It could be Lyndsey though. Her build was similar.
“Do you know who that is?” she asked the puppy nestled contently in her arms.
It didn’t know.
Charlotte had Tilly print a new copy of the best still-shot of the masked puppy thief. Darla had already taken the printout home with her, but Tilly and Charlotte both suspected Darla was napping.
After a quick taste of the limoncello, Charlotte left before she fell for its siren song and ended up on the rocks like Darla. Time to head for the food store. She was down to one chicken breast and a freezer-burned pizza she’d been ignoring because she’d accidentally bought one with peppers on it and wasn’t a fan of green peppers. She made a mental note to pawn it off on Declan the next time he came over.
For the pack of puppies, she’d crushed Abby’s food into smaller bits and they’d eaten it, so she knew she could feed Number Six for a day. It was getting late and there was no rush to take him back to the Miller farm. Anyway, she loved snuggling with the little guys.
Abby might not be thrilled, but she’d get over it.
Caught at a red light, Charlotte’s mind wandered back to the scene at the pawn shop.
I wish I had Crystal’s boyfriend’s last name.
She’d love to have Frank put it through the system and see if he had an arrest record. Maybe Crystal could see what a dead-end the loser was if she knew about his past…
She shook her head.
Who am I kidding?
Of course Crystal knows Mark is a bad guy. That’s probably half the attraction. She just hoped Crystal hadn’t killed her grandmother in anticipation of inheriting money to feed her boyfriend’s drug problem. Or her own. Regardless of what Declan surmised, there was still a good chance she was right there with Mark getting high.
Charlotte sighed and glanced down at the puppy circling on her passenger seat. He flopped down and put his head between his tiny paws, ready for a nap.
She smiled.
Think about puppies.
Even with a possible murder involved in the puppy-napping, it was more fun to think about the puppies, even if she wasn’t officially on the Miller case.
She wasn’t officially on Alice’s case either.
Actually, she was feeling pretty unemployed at the moment. No one had needed a detective since Christmas. At least not for any paying jobs.
Maybe I should be thinking about marketing.
She glanced at Six to keep her mind on happy thoughts and noticed it had chosen to nap partially on the printout of the person in the poodle mask.
I should ask everyone at the Miller mansion if they recognize the mask.
The stolen puppies had to be related to Kimber Miller’s death, didn’t they? It was too much of a coincidence that they would go missing from a room right beside the bedroom where he died at about the same time.
But the Miller investigation was Sheriff Carter’s domain. That created complications. If she handed over the photo to him, he’d want to know where it came from and she didn’t think he would be as understanding as Frank about Tilly’s activities. Even if she gave it to Frank to give to Carter, he’d ask where it came from. Frank could lie and say they had community cameras, but if things went to trial there would be subpoenas for a community-sponsored camera that didn’t exist...no. That didn’t work. Tilly’s cameras weren’t strictly lawful, but they sure came in handy. She didn’t want to lose them or get Tilly in trouble.
The light turned green and Charlotte hit the gas. The puppy on the passenger seat snorted a high-pitched, dreamy whine and growled in its sleep.
Now that is adorable.
She hated to see the last puppy return—
Hold on...I can use the puppy.
She had to return the dog, didn’t she? And if she happened to show around the photo of the poodle mask while she was there, what harm could that do?
Now she felt inspired to keep working. She drove past the food store and headed for the Miller mansion. It would be four o’clock before she could get there, so maybe everyone would be home getting ready for dinner and Sheriff Carter and his crew wouldn’t be there because they’d already come and gone.
The puppy raised its head and stared at her with sleepy eyes as she pulled on to the bumpy driveway.
“Sorry.”
It plunked its head back on the seat.
She pulled into the large stone parking area in front of the house and gathered up the puppy and printout.
“Time to see your brothers and sisters again.”
The puppy seemed nonplussed, hanging limp in her palm as she picked it up.
She rang the bell and, a moment later, Mina appeared at the door. Her eyes grew wide when she saw the puppy in Charlotte’s arms.
“You found it.”
“I did.”
Mina reached out to take the warm bundle of fur. “Same place as the others? Pineapple Place?”
“Pineapple Port. Not quite. Someone had taken it to the vet and that’s where I found it, but that someone was probably from Pineapple Port. We just don’t know who. They left the dog there.”
“Oh. Well, it’s nice to have them all back.” Mina flashed a quick smile and took half a step back, as if preparing to close the door.
Charlotte leaned forward to let her know she wasn’t quite finished yet. “Before I go, do you mind if I show you something?”
“Hm?”
“I have a printout of the person who dropped the puppies off. I was wondering if you might recognize him or her.”
Mina’s smile froze on her face and her throat bobbed as she swallowed hard. The effect was almost cartoonish, and a sentence flashed through Charlotte’s brain.
You know who took the puppies.
