Trouble at the Animal Shelter: A Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery

by Dianne Harman

  Mike was right, she thought. I did have Miss Ryan for a teacher, but I haven’t seen her for years. It was so long ago I don’t remember much about her other than she was a spinster and had white hair she wore coiled up on top of her head. I think both of my kids even had her as a teacher. I vaguely remember going to a couple of teacher’s conferences with her. Poor thing. No one deserves to die the way she did. I’ve got a personal interest in this murder. Might have to help Mike try and catch the killer even though he wouldn’t think he needed my help, but he sure has been happy in the past when I’ve helped him.

  When Kelly got home from the shelter, Rebel, Lady, and Skyy sniffed every inch of her, wondering where and how she’d picked up so many different dog smells. “Guys, be happy you’re here, and there are only three of you. You don’t know how lucky you are.” She fixed herself a sandwich, took a quick shower, got in bed, and quickly fell asleep.

  CHAPTER 3

  “Shannon, what’s goin’ on over at the Ryan house? I was watchin’ TV in the other room, and thought I heard sirens. See anything?” Ralph Lewis asked his wife who was standing to the side of the front room window peering out at the house across the street.

  “Ralphie, you know as much as I do. There’s a fire engine, a sheriff’s car, and a minivan. I can also see a Cedar Bay Animal Shelter van. Looks like they’re puttin’ all them dogs ol’ lady Ryan had in that van and the minivan. Good riddance, I say.”

  “Yeah, always did wonder how the old lady got away with havin’ all them dogs in her house. Somethin’ off with her. Seems like most everybody in Cedar Bay had her fer a teacher or their children did. Maybe that’s why nobody said anything. Kind of weird livin’ out your last days alone with a bunch of dogs, if you ask me.”

  Shannon continued to look out the window and said, “Well, I’ll be darned. Looks like they’re carryin’ someone out of the house. It must be the ol’ lady ‘cuz I’m purty sure she was the only one that lived there. She must be dead ‘cuz she’s in what looks like a body bag, you know the kind ya’ see on TV. Sorry anybody has to die, but I sure am tired of them dogs barkin’ day and night. It’s enough to drive me crazy. Wonder what she died from,” she said idly, rubbing her fingers back and forth on the window curtain.

  “Probably just old age. Have you been lookin’ out the window fer long?”

  “Nah, not that long. I heard the dogs’ infernal barkin’ jes’ like usual, and when I looked out the window, there were dogs runnin’ all over the place. That’s when I seen the other cars. Well good, maybe now if they cart all them yappin’ dogs away we can have a little peace and quiet. Didn’t mind when she had a couple of dogs, but in the last year or so she just kept addin’ to the group. Weird. Maybe the old lady jes’ went nuts. You read in the paper almost every week about some old lady who dies and has a ton of cats, well maybe she just became a crazy dog lady instead,” she said as she tightened her grip on the curtain.

  “What do you see, Shannon? Somethin’ else goin’ on over there?” He stood behind her trying to see what was causing her to stare fixedly out the window.

  “Ralphie, ya’ know how they always have yellow tape around the scene of a crime in the movies and on TV? Well, guess what? Some guy wearin’ a sheriff’s uniform just put it all around the house. Maybe the old lady didn’t die from, what do they call ‘em, natural causes,” she said excitedly.

  “Shannon, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were enjoying this.”

  “Ralphie, how can you say that. Jes’ thinkin’ to myself that maybe it’s some kinda justice. We’ve been talkin’ fer months about them dogs, and if she was killed, maybe we weren’t the only ones they bothered. I’m glad I won’t have to see that hunch-backed ol’ lady anymore. Jes’ sayin’, if ya’ know what I mean.”

  “Well, sooner or later, I’ll bet somebody will be comin’ over here to interview us,” Ralph said. “Make sure you don’t say nuthin’ about them dang dogs driving us nuts and how much we hated their barkin’. Last thing I want to do is draw any attention to us, not that we had anything to do with it anyway, right?”

