Changing of the Guard Dog

by Lane Stone

  “Why would he pick Georg Nielsen to sell it to? Did he know him?” I doubted their paths would have crossed. One was a Danish composer and the other an American prison inmate. That seemed as likely as there being a single word of truth in what she was saying. Still, she could change my mind if she told me something, anything, linking the two victims.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know.” Then she stood and walked out. I followed her, and when I walked behind Shelby, she craned around to peer down the hallway.

  We made eye contact and I gave her a what’s up look.

  Tell you later, she mouthed.

  I kept walking and took Margo to the playground where the others were.

  Cordy was sitting cross-legged on the grass, petting her dog. There was a wooden park bench against each of the three high fences. Bess sat on the one directly across from the door. Her large handbag was on the ground by her feet. Four dogs gamboled across the blue climbing bridge. Some of them stopped to look at us by peeking between the white foamy waves painted on its top edge. I joined the nanny who leaned against the yellow wooden chair with LIFEGUARD stenciled on the back. “Gorgeous weather,” she said.

  I agreed and closed my eyes and breathed it in.

  Marin ran to my employee and the woman reached down to stroke her back. Then she ran over the bridge. She was having a good time. Cordy stared at her in disbelief. “I’ve never seen her this active,” she said.

  Hearing Cordy’s voice, Marin ran down from the bridge and ran a lap around the playground, slowing down briefly to sniff inside Bess’s buttery leather handbag. I went over to sit next to Bess. “How did you know how to find Albert on Monday?” I asked. It was a question that had been bothering me.

  She turned to face me and said, “My husband found him. He found your address online and we drove over. The duke came out when he saw us in your driveway.”

  Marin Alsop was back and had her nose in Bess’s handbag again. Cordy walked over to pull her out but Marin ran back to the bridge, this time running under it. When she came out the other side, Cordy was waiting to pick her up. She nuzzled the dog’s neck and held her for a moment before putting her back on the ground. “I guess we had better get back. I’d like to nap before our nighttime rehearsal.”

  I thanked the nanny and walked them out, then went back to Shelby. I told her all about Nick Knightley’s memorial service and how tired the musicians were getting. She high-fived me. “Looks like our plan is working. I hope the triangle player gives up some good dirt.”

  My cell phone pinged and I pulled it from my pocket. “It’s a text from Lady Anthea. She’s in John’s office looking at the music they got off the USB drive.” I wrote back, See if the last movement is on there.

  “She didn’t say what she learned from the triangle player?” Shelby asked.

  “Look what someone left.” The nanny was back, holding a green leather wallet. “I found it on the ground under the bridge.”

  “That belongs to Bess Harper,” I said. “Marin Alsop must have taken it out of her handbag.” Abby got up from her bed and walked up to the nanny. She sniffed and went back in my office, satisfied the little home-wrecker wasn’t around me.

  Chapter 35

  It was time for what we called afternoon tea, though it was really afternoon treat. The nanny went back to the playground with fresh water and a box of gluten-free goodies. I texted Lady Anthea that I would pick her up. “And then we’ll take this back to its rightful owner,” I said to Shelby. The lobby was empty so we could talk for a few minutes before I left again. “Where’s Albert?”

  “With Mason and Joey,” she whispered. “He’s been here since Lady Anthea walked back with him from the morning rehearsal.”

  “Is that why you keep looking back there?”

  “Yeah.” I waited because I knew there was more on her mind. “He’s still saying “if” you go back with them to Frithsden.”

  “I’ve always wanted to see their home! Want to go, too? Maybe we can all—”

  “No, just you.”

  “John and I have never taken a trip farther than Cape May—”

  She interrupted again. “Definitely not with John.”

  “Huh? Wait, is this about Lady Anthea’s matchmaking? Because she knows I’m not interested.” I rummaged through my tote for my sunglasses.

