“A fake?”
She flinched. “I don’t know. I guess so. When I saw the newspaper this morning, I called Ben, and he told me that Sheila probably planted the teeth she supposedly found yesterday.”
I didn’t say anything-I was distracted by the fact that she had called Ben. Maybe this breakup was only temporary.
“It was a horrible shock, reading the story,” she said absently, apparently caught up in her memories of seeing the front page. “It was a bad way to find out what had happened.”
“I found out in a bad way myself.”
She looked up at me, eyes widening. “I’m sorry-of course it was. I didn’t mean that as a criticism. I mean, I know Ben thought you owed us-him-a call, but that’s nonsense. You were probably exhausted by the time you got home.”
“Yes. It was a long night.”
“The article said it didn’t look like a robbery?”
I hesitated. Something in her manner struck me as being a little sly. Or maybe I simply trusted her less because she had dumped Ben. Still, I was uneasy. Not knowing where the conversation was headed, I answered cautiously. “No. At first I thought we might have interrupted one in progress, but the police seem to have ruled that out. She didn’t own much of value, and the dog would have deterred most prowlers.”
“Altair was crated, though.”
“I wanted to ask you about that-was he usually crated at night? There were a couple of dog beds in the house.”
“She told me she crated him in the evenings. Most of the time, whenever I was at the house, it was during the day and he was loose. She told me she also used the crate during the day when she had to leave him alone, which wasn’t often.”
“Why crate him, then?”
“Well…like a lot of energetic, smart dogs who begin to feel bored if they’re left alone too long, Altair can entertain himself in ways that are not appreciated by most humans.” She smiled. “Sheila told me he has a real knack when it comes to opening kitchen cabinets and refrigerator doors.”
I began to wonder if I should call home.
“She also used the crate for transport,” Anna went on. “Or for search situations when there were a lot of other dogs around.”
“In any case,” I said, “a robber wouldn’t know that Altair was in a crate until after he was in the house, right? Most wouldn’t take that chance.”
“No…”
“Look, Anna, do you know if Sheila had any enemies here in town?”
“Other than Ben?”
“Not being her blind follower doesn’t make him her enemy,” I said tightly.
“No, of course not. For God’s sake, I’m not suggesting he would have harmed her. That’s not even in Ben’s nature. She saw him as an enemy, though, I think.”
“Maybe so. Anyone else?”
“No, and even though I spent quite a bit of time around her, she never complained to me that anyone was mad at her.”
I found myself wondering if Sheila was capable of perceiving that someone was angry with her. She had always seemed self-absorbed. Even Altair was a way to get attention for herself.
“You said you spent a lot of time around her?”
“Well…not blaming him for it, but Ben has been gone a lot lately. Sheila was good company.”
I couldn’t imagine it. “What did you talk about?”
She hesitated. “I guess a lot of it was made up. Based in truth to some degree. Your story has made me face that today. She hadn’t been married, so it was her mom who was the battered woman, not her. And what she told me about losing her house in a fire-that was about her mom’s death, too. I don’t think she ever had a child who got lost-although maybe she felt as if she was the lost child.” She paused. “I guess the autopsy will show whether or not she had cancer.”
“Let me guess. She told stories, and you listened in amazement.”
“It’s true-she misled all of us.”
It occurred to me that I might not have been the first person to figure out that Sheila was a liar. Maybe Sheila had cheated someone out of money, or scammed someone in a more serious way. “Okay, let’s look at this another way-who were her friends?”
“She didn’t have that many. I think all her friends were in the SAR group. I never heard her talk about anyone else.” She frowned. “In retrospect, we kind of adopted her, and she seemed to have been very dependent on us, if you know what I mean. She wasn’t someone who liked to be alone. She got people in the group to help her with things all the time. One of our team members all but gave her that place to live. People invited her over for supper.”
“People became her neighbors.”
She dropped her gaze, but said, “Yes. And even knowing what I know now, I’ll miss her.” She took a shaky breath. “I…I don’t think it’s really hit me yet. I can’t really believe this has happened to her, that she’s gone.”
I didn’t say anything.
“She wasn’t a totally lost cause, you know. I think she was experimenting, trying to find her way. Maybe if she had been allowed to live out her life, she would have changed, become a better person.”
“Maybe,” I said, sincerely doubting it. On the other hand, I was certain nobody had the right to use a gun to end Sheila Dolson’s great experiment.
“It’s confusing to me,” Anna went on, “because she did have abilities, and she loved Altair, and I’ll never believe that someone who was that good to a dog was a total write-off!”
I declined to bring up historical examples. What the hell could I say? “She was lucky to have a friend like you.” There, that was honest.
She brooded in silence for a time. I was just about to make noises about getting back to the office when she said, “I understand you have Altair.”
“Yes,” I said warily.
“I’d be happy to take him.”
“You and any number of other handlers, from all I can tell.”
“You’ve been contacted?”
“No, just heard rumors from Illinois.”
She ran a finger along the edge of her saucer. “Did Ben ask?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but-no.”
She nodded once, as if she had just won a bet with herself. “So I’m offering to care for him until things are settled. Work with him.”
“Bond with him?”
“He knows me. I’ve already worked with him.”
“Sorry, Anna. No can do.”
“Why not?” I could hear a little anger, just held back.
“It’s not up to me.”
She made a face.
“I promised to take care of him until her family or heirs are located. Do you know if Sheila had a will or an attorney?”
“No. No, I don’t.”
We parted company not long after that. I knew she had parked near the Wrigley Building, but she didn’t walk back toward the paper with me. She said she wanted to do a little window-shopping while she was downtown.
I wasn’t sorry that I made the walk back alone.
Not sorry that Altair wasn’t going to be walking with her anytime soon, either. It wasn’t unreasonable for a top trainer to want a dog that had performed so well, a dog she knew. Yet her petulance when I refused had surprised