  “Right, Ralphie. As usual, yer’ absolutely right,” Shannon said with a slight smile playing at the sides of her mouth. She continued to look out the window while Ralph walked back into the den to watch TV.

  CHAPTER 4

  The next morning Kelly woke up before the alarm clock went off and reached over and turned it off. She wasn’t sure what time Mike had come home in the early hours of morning, but she knew the last thing he needed was to be awakened prematurely by a ringing alarm clock. She let the dogs out in the back yard, made a pot of coffee, and got dressed for what she knew would be a busy day.

  A few minutes later she let the dogs back in the house. They immediately returned to their dog beds in the room where Mike was peacefully sleeping. She walked into the garage and pressed the garage door opener, hoping the noise of it going up and down wouldn’t wake him.

  “Kelly, good morning. Think it’ll be busy today?” Roxie asked as Kelly opened the door to Kelly’s Koffee Shop. Before Kelly could answer, Charlie, the line cook who had been with her for years, and Molly, the relatively new waitress who had replaced Madison, walked into the coffee shop.

  “Might as well tell all of you at the same time,” Kelly said. “Maggie Ryan was murdered last night. She taught school a lot of years in this town, so she was pretty well known. Kelly’s is always busy whenever there’s some tidbit of gossip to talk about, and I’m sure we’ll be filled with curious people from the time we open until we close.”

  “I didn’t hear anything about it,” Roxie said. “I had Miss Ryan, that’s what we all called her, in sixth grade. She was a good teacher, but I haven’t heard anything about her in years.”

  “Me, too,” Charlie said. “All the kids on the reservation had her for a teacher as well. We had to be bussed into Cedar Bay to go to school, since we didn’t have our own school. Matter of fact, I’ll bet most of the people in Cedar Bay had her as their teacher. What happened?”

  Kelly told them what she knew about the murder, the fire, and the dogs Maggie Ryan had on her property. “I think we need to quit talking and get to work. You each know what you need to do, so let’s get started.”

  The first customer came through the door at 6:30 and, just as Kelly had predicted, from then on, the coffee shop was jammed with people who’d heard about the death of Maggie Ryan. The four of them worked as fast as they could and still could barely keep up with the orders.

  At 11:30 that morning, Kelly looked up and saw Jenna from the animal shelter motioning to her. “Good morning, Jenna. Did you survive the night? How’s everything out at the shelter? Let me see if I can find you a seat.”

  “To answer your question, it’s a zoo. I have every volunteer on our roster out there, and they’re calling their friends and asking them to give us a hand. As far as a seat, I can’t stay. I just stopped by to drop off the flyer we talked about last night. I photographed some of the dogs I thought would be the most appealing and put pictures of them on it. I’m hoping people will come to see them and also want to adopt some of the others. Dr. Simpson is giving anyone who adopts one of the dogs a discount on spaying or neutering. In my eyes, that man’s a saint, but then again I think everyone who’s donated things to the shelter is too.”

  “I don’t have any extra dog items, but if you’d like, I could take some food from the coffee shop out to the shelter after we close. Would that help?”

  “Absolutely, at this point we’ll take all the freebies we can get. I have no idea how we’re going to be able to keep the doors of the shelter open once these freebies stop. The food alone is a huge cost.”

  “Don’t worry. I’m sure something good will come out of this. I think I’ll make an announcement right now to everyone who’s here, and then I’ll tape the flyer to the front door, so people will see it when they come in.”

  Kelly stood up on a chair and clapped her hands to get the diners’ attention. “Co
uld I have your attention for a moment?” she asked. “Thanks,” she said when the coffee shop became quiet. “This is Jenna Lee, the director of the Cedar Bay Animal Shelter,” she said smiling down at Jenna. “By now I’m sure all of you have heard that Maggie Ryan was murdered in her home last night. What you may not know is that there were over thirty dogs on her property.

  “The shelter has taken in the dogs for now, but they’re stretched beyond their capacity, both in terms of space and money. If any of you could adopt one or two of the dogs, give a donation, or even act as a foster home until things get settled, it would really be appreciated. I’m taping a flyer to the front door of the coffee shop. Take a look and think about giving someone an early Christmas present or even give yourself one. Thanks for listening. Now you can get back to your food.”

