We chatted for a while before I ended the call.
At seven, I filled the bathtub with unscented bubble bath and relaxed in the soothing hot water. Bobby Lee would be working tonight, and I didn’t want to distract his nose. I was invited for drinks at Alice Mae Petrie’s house. My plan to identify her intruder/stalker was in progress. I had taken the precaution of eating a large salad loaded with olive oil, and two slices of wheat bread slathered with butter. The olive oil and butter were to coat my stomach, so the hard liquor wouldn’t go to my head. I’m a beer drinker, but Alice Mae wouldn’t be serving beer. There would probably be three choices of booze: vodka, bourbon, and gin. I didn’t particularly care for any of them, but I could tolerate vodka. If a male guest was filling in for a bartender, the Standing Operating Procedure was to load every female glass to the brim with liquor and add only a token splash of mix. The men seemed to believe that it increased the male’s chance of getting lucky. When it had happened to me in the past, I had always gotten sick quickly and thrown up on my male escort, which tends to cool down even the most ardent Casanova.
Alice Mae had called me Thursday and informed me she had invited twelve: her three suspected suitors, three more males, and four females. A total of twelve people in her small cottage would be a tight fit. It made me think of a packed tin of sardines. It should be an interesting evening.
When I arrived at a few minutes after eight, the room was somewhat as I had imagined. The couch and chairs were back against the wall, and Alice Mae had supplemented the seating with several of her mother’s dining room chairs. Everyone would be seated in an irregular circle with an opening at the front door for people to enter, and another opposite so we could trek to the kitchen for drinks.
She and I stood in the middle of the circle as she introduced me to the nine who were seated. Her three suspects were among them. She sent me to the kitchen for a drink. I knew the man who was mixing the drinks. He owned a service station facing the courthouse square downtown. We chatted as he worked at the dinette table. It was loaded with glasses, booze, and mixes. He added ice cubes scooped from an insulated cooler, filled the glass with vodka, and more or less waved the carafe of orange juice above it. Adding a swizzel stick he presented it to me with a flourish. “Tada!”
I held the drink up to the light, and could only detect a faint tinge of yellow color. I looked at him.
“Orders from headquarters,” he boomed across the table. He had been sampling his wares.
“Uh-huh,” I said, and went back to the action.
I chose a seat next to a woman I hadn’t seen in ages. She was a paralegal for the county defense league. She had spent a lot of time at the shelter for battered women as a volunteer. I worked a four-hour shift there once a month bringing in a bloodhound and sometimes a couple of puppies if any children were in residence. I hadn’t seen her there in months. When I inquired if she was still working there, she shrugged her shoulders.
“I got married to Mr. Right. It was my second time around. In less than three months, I was a guest of the shelter for a week, and had filed for a divorce. My experience from working there helped. I knew just what to do when he beat the crap out of me for the fourth time in twelve weeks. I can’t go back there as a volunteer until the divorce is final.”
I murmured the appropriate words, patted her knee, and changed the subject. We played charades for a while, and when interest waned, conversation and something resembling musical chairs began. Men and women began to loosen up from the liquor and changed seats often. I was still nursing my first drink, but the others weren’t so prudent. I slipped into the bedroom and called Donnie Ray.
After fifteen minutes, I wandered over to a window to make sure he had arrived, and flipped the porch light on and off. I gave Alice Mae a nod. She moved to the middle of the room.
“Listen to me, everyone, I have a surprise for you!”
She sounded nervous. The noise level dropped to zero. The three standing quickly took their seats.
“Jo Beth wants to tell you a story about her bloodhounds, and give you a demonstration of their abilities. Would you please remain seated, and give her your undivided attention. Jo Beth?”
I stood in front of the door.
“Before I begin the demonstration, I’m going to bring Bobby Lee, a very gifted bloodhound, inside so you can meet him. I don’t think many of you have seen a bloodhound in person, so I will tell you first that bloodhounds aren’t aggressive, and don’t bite.”
