“No, Mr. Myers,” the judge said. “I am not. I am granting the sanctuary a stay on having to surrender the animal, based on a lack of evidence. We will reconvene next week, and if you can produce your bite victim and he can prove the incident happened as you’ve said, then we’ll see.”
She turned toward Daisy and Kari. “Keep in mind that you are forbidden to adopt this dog out, even if you can find someone who wants him, pending the outcome of this case. He might still have to be euthanized, if Mr. Myers can prove that he is a danger to others.” She banged her gavel on the desk. “I will see everyone back here next week. That’s our last case for tonight. Court is dismissed.”
Kari and the others made their way out of the building. She didn’t know whether to be relieved that Buster was safe for now or terrified of what could happen if the dog warden could actually produce his witness. She couldn’t even imagine what Daisy was feeling, after looking after Buster for a year and a half.
“I’m sorry for interrupting,” she said to Daisy as they reached the parking lot, which even at this time of night was half full of cars and trucks. “I hope I didn’t mess things up.”
“Not at all,” Daisy said. She seemed tired but hopeful, her shoulders only at half-mast. “You did great. I think it really helped that you mentioned all the repairs and new fences. I guess all we can do now is hope that Myers can’t get this so-called bite victim to show up. If the guy even exists.”
“Oh, he exists,” the dog warden said, stepping out of the shadows. He sneered at Daisy. “Your precious dog had better enjoy this week, because it is his last.”
He swiveled around to jab a finger in Kari’s direction. “As for you, lady, you have no business running an animal rescue. I know who you are. Just some waitress who got lucky and won the lottery, and let the money go to her head. You are totally unqualified to manage a place like that, even if your friend here hadn’t already run it into the ground.”
“Oh, shut up,” Kari said, actually losing her temper for once. Crabby customers, her drunken mess of a father, even her critical ex-husband couldn’t make her lose her cool, but this rotten excuse for a public servant had just gotten on her last nerve. She’d spent her life giving in to bullies and she was never going to let it happen again.
“You should be ashamed of yourself. You’re supposed to be looking out for the public and the welfare of the animals. As far as I can tell, you don’t care about either one. You’re just a power-hungry bully. But believe me, I have dealt with your type before, and you can’t intimidate me.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about, missy,” Myers growled. “And no idea what you’re doing. You’re an amateur in dangerously over your head and you won’t last six months at that place. Or six weeks, if I have anything to say about it. You’d be better off giving up now and selling me the property so I can put it to a better use. At least that way you wouldn’t end up with nothing.”
“Over my dead body,” Kari spat back, crossing her arms over her chest. “You are never getting your hands on the sanctuary. Or any of our dogs.”
“We’ll see about that,” Myers said, and stalked off into the night.
Kari took a deep breath, feeling her whole body shaking from the confrontation. In front of her, Daisy’s eyes were wide.
“Sorry,” Kari said. “I shouldn’t have let him get under my skin. I’m not usually that easily provoked. But I hate bullies.”
Daisy just jerked her head, and Kari turned around to see that they had an audience. Over a dozen people had apparently witnessed the entire argument, including the judge, now dressed in street clothes and obviously on her way out of the building to go home. Kari felt her face flame.
“Sorry,” she muttered. Hopefully by next week the judge would have forgotten the whole thing. And it wouldn’t be the talk of the town by breakfast tomorrow. Sure, that could happen.
Three
A loud high-pitched yowl right next to her ear woke Kari out of a deep sleep three nights later. A second later, a small black paw batted her on the nose.
“What?” Kari said, turning on the light to check the time on her phone. “Oh, come on,” she said to Queenie. “It’s one o’clock in the morning. I don’t want to play now. Go back to sleep.”
The kitten yowled again and Kari felt her heart skip a beat. “What’s the matter? Are you sick? Does your tummy hurt?” She peered at the kitten, who looked just fine. But Queenie had never done this before. Maybe one of the other cats had upset her? Kari listened, but the house was quiet. From the distance, she could hear the sound of barking coming from the kennels. Huh?