  “Wait a minute Kelly,” Roxie said. “I think we’d like to know if all of the dogs are healthy.”

  “I can answer that,” Jenna said. “Dr. Simpson examined them and with the exception of one of them, Betsy, a German shepherd, they’re all fine.”

  “What was wrong with that one?” Roxie asked.

  “It looks like she may have been running loose on the streets for awhile. She had a lot of cuts on her and some dried blood. Dr. Simpson thinks that Miss Ryan probably just got her, anyway, he took her to his clinic to run some tests on her and make sure she’s going to be okay.”

  “Will she go back to the animal shelter when she’s healed?”

  “I imagine. We just haven’t gotten that far. Is there some reason you’re asking?” Jenna said.

  “My son has always wanted a German shepherd. When you mentioned her, it seemed like some kind of sign from up above or something like that.”

  “Why don’t you take your son to Dr. Simpson’s and see what he thinks of Betsy?”

  “I just might do that, but think I better talk to my husband first,” Roxie said, laughing.

  Kelly was still standing on the chair listening to the interchange between Roxie and Jenna when she heard a familiar voice say, “Let me help you down, Kelly,” Doc, a friend and a lunchtime regular said. “I heard some rumors at the clinic this morning, and from what you just said, I guess they’re true. I assume it’s Mike’s case. I don’t think I ever met the lady.”

  “You probably didn’t know her Doc, since you haven’t lived here in Cedar Bay that long, and yes, Mike’s in charge of the murder investigation. You better grab a seat at that booth over there. Today’s a day when finding a place to sit is almost impossible. I can save you the time of looking at the menu, because I made pesto stuffed pork chops yesterday before all of this happened. They’re fully cooked and just need to be heated. If you need a recommendation, when I served it to Mike last week he said it was one of the best things he’d ever eaten. I’d also recommend the two kinds of monkey bread Charlie made. One’s an herb bread, and the other is sweet and sticky. It’s made with brown sugar and pecans. If you’re interested, I’ll turn the order in for you.”

  “If Mike said that, and you recommend it, then it’s good enough for me. I heard you say the director of the shelter was looking for foster homes. I’ve got a pretty big fenced yard and I think Lucky, the yellow Lab you gave me, would love to have one or two new friends. Think I’ll go out to the shelter before my next appointment at the clinic.”

  “Doc, that would be great. I know Jenna would really appreciate it. Give me a call after you go there. I’d like to hear what happens. I’d love to stay and talk, but we’re really swamped. See you later.”

  CHAPTER 5

  Jimmy Richards opened the front door of his home and announced in a loud voice, “Amanda, I’m home. What did you fix me for lunch today? Is Allen here yet? I’ve got a bunch of boxes that need to be unloaded at the store, and yesterday he said he’d give me a hand. Find out anything of interest at the prayer meeting this morning?”

  “In answer to your first question, I made a corned beef on rye sandwich and set out some chips and a pickle for you. For dessert, I made an apple cloufitis. That apple tree in our backyard is loaded with apples, so I used a bunch of them.”

  “What in the devil is a cloufitis? Sounds like some Frenchy thing.”

  She avoided his eyes and said, “It’s kind of like a custard dish with apples. I think you’ll like it. I got the recipe from that cooking channel I watch.”

  “I’ll try it, but you know I’m not real big on Frenchy things. Say, why the blazes aren’t you looking at me? What aren’t you telling me?” he asked in a stern demanding voice as he sat down at the kitchen table and picked up his sandwich.

  “Jimmy, Allen called a little while ago,” she said hesitantly. “He’s over in Portland with some friends. He remembered he’d told you he’d help you today. Said to tell you he’d do it when he got back in town.” She walked over to the sink trying to ignore the furious look on his face.

