Trouble at the Animal Shelter: A Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery

by Dianne Harman

  “From what you’re saying, I’m gathering that’s changed.”

  “Yes,” Mary said. “Several months ago Reverend Barnes started locking his office when he left for lunch and instead of me looking at his sermons during the lunch hour, he’d call me in specifically and have me look at them. It was as if he no longer trusted me. One time I asked him why he’d started locking his door, and he said he’d been told it wasn’t a good idea for the church leader to leave his office unlocked because often there were confidential things about parishioners in it, and someone might use that information inappropriately. I thought it was a little strange, but there was some validity to what he said. He assured me he trusted me.”

  “I can see the logic there. It’s kind of a stretch to think something like that could happen in our sleepy little town, but I suppose erring on the side of caution is not a bad thing for the leader of the church to do,” Kelly said.

  “When I started thinking about it, I realized that something else had happened several months prior to his locking the door. There was a woman who used to attend church regularly, Maggie Ryan, but she became unable to attend when her osteoporosis got really bad. She couldn’t drive any longer. There were a couple of years she didn’t attend church at all, although she would call Reverend Barnes from time to time to talk to him. About six months ago he started going to her house twice a week to pray with her.”

  “Did he usually go to the homes of parishioners to pray with them?” Kelly asked.

  “Not to my knowledge. Sure, there were times when someone died or a crisis happened, and he’d go to the family home to console them or pray with them, but never on a regular basis. This became something he did twice every week, no matter what. He told me Maggie was a very religious woman, and it was the least he could do for her.”

  “Mary, nothing you’ve told me so far indicates a red flag. While those two things may not be the norm for a church leader, they don’t seem to indicate a real problem.”

  “No, but let me finish. After a couple of months of going to Maggie’s home Reverend Barnes told me she was so grateful for what he was doing for her, she’d decided to leave her estate to him.”

  “Again, I wouldn’t say that was unusual,” Kelly said realizing that Mary was unaware that Maggie Ryan had recently changed her will.

  “No, it’s not, but here’s where it gets unusual. One day two months ago Reverend Barnes had to leave his office unexpectedly when a parishioner had been in a bad accident. The man’s wife had called and asked the reverend to meet them at the hospital. When I walked down the hall to the restroom I walked by his office, and even though his computer faced away from the doorway leading to his office, I saw a glowing light that indicated he’d forgotten to turn off his computer. Our church doesn’t have a lot of extra money, so we’re all very careful to never waste electricity. I went into his office to turn his computer off, and I couldn’t believe what was displayed on his computer.” She put her head in her hands and began to quietly cry.

  “Mary, what was on his computer that was so awful?” Kelly asked even though she was pretty sure what the answer was going to be.

  “It was a gambling site, which by itself wouldn’t have been so bad. What was bad was it had the amount of money Reverend Barnes owed to them. He owed $37,500.” She sat back and looked at Kelly.

  “There’s more, isn’t there?” Kelly said.

  “Yes, even now I can’t believe I did what I did.” She put her head in her hands again.

  “Mary, I’m sure whatever you did you felt you had to do at the time. What was it?”

  “I searched his desk drawers, and I found a piece of paper with several websites written on it. I pulled all of them up on the computer. I found out that Reverend Barnes owed different internet gambling sites over $200,000.” She took a sip of her coffee. “I never told him what I’d found. I didn’t even turn off the computer, because I didn’t want him to know I’d been in his office. Later, when we were together, I just pretended nothing had happened, but I’ve really been torn up about it.”

  “I’m sure you know that Maggie Ryan was recently murdered,” Kelly said.

  “Yes. What I’ve told you so far is bad enough, but here’s the worst part. Reverend Barnes had an appointment early this afternoon with Lem Bates, the attorney, regarding Maggie Ryan’s will. I usually don’t work on Wednesday afternoons, but one of the parishioners had given me a recipe for a stew she’d made at the last church social, and I’d left it in my office. I thought I’d make it for dinner tonight, since he was planning on coming over.

