Skyy down on the floor. He walked down the hall, followed by Skyy and Rebel. Lady opted to stay with Kelly.

  “Thanks, girl. I was beginning to feel unappreciated.” She set out the ingredients for the special burgers, put the cast iron grill on the range, and then poured a can of beans into a small saucepan. She added some brown sugar, barbecue sauce, and a few diced onions to the beans. Kelly poured each of them a glass of wine and set the table. Mike returned in a few minutes dressed in a t-shirt and jeans.

  She handed him a glass of wine and said, “Could you believe the coffee shop when you were there? It was absolutely standing room only from the time I opened to the time I closed. Rumors were flying, but no one seems to know much about the murder or letting the dogs out of their kennels. What did you find out from the manager?”

  “Nothing much. She’s still pretty much in shock over the fact that her boss was murdered, and the dogs were let out. We tried to figure out who would have had access to the kennel area. As you know, there are a lot of individual kennels in the big building where the kennels are located. There are four doors that lead into it, so we figure one of those was probably left unlocked by a kennel employee. I asked Sandy if she knew of anyone who would like to see the kennel get bad publicity, and she couldn’t think of anyone.”

  “Did she mention the people Noelle told me about?”

  “Yes, she was very aware of the situation with the pit bull guy and the Yorkie woman, but didn’t think either one of them was capable of committing murder or letting all the dogs out.”

  “What about disgruntled employees? Any leads there?”

  “Not really. She’s the one who hired them and thinks they’re all pretty solid. Sandy did mention she didn’t particularly care for one of them, a young man named Ricky Anderson. She said her boss, Mary Barnes, had insisted she hire him. She told Sandy that she and the boy’s father had been an item at one time, and she hired him as a favor to his father.”

  “What does he do there?”

  “He cleans the kennels and the grounds. I talked to him, and I don’t think he has a lot going on upstairs. Actually, having known Mary over the years, I’m kind of surprised she did hire him.”

  “Hmmm. How old is he?”

  “I think he’s about nineteen or so. Why?”

  “That would make him about the same age as Madison and Brandon. I wonder if they went to school with him. Maybe I should call Madison tomorrow and ask her.”

  “All right, since she’s your employee you can ask her, but that’s it. I don’t want you talking to him or investigating anything about him, nothing, and I mean zilch, zero, nada. Is that understood?”

  “Of course, Mike. You know I wouldn’t get involved in one of your cases if you didn’t want me to. I just thought one of them might have a little information about him.”

  “Right, Kelly, right. Why do I think you already know more about this case than I do?”

  “Well, you know how things just seem to kind of happen to me. It seems like a couple of things happened to me today that sort of fall into that category.”

  “I’m sure they did, Kelly. I’m sure they did,” he said, raising his eyebrows, “Would you care to tell me what things kind of happened to you today?”

  “Of course. I thought you’d never ask.”

  “Don’t push it, Kelly. You’re already skating on very thin ice here.”

  “Well, here’s the thing, Mike. I heard about a dog show that started out at the fairgrounds this afternoon, and I thought I’d see what a dog show was like. It was the luckiest thing I went because…”

  She told him about her conversation with Jack Powell and the conversation she’d overheard about Lisa and Duchess. When she was finished talking, she asked, “So, what do you think?”

  “I think you lead a charmed life. You just happened to be in the places where you’d talk to and overhear conversations from two of the people who hated Mary Barnes. That is a little too much coincidence for me. It could only happen to you. Did you see any other breeds?”

  “Well, no. Since Noelle told me that Jack specialized in pit bulls and Lisa had a Yorkie, I thought I’d start with those two. After my success there, I didn�
�t feel I needed to go anywhere else. Oh wait, I did take a peek into the grooming room.” She told him what she had seen there.

  “I love our dogs,” Mike said, “but murdering because of one? That seems like a very far stretch, but I’m beginning to think I’m wrong from what you’re telling me. Sounds like there’s a lot of money and ego tied up in these dog shows and champion dogs, and both of those things can sure be the basis for a murder.”

  “Have you gotten a coroner’s report yet?”

  “Glad you mentioned it. There was a call from the coroner when I was talking to you just before I got home. I’ll check it out after dinner, speaking of which, what are we having tonight?”

  “One time when I was in Portland I was really pressed for time, and I stopped at a fast food restaurant. You know they’re generally not my favorite kind of restaurant, but the hamburger I had there was hands down the best I’d ever had in my life. I told the young woman behind the counter that I’d like to speak to the manager, and I asked him if he could share the recipe. He told me it was a secret recipe, and he couldn’t give it to me. I’m not too proud about it, but I took a twenty-dollar bill out of my purse and told him I’d really appreciate it if he could give me the recipe, and he did.”

  “Kelly, that shocks me. That is so unlike you.”

  “Wait until you taste this burger. It was worth every penny of the twenty dollars I spent.”

  “Well, with an intro like that, bring it on!”

  When Mike finished the last bite of his burger he said, “I would gladly have given the manager fifty dollars for the recipe for that burger. Easily the best I’ve ever had, and you know how I love the special way you fix those beans. I think the first time I had them was at the coffee shop.”