Suddenly, her phone buzzed. She had it on mute for the night, and probably would have slept through it if she hadn’t already been awake. Cocking her head at Queenie, she picked up the phone. “Hello?” she said cautiously. If this was some kind of robocall at this time of the night, she was going to be really peeved.
“What the heck is going on over there?” a male voice bellowed in her ear.
Darn, not a robocall. She got out of bed and opened the window wider, turning down the fan she’d had running to quiet its whirring. Even though her second-floor bedroom was high in the eaves on the opposite side of the house from the shelter, she could hear the racket the dogs were making, now that the fan was off and she was awake.
“Mr. Lee, is that you?” The Lees were her closest neighbors, and Daisy told her that they’d complained before about the dogs barking. Apparently the Lees’ house was fairly close to the back of the shelter where the dog kennels were. But those complaints had usually been during the day when a number of the dogs were outside. In theory, all the animals should be safely locked up for the night.
Crap. What if Buster had gotten out again? Or one of the other dogs. Or all of them? It certainly sounded like something had gotten them riled up.
“Yes, it is me. Daisy gave me your number,” the irate voice said. “Make those dogs shut up or I am calling the police.” He hung up.
“Great,” Kari said to the cat. “Now we’ll be back in court for breaking the noise ordinance.” She quickly pulled on some jeans and the tee shirt she’d taken off just a couple of hours ago, and ran down the stairs to the front door. At the last minute, she grabbed a pair of thick gloves from the table and stuck them in her back pocket in case she had to deal with an angry dog, and she took the high-powered flashlight from her “in case of emergency” box inside the closet. She wasn’t certain if this counted as an emergency or not, but at least she’d be able to see where she was going.
Not that she really needed it to get from the house to the main shelter building. Kari was still settling in and getting acquainted with her new living arrangements, but there was an easy path between the two buildings, and a bright light on the outside of the sanctuary that went on automatically at dusk. She tried to leave Queenie safely shut inside, but the kitten darted out between her legs as she was closing the door and went racing down the path with Kari following more cautiously behind. As usual, it was clear which one of them was in charge.
As they approached the shelter, the pitch of the dogs’ barking took on an even more hysterical tone. Kari debated calling Daisy, or even Suz, who was something of a dog whisperer, but with the Lees poised to call the cops, she didn’t dare wait for someone to come hold her hand. Besides, the place was her responsibility now. She was just going to have to suck it up and go inside.
She unlocked the front door and looked around, but nothing seemed out of place. The barking reached a fever pitch when she opened the door to the dog room, but when she counted, everyone seemed to be present and accounted for. As far as she could tell, the dogs were more excited than upset, although something had obviously set them off. Only Buster, at the far end, was clearly agitated, throwing his massive body against the door to the outside in a way that made Kari worry that he would break open that lock if she couldn’t figure out what wa
s going on. And soon.
She went back out into the main room, Queenie still prancing around at her feet.
“I don’t suppose you want to show me what the problem is?” Kari said, more out of desperation than any expectation that a tiny kitten would know the answer. Queenie meowed at the door they’d come in.
“Fine,” Kari muttered. “We’ll check around outside. But if there is a bear out there, I’d like to remind you that I tried to get you to stay at the house.”
She didn’t think there had been any bear sightings this summer, although the creatures did occasionally come down from the hills and show up in people’s backyards, or root around in their garbage cans.
They crept carefully around the side of the building, with Kari moving the beam of her flashlight from side to side. Nothing moved in the dark night, and there was no sound except the barking of the agitated dogs. The wide arc of the flashlight showed her the fence to the dog yard, a square plot of mostly bare ground adorned with a few abandoned half-chewed bones, and as she followed along the fence, everything seemed normal. Until she spotted something that gleamed dully as the light bounced off it. She peered closer. Was that a shovel? What was a shovel doing next to the fence? Had one of the workmen left it? She couldn’t think of any reason a painter would have had a shovel, and the fence guys hadn’t started yet.