  “Sorry, Kelly, I know I’m rambling. Anyway, I went back to the church and walked down the hall to my office. It was three this afternoon. Reverend Barnes’ door was closed, but I could hear his voice. I put my ear next to the door and heard him crying and apparently muttering to himself.”

  “Could you make out what he was saying?” Kelly asked.

  “It was indistinct, but I think I heard him say the words ‘It was all for nothing. I did it for nothing. She left everything to the animal shelter. I don’t believe it.’ Like I said, it was hard for me to understand what he was saying, but I think that was it.”

  “Mary, why did you want to tell me all of this?”

  “The reverend told me your husband was in charge of Maggie’s murder investigation, and I thought he should know about this. I feel like I’m being completely disloyal to Reverend Barnes, but Kelly, I’m so scared. What if he was the one who murdered Maggie? What if I’m in love with a murderer? I can’t believe it, but it all makes sense now. He needed the money, and she’d willed everything to him. When I heard him talking to himself it all seemed to fit. I was going to call you. It’s just a coincidence I saw you in here today.”

  Kelly reached over and patted Mary’s hand. “Mary, there’s nothing I can say that’s going to make you feel any better about this situation, but I will tell Mike everything you’ve told me. Maybe there’s a simple explanation, although I don’t think there’s any denying that Reverend Barnes would have to be considered a suspect. Believe me, if Mike talks to him, and he probably will have to, your name will never be mentioned.

  “Go on home and act as if nothing ever happened. If he’s not the murderer, he’s going to need you to help him get through this gambling addiction and the debt. If he is the murderer, you’ll have to make a decision regarding what your relationship will be with him in the future. That’s a decision only you can make. It’s out of your hands now, and you absolutely did the right thing by telling me.”

  Kelly looked at her watch. “I need to leave now. It’s much later than I thought and probably too late for you to start a stew. I’ll let you know what happens.”

  “Do you think I should have him over tonight for dinner? I don’t really know what to do now.”

  “Like I said, it’s out of your hands. Have him over for dinner, go into work tomorrow, and do what you usually do. Really, there’s nothing you can do for now. You certainly don’t want to falsely accuse him. Thanks for having the courage to tell me all of this. I’ll be talking to you.”

  As Kelly walked out to her minivan, her mind was a jumble of thoughts, and she knew she needed to share them with Mike. She’d just secured her seatbelt when her phone rang. The screen showed Roxie’s name.

  “Hi, Roxie. Hope you’re not calling me to tell me you can’t come to work tomorrow. I’ll understand if you can’t, but as busy as we’ve been, you’d really be missed.” She heard crying and said, “Roxie, what’s wrong? What’s happened?”

  “It’s Betsy, Kelly, that German shepherd dog we were going to adopt. I told you Dr. Simpson said he was going to take some more X-rays today, and they showed that she has a large tumor.”

  “Take a deep breath, Roxie. Lots of dogs have tumors that can be successfully removed. What did he say?”

  Roxie was crying softly, and it took her a few moments to speak. “He took a sample of the tumor, and it’s malignant. He said sometimes tumors s
uch as the one she has can be removed. He’s going to operate early tomorrow morning. I was thinking of going to his clinic while he operated on her, but in reality, that’s probably stupid. I couldn’t do anything anyway, and I’ve only been around her once.”

  “I agree. Since it’s after hours, I imagine no one is answering the clinic’s phone, but I know they have an answering machine. Why don’t you leave a message that you’d like to come tomorrow when she gets out of surgery? I think it would do you more good than her for you to see Betsy. Who knows? She might recognize you, and it might make her recovery a little easier. We’ll do without you at the coffee shop for however long it takes. I think that would work.”

  “Thanks, Kelly. I knew you’d understand and that would probably be much better than sitting in his waiting room, when I don’t really have a relationship with the dog. See you in the morning.”

  Kelly ended the call and thought, not for the first time, how easy it is for a dog to wend its way into someone’s heart in a matter of seconds. Barring any problems, she knew Roxie’s family would be providing a very good home for Betsy. She crossed her fingers for luck, an old childhood habit, and hoped she was right.

