Only the Dog Knows

by Diane Roads

He figured he'd better call the state police again. It was routine and urgent. He told them the Big City was going to send help. They said they were keeping a look out. The only thing they had was a John Doe close to the state line that was killed in a car fire. They would need dental records to identify him and if he needed any more help to let them know. He thanked them and said he would have the dental records sent, then he hung up.

  He had two more quick calls to make. Linda was not one of them yet. She had been out of the office since before he came up missing. The first call was to Dr. Sam's office.

  "Sam, Thomas Twilliger was a patient of your right?"

  Sam replied. “Yes, he has been coming hear for years. Why do you ask Sheriff?"

  "He has come up missing. We have had a John Doe up by the state line that was killed in a car fire. We need his dental records to prove it is not him. I can stop by after lunch and get them."

  "No problem. I will have them ready. You don't need Henrietta's do you?"

  "No just Thomas'."

  "Oh, good. How long has he been missing."

  "We think since yesterday. We have people out looking for him as we speak. I will be over soon to get the x-rays.

  "This is a first for me. I never have been asked for dental records before."

  "This was a first for me too."

  His second call he made was to Jonesy to see what he could find out.

  "Hi Jonesy, this is Jasper calling. I was checking on Mr. Twilliger's car. It's still there isn't it?"

  "Yes it is Sheriff. Well, you know, I just noticed a funny thing about his car. I must be losing my mind. The doors are unlocked, and I know I locked them. That's one thing I don't forget. Tom has an expensive radio system in that car. So I always make sure it is locked when it is here. There doesn't seem to be anything missing. There’s an open box in the back seat and it is still there. I don't know what to make of it."

  "Jonesy, don't touch anything, and don't let anyone near it. I'll be sending someone over to check it out and to get some fingerprints. Anything else seem suspicious?"

  "No. You know I haven't seen anybody around it all day. It must have happened last night, if it happened at all. That must have been why Scout was barking so much. I didn't give it much thought because I have barbed wire strung around the top."

  "Have you seen anybody new in town lately?" Jasper asked.

  "Just a couple in their motor home. They asked where the cemetery was, and if the campsite was close by. She said she was doing some genealogy stuff. Checking out head stones, that sort of thing. I think there was more to her visit than what she said. We didn't get much of a chance to talk because some man came in to get gas asking where there was a place to stay. I sent him to Millie's B&B. I asked him where he was from. He said Waco, Texas. When I saw his tag it said "Nebraska" on it. I questioned him about it and he said he had borrowed it from a friend. He was here to do some fishing. He seemed in a hurry. When I asked him about it he said he was just tired and wanted to get to bed."

  "Did you get his name?"

 

  "No. But you might check with Millie."

  "Thanks, Jonesy. You are a big help. I'll come over later. I'll probably bring Mark McMillan from the Big City with me."

  "Okay, I'll be looking for you guys. I want to get out and check that fence. Somebody had to climb over it, but where? Scout usually comes unglued if someone hangs out too long. I don't understand it. He is just not himself today."

  Jasper hung up. This was the second dog that was acting strange. Why? Was someone poisoning the dogs? He didn't think so. If they were then they would be dead by now.

  He checked with Sara to see if anything had come in that needed his attention.

 

  "Sheriff, I am about to pull my hair out. Somehow or another, our phone lines have gotten crossed. I keep getting a little girl looking for her friend Patty. I am not sure which one or maybe both are five years old. She has called six times this morning. The last time she started to cry. I can't get her name or number from her. She says that her mother told her not to give that out to strangers. I have the phone company working on the lines as we speak. They have this problem all over. Hopefully soon we will have the problem fixed before we go into counseling."

  Jasper just smiled. He knew how nice Sara was with kids. Now back to the business at hand.

  Granted, they were a small town but from time to time they had problems. Sometimes, one half of the town would get a little testy. He would get calls about someone parking a junky car in front of their house and they would want Jasper to have it towed. Jasper would then have to tell them that they could park any car out front no matter what it looked like, or what color it was. As long as it had four inflated wheels and it ran.

  That didn't win Jasper any brownie points with some of the one half of the town. But the other half liked him because he was always fair. He had been Sheriff too long not to have figured out how to handle people.

  He thought he had better get something to eat. It looked like it was going to be a long day. He wanted to be back when the chopper showed up. He checked on Smokey out back in his dog run and then walked over to the cafe. He knew they had their work cut out for them. At least it looked like he would have plenty of help.