Goodbye Dolly

off.'

'That's not an insect,' April squealed. 'It's a scorpion.'

'Oh, no.' Gretchen stopped breathing. She felt something on her bare left shoulder. Nina rounded on the poisonous insect. It was apparent that she planned to attack from the back.

Ready to faint, Gretchen reviewed the symptoms of a scorpion sting: excruciating pain, severe swelling. She could live through pain and swelling. Don't panic, she warned herself. Also possible: frothing at the mouth, difficulty breathing, convulsions. Though death from a scorpion sting was rare, she wasn't fond of the convulsion thing. Or of gasping desperately for air. She knew all the trivial details associated with the insect world because the most terrifying thing that could ever cross her path was any sort of bug. Centipedes, ticks, spiders, crickets, the list was infinite. 'I hate bugs,' she whispered without moving her lips, working to stay in control.

'Get it off.'

'Hold still,' Nina warned. 'They have sense organs on their undersides. Once it senses you, you're a goner.'

'That must make her feel real good,' April said, talking through the fingers spread across her mouth. 'I can't watch.' She turned away. 'Let me know when it's over.'

Gretchen felt it crawl down her arm, and she risked a peek, which didn't help her mental state.

The yellowish insect stared at her through its buggy, blinkless eyes. Lobster-type pinchers and a hooked tail curled across the top of its inch-long body. It was so close she could see the venomous stinger on the tip of its raised tail.

'Help,' she croaked.

'As long as the tail is curved on its back like that, you're okay,' Nina said from behind her.

'What are you waiting for?' April said. 'Get it off her.'

'I… I…'

'You can't do it, can you?' April turned to the main aisle and screamed, 'Someone help!'

Gretchen felt dangerously light-headed.

'Detective Albright,' she heard Nina say. 'Quick. Shoot it with your gun.'

Gretchen felt a gentle breeze across her arm. She blinked, and the insect was gone.

She saw a sandaled, male foot descend on the invader. The foot zoomed in, the floor rose, and she felt herself falling sideways.

The world went blissfully black.

20

'What a hunk,' April exclaimed, wrapping her dimpled arms across her chest. 'I'd plant a scorpion on myself if I thought Detective Albright would save me.'

'It was a nightmare,' Gretchen said from her chair, her voice still shaky. 'I can't believe I fainted.'

Thanks to April's screams, the Phoenix Dollers show drew to a dramatic close, the grand finale taking place at Gretchen's table with most of the remaining shoppers and dealers looking on.

For the first time in two days, Nina and her traveling dog circus hadn't held center stage.

Gretchen would have gladly given back that dubious honor.

'You would have clunked your head on the floor if Matt's reflexes hadn't been sharp,' Nina said.

'Where were you when I passed out?'

'I was paralyzed,' Nina said. 'Every muscle in my body stopped functioning. I don't understand it. I started out intent on saving you, then when I got close enough to stare the beady thing in the eye, I froze. I'm so sorry.' Nina bent down and gave her a heartfelt hug. 'It was a good thing Matt heard April screaming.'

'I sure did bring the house down,' April added. Once Gretchen felt strong enough, April and Nina helped her pack up the remaining Ginny and Barbie dolls and carry them to her Toyota Echo. Gretchen opened the trunk and noticed that the parking lot was almost empty.

'Someone must have put it in Nimrod's purse,'

Gretchen said. 'First the napkin, now a scorpion.'

'You already said that, repeatedly.' Nina leaned against the car. 'Matt Albright didn't agree with you. He said you needed time to recover, that the shock must have affected your reasoning.'

'My question is, was the scorpion meant for me or for Nimrod?' Gretchen hugged the tiny puppy. She would have survived the sting, but what effect would the venom have on a three-pound poodle?

What kind of monster would harm Nimrod?

'We can't be sure the scorpion didn't crawl in on its own,' Nina said.

'You had the purse when you and Eric went outside. Did you place it on the ground?'

'No. I let both puppies run around in the back parking lot, then I used their leashes. I had both purses on my shoulder the whole time.'

'Nimrod and Sophie weren't in their purses at all?'

Gretchen asked.

Nina shook her head.

'Then how did it get inside? Scorpions don't fly.'

'There has to be another explanation,' April said. 'People don't carry scorpions around with them.'

Gretchen ignored April's protests. 'Could someone have put the scorpion inside without your noticing?'

'I suppose so,' Nina said. 'There was quite a crowd hanging out around the entrance. I didn't pay much attention.'

Gretchen didn't ask whether Eric might have had the opportunity. The look on Nina's face suggested she had feelings for him, and Gretchen didn't want to burst that romantic bubble unless she had to. Besides, she knew the answer. Of course he had the opportunity. More opportunity than anyone else.

'If what you think is true,' April said, 'and someone did this intentionally, then the scorpion wasn't meant for you, Gretchen. Whoever put it in the purse couldn't know that Nina wouldn't put Nimrod back in the purse. It was lucky for him that Nina led him back on his leash. Otherwise, he would have been stung.'

Gretchen shuddered at the thought. 'Then the scorpion was intended as a murder weapon,' she said. 'Someone tried to kill Nimrod.'

The stakes had been raised. Someone wanted to harm Gretchen's dog, and that demanded her immediate attention. The tiny poodle and her three-legged cat were dependent on her for their care and support, and she didn't intend to let them down.

Gretchen felt Nimrod cuddle closer against her. He rested his chin on her folded arm.

'Nobody,' she said to Nina and April, 'messes with my dog.'

'What's this?' Nina gestured at the box of worthless Kewpies stowed in Gretchen's trunk.

'That's the box I've been trying to exchange with Duanne Wilson. I have to assume that the winning bidder of these copies has the Ginny dolls that I bought at the auction.'

Gretchen opened the back door, and Nimrod wiggled out of her arms and into the car. She shut the door and returned to the trunk, pulling the box toward her and opening the top flaps. 'The dogs broke one of the reproductions, and I glued it back together, but I didn't have time to go through the box thoroughly. Now I think we need to take a better look at these, since Kewpie dolls keep popping up in unlikely places.'

April peeked in. 'I can give you a free appraisal on the spot. It's all garbage. Junk, junk, junk. Chiggy was really bad at making dolls.' She shook her head in disgust while she pawed through the dolls.

'Ah, look here,' she said. 'The real thing. But still worthless.'

April held up a Blunderboo Kewpie.

Gretchen noted a crack along the side of its face and a wedge of bisque missing. 'Why so many Blunderboos?'

April peered through the hole in the bisque to the interior of the doll. 'Nothing there,' she said. 'Hollow.