  “First, your shades are on your head. Next, if she didn’t set him straight, you would think seeing John and you together last night would have,” she said, checking the hallway again to be sure he didn’t sneak up on us.

  “Even if John wasn’t in the picture, Albert would hardly be a candidate,” I said. “This was just something she wanted. I doubt he thinks of me as anything other than his sister’s friend.”

  “And a good businesswoman? Definitely that.”

  “Has he said anything else about Buckingham’s finances? Did you tell him he could meet with our accountant?”

  She shook her massive amount of red hair. “No-o-o-o. All of a sudden he stopped wanting to talk about it.”

  “Wait, what did you do?”

  “Joey may have used a lot of bookkeeping words that were over his head,” she said, with an evil laugh that made me wish I had been there to witness it.

  “That made him drop it? Good. Lady Anthea is the one who has the right to go over our books. She’s the one our pet-ronage is with.”

  “But Frithsden is their family home, so that might be a gray area.” As she spoke she pointed to the photos of the buildings, rooms and gardens that lined our walls. Our contract gave us the right to use these images and, she was correct, they were images of the home they owned together.

  “You all have talked about this a lot, haven’t you?” I asked.

  “Yeah.”

  I rubbed the back of my neck. “I’ve spent my whole life avoiding legal questions like that. And you and Jeffrey moved here for the same reason. How did this happen?”

  “I don’t know, but we didn’t want you blindsided,” she said.

  “I’m sorry you have been worried about this all week. I didn’t know. You said he dropped it? Good!”

  “Don’t worry about us. Do what’s best for you. I know he’s an idiot, but just think, you would be a…” She looked around the corner and jumped. “Mason!”

  “He said if you married him he’d shut down Buckingham’s,” Mason said, from the end of the desk.

  “He would? This is what passes for good marriage material?!” I shook my head. I had just heard the double doors open and I knew I needed to stop talking, and definitely stop yelling. “And people don’t understand why I’m not interested in ever getting married!”

  “I gave Lady Anthea a ride back,” John said.

  She stood behind him. No one spoke.

  I wanted to leave to return Bess Harper’s wallet to her before the drama, and the duke being on the premises, could give me a headache. “Shelby, do any dogs need a ride home?” I could take the Prius if anyone got dropped off this early. It wasn’t quite four o’clock.

  “Not yet,” she called.

  I told Lady Anthea where I was going and asked if she wanted to join me.

  “Splendid,” she said.

  John got a phone call and moved to stand next to the door to take it. Though I touched his arm on the way out, he wouldn’t look at me.

  Once we were outside she continued. “I’m afraid there’s not much to relay from the interview with Beaut Richards-Tinsman. She wanted assurance that Mr. Knightley’s murder was being investigated.”

  “Like it might not be because he had a prison record?” I asked.

  She nodded. “Meeting John put her mind at ease. She also said that Nick would never kill anyone because he wasn’t the violent type.”

  John walked to the squad car, again without speaking.

  Lady Anthea looked back at the Pet P
alace door. “Albert is still there with Mason and Joey?”

  I nodded and got behind the wheel.

  “You know,” she began, “not everyone is as brave as you and the copper.”

  “The copper?” I laughed. “I think you’re brave. To shoulder your responsibilities with grace the way you do requires courage, but what brought this up?”

  “I told Albert to stay here today. I didn’t think it was a good idea for him to be alone with a killer on the loose. Especially since John says these murders were of a particularly brutal nature.”

  “I get it—safety in numbers—but why would he be in danger? He didn’t see the killer. Only Bernice and Robber saw him. I mean, other than the driver of the blue car,” I said.

  “And Nick Knightley,” she reminded me. “My brother feels that he’s not safe. Since I brought him to Lewes, I’m responsible.”

  I smiled but I was back on that beach. “I remember how Nick looked at his about-to-be killer. He knew him, and I think he trusted him.”