She shifted the light a little bit farther and had to bite back a scream. Lying next to the shovel, one arm outstretched as though trying to reach for it, was the prone body of Bill Myers. He was very clearly dead, his own snare pole around his neck, eyes bulging and furious, even in death.
Kari scooped up Queenie, more for comfort than to keep her away from the body, and called 911. Something told her that the dogs weren’t going to be quieting down any time soon.
* * *
* * *
Kari heard the patrol car arrive almost ten minutes later, its tires crunching on the gravel parking lot. She could vaguely make out the glimmer of a flashing red light from where she stood. She wasn’t that far from town, but she suspected the dispatcher she’d talked to didn’t really believe her when she’d said, only slightly hysterically, that she’d found a dead body. At least they hadn’t used the sirens—that really would have set the Lees off.
She could hear male voices muttering something about a waste of time and shouted, “Back here.”
Two police officers in uniform rounded the corner of the building, their own, even more powerful flashlights aiming in her direction and making her squint. One of them was older, probably nearing retirement age, with short gray hair, an aggressive mustache, and a sizable paunch. The other one was so young she might have mistaken him for a college kid if he hadn’t been in uniform, and had the kind of physique only gained by hours spent obsessively working out in the gym.
The older officer looked bored and disgruntled, as if he was expecting to find out this was some kind of late-night prank. The younger one was twitchy and nervous, looking back over his shoulder and jumping every time a new chorus of barking broke out.
He was the one who spotted Kari first. She was standing as far away from Myers’s corpse as possible while still being able to keep him in sight. Truth be told, she would have liked to go back to her house, but she didn’t know if there was some kind of rule about leaving the scene of a murder like there was about leaving the scene of an accident. As it was, she was impressed that her knees only shook slightly.
“Hey,” the young cop said, his voice a little high. “Are those dogs?”
Kari blinked. “Um, yes. Of course they’re dogs.” What did he think? That she’d left the television on really loud? “This is an animal sanctuary. In fact, the dogs barking was what woke me up. Well, the neighbors next door calling to complain about it, anyway.” She thought she’d sound saner if she left the cat out of it. Things were bad enough as it was.
“Oh,” the young cop said. “They can’t get out, can they?”
She hoped not. “No,” she said, as confidently as she could. “They’re all locked up.”
“Pull your panties up, Overton,” the older cop said. “Yeesh. I can’t believe you’re afraid of a few dogs.” He flashed a badge at Kari. “I’m Deputy Carter. This is my partner, Deputy Overton. Are you the one who called to report a dead body?” Doubt oozed from every pore. “Ya sure you’re not just jumping at shadows? It can get pretty spooky up here for a woman by herself.” He glanced around as if to check for anyone else. “You’re the new owner, right? Bought the place from Daisy Parker? They were talking about you down at the diner this morning.”
Of course they were. Small towns. News traveled fast.
“Yes, Deputy, I’m Kari Stuart. I live in the house on the property now.” She pointed back in the direction of her small farmhouse. She’d finally quit her waitress job after she’d bought the shelter, so mercifully she didn’t have to listen to them gossip about her in person.
“And I’m pretty certain I know the difference between a shadow and an actual dead body.” She tried not to shudder. “He’s over there, by the fence. It looks like he was trying to dig a hole under it and someone came up and surprised him.”
Carter sighed. “Lady, why don’t you let us figure out what happened. All you people, watching too many cop shows. If it was up to me, they’d outlaw the darned things.”
He walked forward, followed by his partner. Kari reluctantly trailed after them, still clutching Queenie, who for the moment miraculously seemed content to stay where she was.
