either. I wish the court would’ve appointed me, then the state would pay for Cheever’s defense.”
Peggy laughed. “Like that would’ve paid for a private detective! Don’t worry. I’m sure we can work this out. I’m glad you’re on our team.”
“Let me know what you find out,” Hunter said. “And don’t go too far. You don’t want the police coming after
Peggy agreed, and Hunter left a few minutes later. After the other woman was gone, she turned out the lights and locked the front door. The dog let out a long, low howl that sent goose bumps down her spine. “What’s wrong, boy? Are you ready to go home?”
He came over and snuffled her hand. She wiped the dog slobber on a rag, then picked up his leash and led him out the back door. After she locked up, he growled low in the back of his throat and came to full attention, staring into the shadows that surrounded the loading dock.
“Do you see a rat or something?” Peggy asked loudly to deal with her sudden sense of fear. It was silly. She’d never been afraid walking out behind the shop before. Of course, she’d never had a dead man in her shop before either. She patted the dog’s head and quickly pulled out her bicycle. “Let’s go home. We’ve both had a rough day.”
The dog wouldn’t move. He stood like a statue, growling and glaring at the dark end of the loading dock. Peggy wasn’t scared of shadows or things that went bump in the night. But the dog’s fierce expression and challenging stance made her nervous. She finally got him to walk away and got on her bike. It was a relief to be away from the area. She was going to have to hound the maintenance people until they got that back light replaced.
As she turned out of the drive into the street, she thought she saw a small light, like a flashlight, at the top of the loading dock. When she looked again, it was completely dark behind the shop. The dog whined when she stopped as she tried to decide what to do.
She started to go back, then reasoned with herself; if she thought someone was back there, she’d be better off calling the police and letting them handle it. What would be the point of her checking it out? It wasn’t like she was up to tackling a would-be thief.
Taking out her cell phone, she started to dial 911. Uncertainty stayed her hand. Unless she had something more to say than she thought she saw a flashlight, she didn’t want to call. If she started calling the police every time there was an unusual sound or the dog growled, she’d be in a mess. She stayed where she was and watched the shadows as cars passed her in the street. There was no sign of the light again.
Sighing at her flights of fancy, taking a deep breath to clear her mind, she urged the dog toward home. It had been a strange week. No wonder she was quick to panic. Once she got home and had a nice cup of tea, she’d feel better.
A car she didn’t recognize was waiting in her drive when she got home. She parked her bike beside the house. A man opened the car door and got out. “Peggy Lee?”
Her heart was beating fast and her knees were wobbly. “Yes?”
Paper rustled. “I saw your flyer. I think you might have my dog.”
Peggy gave a sigh of relief. “You startled me. I wasn’t expecting someone to come to the house.”
The young man moved into the streetlight and frowned at her. “I’m sorry. I looked up the phone number on the flyer. I live about a block from here. I couldn’t wait to come and take Jo-Jo home.”
The dog whined and barked at the man. She patted his head and soothed him. “He seems to know you.”
“Sure he does.” He clapped his hands together. “Come on, Jo! Let’s go home!”
But the dog backed away from him. He looked up at Peggy and whined, butting his huge head against her leg.
“He seems to know you,” she amended. “But he doesn’t seem to like you very much.”
“That’s ridiculous! I paid a fortune for that dog. He’s damn well coming home with me.”
Peggy stood between the man and the cowering dog. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’ll have to ask you to leave now.”
“Not without my dog.” He reached his hand for the leash.
The dog lunged at him, barking and growling like he’d take his hand off. Jo-Jo chased his owner back to the car and put his massive paws on the window even after the man was inside. His teeth grated against the glass as he tried to get at him.
“That’s enough.” Peggy called him back.
“I’ll be here tomorrow with my lawyer,” the man promised when the dog went back to her.
She ignored the car leaving the drive and turned to the dog. “Let’s go inside. It looks like we have some thinking to do.”
The phone was ringing. She closed the door and locked it, took the leash off of the dog. He immediately fell on the floor at her feet as she answered the phone. She wanted to collapse there, too. Her life had taken on a weird, frantic aspect that didn’t want to go away.
“Hi Peggy. Hal Samson. I wanted to let you know what’s happened. The police decided not to press charges against the husband. There was no proof he was involved in his wife’s death. They aren’t sure where to go from here.”
She took off her gloves and sat down on the bench by the door. “I’m glad for the husband if he was innocent, but that still doesn’t answer the question of how the poisoning happened, does it? She was murdered, Hal. They can’t want to overlook that fact.”
“They don’t. But apparently, there’s no reason to suspect the husband beyond the obvious. I talked with the detective tonight. They’re going to continue to investigate. But they’re stymied right now, and that puts the case on the back burner. It seems murder by poison doesn’t happen often in Columbia.”