  “That makes what Beaut said all the more poignant,” she said. “She talked about how happy Nick was to have the job with the PSO; so happy that he would never go back to his old life. She said she tried to warn him about how narcissistic and ruthless people could be, but he wouldn’t hear of it.”

  “Who was she talking about?” I was already reaching for the dashboard to place the call.

  “She didn’t say. Maybe everyone?” Lady Anthea answered.

  “Narcissistic sounds like she had someone in mind.” My call went through. “John?”

  “Yes,” he barked. Was he pouting?

  “Can you get someone to Hotel Rodney? I think Beaut is in danger.”

  “It’s too late. She’s been murdered. I’m bringing Cordy Galligan in for protective custody, which she is not going to be happy about. Get back to Buckingham’s and stay there.” He hung up.

  We were at the end of Savannah Road at the Lewes Beach parking lot. I looked to my left for a parking spot on Bayview Avenue and saw one waiting for me. “I’ll return her wallet and be right back,” I said, jumping out of the Jeep.

  I knocked on the door and waited. Bess’s white BMW was parked in their parking spot, but since most of the living was done on the upper levels it would take a moment for her to come to the door. Someone was walking around in the house but it didn’t sound like the footsteps were getting any closer. I turned around to check on Lady Anthea. She clutched her pearls and stared straight ahead. Then a noise drew her attention. She got out of the car and held my phone up. “Answer it,” I called out.

  The cavorting dolphin was next to my foot, giving me an idea. Hmm.

  Lady Anthea walked in front of the Jeep and up the Harpers’ driveway, holding my phone out for me. I took it and motioned to the statue with a raised eyebrow. “Remember? The key is underneath it.”

  “It’s John,” she said, handing me the phone. She looked down at the dolphin. “Dare we?” she whispered.

  “We’ll go back to Buckingham’s,” I promised him, gladly. I pressed the phone against my shoulder. “We can open the door and throw it in,” I whispered. “We’ve done worse.”

  “Where are you?” John yelled.

  Roman Harper opened the glass storm door. His right hand was on the frame. I hung up. After a jolt I hoped he hadn’t noticed, I said, “Bess left this.” Why hadn’t I outed Marin Alsop for her petty theft? I had no idea why that seemed important. It wasn’t. “Uh, here it is.”

  I shoved the green leather wallet at him, locking eyes. His expression slackened and then hardened. One second I was looking at a vase, the next a profile of two old people. Lady Anthea realized something was very wrong and instinctively wanted to get to safety. I motioned for her to walk in front of me. Roman Harper needed to see that I wasn’t running. That was important to me.

  Chapter 36

  “Roman Harper killed Nick Knightley and Georg Nielsen and probably Beaut Richards-Tinsman,” I said when I got John back on the phone. We turned onto Savannah Road and I looked to my right down Bayview. He was still standing there, holding his door open. He smiled and shrugged before going back inside, speaking to someone. Bess? Sophie?

  “Where are you now?”

  “Lady Anthea and I are headed back to Buckingham’s.”

  “Why don’t you come here? It’s closer.”

  I looked at Lady Anthea and saw the worry for her brother on her face. “I need to be at Buckingham’s.”

  “Will you stay in tonight?” John asked.

  “Yes. Sure. Aren’t you going to arrest him?”

  “On what grounds?”

  “I saw his hand! It’s him!”

  “I need more.”

  Lady Anthea leaned closer to the dash to speak to John. “How was Beaut murdered?”

  “She was shot. Looks like the same gun that was used to kill Knightley. They’re processing the crime scene. All hell’s breaking loose down here with these musicians. They can’t stop fighting long enough to give us anything usable. I’m bringing officers in from other areas to take their statements.” He hesitated, then said, “Sue, I need to know I don’t have to worry about you.”

  “I’ll stay put. Remember Charles Andrews was a district attorney. Maybe you could deputize him,” I said.

  He yelled to someone in the background. “Anybody have Charles Andrews’s phone number?”