  CHAPTER 16

  Mike knocked on the door of the Shannon and Ralph Lewis household, hoping they’d remembered something about Maggie Ryan since he’d talked to them yesterday.

  The door was cautiously opened and Mike saw a woman peering through the narrow opening. “Yeah, Sheriff, what can I do for ya’? Don’t know nothin’ since we talked yesterday, but thanks fer comin’. If Ralphie or me remembers something, we’ll call you, like we said we would yesterday.”

  “Mrs. Lewis, may I come in for a moment? I need to ask you some questions. I’d prefer to do it this way, rather than have one of my deputies bring you in for questioning. It won’t take long, I promise.”

  “Yer’ the one holdin’ all the cards, Sheriff. Come on in.” She opened the door for him, turned around, and yelled, “Ralphie, got us some company. That sheriff from yesterday has come back. He wants to talk to us.” She turned back to Mike and said, “Ralphie’ll be here in a minute. He’s just finishin’ up his lunch. You can have a seat over there.” She pointed to a chair that was upholstered in shades of brown, but it was hard to tell what the original color had been from all of the spots and stains.

  The television blared the latest stock market numbers as Shannon stared at it. “Sorry, Sheriff, be with ya’ in a minute, but need to see what my stocks are doin’. We got purty much everything we own, other than this house, invested in the market, and it ain’t lookin’ real good today.”

  A few moments later an elderly man shuffled into the room wearing a good part of the contents of his lunch on the front of his denim shirt which was badly in need of a visit to the washing machine. He walked over to Mike and put his hand out. “Afternoon, Sheriff. Caught the guy who did it to Miss Ryan yet?”

  “Unfortunately, no. That’s why I’m here. I’m hoping that one of you has thought of something that might shed some light on this case. Anything you can remember that might seem unusual could help me.”

  “What did ya’ say, Sheriff? Couldn’t here ya’,” Shannon said.

  “It might help if you put the television on mute. It’s probably hard to hear me over it. I asked if you’d thought of anything since I was here yesterday.”

  “Can’t say that I have, Sheriff,” she said after she’d turned the television to mute. “Can’t think of anything different or somethin’ we would have noticed. What’s gonna happen to all them dogs she had?”

  “They’ve been taken to the Cedar Bay Animal Shelter. Several of them have been adopted, and some others have been placed with foster families until there’s a little more space at the shelter,” Mike answered and then he said, “Mrs. Lewis, you mentioned you watch the stock market on TV, right?”

  “Yeah, it’s kind of my hobby. Like to see how my money’s doin,’ ya’ know?”

  “I’ve never gotten involved in the market, but it occurs to me if you spend a lot of time in this room watching the stock market, you’d probably be aware if something strange was going on over at Miss Ryan’s home. I noticed you have a clear vision of her house from the front window here in your living room. I’d like you to think back to the last week or so and tell me what you noticed going on over there.”

  “Shannon’d know better than anyone. Spends half her time lookin’ out the front window at the Ryan home, don’t ya’ Shannon?” Ralph said.

  “I do not,” she said bristling. “Jes’ sometimes I’d see vans pullin’ up to the gate, and I knew that infernal barkin’ was gonna get worse, and darned if every time it didn’t.”

  “So, you saw some dogs being delivered, is that right?” Mike asked.

  “Nah, can’t say I saw the actual dogs. What I saw was the vans that brought them in, leastways I think that’s what happened. They always drove behind the house, and I couldn’t see what was actually in the vans, but since the barkin’ jes’ kept gettin’ worse and worse, thinkin’ that’s what happened.”

  “How long have you lived here?” Mike asked them.

  “Goin’ on twelve years. I remember because we moved in here jes’ after I retired from the factory down in Coos Bay. Always kinda liked Cedar Bay, and we decided to move here. Got us a good deal on the house cuz the previous owner died here and his kids didn’t want nothin’ to do with it other than to get their hands on the money from sellin’ it,” Ralph said.

  “In the twelve years you’ve lived here, did either one of you ever meet Maggie Ryan?”

