Terrier Terror, page 15
“Did these dogs get paint on their fur, too?” Baxter asked.
“And that’s another thing!” Gwenie’s owner eyed Baxter’s name badge. “Your employee could have seriously injured both dogs by dumping water on them like that.”
“You’re lucky she knew how to end a dog fight without either dog injuring the other,” Baxter said.
“He’s right,” Kiki added. “Have either of you thought to thank her for doing that?”
“Well. That’s true. She did bring the fight to an abrupt stop.” She looked over at the maintenance man who was making short work of soaking up the water. “But still, somebody could have slipped in the puddle of water she left.”
Jesse arrived, panting with effort as he put the shampoo on the groomer’s counter.
“Did these dogs get paint on their fur, too?” Baxter asked me.
“Paint?” Apple’s owner repeated. “You’re not talking about paint on a dog’s fur, are you?”
“She sure is,” Gwenie’s owner interjected. “Some poor woman’s Poodle got spray painted hot pink.”
“You’re kidding!”
“No, I’m not. That’s what had me so distracted that I forgot all about my little Gwenie not having her collar on while I was brushing out her coat. I was afraid there was some kind of a graffiti artist gone bonkers in here...spray painting light-colored dogs.”
“I can only imagine. I’d have been distracted, too.” She gave Apple a hug, continuing to hold her. “I was doing a little off-leash practicing with Apple. Her fur is practically white. Then this man here goes running past me with another man limping after him. That’s what set my Apple off. She saw your precious Gwenie, and I think they were both so unsettled, they misbehaved.”
“You’re probably right. It was the staff’s fault. They shouldn’t have been running, and they shouldn’t have allowed anyone in here with spray paint.”
Kiki groaned. “Look. I’m writing all of these incidents up. But I saw for myself that Baxter was not running, he was simply walking briskly. And both of you were at fault for not minding your dogs and for having them both off-leash.”
“That is most unfair of you, young lady,” Gwenie’s owner said, lifting her chin. “None of this would have happened if it hadn’t been for all the chaos caused by the staff.”
“Right,” Apple’s owner declared. “We Cocker Spaniel owners need to stick together. Our dogs’ popularity is waning because they’re getting such a bad and unfair reputation.”
“I agree,” I said. “I have a Cocker Spaniel. I love the breed. And Baxter and I own two King Charles Cavaliers, as well.”
The women’s eyes widened. “You do?” Apple Owner said. “That’s so good to hear.”
“Well, then. We all need to stick together.” She held out her hand. “My name’s Theodora.”
We shook hands. “I’m Allie. My Cocker’s name is Doppler.”
“I’m Ashleigh,” Apple’s owner said. “This was all just a big misunderstanding,” she said to Kiki. “You don’t have to write up anything on our accounts. Not if it’s going to get a Cocker owner in trouble.”
“Or contribute to the inane belief that Cockers are feisty and nippy and barky,” Theodora added.
“Absolutely. It’s not the dogs themselves that tainted their reputations.”
“No. It’s the irresponsible Cocker owners.”
“Because they’re just so darned cute, they aren’t properly trained.”
For one moment, I considered passing them my card to see if they wanted my services. The next moment, I came to my senses. “I’m going to change my clothes.”
“My office is unlocked,” Baxter suggested. “I’m going to talk to the groomer and Eleanor. See if I can do some damage control.”
“Speaking of which, did you find out anything more about the drugging?”
“‘Fraid not,” he answered. “A security officer and I watched the video three times We can’t come close to identifying or ruling out suspects. That kiosk had a snarl of foot traffic for several minutes while it was raining. The camera angle made it impossible to see the bowl over the attendees’ heads and shoulders. Then Kiki watched it and says she’s making the executive decision that, since only Toy dogs would be affected, only those owners and their handlers are going to be notified. Plus that judge.”
Baxter started to turn toward the grooming station.
“Maybe I should come with you as you talk with Eleanor.”
“I almost forgot,” Kiki suddenly chimed in, suddenly standing right behind me. I was startled. I hadn’t realized she was listening in on us. “My dad said he wants to talk to Allida for a minute.”
