Downward Dog, page 6
part #1 of Dog Yoga Mystery Series
She turned to the cousin. “I’m sorry but I didn’t catch your name.”
“Wil—ah—Wilber Manchurian.”
“Are you happy to take care of Penelope until her owner comes back?”
Wilber shrugged. “Sure. She doesn’t look like she’ll be too much of a handful. So long as she doesn’t bark the place down, I’m easy.”
“There you go then, Penelope. You have two offers to choose from.” Hine stroked the soft fur on the top of the bulldog’s head.
“I’ll stay here. It smells like the dame instead of slowly desiccating leftovers.”
Even if Wilber hadn’t been staring at her, Hine wouldn’t have known how to respond to that.
“Is it okay if I come and check on her each day?” She looked over at the dame’s cousin, eyebrows raised. “My family spent a lot of time working with dogs so we’re used to taking care of them.”
Wilber didn’t look happy about the request. “Call first.”
“Do you have a cell? I’d rather not phone in on the landline if the police are listening to every conversation.”
“Why?” He tilted his head to one side, seemingly curious for the first time. “Have something to hide, do you?”
“I just don’t want to waste police time.” Hine pulled her phone out of her back pocket, pleased to see she hadn’t cracked the screen more than it already was with her recent fall. “That’s my number there,” she said, scrolling to her contact card and passing the phone across. “So, if you can put your number in there, that’ll be great.”
He thumbed the keys, one-handed, and threw the phone back. Hine smiled, he’d written his name as Penelope’s servant.
“I’ve already fed her, so there’s no worry on that score.”
Penelope nodded her head, sighing in agreement. “He certainly has. He’s a much better cook than the dame.”
Cook?
PC Perry walked back into the room. “The technician’s got everything set up so all you have to do is answer if the phone rings. Our guys back at the station will automatically begin tracking the location.”
“How long do I need to keep them on the line?”
“As long as you can but not so it becomes obvious that’s what you’re doing. If the kidnappers have eyes on this place, they’ll already know the police are involved but if they don’t, we’d rather not tip them off with a weird conversation.”
“Tracing the origin of the call is always hit or miss,” the technician said from the interconnecting doorway. “These days, there’s so much cloaking and layering technology available that unless they’ve not bothered, our chances are pretty slim.”
Wilber nodded, chewing on his lower lip. “What about the ransom amount? Should I negotiate? How much money would the police pay out in these cases?”
“Nothing.” PC Perry’s expression turned thoughtful. “The kidnappers will give themselves away before it gets that far. The only thing the police will give them is a pair of handcuffs and a cell down at the station.”
Hine frowned and exchanged a concerned glance with Penelope. “But what if they don’t give themselves away?”
The officer shrugged but Hine understood the subtext well enough. If the police couldn’t find the criminals and wouldn’t pay for her safe return, the dame’s life would be in danger.
Chapter Ten
When Officer Perry offered Hine a hand getting back to her car, she desperately wanted to take him up on it. To lean on his broad shoulders while he slung his arm around her waist would give her pleasant dreams for a month. She turned him down instead.
As soon as he left, she sat up and called out to Wilber. The man had wandered away to another room and came back with a slightly annoyed expression on his face.
“I thought you’d gone.”
“Did you hear what the police said, about not paying the ransom?”
Wilber nodded, his face darkening. “It’s like they don’t really care about getting my cousin back at all.”
“I can’t swear it’s one hundred percent true, but I’ve heard on the grapevine that Dame Cholmondeley had insurance for just this situation. There’s a lady in town, I guess she’s an adjuster or something.”
“I prefer the term negotiator,” a high voice called out from the entrance, “but you can call me Madeline McStar.”
Hine and Wilber turned with a start. A small woman, the same one Harmon had pointed out earlier, stood at the doorway.
“Sorry to give you a fright,” she said, with a blank expression. “Your front door was wide open, so I let myself in.”
Wilber gave a snort. “That’s the police, for you. Leave the place open for anybody.”
“What are you doing here?” Hine asked. “Shouldn’t you be out searching for the dame?”
“I’m here to undo as much of the damage the police have done, as I can.” The woman crossed the room with short strides, head bobbing. To Hine, she looked like a giant pigeon.
“What damage?”
The negotiator ignored her query. “I saw the tradesman come along with the constable. Did he put something on the landline?”
“A box to intercept the calls.” Wilber put his hands on his hips. “Why? What’s wrong with that?”
“Anybody phoning in a ransom demand doesn’t want to do it with the police listening in. Our client is covered up to a million bucks but since the kidnappers won’t want cops involved, it’s your job to make sure they aren’t.”
A million dollars. Hine half-closed her eyes and imagined that sum in cash. It would take care of all her problems with a boatload left over for imprudent spending. Bliss.
You shouldn’t even be listening to this. You’re not family!
But Wilber hadn’t asked for her to go and Madeline hadn’t asked who she was at all. Hine shifted on the sofa, reigniting the pain in her ankle. She bit down on a groan while the other two sized each other up.
