“How did you know that?” Vera asked, looking up to catch Dot’s haunted expression.
“Well, I’ll tell you about the one piece of hard evidence I have. When I stepped into the foyer, I noticed that the rug was wrinkled and off-center. I’d been gone for a couple of weeks, and naturally the house was rather unkempt. But Edward knows I’m particular, so it should come as no surprise that I put down my travel case and started to straighten the rug right away.
“I lifted up the corners to do so, and I was horrified to see that it was stained and sticky underneath. I touched the stain, and it smelled like blood! In that moment, I knew my poor husband was dead. And that was the moment I saw him.” The last word was spoken with such loathing that Vera shivered instinctively.
“You mean…the rat who looks exactly like Edward but isn’t,” Vera asked, to be absolutely clear.
“Yes. He came out of the parlor room with a big, mean smile on his face. ‘You’ve come home, how grand,’ he told me. ‘I’ve been waiting for you.’ And then he started coming toward me. Well, I screamed and ran out of that house, and I’d do it again.”
“And that’s when everyone ran to your lawn and saw you and…the other rat standing there.” Vera wasn’t even sure how to talk about Edward in this way.
“Yes. Thank goodness it was daytime! If it had been night, I’d never have seen the blood, and no one would have come so fast to keep that hideous creature away from me.”
“You can’t stay away from your home forever,” Vera noted.
“I’ll stay away as long as he’s there,” Dot declared. “A hospital room is better than a grave.”
Vera sat back, disturbed by Dot’s pronouncement. Actually, the whole conversation was upsetting. Could any part of Dot’s story be true?
“You think I’m crazy, like the others,” the rat said, sounding more sad than upset. “Oh, here comes dotty Dotty, they say behind my back. But not so quiet I can’t hear!”
“Regardless, announcing that your husband is dead while he appears to be alive is quite an accusation, Dot. You have to understand how it sounds to others, especially without any proof….” Vera paused. “But you mentioned blood. What if I go to the house and verify that?”
“You can’t do that!” Dot gasped. “He’ll never let you in, and he certainly wouldn’t let you poke around and peek under the rug. You’d be putting yourself in incredible danger!”
Vera twitched her long nose, a habit of hers when she was thinking. “It’s only dangerous if Edward knows someone’s there.”
“What do you mean?”
“Never mind, Dot.” Vera stood up, suddenly feeling full of vim. “I know just the creature to talk to for a little night work.”
As Vera left Dot at the hospital, her brain was already teeming with plans. She sent a quick note to Lefty, a raccoon who lived in a grey area between sketchy and blatantly illegal, to meet her at the riverside park near the Herald office in one hour’s time.
They were unlikely to be noticed there. Lefty was a small-time criminal who was rarely around during the day. She knew that he would make an exception if there was a job involved. In the past, Vera had hired the raccoon for small tasks that she didn’t want to undertake herself. Nothing really illegal, but kind of questionable.
Vera stopped at the office to write up her notes from the interview with Dot, and to pick up her messages. She noticed that one of the notes was from BW, pointedly listing the times that reporters were meeting to discuss the election coverage.
Fortunately, BW was not in. She didn’t want to speak to him until she had the letter from Mr. Fallow in her paw. She wanted to be able to plan what she wanted to say before BW could bully her into covering the police chief election for the paper. She nodded at Gladys on her way out to meet Lefty. Gladys looked like she wanted to chat, but then, she always looked that way. Vera gave her colleague a wave but did not slow down as she trotted out of the office.
For a raccoon, Lefty was extremely squirrelly and refused to meet her anywhere he might be spotted, like Joe’s or the Bamboo Patch. Therefore, Vera had to lurk with the raccoon under a tree in the park instead of over coffee or lunch like a regular creature. Oh well, Vera thought to herself, Lefty has his uses.
As she crossed the park and approached their meeting place, she saw that Lefty had arrived first. He gave her what was intended to be a rakish smile. “Looking good, Miss Vixen,” he commented. Lefty had a regular girlfriend named Rhonda, but still considered himself to be a raccoon about town, and he was appreciative of all kinds of ladies.
“Good afternoon, Lefty,” Vera replied crisply, though she stifled a smile. A compliment was a compliment after all…even if it came from a petty thief. “I’ve got a job for you if you’re free tonight.”
“Hmm, I was supposed to meet Rhonda’s mother at dinner…so any excuse would be grand.”
“What will you tell Rhonda?” Vera asked. She’d met Lefty’s better half, and she was clearly the one who held the reins.
“Oh, I’ll tell her that something remunerative came up. She’s got a head for business—she’ll understand. I’m completely available for you, Miss Vixen.”
Vera quickly described the Springfields’ house at Mirror Lake. She went on to tell Lefty that she wanted him to sneak into the house that night after Edward was asleep and confirm if there were bloodstains under the rug in the foyer…or not. “And let me know if you see anything else unusual. And this is not a license to take