  “Nah. We used to see her go to work when we first moved here. Heard she was a teacher, but then I guess she retired, and the only time we’d see her was when she went to the mailbox out by the gate once in a while,” Ralph said.

  “Did she have many visitors?” Mike asked.

  “Shannon can probably answer that cuz she’s the one whose always lookin’ out the window.”

  She gave Ralph a dirty look and said, “Once in awhile when I’d hear somethin’ unusual, I’d look out the window to see what it was. A woman usually visited her about once a week and a man, I think he might be a preacher, came twice a week. A coupla times I seen one of them ‘Meals on Wheels’ trucks, so I figger she was havin’ some food delivered. That’s about it.”

  “You mentioned the dogs barking a lot. Did they bark at specific times?” Mike asked.

  “Like clockwork in the mornin’ and evenin’ even though she kept them in the house most of the time. Always figgered they was hungry for breakfast and dinner. There was also some guy that would come twice a week and stay for about half an hour or so. I’d see him walkin’ around the yard with a bag. Maybe he was pickin’ up dog stuff. Many dogs as that ol’ lady had, must have been a real mess.”

  “Did either one of you hear the dogs bark at strange times, like in the middle of the night?”

  “Yeah, Shannon, remember? Couple of times lately we was waked up by them dogs.”

  “How could I forget it? Don’t know how many times that old lady’s dogs woke me up. Can’t even count the number of times I’d wake up in the mornin’ so tired I could barely keep my eyes open to watch the stock market. Usually took me a little nap when the market closed on the days when that happened. Don’t wish a bad death on anyone, but in her case, with all the dogs she had yappin’ and barkin’ all the time, might be some kind of cosmic justice. Jes’ sayin’.”

  “The night before last, the night she was murdered, did you hear anything suspicious? Were the dogs barking at an unusual time?”

  “Nah, but now that I think ‘bout it, I was lookin’ out the window wondering when they were gonna stop, when I seen a man dressed in black kinda hurryin’ along the street. Ya’ know, this neighborhood’s too old fer street lights and sidewalks, but I do ‘member thinkin’ it was odd that someone would be out walkin’ in the street when it was dark outside.”

  “Mrs. Lewis, can you tell me anything else? Are you sure it
was a man? How tall do you think he was? Could you see his face? Was he fat or thin? Anything you could tell me might help.”

  She was quiet for a few long moments and then she said, “I’m not much good with stuff like that, but he was a little taller than you. He wasn’t fat and he wasn’t thin, kinda normal, ya’ know? It definitely was a man. He didn’t have no hat on, and I could kinda make out his face. That’s why I said it was a man.”

  “Could you identify him if you ever saw him again?” Mike asked.

  “Nah, it was too dark. Jes’ purty sure it was a man, but other than that, can’t tell ya’ nothin’.”

  “Well, Sheriff, maybe Shannon lookin’ out at the street at the old lady’s house all the time’ll help ya’.”

  “Thanks for taking the time to talk to me. If you think of anything else, please call me. I think I gave you my card with my number on it the night of the murder, but here’s another one for you. I’ll let you get back to the stock market.”

  “It’s okay, Sheriff. Been watchin’ with one eye, and it looks like it’s a little bit up now. Think we made a little money today.” She looked at the clock on the wall and said, “Ralphie, mailman’ll be here in a minute. You know how prompt he is. Comes at 3:30 every day. You can set your clock on it. I’m going out to the mailbox. I’m expectin’ some information on a stock I’m thinkin’ of buyin’ fer us,” she said, following Mike out as he opened the door.

  Wonder if she really saw anyone. Sounds like she really hated those dogs. Wonder if she hated them enough to murder Maggie Ryan.

  CHAPTER 17

  Mike had turned off his phone while he’d been at the Lewis home. He checked his messages once he was in his car ready to go back to the station. There were two. One was from the Fire Chief, Wayne Rogers, and the other one was from the attorney, Lem Bates. He pulled away from the curb and called Chief Rogers on his Bluetooth.

  “Chief Rogers here,” the voice on the other end of the call said.