Betrayed (Rosato & DiNunzio, #2)(35)

“He’s not sucky. You love him, don’t you?”

“Yes, but the problem is that he’s sucky, sometimes. Penny, please come out!” Judy went inside the closet, grabbed the dog by the collar, and slid her out on the floor. The dog’s toenails scraped the hardwood, and her eyes went as round as brown marbles, so Judy stroked her back. “It’s okay, honey, you need a bath. You don’t want fleas, do you?”

“He’s not sucky all the time.”

“No, but is that the standard? Penny, come on, sweetie, let’s go.” Judy coaxed the dog to the stairwell, where she balked, but the only bathtub was upstairs. “Mary, believe me when I tell you, a guy who’s sucky sometimes might as well be sucky all the time.”

“Why? That doesn’t follow.”

“Yes it does. Think about it.” Judy tried to budge the dog, but Penny crouched on all fours, her hackles shaking and her fluffy head hanging. “Bottom line, I can’t rely on him. I have to take care of him. And when I need anything, he’s not there because he’s not used to me asking.”

“You didn’t train him.”

“Exactly what I’ve been thinking!” Judy tugged at the dog. “Anthony would never pull this crap. He’s responsible.”

“I can’t take credit, his mother trained him. He never poops on the rug anymore.”

Judy gave up on moving Penny. “I’m gonna have to carry her upstairs. I hate that. She weighs a ton.”

“I’ll take the front, and you take the butt.”

“You don’t mind? You’ve already qualified for sainthood.”

“No, I haven’t. A saint would take the butt.”

“Thanks.” Judy picked up the dog’s hind, and Mary came around to the head and shoulders.

“Hi, Penny. So, you’re upset.”

“Me or the dog?” Judy started climbing with Mary behind her, so that Penny traveled backwards up the stairs.

“Maybe this isn’t the best plan. It’s literally ass-backwards.”

“Welcome to my world.”

“You seem so bummed, honey. Are you saying you want to break up with him?”

“I don’t know, but we can’t talk about it anymore anyway.” Judy worried that Frank might hear them as they got closer to the second floor, so she flared her eyes meaningfully at Mary, who understood instantly, since all women understood Meaningful Eye Flarings.

“So talk to me about Aunt Barb. You’re worried about her.”

“I am, but it’s not only that.” Judy struggled to not drop the soft, heavy dog, as she squirmed. “So much happened this weekend, I don’t know where to start. Her best friend died, and it seems really hinky. Plus I found ten grand in cash money hidden in her garage.”

“What?” Mary asked, incredulous, and Judy told her the whole story, from meeting Iris, to hearing about her death from the police, to visiting the scene on Brandywine Road, then Mike’s Exotics, Iris’s apartment, and finally the church and the mission, with Daniella’s disappearance. There was so much to tell that the story lasted the entire time they washed, toweled off, and blow-dried the shaking dog, then put in a new load of laundry, and finally left to go pick up Frank’s truck. They took Judy’s car, with Penny asleep in the backseat, in some form of doggie shock.

“You know what I think?” Judy asked, as she steered through the dark city streets to the hospital garage. It was drizzling, and droplets dotted her windshield, but there was no traffic. Sunday nights in Philadelphia, everyone was home, depressed about work the next day. “I think something fishy is going on, considering everything as a whole.”

“What do you mean?”

“We have Iris found dead, out of nowhere, and her best friend leaves to go back to Mexico, and there’s secret money stashed in my aunt’s garage. Considering the totality of the circumstances, as the lawyers say, it raises a lot of questions.”

“Like what?”

“Like where did she get the money? Why did she hide it from my aunt? Why did her best friend leave, even before her funeral? Who was that call from that she got? And is any of it connected to the hidden money?” Judy felt good to be talking things over with Mary the way she always did. It wasn’t about men all the time, just most of the time. “I don’t think she was murdered, there were no signs of violence. I saw the body, I know.” Judy shuddered at the memory. “If there had been signs of a violent death, or a weapon, I would say the broken nails were a defensive wound.”

“But there wasn’t.”

“I know. Right. I can’t wait to see what the coroner turns up, but what if she was murdered, and the money had something to do with it?” Judy steered into the darkness, switching on the windshield wipers. “We’ve handled murder cases before, and if this happened in Philly, we’d put two and two together. Secret money, a sudden disappearance, and a mysterious death? What more does it take?”

“It’s not a mysterious death. Don’t get carried away.”

“But we love to get carried away, and there are legit questions.”

Mary snorted. “So what are you thinking? Who would kill Iris, and why?”

“I’m not sure. A few things are possible. I liked Iris and—”