“What relation are you to Dame Cholmondeley?”
“Her cousin.”
“If you’re in agreement that our best chance to save your cousin’s life is to negotiate with the kidnappers and pay the ransom for her safe return, I can fix the phone for you.”
It took all of two seconds for Wilber to agree. When they were out of the room, Hine gave Penelope another pat. “It looks like your mistress might be coming home safely, after all.”
If the abductors called through a demand. If the transaction took place without a hiccup.
“It’s lucky my parents didn’t know how much money they could get in a case like this,” Hine whispered, mostly to herself. “Otherwise, they’d have got me into even more trouble.”
“What do you mean?”
“Keep that dog quiet!”
Wilber strode back in the room, his ears seemingly attuned to the frequency of Penelope’s bark. She’d barely spoken at all, yet he glared as though he’d been forced to listen to her for hours.
Maybe he had. Hine admitted things might have been very different before she fell into his path.
“She’s not being naughty,” she explained to Wilber. “Penelope’s just worried about her owner, the same as you.”
“Worried about not being fed, more like it.” He sat on the edge of the sofa, his head cocked toward the other room where Madeline was still at work.
“I can take her home if you’d prefer.” Hine gave Penelope a warning look, so she wouldn’t respond and trigger his anger. “It’s no skin off my nose.”
“Nah. Leave her be.” He ran a hand through his hair, still staring over at the doorway to the other room. “It’ll be nice to have a dog around to guard the place at night. It’s never nice to sleep in a strange place alone.”
“Okay. That’s done.” Madeline brushed her hands and reached up to adjust the bun on the back of her head. “When a call comes through the line now, it won’t be traced by the police.”
“Won’t they know their technology has been removed?” Hine gave a shiver as she thought of PC Perry coming around again, this time in a vastly different frame of mind.
“Not at all. The police receiver will just report no calls. They’ll find out eventually, the speed will depend on how closely the phone provider is monitoring this number. Hopefully, by the time they inform the cops the house has received a call, we’ll have the entire thing done and dusted.”
“Who pays the ransom?” Wilber demanded, sitting forward and dangling his hands between his legs.
“Our company finances it, up to the amount specified.”
“No.” Wilber waved his hand. “I mean, who pays the money across to the kidnappers?”
“It’ll depend on their demands. Wherever possible, I’d be in charge. I have a lot of experience handling these situations.”
“But if they demanded someone else—not police and not you?”
She evaluated him with an inscrutable stare. “Then we’d find somebody else. How about you?”
He shook his head. “I don’t want to get involved in anything like that. I’m happy to take the call and relay information, but that’s as far as I’d want to go.”
“And you?”
Hine jumped as Madeline’s steely gaze fell upon her. “No. I mean, sure, but I’m not family.”
“You’re here. You must’ve some deep connection to the woman to turn up and lend support at a time like this.”
“I’m checking on the dog.”
As Madeline continued to level a stare at her, Hine didn’t know what to do. “Sign me up,” she said eventually, breathing out in relief when the woman nodded.
“We’d just better hope it doesn’t turn into a foot race,” Hine added, and Penelope snuffled with laughter.
Madeline McStar didn’t linger a moment longer than she had to. Once again, somebody who had a right to be sitting in the dame’s house came and went, while Hine stayed on the couch.
“I should also get going,” she muttered, lifting her sore ankle off the sofa cushion with both hands and wincing as she placed it on the floor. “There’s lots to take care of at home.”
“Good call,” Wilber said, his attention focused on the mobile phone in his hand. “We’ll give you a bell if we need you.”
Hine wished she hadn’t agreed to whatever it was she’d agreed to, but it was too late now. She shifted her weight forward, testing out her sprained limb. Okay. The pain increased but not to the point where she had to sit again.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she told Penelope who wagged her tail in response. They both turned to Wilber, then back to each other. The bulldog settled for a nod in lieu of a more vocal response.
“If you’d kept a tidier house, the dog wouldn’t need to stay with someone who isn’t keen on animals,” Hine chastised herself as she hobbled down the path. “Remember that the next time you don’t bother to pick something up off the floor.”
Oh. The floor.
Funny how she’d never noticed until the bulldog pointed it out, but it was a bit of a mess. Okay, a tip. A rubbish tip she’d be navigating with a newly sprained ankle. Great end to a great day.
And all that while waiting for a phone call about the ransom.
If they make you give them the money, you should make your own demand. The insurance lady seems reasonable. She’ll be happy to pay you for your time.
Not enough to make up for all the cancelled classes today, but something.
Hine brightened as she arrived back at her car. Just as she started the painful process of getting into the driver’s seat, another vehicle pulled up behind hers.
“Excuse me,” a man called out, winding his window down, then getting out and coming over when Hine made no move toward him. “Oh, you’re injured.”
“Yes, I am. What did you want?”
He was a fastidious gent, dressed in a three-piece suit and a white shirt with a starched collar. As he stared at Hine’s swollen ankle, his mouth twisted in concern.