“He does?” I said, surprised and annoyed that she’d addressed Baxter instead of me. “Why?”
“Something about the Toy competition,” Kiki replied.
“All right. I guess I’ll go speak to Davis, then.”
“Yeah, thanks. Sorry I forgot about that. With all the histrionics.”
“I appreciated how you ended the women’s bickering,” I told her honestly.
“At one point in my career, I was a kindergarten teacher. Comes in handy sometimes.”
Chapter 19
Davis was not in his office. By talking to various staff members and volunteers I finally tracked him down, nearly half an hour later. I greeted him by saying, “Kiki said you wanted to speak to me.”
“About what?” he asked.
“She just said it was about the Toys competition.”
He stared at me blankly. “She must have gotten something mixed up. I’d told her I wanted to speak to Baxter again. Just to make sure we were still on the same page. And that’s all cleared up. So, I’m fine if you’re fine.”
“I’m fine.”
“Good. Carry on.” He walked away. I took a couple of minutes to cool down. Kiki had deliberately sent me on a wild-goose chase so she could hang around with Baxter. I didn’t want to let her get under my skin. I needed to focus on the adorable little Pepper now with positive energy.
Eleanor was sitting in a seat of a currently unoccupied ring not far from the grooming room, looking at what appeared to be the schedule of events. Perched in her lap, Pepper spotted me and started hopping as if all four legs were springs. I sat down next to Eleanor, and Pepper darted into my lap and gave me a quick doggie kiss. She mustered a smile and said, “I checked out the three other Toy Poodles. I think we’ve got this one in the bag.”
“Great! There’s nothing like an impartial rating to build one’s confidence.”
“Exactly. In any case, he’ll come in no lower than fourth.” We smiled genuinely at each other. Truth be told, I was starting to really like Eleanor, despite her eccentricities about Pepper never being allowed in her back yard and overly pampering him. Not to mention her brief barrage of accusations. She was wearing a floral dress with a flowing pleated skirt that reached to her calves and sandals with a lattice-like pattern. Her ginger hair was once again starting to come loose from a crooked barrette.
“Pepper’s fur looks as white as the driven snow. And I am impartial.” I held the sleeve of my silk blouse against his shoulder. Fortunately, the blouse had dried on its own with no traces of red. I didn’t have a second blouse with me. “See, see, see?”
She chuckled. A moment later, she shook her head. “I’m a little embarrassed. I can’t believe how badly I freaked out.”
“Anybody would have in your position...seeing their dog get spray-painted.”
“Maybe, but then, this is hardly my first freak-out where you’re concerned.”
I gestured with a toss of my wrist, in a tacit: That’s all in the past. “Well, if it’s any consolation, you’re not even in the top five as far as people here getting upset.”
“Really?” She furrowed her brow. “Is this...normal for a dog show?”
“No. Not even close.”
“That’s good to hear. I don’t think I have the stomach for the show circuit if this was typical. It’s like Terrington’s ghost is creating mayhem. Or someone put a hex on the place.”
“Davis Miller is probably deeply regretting his decision not to cancel the entire event after Terrington was murdered. But maybe that would have bankrupted the Fort Collins Dog Club, which is hosting it. I have no idea of what kind of insurance policies they carry.”
“You aren’t a member, are you?” Eleanor asked.
I shook my head.
“Terrington told me I should join them instead of Denver, where we’re registered now. He said it would help Minnie Pepper Cocoa’s chances in the dog-show circuit and raise his profile. I’m glad I waited. I think I’ll stick with Denver.”
Not knowing anything about kennel clubs myself, I had no input. Pepper hopped back onto his owner’s lap, and I got to my feet. “I brought a skirt-suit and a pair of pumps, so I’m going to change.”
While we were speaking, a couple of volunteers entered the ring in front of us. This ring was going to be used to select the top Pomeranian for the Toy bracket.
“There’s some open space next in the southwest corner,” I told Eleanor. “It’s right near ring number five. We can walk him around on the leash there before we start.”
“Yeah. Valerie was nice enough to tell me about that. I already brought his crate over there.”