  “I’ll send it to you. Call him, don’t text,” I advised.

  Chapter 37

  When we got back to Buckingham’s we had just enough time to tell Shelby, Mason, Joey and Albert about the latest murder before the late-day rush began. Lady Anthea hadn’t wanted to bring her brother downstairs out of the grooming suite to hear it, but I had insisted. She looked at me and took a deep breath. “It’s time, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” I said. “He deserves to know everything we know.”

  When we finished, Lady Anthea made a flapping gesture with her hands. “You three should go home now.”

  Mason and Joey shook their heads no and Shelby said, “We can’t let everyone go, so we all stay until all the dogs are picked up.”

  “Is no one in this town safe?” Albert said. His eyes were bulging with anger.

  “We’re safe as houses!” Lady Anthea assured him.

  “You weren’t here last weekend when the first two murders were committed, so what do you have to worry about?” Joey asked, not angrily, but there was a challenge in his voice I had never heard before.

  Rather than answer Joey, Albert turned to me. His face was so close I could see the pores of his pale skin. “Let me rephrase that,” Albert spat out his words. “Is anyone safe around you?”

  “That’s quite enough!” Lady Anthea said.

  “The answer is probably not.” My unruffled but serious tone seemed to irritate him further and he sputtered.

  Lady Anthea huffed in exasperation. “We could do with a bit less honesty.”

  “Joey, are you all right?” I asked.

  He nodded two quick jerks.

  “Shelby, do we have any dogs to drop off?”

  “It’s time to take Robber and Dottie home.”

  “Mason? Joey? Can you drop them off?” I asked.

  Mason said, “We’ll drop Dottie off first and then go on to Kate’s in Rehoboth Beach, near home.” They both bowed to Lady Anthea and I wondered if Albert had seen them do that before.

  “Do they know that’s not expected?” he yelled.

  “Albert, it’s just something—” I started.

  “It’s sir to you!”

  “What?” I was about to laugh.

  “The first time you greeted me you were to have referred to me as Your Grace, and sir after that!”

  I ignored him and turned to Mason and Joey. “I saw Roman Harper’s hands. He killed Georg Nielsen and Nick
Knightley and probably Beaut.”

  “Who cares about them?” Mason yelled. “He tried to kill you!”

  “Have they arrested him?” Joey asked, touching Mason’s arm.

  “John says he needs evidence,” I said.

  “Well, imagine that,” Albert said with sarcasm I didn’t know he had the intelligence for. He was getting harder to ignore. His volume had risen high enough for Abby to come out of my office. She looked at me for a sign and I smiled to relax her.

  I turned back to Mason and Joey. “I told you about Roman Harper since you’ll be going to downtown Lewes near Hotel Rodney when you drop Dayle’s Dalmatian off. Be careful and text us when you get home.”

  Albert pointed to the door and jumped. “Who’s that?” he yelled. “He’s coming in!”

  Shelby was the first one to regain the ability to breathe and speak. “She’s here to pick up her dog from day camp!” Then she smiled at the pet parent, Lewes mayor Betsy Rivard, who was approaching the reception desk.

  I greeted Betsy, then said to Albert, “Let’s go upstairs before you scare anyone.”

  I had to touch his arm to get his attention as he gawked at Lady Anthea. His sister had joined Shelby behind the desk and was using the intercom to request Betsy’s poodle, Paris, be brought out.

  She looked at him and said, “This is what is referred to as work.”

  “Sue, Chief Turner just updated me,” Betsy said as she waited. “Oh, are you Albert, Duke of Norwall?”

  “At your service,” he said.

  I introduced them. “You can feel safe in Lewes,” Betsy said. “We have one of the best police chiefs in the state. Maybe on the East Coast. He’s hardworking, brilliant and well respected in the community.” She smiled at me. “And any problems he may have had from being a newcomer, Sue has bridged. She and your sister always get their man.” The last she said with a laugh.