Trouble at the Kennel (Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery #9)(7)
“We’ve accounted for almost all of them. We’re missing two, but considering what we started with, that’s pretty good. People are still out looking for them, and I was able to get the local television station to run a story about it. I’m hoping that will help.”
“That’s certainly good news. I was a nervous wreck when I was driving around trying to find Rebel. I wasn’t sure what I’d find, or if I’d even find him at all. Letting the dogs out was one of the most warped things I’ve ever heard of someone doing. I wonder if the killer did it before or after the murder.”
“They don’t know at this point. They thought the coroner’s report might shed some light on it, but it looks like my mom’s murder and letting the dogs out were pretty much done one right after the other. No one knows which came first.”
“So if your mother was murdered first, and then the dogs were let out it’s quite different from them being let out first and then your mother being murdered. If it’s the latter, it could possibly mean she was killed because she saw who let them out. Actually, that makes more sense to me than thinking that someone hated Mary enough to murder her.”
“I think so too, but mom seemed to be really rattled during my last conversation with her. It seems she’d had several things happen lately which frustrated her.”
“Like what?” Kelly asked.
“Well, evidently a pit bull got out and attacked Sandy Reston’s Labrador retriever that she’d brought to Doggie Love for the day. She’s the manager of the kennel. Mom said the pit bull almost severed the Lab’s leg. It required the immediate attention of a vet and surgery, plus there is no guarantee that the dog’s leg will be all right in the future. Mom was so angry, and so was Sandy, that she terminated the lease the Pit Bull Sanctuary had with the kennel. She told the head of it to get his dogs out by the next day. Evidently he did.”
“That must have been really hard for her to do, because I know she had a soft spot in her heart for pit bulls. She told me once that she thought they’d been treated unfairly by the press.”
“Yes, it was a very difficult decision for her to make. The second thing that happened was a client called her and accused her or one of her employees of leaving her pet’s kennel door open and allowing her dog to become impregnated by another dog at the kennel.”
“Well, I assume that’s not the first time something like that has happened at a kennel,” Kelly said.
“Probably not, but this was a little different. The dog who was impregnated is a champion Yorkshire terrier. She also has the most Grand Champion Points in her category. My mother told her it could not have happened at the kennel. The woman was furious and told Mom that her attorney would be calling her. Privately, Mom was a little worried that one of her employees accidently left the dog’s kennel door unlocked and a male dog got out, sensed the Yorkie was in heat, and impregnated her. She was worried she might be held financially responsible.”
“Oh, that’s awful. I feel for the woman, but things like that do happen at kennels.”
“Yes, but Mom had a policy that any female dog over the age of four months who wasn’t spayed had to be kept in a private kennel which costs quite a bit more. Female dogs that have not been spayed aren’t allowed to mingle with the other dogs.”
“Well, I suppose both of those people could be suspects, but it seems pretty far-fetched to me. Anything else?”
“Yes. The third thing is that mom had been trying to buy the land just east of the kennel. The woman who owns it has two acres and mom said it was an eyesore, you know, one of those places that has old rusted appliances sitting around in the front yard, lots of weeds, and is generally really unkempt. Mom wanted to buy the land for two reasons. She wanted to expand the kennel, and she wanted to get rid of what she considered to be an eyesore.”
“What happened?”
“Mom said the woman who owned it complained a lot about the dogs barking and refused to sell it to her. She told mom if she couldn’t stop the dogs from yapping all the time, she was going to go to the county and file a complaint. The woman was so angry about it she said there was no way she’d ever agree to sell her the property.”
“Your poor mother. Her last days certainly don’t seem to have been very pleasant for her.”
“I know. Believe it or not, none of those things are the reason I called you. If you don’t mind, I’d like to stop by in an hour or so if you’re going to be home. I need to talk to you about something else, and I’d prefer to do it in person rather than on the phone.”
“Of course. I’ll be here. You certainly have piqued my curiosity. Do you need my address?”
“No, I remember it from the last time I was there. Thanks, Kelly. See you in an hour.”
CHAPTER 6
I hate this job more than ‘bout anything else , Ricky Anderson thought as he cleaned out one of the kennels at the Doggie Love Kennel. The only thing that might come close to takin’ my ol’ first place hate would be the owner of Doggie Love, Mrs. Barnes. I call her Old Snooty because of her stuck up attitude. She’s purty high on my hate list and just might make it to the top real soon.
Only reason I’m stayin’ in this stupid job is ‘cause Dad said if I could hold a job for a year he’d give me five thousand dollars. Said workin’ here was kind of like goin’ into the army. Be good fer me and teach me to be a man. Right. Gave me a choice, and I took this job over goin’ into the army. Don’t think I’d do too good there. Don’t like havin’ to take orders from nobody. Anyway, when I get that money, I can get outta town and mosey right on down to Mexico. Seen pictures of bottles of cold beer in metal buckets and lotsa hot wimmen hangin’ round everywhere. Sounds good to me. Livin’ with Dad ain’t no fun. Said he could probably get me a job here. Told me he and Mrs. Barnes go way back, like they had somethin’ going’ on back in the day when they was young. Right. Can’t see either one of ‘em havin’ anythin’ goin’ on anywhere or with anybody .”