“Great. I’ll meet you there in ten minutes or so. This will be fun.”
Or so I hoped, I thought as I headed to Baxter’s office; I’d left my suit and shoes on top of the unused filing cabinet. Eleanor’s talking about kennel membership had made me nervous. I truly was a neophyte, despite my life-long devotion to dogs. I had no credentials whatsoever and wasn’t even an AKC registered handler. There were only four Toy Poodles enrolled. If Pepper won that round, he’d compete in the big round to determine the Best in the Toy division an hour later. During the break between the two rounds, I could discuss the idea of Eleanor switching to Cooper.
The Terrier Class competitions were all scheduled for tomorrow—Saturday. That would be another time that I would be heavily involved in the goings-on. Sunday would be the Best in Show competitions, which ended by noon. If all went according to plan, Cooper would be showing my conformation dogs tomorrow, and I would be able to kick back and watch the proceedings. Then I would probably help Baxter with whatever closing duties he’d acquired, and we’d go home with our every-little-bit-helps earnings for enduring our week of mayhem and murder. The memory of my horror at learning Terrington had been killed caused me to shiver.
I locked the office door behind me and changed into my brown skirt suit, then realized my shoes were missing. I called Baxter and asked him about my missing shoes.
“Maybe you left them in the car,” he said.
“No, I put them next to the cabinet.”
Baxter said, “Did you check inside the cabinet?”
“No, I didn’t check the cabinet. Why would I? They can’t have leapt inside a drawer!” As I spoke, I opened the top drawer. I stared at its contents. “Holy crumb. They’re in the top drawer.”
“You must have put them in there while you were distracted.”
“No, I didn’t. I am one-hundred percent certain I put them on the floor.”
“Well, I sure didn’t put them in there,” Baxter retorted.
I dropped both shoes on the floor. “Maybe you were distracted.”
“Allie, I’ve been running around so much I—”
“Got it. You didn’t hide my shoes. Someone is obviously trying to mess with my head.” I jammed my right foot into my shoe and felt a hideous pain in my big toe that seemed to surge all through my body. I screamed and dropped my phone. I yanked my shoe off, cursing, and hopping on my left foot. I heard Baxter yell over my phone, “Allie! I’m on my way!”
“Someone put a tack or nail in my shoe,” I wailed at my phone.
I’d locked the door. I limped on the heel of my injured right foot over to the door and opened it. This being a puncture wound, my toe wasn’t bleeding badly, but big red drops kept forming. I hopped toward the desk, grabbed a tissue, and squished it into a cap-like shape around my toe. I plopped down on a chair and grabbed the boobytrapped shoe.
Marsala rushed in, asking, “What happened?”
“Somebody boobytrapped my shoe.”
She snatched the shoe out of my grasp. “You’re bleeding,” she said, which was not an especially keen observation.
Baxter charged through the door. He glanced at me, then Marsala, as she reached inside of my shoe gingerly. “It’s a tack, or a brad.” She pulled it out, and it was indeed a tack with a flat head. There was a pink-colored strand hanging from the head of the tack. “Looks like it was fastened with a wad of chewing gum.”
“Jeez,” Baxter said. He strode over to me and knelt beside me. “Are you okay? Have you had a tetanus shot?”
“Yes, and yes.”
I sat on the floor, pressing against the wound to stop the bleeding.
“I’ll get you a Band-aid,” Marsala said. “There’s a First-Aid kit in the employees’ locker room.”
Valerie appeared at the doorway. “I’ve got Band-aids right here,” she said, unzipping the pouch on her belt. “What on earth just happened?”
Marsala held the tack up so Valerie could see it. “This was in her shoe.” Marsala also held out her hand to take the Band-aid, but Valerie brushed past her as she extracted the Band-aid from its packaging.
“This is just going to keep happening, until the killer’s caught,” Valery grumbled. She removed my toe’s tissue-cap, opened a tiny bottle, and dampened the tissue with the sharp-smelling astringent, and swabbed my tiny injury. She made a new cap for my toe by wrapping a second Band-aid around it. “Was your door locked, Baxter?”
“Not today,” Baxter said. “I’ve just been locking my laptop in my desk, so that Allie and I can come and go.”
