Ralph scoffed. “No! I would never hurt my lovely wife.”
Peter and I both snapped our gazes to Daisy, whose ears flattened. She gave the tiniest wag of the tip of her tail. True.
Peter smirked and shot me an I told you so look.
Daisy cocked her head to the side, ears pricked. Mostly.
I flashed Peter a see? It’s not that simple look. Our eyes locked, my body tense, and then his expression went flat, and he turned away again. I let out a breath and my shoulders sagged. Things had been so easy and light before.
Part of me wished I could go back to the time before I’d told Peter the truth about me, so we could laugh together and I could feel the happy tingles again. I swallowed. But another part of me knew it was for the best. I’d gone down that road once with my ex-fiancé and it didn’t end well. Better to tell Peter the truth early on—even if it meant he was done with me.
“Mr. Litt—may my associate have a moment with your, er, pig?”
Ralph blinked at Buttercup, who snuffled in his face and touched her nose to his. He shrugged but pointed an unsteady finger at me. “Fine—but you be good to her.”
I gave him a salute, then rose and moved a little ways away toward the open french doors. I bent forward and patted my thighs. “C’mere, girl!” I whistled. “Here, Buttercup. Come here!” Did pigs come? I looked around for some snack to lure her with.
Luckily, Buttercup stood and trotted over. I crouched down and looked her in her dark eyes. Her pink nose twitched, ears pricked.
I quietly grunted and snuffled. Hey, Buttercup.Can I ask you about Ralph and Pearl?
The pig’s black eyes grew wide and she snorted. You speak pig?
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. I mean… obviously. Instead I summoned patience and nodded. It wasn’t her fault I was in a bad mood—my eyes landed on Peter who continued to speak with Ralph in quiet tones. That honor belonged to Officer Judgy over there. I shook my head. If you’d told me the day would come when I’d get along better with Daisy than Peter….
The pig snorted and grunted. What do you want to know? She blinked her shiny eyes, the picture of cute. And what’s in it for me?
I leaned back in surprise and let out a little squeal. What’s in it for you? I frowned. Serving justice, the inner reward of knowing you’ve helped catch a—
She turned around and grunted. No, thanks. The pig trotted back toward the fire and Ralph.
“Wait!” I lowered my voice and repeated it in pig.
She paused and glanced back over her shoulder, her perfect little corkscrew of a tail in the air.
I put a hand on the cool marble floor and leaned into my other leg, adjusting my crouch. Fine. I let out some snorts. I’ll order you room service, how about that? Anything you want.
She turned around, her hard feet clicking on the tile. Rice pudding. And an orange—make it two.
I fought hard not to smile. Fine. You drive a hard bargain, but you got it.
She lifted her little nose in the air and wagged her tail, clearly pleased with herself. I didn’t know if it was possible, but she certainly seemed to have learned something from her owners. I doubted Ralph and Pearl, the heads of a snakin’ pyramid scheme, did much for anyone out of the goodness of their hearts.
I called over Buttercup’s order to Peter, and he pressed the gumball-sized device in his ear and put her order in. I turned back to the pig in front of me and grunted. Alright, your food’s on the way. Now tell me—did you see Ralph or anyone else tamper with that vial Pearl drank earlier this evening?
The pig cocked her head, eyes narrowed in thought. She oinked a few times. No, but I wasn’t paying that much attention to it. It didn’t smell very good.
I leaned closer, intrigued. I’d forgotten that pigs had good senses of smell. I snorted. What did it smell like? Poison or something dangerous?
Buttercup shook. No. It just didn’t smell like food—it smelled like herbs and liquor. I didn’t want any, so I didn’t pay attention to it after that. She blinked a few times. It smelled like Opal, too.
I bit my lip as I thought that over. Opal said she had made the potion, so that made sense. She’d also told us she hadn’t poisoned it, but maybe she’d made a mistake and done that accidentally. I grunted and oinked. Did it smell like the vials of potion normally smell? Or maybe a little off?
Buttercup snuffled the floor and grunted. No. It smelled normal. Just strong. Her pointy ears pricked. When’s my food getting here?
I sighed. Soon, okay. It’s on its way. I bit my thumbnail as I thought up another tack to try. The vacation…. I snorted. Buttercup, you went on the recent trip to the beach, right?
Her ears wiggled. Yep.
I nodded. You notice anything… out of the ordinary?
Her nose twitched. Nope. Her dark eyes narrowed. I didn’t notice much of anything. She let out a grumpy grunt. Ralph kept pushing me out of our room when ladies would come to visit.
I snorted. Of course he did. Was one of these women Avery Ann? Did they ever spend the night?
The pig grunted. Yeah, sometimes Avery Ann. And yes, they’d spend the night and I’d have to sleep on the couch!
Thanks, Buttercup. I patted the floor before hoisting myself to my feet. So it seemed portly Papa Ralph was a two-timer… but was he a murderer?
11
AVERY ANN
Peter and I headed back to the lobby, passing a waiter on his way up with a covered tray magically hovering