“Can I have that in writing?” called out one of the males who wasn’t a suspect. He received a couple of snickers for his humor. I ignored him, trying to draw the eyes and attention of the others to me. I opened the door and took Bobby Lee’s leash and the thawed scent pad from Donnie Ray, who had been standing with the screen door open. I quickly shut the door in his face, and ordered Bobby Lee to sit. I now had their attention.
“This bloodhound is trained for search and rescue. His ability to smell is many, many times greater than ours is. I’m going to tell you a story, and I want all of you to suspend any disbelief of his abilities so I can prove he can do things that seem impossible.
“Two months ago, Alice Mae began to have a feeling that she was being followed. She tried to ignore it, but it kept reappearing, and was stronger each time. She came home one evening and found her door unlocked. Had she forgotten to lock it, or had someone picked the lock, gone inside, and wanted her to be aware of his uninvited visit? She wasn’t sure until the second occurrence. That’s when she called me.”
The jokester began to hum a ghostly theme and received more laughs and a couple of hushes. A woman gave a large shudder and glared at the culprit.
“Don’t interrupt again. I for one am very interested in what Jo Beth is telling us!”
I sneaked a glance at Alice Mae and I saw she was resigned to the fact that she might lose more than one friend tonight. She tightened her lips and nodded her approval for me to continue.
“I came over immediately after her call, and brought with me a fairly new invention called the scent machine. I’ll explain briefly what it does. It captures the scent, or I should say the latest scent at a crime scene. In this instance, the person who entered Alice Mae’s living quarters, who is unknown at this time, left his scent all over the house. The scent machine was placed near Alice Mae’s bed, and I let it run for five minutes.”
At the mention of her bed, I heard some suppressed snickers.
“Ah, but your thoughts are incorrect. This type of stalker, predator, or would-be rapist isn’t lusting for sex. They want to prove they have power over women, to feel in control, and to dominate.”
I didn’t let my eyes roam around the room because I knew I might let my gaze linger on the three suspects to see how they were reacting to my statements.
“The machine draws the air from the room and forces it through a sterile gauze pad, like this one.”
I held the pad in front of me so everyone could see.
“It can be frozen indefinitely, and thawed when you believe you have a suspect, and used to convict him, if he is identified by a bloodhound who has the right credentials.”
“Let me get this straight, this sounds like the Twilight Zone. Are you telling us that you’re gonna let that bloodhound there, what’s his name, smell that gauze pad and he’s then going to pick out a male in this room as the one who took an uninvited tour here, and has also been following her?”
The questioner was a stout dark-haired woman who owned the local car wash. I couldn’t remember her name. I smiled and nodded.
“You are correct. Bobby Lee will point him out shortly.”
“Man’s best friend is going to fink on him? I think that’s priceless!” Another woman heard from. This one had come with one of the three suspects. She had an infectious grin.
“That is correct.”
I kneeled and held two pieces of deer jerky in my gloved hand. This was the signal to let Bobby Lee know it was time to put his nose to work. I opened the Zi
ploc freezer bag, removed the scent pad, and thrust it under his nose.
“Seek, Bobby Lee, seek!”
I slipped off his short lead and whispered the familiar command in his ear.
“Find your man, get your man, where’s your man?”
He took one fast sniff, stared around the room as if he were searching for a perp hiding under a sofa, and padded softly across to the first person on his left in the ragged circle of possible suspects. It was a slight female who still looked like a teenager, when I knew she was at least thirty years old. She giggled when Bobby Lee’s nose brushed against her slacks. He moved around the room, hesitating briefly to take a sniff.
In front of the seventh person, who was one of the three suspects, Bobby Lee raised his head and began his victorious bay while planting his enormous paws on Tom’s shoulders.
Everyone was riveted by the loud bay, which stopped just short of rattling the rafters. I knew what to expect and was still startled by the suddenness of Bobby Lee’s actions, so I could understand why the others were so shocked.
Tom came out of his trance and began to push Bobby Lee away from him, but being seated, he couldn’t get purchase on the happy animal. I got over there quickly, slipped on Bobby Lee’s short lead, and hauled him out of Tom’s range.