“Well, that was a highly unfortunate decision,” Valerie snapped.
“Did you do this, Valerie?” Marsala asked.
“Of course not! Why would I?” She swept up my left shoe. For a moment, I thought she was going to throw it at Marsala, but she merely checked it with her hand.
“To clear out the competition in the Toy class!” Marsala shouted at her. “Kiki told me that someone had spiked dog treats that were out in the open.”
“That makes you as big of a suspect as I am!” Valerie fired back.
“My Yorkshire Terrier isn’t even competing today! I withdrew both him and my Westie! After Richard Cory nearly died!”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Valerie growled. “Try to get your shoes on, Allie.” She struggled to her feet despite wincing at her bad knee, then glared up at Marsala, who was much taller. “These incidents...a dog’s fur being painted, dog druggings, Allie’s injury...are the ripples stemming from the murder. For whatever reason, the killer is continuing to sabotage the show.” She gestured at me. “But it doesn’t take a genius to realize I’d be the last person on the planet who would injure Allida intentionally. She’s handling Sophie Sophistica in two hours!”
I slid my foot as carefully as I could into the shoe, but it was instant agony. This particular pair of pumps was just too tight of a fit. I moaned a little and pulled off the shoe. I met Baxter’s gaze. “I need my sneakers,” I said. He was already opening the laces as far as they would g and handed it to me.
“Have you seen Cooper?” I asked.
“He left to get lunch,” Kiki said. Surprised at her arrival, I looked up. She was standing in the doorway. “Someone told me they heard a scream from this office.” She held up her iPad. “Another log-in for the ‘Incident List,’” she said with a sigh.
I finished tying my right sneaker and quickly put on my left. I walked in the tiny patch of unoccupied floor space. I could see by Baxter’s facial expression that he was cringing on my behalf. The pain was manageable after a few steps.
“I’ve got to wear my sneakers. I can at least get them on. And I’m going to have to work like hell to keep from limping.”
Just then Eleanor came in. “Someone wearing a plaid outfit just came up to me and told me you were in here and had hurt yourself.”
“I don’t know how this stuff gets around so fast,” Kiki said.
“Look. I’m getting my sneakers on so tight that I won’t be hitting my toe. I’ll be fine to walk.”
“She’ll be fine for your Poodle,” Valerie said snidely. “But once again, this will impact me. You won’t be able to run, Allie. There’s no way you’re going to be able to compete with Sophie Sophistica now.”
“I’ll ice my toe. And I’ll see the vet and see what he has to say. I’ll make it work.”
“I’m filing a violation,” Valerie said, shaking her head.
“Fine,” Kiki replied. “Just wait until after Sophie competes in the prelims. If Allie thinks she can do it, let her. And she’ll have another couple of hours until the finals. It’s just a puncture wound! It’s not like anyone cut off her foot!”
“Thanks so much for the sympathy, Kiki,” I snarled.
“It’s not like I’m exaggerating,” she retorted.
“This is nuts!” Eleanor cried. “Someone painted my Poodle pink! Now I’ve got a walking-wounded presenter...who’s subbing from a murdered one. How can this possibly be happening? It’s just a local event! And I’m a first-time entry!”
“Once again, my dear,” Valerie said, “it’s not about you. It’s about me. I am quite possibly the best-known dog breeder in the state. Now that our biggest star, Terrington Leach, is dead, some lunatic murderer wants to take the biggest breeder out of the competition.”
“Who are you?” Eleanor said. “I don’t even know you. How big can you possibly be?”
“Big enough to knock you out of this competition!”
Meanwhile, Baxter’s phone rang. I gestured at him to go, and he did so.
“Valerie, Eleanor. Stop!” In the back of my mind I realized I was using my mother’s voice. That was an eerie feeling, but my tone had worked. “Look at me.” I started jogging in place, which hurt, but I didn’t care. “I can walk. It’s not a big deal. If it turns out to be a big deal as the day unfolds, you can take the chewing gum to the police and pay them hundreds of dollars to see if they can get the DNA on who chewed it before sticking it into my shoe.”
