you tell me what I can do for you.”
“Right, sorry, I tend to go off on tangents. Especially when I’m nervous. You probably have a lot of other appointments and important sleuthing to do. Do you call it sleuthing? Anyway, are you aware of all the dog abductions on the island, especially in Suffolk County, over the past few months?”
Rory remembered reading about the crimes, but since she didn’t have a dog at the time, she hadn’t paid close attention to the news coverage.
“Thirty-two puppies and dogs, all purebloods, stolen from breeders and pet stores as well as from individual owners. No, wait, what am I saying? It’s thirty-three now counting Tootsie.”
Rory tried to interrupt to ask why she was counting Tootsie in with those that had been stolen, but Tina was going full throttle and apparently nothing short of a brick wall was going to stop her.
“Every one of the missing dogs was reported to the police, but not one of them was ever found. Including my George and Gracie.” Tears welled up in her eyes. She tried to blink them back, but one escaped and trickled down her cheek. “Well, maybe they’ll take us more seriously now that Brenda’s been murdered,” she said, wiping her cheek dry.
“I think you need to back up a few steps there,” Rory said, jumping in before Tina could get her second wind. “What makes you so sure that Brenda’s death was even related to the dog thefts?”
“Tootsie’s missing,” she said as if that were all the proof anyone needed.
“So was Hobo, until I found him wandering around. Whoever killed Brenda left the front door open.”
Tina shook her head. “I just know it had to do with Tootsie. I just know.”
It occurred to Rory that Marti Sugarman had voiced the same concern. It wasn’t necessarily a logical conclusion, but then the two women were so focused on dogs that they were probably inclined to see everything in dog-related terms.
“With all due respect,” Rory said, “it’s far more likely that her death was the result of a botched burglary or even an argument that got out of hand.”
“Well, there you go—Tootsie is probably worth more than anything else in Brenda’s house, Ms. McCain. A lot more. So you can call it a botched burglary or a botched dog abduction, but it’s really the same thing.”
“I see your point,” Rory conceded, although she wasn’t quite ready to abandon the theory that Tootsie saw the open door and took off to see the world. “But without more information, we can’t ignore the possibility that an unrelated issue led to Brenda’s death.”
Although Tina shook her head firmly to indicate that she was inclined to do just that, she refrained from continuing the debate.
“Since these dogs are expensive,” Rory said, moving on, “I guess it’s safe to assume there’s a black market for them. Although to be honest and again with all due respect, I don’t really understand why anyone would pay a lot of money when there seem to be more than enough great mutts like Hobo to go around.”
Tina shrugged. “It’s like with anything else—people want what they want and some of them want a bargain to boot.”
“Sounds like the perfect niche business for a motivated thief,” Rory said, thinking out loud.
“Then you’ll take the case?”
“To find the missing dogs?” she asked to be clear.
“Well my two, since I’m the one footing the bill. And Tootsie of course. Though I don’t mind if you happen to find the others in the process. In fact, that would be terrific. They certainly all deserve to be rescued.”
“I just need to be sure that you’re not asking me to find out who murdered Brenda, because that’s going to be an extremely active police investigation for the foreseeable future and I can’t get in their way or I could be charged with obstructing justice.”
“I understand. I would never expect you to do anything illegal or anything that would get you in any kind of trouble. I always steer
“Right, sorry, I tend to go off on tangents. Especially when I’m nervous. You probably have a lot of other appointments and important sleuthing to do. Do you call it sleuthing? Anyway, are you aware of all the dog abductions on the island, especially in Suffolk County, over the past few months?”
Rory remembered reading about the crimes, but since she didn’t have a dog at the time, she hadn’t paid close attention to the news coverage.
“Thirty-two puppies and dogs, all purebloods, stolen from breeders and pet stores as well as from individual owners. No, wait, what am I saying? It’s thirty-three now counting Tootsie.”
Rory tried to interrupt to ask why she was counting Tootsie in with those that had been stolen, but Tina was going full throttle and apparently nothing short of a brick wall was going to stop her.
“Every one of the missing dogs was reported to the police, but not one of them was ever found. Including my George and Gracie.” Tears welled up in her eyes. She tried to blink them back, but one escaped and trickled down her cheek. “Well, maybe they’ll take us more seriously now that Brenda’s been murdered,” she said, wiping her cheek dry.
“I think you need to back up a few steps there,” Rory said, jumping in before Tina could get her second wind. “What makes you so sure that Brenda’s death was even related to the dog thefts?”
“Tootsie’s missing,” she said as if that were all the proof anyone needed.
“So was Hobo, until I found him wandering around. Whoever killed Brenda left the front door open.”
Tina shook her head. “I just know it had to do with Tootsie. I just know.”
It occurred to Rory that Marti Sugarman had voiced the same concern. It wasn’t necessarily a logical conclusion, but then the two women were so focused on dogs that they were probably inclined to see everything in dog-related terms.
“With all due respect,” Rory said, “it’s far more likely that her death was the result of a botched burglary or even an argument that got out of hand.”
“Well, there you go—Tootsie is probably worth more than anything else in Brenda’s house, Ms. McCain. A lot more. So you can call it a botched burglary or a botched dog abduction, but it’s really the same thing.”
“I see your point,” Rory conceded, although she wasn’t quite ready to abandon the theory that Tootsie saw the open door and took off to see the world. “But without more information, we can’t ignore the possibility that an unrelated issue led to Brenda’s death.”
Although Tina shook her head firmly to indicate that she was inclined to do just that, she refrained from continuing the debate.
“Since these dogs are expensive,” Rory said, moving on, “I guess it’s safe to assume there’s a black market for them. Although to be honest and again with all due respect, I don’t really understand why anyone would pay a lot of money when there seem to be more than enough great mutts like Hobo to go around.”
Tina shrugged. “It’s like with anything else—people want what they want and some of them want a bargain to boot.”
“Sounds like the perfect niche business for a motivated thief,” Rory said, thinking out loud.
“Then you’ll take the case?”
“To find the missing dogs?” she asked to be clear.
“Well my two, since I’m the one footing the bill. And Tootsie of course. Though I don’t mind if you happen to find the others in the process. In fact, that would be terrific. They certainly all deserve to be rescued.”
“I just need to be sure that you’re not asking me to find out who murdered Brenda, because that’s going to be an extremely active police investigation for the foreseeable future and I can’t get in their way or I could be charged with obstructing justice.”
“I understand. I would never expect you to do anything illegal or anything that would get you in any kind of trouble. I always steer
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