She didn’t have time for this. There was a box of aspirin at home with her name on it. “If you’re not going to ask me your question, I need to go.”
“Oh, of course.” He stepped back, fiddling with the knot of his tie. “All I wanted to know is where Dame Cholmondeley’s house is. I’ve driven around but I can’t see it for the life of me.”
“Follow the path.” Hine paused a moment, then pointed when it seemed the man couldn’t spot that either. “It leads straight up to her back door. Are you with the police?”
“Police?” His eyes opened wide, his brows knitting together. “Why would I be with them?”
“Well”—Hine returned his frown—“because of what happened this morning.”
The man’s voice dropped to a shocked whisper, “Something happened?”
“The dame was kidnapped. They took her right off the street.”
Hine stared in horror as the man collapsed in a faint.
Chapter Eleven
Hine leaned out towards the man’s supine body and poked him in the shoulder. “Are you okay? Wakey-wakey.”
When the only response was a loud snore, she sighed and hopped out of the seat. “Come on.” She leaned over, trying to keep her hurt foot elevated at the same time as she shook the man’s shoulders. “You can’t stay out here, on the street. Your beautiful suit will be ruined.”
Perhaps his dry-cleaning bill gave him more horrors than what had befallen the dame because the man gave a sigh and opened his eyes. Confusion twisted his features and after a second, he sat bolt-upright. “What’s that? Who are you? What happened?”
“You fainted,” Hine said, hopping past him to open the rear door of her car. “Have a seat in there.”
“No, I must get going.” The man staggered to his feet, the blood draining away from his face in the few seconds he stayed vertical. “On second thoughts—”
Hine caught his arm before he could topple and maneuvered him into the back seat. “Give it a few minutes. If you try to do too much, you’ll keel straight over again.”
“I-I’m sorry,” the man stammered, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat off his face. “I don’t know what came over me.”
“Shock. Are you and the dame close?”
He nodded, then shrugged. “Not really. I sit on the local council and she’s a colleague.” He shook himself and held out his hand. “Forgive me. I haven’t introduced myself. My name’s Reginald Dweeber and I’m a councillor.”
Hine shook his hand, a soft grip—far too wet for her liking—then angled herself back into the driver’s seat. “What were you coming to see her about?”
“There’s a vote tomorrow night.” Reginald clamped his lips shut as if he’d revealed a secret, then sighed. “It’s a public one, so I suppose it does no harm to tell you. We’ve had a moratorium on granting new water rights for the past year while we reviewed all the evidence about the harms and benefits it had to the region. Tonight, we’re due to vote on whether we approve the applications we’ve received during that time.”
“Sounds important.”
“It is.” He puffed out his chest. “Not only do we have the interests of our voting public to think of but the future generations, as well. The decision we make tomorrow night could have widespread ramifications for years to come.”
“Sure.” Hine put her key into the ignition and winced as the dashboard lit up with a red light on her petrol tank. She must’ve travelled further today than expected. Her budget only allowed one more top-up this month. “Are you for or against?”
“I’m against and so was Dame Cholmondeley. We’ve been very persuasive with our fellow council members but, even so, the vote tomorrow night will be a very close-run thing.”
Hine scrunched her face up. “They won’t vote with one of the councillors missing, though, will they?”
“The vote goes ahead regardless of who attends. Everyone is informed well in advance so they can organise their schedules.”
“Yes, but she couldn’t plan around a kidnapping. That’s ridiculous. The council will just have to postpone!”
“They won’t. There’s a precedence. When the beach area flooded a few years back the council didn’t shift the vote for the councillors struggling to save their homes. They won’t do it for this, either.”
“Are the water rights that important?”
“Yes, they are,” Reginald said, his voice increasing in volume with every word. “If we allow every farmer to change over to dairy just because it’s popular, then we’ll be working against the natural makeup of the land. The runoff from the cattle will pool back into the soil. Soon, we’ll have spoiled all the natural beauty around this area. The rivers won’t be fit to swim in because of the manure.”
“Okay.” Hine tapped on the petrol dial. It didn’t budge. “No need to get worked up about it. If the locals don’t want manure piling up—”
“They don’t even know. Half of the town can’t even be bothered to send in a ballot come election day. Now, we’ve got dairy farmers bribing the councillors with how much good it’ll do the local economy. Even with all the evidence on our side, Dame Cholmondeley and I have had an uphill battle getting people to vote with their common sense instead of their self-interest. That’s why we’re at a fifty/fifty split.”
Hine resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Like any of this mattered to her in the slightest.
But there was something that did. “Do you guys ever look at rent increases?”
Reginald tilted his head toward her. “In what way?”
“I’m a local business owner and the landlord for my commercial property just increased my rent by a heap. It’s probably going to drive me out of business and I’m sure I won’t be the only one.”
“Landlords are allowed to—”
She flapped her hand at him. “I’m not talking about what’s allowed, I’m talking about what’s good for Pinetar. If you have small business owners being squeezed out, what’s going to happen to the next generation? You won’t have anyone left in the place to worry about water rights if they can’t see future employment here.”