Carter stopped abruptly, almost causing Overton to bump into him. “Damn!” the older man said. “You weren’t kiddin’.” He leaned over and aimed the flashlight at the body. “Crap. That’s Bill Myers. I can’t believe it. Somebody killed Bill Myers.”
He swung around and turned suspicious eyes on Kari. “You want to explain to me why the dog warden’s dead body is on your property?” he asked. “And how you just happened to be the one who found him?”
“I have no idea what he is doing here in the middle of the night, alive or dead,” Kari said, slightly acerbically. “And I just told you—I found him because the neighbors complained about the noise from the dogs, and when I came out to investigate, thinking maybe there was a bear prowling around here that set them off, I found Mr. Myers instead.”
Overton waved his flashlight around, its beam jumping shakily from side to side. “There are bears here too?”
“Oh, for the love of—” Carter reached out one meaty hand and pushed the light down. “There are no bears. But there is a dead body. You’d better call it in. Have the dispatcher notify the sheriff. He’s going to want to know about this. Have them send over the coroner to certify the death.” He glanced down at the dog warden. “Like we need someone to do that. But rules are rules.”
As the younger deputy contacted headquarters, the older one pulled out a pad and a pen and gave Kari a hard stare.
“So, your story is that the neighbors called you because the dogs were barking, and you came out here and found the body,” he said.
“That’s right,” Kari answered. “I checked inside the sanctuary first, to see if I could figure out what set the dogs off. But when I couldn’t find anything, I came out here.” She nodded at Myers’s corpse. “He was already dead when I got here. So I called 911.”
“You touch anything?” Carter asked suspiciously. “I notice you just happen to have a pair of gloves on you. Maybe you were digging that hole and Myers came along and found you, so you killed him.”
Kari barely managed to keep from rolling her eyes. “Why would I be digging a hole under my own fence, Deputy? And even if I was, why would I kill someone over that? Plus I’d like to know what the dog warden was doing out here after midnight. Doesn’t that seem odd to you?”
“I’m asking the questions here, Miz Stuart,” Carter said. “Did you or did you not touch anything at the scene?”
“I did not,” Kari said. “And the gloves were in case I had to handle an agitated dog.”
“You sure none of those dogs got out again?” he asked. “Maybe that’s why Myers was out here. Dog warden is on duty twenty-four seven, you know.”
“All the dogs are in their cages. I checked.”
“Huh,” Carter said. Overton was taking pictures of the scene with a camera he’d fetched from the squad car.
“What the holy heck is going on here?” a deep voice said. A man in his fifties with the look of an ex-jock gone slightly to seed came around the corner of the building, followed by Doc Phelps, the local GP, who doubled as the town coroner.
“Somebody killed Bill Myers, Sheriff,” Carter said. “This woman says she found the body when the neighbors complained about the dogs barking.” His skepticism was clear in his tone. “You sure got here fast. Did the neighbors call you?”
“I was just down the road dealing with an altercation at the Last Stop.” The sheriff walked over to the body. “Yep, that’s Bill Myers, all right. You ask me, it’s a miracle it took this long for someone to murder the man.” He walked over to Kari as the coroner bent over the dog warden to get a closer look.
“You’re the new owner of the sanctuary, Kari Stuart,” the sheriff said with the certainty of a man who likes to know what is going on in his town. “People have been talking about you buying the place. I’m Sheriff Richardson. Heard you got into a fight with Myers outside the courtroom a couple of nights ago.”
Kari flushed. “We might have exchanged a few heated words. I wouldn’t call it a fight, exactly. It was no big deal.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” the sheriff said thoughtfully. “He threatened to shut you down, you argued with him, and now he’s dead on your property. I’d say that was a pretty big deal.”
Four
Kari had never had any personal dealings with the town sheriff, having miraculously managed to stay out of trouble up until this moment, but she’d heard that he was gruff and not inclined to put up with nonsense. Hopefully he was also fair and open-minded, unlike his deputy, who seemed ready to condemn her on the spot.
Furbidden Fatality Page 4