As I worked to silence the mournful cry, I observed several faces turned toward Tom. It was the women. They were glaring at him, letting him know that they knew he was a pervert and a stalker. The men seemed doubtful and embarrassed. They wouldn’t meet anyone’s eyes. Any second now they would wake up and begin to rally around the male accused. I had to stop it before it got started.
“Tom, you have been positively identified in front of witnesses. You can be convicted of entering Alice Mae’s residence and stalking her. I’m advising her to apply for a restraining order tomorrow. If you are seen within fifty yards of this residence, you will be arrested and tried under the new stalking act. I suggest you leave immediately.”
Amid soft mutterings and glares, he rose and faced Alice Mae.
“I want you to tell me you don’t really believe this garbage and that animal that slobbered all over me. What’s gotten into you? Why didn’t you ask me if I was coming over uninvited, and if I was following you, huh?”
His cheeks and ears had reddened with anger. She rose from her seat and glared at him.
“I believe the dog and will get a restraining order tomorrow, or Monday, if I have to wait until then. I want you out of my house, and don’t you ever speak to me again!”
She was trembling but resolute. Tom stumbled past her without another word and left, slamming the door behind him.
I’ve been known to clear a room pretty fast working alone, but Bobby Lee and I working in tandem have to hold the record. Within ten minutes it was only Alice Mae, Bobby Lee, and me.
I helped her clean up the party debris and walked her around the house to spend the night with her mother. I told her I would go with her to secure a restraining order, and she said she would call me if she needed me.
I arrived home at a little after ten, and saw that Jasmine was home and had company. I counted the vehicles as Bobby Lee and I walked from the garage to the back porch. A pickup with a cab over camper, another pickup, a small motor home, and two cars. I smiled ruefully. She was having a party and I wasn’t invited. Her college friends, no doubt. I wouldn’t have fit in anyway. Six years is a large gap when you’re still in school. Her friends and I would have little in common to talk about.
My leg was back to normal. I still had a slight limp when I was tired. It was from the deep bruising, so that meant no dancing. I wasn’t missing much. I still resented not being asked. I wished she would be sensible; I was tired of this feud. I wanted her back as my friend. I sighed as I gathered my stacks of papers and headed for the bedroom. I would read another file tonight. Tomorrow I would bite the bullet, apologize to Jasmine, and get our relationship back on track.
This plan buoyed my spirits and I read for the next two hours. I decided I could eliminate Cynthia Cancannon Ross, Steven’s wife, for mostly the same reasons that I had crossed him off my list of suspects. She also had a very good alibi for the twenty-four hours in question, and also didn’t have time enough to travel so far. I crossed off number nine on my list and turned out my light. After consideration of all the facts, I was pleased to be able to shorten the list. And then there were eight.
29
“She’s Gone, Gone, Gone”
October 22, Sunday, Noon
I put my feet on the desk and sat tilted backward at a precarious angle. I rubbed my eyes and looked out the office window at the gorgeous Indian summer day. It was warm with a fresh breeze, a perfect day for a picnic. Unfortunately, I didn’t know a soul to call and invite to one. I was feeling impatient with Jasmine. Since I had decided to apologize to her, she hadn’t even shown her face this morning. It must have been a late, late night last night. I just wanted to get the apology behind me and move on.
I walked out to the back porch and stared at her stairs, hoping my apparent interest would make her appear at the window. No such luck. I continued across the courtyard and found Wayne and Donnie Ray playing computer games in Wayne’s office.
“Have either of you seen Jasmine this morning?”
They shook their heads negatively.
“Her car was gone when I went to pick up the papers. I noticed because her garage door was open, and she always keeps it closed.” Wayne shrugged. “Maybe she went to church this morning.”
“What time did you fetch the papers?”
“A little after six.”
“Not hardly. Easter’s the only day you go to church before daybreak. She must have gone home with some of her party people.”
“Party people?” Donnie Ray seemed surprised. “She had a party last night?”