  “Swell, that’s just swell,” Jimmy said as he pounded his fist on the table. “Does he think those boxes will unload themselves, and where does he think the money comes from that lets him eat and sleep here, much less go to Portland? I tell you, it’s all that stupid teacher’s fault. He’s never been the same ever since she tried to hold him back in school for a year. It seems like it somehow played with the thinking that goes on his mind. I’m sure she’s the reason he started messing around with drugs. Come to think of it, that’s probably what he’s doing over in Portland right now.

  “He told me once he felt like the laughingstock of the school when all of his classmates found out he’d be spending another year at the elementary school while they went on to junior high. I think that was the beginning of the end. We can’t afford to send him to another drug rehab center. He’s been to three of them already, and none of them have helped. Yep, it’s all that teacher’s fault. I’d like to dance on her grave,” he said as he stuffed a handful of potato chips in his mouth.

  “Jimmy, the third thing you asked me when you walked in the door was if I’d found out anything at the prayer meeting this morning. Well, the answer to your question is yes. I found out Maggie Ryan was murdered last night. She was the teacher you’ve been talking about.”

  Jimmy stopped chewing and said, “How did you find that out?”

  “It was the main topic of conversation at the prayer meeting. I guess Reverend Barnes went out to her house a couple of times a week. He started doing that once her hunchback condition got so bad she couldn’t drive to church anymore. The church secretary said Reverend Barnes was devastated because of her death. She said a lot of other people at the church had been students of Maggie Ryan’s over the years, and even though she’d pretty much been a recluse for the last few years, a lot of her former students really loved her, even after all those years.”

  “Well, they may have, but that sure wasn’t my impression of the old biddy. Way I see it, whoever killed her did mankind a real service. Yup, won’t find me standing at her grave weeping. Maybe now that she’s dead she’ll have some time to think about how she messed up Allen’s life.”

  “Jimmy, I’m not sure you can blame her for Allen’s problems. Maybe they would have happened anyway.”

  “I do blame her, and I’m glad she’s dead. Got what she deserved. Anyone say when she was murdered?”

  “Yeah, early last night. Why?”

  “Well, as you know, I had to work last night getting those boxes off the truck and into the warehouse. Don’t think it’ll come to this, but if anyone asks if I was home last night, just tell them yes.”

  “Jimmy, I can’t lie. You didn’t get home until around nine last night.”

  “Amanda, I said I was home last night, and I’d like you to repeat that,” he said in a threatening tone of voice, as he glared at her with an evil look in his eyes.

  Amanda, recognized the all too familiar look on his face and knew she had to comply with his demand or else she would pay a dear price for not obeying him. “Yes, Jimmy, you were home last night,” she said in a timid voice as sh
e turned away from him, unable to face him because of a growing sick feeling in her stomach.

  CHAPTER 6

  “Thanks, Kelly, this looks delicious,” Doc said as she placed a pork chop with mango coleslaw in front of him along with a plate containing two kinds of monkey bread.

  “Doc, try a bite of that coleslaw. Today’s the first day I’ve served it, and I really like it. I think it’s more of a warm weather dish, but even though it’s fall, I think today officially qualifies as warm.”

  “I like it. No, make that I really like it. Any chance you could give the recipe for it to Liz? This is something I’d like to have at home.”

  “No problem, but it’s so easy I’m almost embarrassed to give it to you. I’ll write it down, and you can take it with you when you leave. Doc, hate to ask this of you, but seeing how busy it is today, if you see somebody you know, I’d appreciate it if you’d share your booth. Thanks, and I’ll talk to you before you leave.” She hurried back to the service window separating the dining room from the kitchen and grabbed an order that was ready for a customer.

  Doc spent the next few moments enjoying his meal. He was startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder. “Sorry to bother you, Doc,” Reverend Barnes said, “but Kelley said you might be willing to share your booth with me and seein’ how busy this place is, I’d really appreciate it. It’s been a draining morning for me.”

  “Of course, Reverend, happy to do it. Sit down,” he said gesturing to the seat on the other side of his booth. “By the way, if you’re hungry, sure do recommend the pork chop, coleslaw, and monkey bread.”

  “Thanks. Even making a decision as to what I should have for lunch is almost too much for me at this point.”