“Yep, they must have come after you two left. I went to the bedroom to read in bed, and didn’t hear them leave.”
“We didn’t see them. We came home at one, and all the lights were off.” Wayne looked thoughtful. “Did anything else happen yesterday, another quarrel or something?”
“No, Wayne, our relationship was the same as Friday and all of last week. She’ll be back this afternoon.”
I sounded more confident than I felt. My stomach churned.
Back in the office I settled with my tall stack of papers, and read every scrap of information on the third name on my list, Cathy Cancannon Kingsley, Bethesda, Maryland, who had been home alone. Feeling hungry, I made two sandwiches out of the small beef pot roast that Rosie had brought over yesterday, and ate them while I read.
After four hours, I had read her entire file and matched the time during the crucial period to her phone calls. There was no way this woman was guilty. She didn’t have time to plan and commit a murder. She volunteered for every club, charity, and function in Washington, D.C., plus Bethesda. Her phone bill listed twenty-nine calls she had made during the crucial period, and the detectives had interviewed each recipient. I felt nary a qualm about eliminating her name from the list. And then there were seven.
I tried to study Cathy’s husband Larry Kingsley’s file, but my eyes kept wandering to my watch, and my ears were cocked for the sound of Jasmine’s return. I stepped over Bobby Lee’s tail. He was stretched out full length and snoring softly. I wandered to the window and gazed with unseeing eyes in the direction of Jasmine’s staircase.
I went back to my chair and tried to talk myself out of what I had decided to do as I pulled open the shallow middle drawer of my desk. I reached way in the back, searching for Jasmine’s spare key to her apartment. She had left it with me when she moved in. My finger located the cold metal object and I drew it out slowly.
If she comes home and catches you, you’ll be sorry! My mind warned. Shut up! I admonished. I detoured to the kitchen and took two Alka-Seltzers.
I marched up the stairs, held the screen door open, inserted the key, and hesitated. I took a deep breath a
nd opened the door.
“Jasmine?” I called softly. I didn’t expect an answer. I was several steps into the room when I paused. Jasmine didn’t live here anymore. The furniture was still here because it belonged to me. She had picked out the style she liked. All the other things she had added in the past two years, a Tiffany-like table lamp, pictures, tossed pillows, and her glass figurines, were absent.
I started humming an aimless tune under my breath as I toured the other rooms. I couldn’t remember the title or any of the lyrics. I hummed a few bars over and over as I noticed small details. She had changed the kitchen cabinet’s shelf paper. The last one I had noticed had been blue. This new pattern was yellow and brightened the small, empty, clean, and sterile surroundings. I moved to the bathroom. The shower curtain of small lavender flowers was also new. I guess she didn’t have time to wash the old one. The medicine cabinet was empty except for a small blue bowl of potpourri. The dried petals’ attar of roses filled the compact room with its pleasant scent.
The tiny bedroom looked larger with only the white mattress covers and white mini-blinds. There was no color in the room. With the drapes, matching bedspread, and the pictures missing, it looked barren and deserted. I locked the door and left.
Downstairs, Wayne and Donnie Ray were feeding puppies when I walked into the grooming room. I couldn’t look them in the eye and deliver my news. I picked up a squirmy bundle of wrinkles and spoke in his ear as I was looking at nothing on the far wall.
“Jasmine has moved out, bag and baggage. I’m sure she won’t be back. Wayne, you’ll have to adjust for her absence the best you can. Give me her sweeps and her puppy feedings. Donnie Ray, you’ll have to assume her training schedule for now.”
I returned the puppy to the cart, turned on my heel, and got out of there. I couldn’t bear to hear how they felt about me. I knew they would blame me for driving her away. I would have to face them, but I wanted it to happen later, not this minute. I had to call Hank. He would get her back for me.
I reached his answering machine at home, and left an urgent request for him to call me ASAP. I had a pan of store-bought biscuits in the oven, and was nuking the beef roast when he returned my call at six-thirty.
Ten Little Bloodhounds Page 20
